SAMMONS HISTORY

BY

WILLIAM G. STEWART

This presentation would not have been possible at this time without the original
research and contributions made by Darrell Sammons. He provided to me the
original family tree that covers many of the Missouri/Kansas Sammons. Thus I did 
not have to reinvent the wheel. I fortunately have been able to flesh out 
substantial information on many individuals through my proximity to the National 
Archives, and subsequent research and internet contacts, etc. but Darrell 
contributed the basic startup information.

I also must mention the contribution of two others. Mary (Stewart) Tucker of 
Denver, Colorado, is, interestingly, related to me through both my father and 
mother. On my mother's side she is distantly related through the Thomas Sammons' 
line while she is a first cousin once removed of my late father. She has done a 
great deal of work on the Sammons line and provided me with both a great deal of 
information and also with pointers that saved a lot of work.

In addition, I must mention Mary Lou (Sammons) Martin of Bishop, California.
Although her probable but unconfirmed Sammons ancestor was born in 1812 in
Tennessee -- thus being contemporaneous with Newit and Edmund Sammons -- she has 
been unable to prove a connection. She instead feels that her line descended 
from a Robert Sammons out of North Carolina through Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas 
and California. Based on her 35 years of research, she has been able to fill in 
details on such ancestors as James and Jonathan Sammons, etc.

I also appreciate contributions from various others such as Mildred Sammons,
Leila and Denzil Sammons (who found an old letter to Grandma Sammons that provided 
much insight into the Campbell side). 

NB: Since the time the above was written (April 1997), I have gotten a great deal 
of invaluable information from other people with whom I have gotten in touch via 
the internet. I will mention a few:

Charlotte Ramsey of Arkansas who descends from the George Sammons line.

Hope Pees of Texas and Jeri Beitel of California who have provided reams of 
information on the early Sammons of Virginia and their descendants through the 
south.

Russell Lawrence of Virginia who has done extensive research and has provided the 
results of this research to web pages covering, for instance, Sussex and other 
counties in Virginia. Though I have not been in direct touch with him, I was able, 
through his contributions to these pages, to access extremely useful information. 

I am sure that, as this sharing of information on the internet continues with 
fellow Sammons researchers (now numbering 36), I will also owe thanks to other 
people as well. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

There are two main themes in presenting a Sammons' history. First -- and the 
primary focus of these notes -- is the traceable ancestry of the Sammons of 
western Kansas, that is, the direct line from Virginia to Tennessee to Illinois 
to Missouri to Kansas ending with the descendants of Devrix and Joseph Sammons. 
In addition to this, of course, are the brothers and sisters of Devrix and Joseph 
who established lines of descendants elsewhere.

Next, of continuing interest, are parallel Sammons lines originating in Virgina,
some also through Tennessee and Kentucky, others North Carolina. Then there is 
the very large and well documented upper New York line. A long-time Sammons'
researcher with whom I have corresponded, Mary Lou (Sammons) Martin in
California, remembers hearing her father or grandfather say "All Sammons are 
related." My mother remembers hearing Grandpa [W.H.] Sammons imply something
similar, possibly quoting Joseph Sammons. This appears to have a strong element of 
truth, with the exception of the as-yet unlinked New York line. Even though Sammons 
was not a common name in earlier days and still is not, it is much more prevalent 
as generations pass by. I think that with the results of genealogy research done 
by many people, it can be said with quite a bit of truth that if you encounter a 
Sammons south of, say, Nebraska, or in Montana, there is a pretty good chance that 
this person's line goes back to Virginia and there is a very good chance of being 
distant, distant cousins. As noted no links have yet been made with the New York 
branch, in Chapters 5.

So, when did the first Sammons arrive in the US? There is no absolutely solid
information on this and there are contradictions in the information available.
Mary Lou (Sammons) Martin relayed to me an unsubstantiated tale that three
Sammons brothers got in trouble in England and came to Virginia about 1690.
One of the three allegedly went north, possibly to New York, while the other two 
stayed in Virginia. On the other hand, there were certainly Salmon/Salmons/Sammons 
in Virginia in the early and mid-1600's and these Sammons have been tied in to the 
Newit Sammons' line. At the same time, the large cluster of Sammons in upper New 
York State seems to have descended from an emigrant from Holland around the mid-
1600's and the documentation on this seems pretty sound. However, one other document 
states that they descended from one Richard Sammons from England who allegedly 
settled Manhattan Island, New York, circa 1680. This merely illustrates the 
difficulties of getting substantiated and non-contradictory facts in genealogical 
research and the never-ending need to keep plugging away. So it is still an open 
question as to whether these branches ultimately sprang from the same or related 
ancestors sometime in the 1600's.

The Sammons family that is the subject of this presentation springs from Sammons 
forebears who were in the midst of the broad westward migration from the original 
colonies, particularly Virginia. In the post-Revolutionary War days, as the 
Kentucky and Tennessee territories became more demarcated and more open for 
settlement, there was a vigorous move to the west, particularly from Virginia. 
There were a number of Sammons' in Virginia, and more specifically, southern 
Virginia. Early census records, and deed abstracts show several families living in 
that area. Researchers with whom I have shared information state with reasonable 
certainty that the progenitor of the Sammons "clan" is a James Sammons, likely 
spelled Salmon or Salmons at the time. Some descendants, including Newit Sammons, 
the progenitor of our "clan," headed west to Kentucky. Others went south to North 
Carolina and from there some went further south and west.

So "our" Sammons' (and others such as the Legrand's) were very much a part of this 
historic westward movement, a movement that continued on from Tennessee in later 
years, moving on to Illinois, Missouri, and westward. The Sammons typified the 
small farmer continually moving westward generation by generation in search of new 
land. 

One Newit Sammons is the progenitor of the "our" Sammons in Rooks County, Kansas, 
through children who moved to Illinois and then to northern Missouri. Other 
children of his stayed in Tennessee, and a couple probably went west to Arkansas.

Newit Sammons served in the Revolutionary War as a militiaman called up
periodically for service in Virginia militias from the Brunswick County area
-- part of Brunswick County later became Greenesville County -- in southern
Virginia on the North Carolina border. He served periodic short terms of service, 
typically about 6 weeks, was discharged, and then called up again. A private with 
no record of unusual service, he nonetheless was witness to U. S. history in the 
making. On one of his call-ups, he was marched north to the James River area where 
he noted that his units merged with troops under the command of General Washington. 
Finally, in his last term of service, he recorded being at the battle of Yorktown 
where "Lord Corn Wallace [Cornwallis]" was defeated setting the stage for the 
British surrender.

After the war was over, Newit married one Claramon[d] Lawrence in Greenesville
County on 13 February 1787. One bible record indicates that she was called Clercy - 
whether this was her real name or a nickname is not known. Her father is thought to 
have been a John Lawrence and to have had a brother named Edmund and another brother 
named Devereux. An Edmund Lawrence later appears in Williamson County, Tennessee and 
possibly Devereux does as well though the mangling of the latter name makes it 
difficult to confirm (census takers, etc., have had consistent trouble with that 
name). It was -- and still is -- a common Southern custom to carry on family names 
from the wife's side in the new family. Thus the assumption about the names Edmund 
and Devrix appearing later.

Newit and Claramond/Clercy had eight known children: John, Richard, Mary ("Polley"), 
Edmund, Margaret, Watson, George, and Abner. All appear to have been born in 
Virginia. Abner seems to have been the youngest and was probably born about 1804. 
Newit and family migrated west to Williamson County, Tennessee probably around 1810 
or shortly before. He settled on 120 acres on Nelson Creek, a short distance from 
its juncture with the Big Harpeth River. This means his farm was located about 2 
miles south southeast of present day Arrington, Tennessee (about 30 or so miles 
south of Nashville and not far from the Rutherford County line). Oddly, in his 
pension application statement in the court in Murfreesboro in 1833 he claimed to 
have been a longtime resident of Rutherford County but this may have arisen over 
changes in county lines over the years as he definitely seems to have been a 
resident of Williamson County during his life in Tennessee. He first appears on 
the tax rolls of that county for 1811 and his name appears in the 1812 through 1815 
tax lists and on the 1820 tax list and census, 1830 tax list and census and the 
1837 tax list. He does not appear on the 1840 census and so probably died around
1838-9, an assumption backed up by papers involving a suit against his heirs in 
late 1839. No wills, etc., by him have been found to date. 

From this point, we can follow the family history with substantial certainty.
Edmund Sammons married Ann Mariah Hays in Williamson County in October 1826
(possibly 1825). They had a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Frances, in Tennessee,
and then, in 1830, moved to Morgan County, Illinois. Edmund's brother, George, most 
likely preceded him to Morgan County as there is a record of a marriage between 
George and one Sarah Bell in Morgan County in 1828. Edmund and his family lived 
for a number of years in Morgan County, where Joseph, James, Thomas, Susan and 
Mary were born. In 1847 they moved to St. Marys City in Hancock County, Illinois 
and Gilbert and Devrix were born there. They lived in Hancock County for about 8 
years and then moved to a farm near Lancaster, Schuyler County, Missouri. Edmund's 
brother, George (a widower by the time of the 1860 census), also moved to Schuyler 
County with his family sometime after 1855, possibly at the same time as Edmund as 
they lived very close to each other in Schuyler County.

Two of the sons, Jonathan and James, appear to have remained in Illinois and 
established their families there. Jonathan stayed in Hancock County. James (who 
oddly spelled his surname Samons) first settled in McDonough County but four years 
later returned to Hancock County, living there for most of the remainder of his 
life. Nothing is known of Frances except the mention of her name in the 1850 census.

It was in Schuyler County by the way that they met the Legrand family. The 
Legrand's appear to have arrived in Schuyler County somewhat earlier from 
Kentucky. There was extensive interaction with the Legrand's for the next few 
decades and Susan and Mary married Legrand brothers Henderson and Joel within a 
few years of their arrival in Schuyler County.

Edmund lived only a short while after the move as he died in 1857. In a deathbed
will, witnessed by his brother, he willed to ["Gilbert Sammons the South east 
quarter of the North West Quarter of Section Twenty Six and to Deverix Sammons the 
Southwest qr of the said section and the North West of Northwest is to be divided 
equally between the said Gilbert and Deverix Sammons and Gilbert Sammons is to pay 
Mary Sammons forty dollars if he takes the well.  Deverix Sammons is to pay Mary 
Sammons thirty dollars when they become of age:."]

The 1860 census for Schuyler County, Independence Township, Lancaster, Missouri
shows Mariah, age 50, living with Mary, age 17, Gilbert, age 12 and "Deris" (note 
the continuing problems with the name Devrix). On the adjacent farm lived Joseph 
Sammons, then a Joseph Glendening, and then George Sammons with his six children.

The onset of the Civil War was the catalyst for future change. Most or all the 
Sammons brothers were involved in the war, except for Devrix who was too young. 
James served in the 118th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers. Thomas served in 
an Iowa unit but the rest, including the two Legrand brothers-in-law, all enlisted 
in the 21st Missouri Volunteers. Gilbert was the only one of the brothers who died 
in the war. The cause of death was dysentery -- in fact his brothers and brothers-
in-law all filed in later years applications for invalid pensions reflecting long-
lasting effects of dysentery.

Gilbert's mother, Ann Mariah, filed an application for a dependent mother's
pension claiming that she had been dependent on Gilbert's work to support her and 
that the only help left at home was a "sickly boy of 14," meaning Devrix The 
applications were accompanied by affidavits of support from various people, her 
two sons-in-law (though not identified as such), Henderson and Joel Legrand, her 
brother-in-law, George Sammons, Samuel Wyatt (who many years later married Susan 
Sammons Legrand Pettijohn after the death of their respective spouses). She did 
receive a pension but it was later cancelled on charges of fraud. The pension file 
contains a lengthy report by a special investigator who came out from Washington 
and interviewed many people. It appears that this issue caused a great deal of 
dissension in the neighborhood as a number of people demonstrated a lot of 
hostility toward Mariah and the Legrand brothers. A large number of neighbors got 
up a petition claiming that she was receiving the pension under false pretenses as, 
they claimed, her son-in-law Joel was living on the farm and both son-in-law were 
allegedly benefiting from the pension. Even her brother-in-law, George Sammons, 
turned against her, implicitly recanting his former support and reaffirming the
allegations of fraud. In the final analysis the investigator recommended bringing 
charges against her and the two Legrand brothers.

It may be coincidental but the Legrand brothers, probably accompanied by Thomas 
Sammons and a nephew, Warner Legrand, were the first to leave Schuyler County to 
move west. One can speculate that they left because of the threat of prosecution 
but there is no proof of that. In any case they appeared in the Wyandotte County, 
Kansas area as of early 1873. Joel, however, did not survive long, dying in 1875 
of typhoid fever. Henderson, interestingly enough, became acquainted with a nearby 
neighbor, Joseph Combs, father of James Combs, who also moved west to Rooks County 
around 1878. There is no exact date for Henderson Legrand's move to Rooks County but 
he was cited in a later [Webster Eagle] article in 1887 as "[the first settler in 
western Rooks County in Alcona]".

Two more Sammons brothers followed the path to Rooks county not too long afterwards. 
Joseph and Devrix went probably in 1878. From the wording in an affidavit written 
later by Devrix for Henderson Legrand's request for a pension it appears that he, 
and probably Joseph as well stayed with Henderson Legrand while they were getting 
settled. They took out homestead claims in Richland Township not far from Legrand 
and close to one another. Joseph returned to Missouri for his family. Devrix married 
again in 1879 to Minerva Jane Swift, his first wife [Sarah] America Legrand having 
died sometime before after having borne two children, Maggie and Thomas Park[er].

Now a brief summary of the remaining history of the wife and each of the children 
of Edmund Sammons:

[Ann Mariah Sammons]: After the problems with her Dependent Mother's Pension, Ann 
Mariah remarried in 1873 to one William Pennington. It is not certain but they 
probably continued to live in the Lancaster, Schuyler Co. area. Pennington died 
in "the winter of 1889 - 1890." She apparently then went to live with or near her 
son, James and family in Joetta, Illinois. In 1890 she took advantage of a newly 
passed pension law which permitted reapplication for pensions. Affidavits were 
presented signed by her daughter-in-law, Sarah Sammons, that she was unable to 
support herself. Another affidavit signed by two younger ladies nearby stated 
that "[until about a year ago she supported herself by knitting and spinning. At 
that time she became helpless by reason of sickness and old age and is now kept 
by her children and friends, has no means of support, and is entirely destitute]."
She was approved for a pension of $12 a month that continued until her death on 1 
April 1899.

[Gilbert]: As noted earlier, Gilbert enlisted in the Union Army, Co. B, 21st 
Regiment Missouri Volunteers. His enlistment papers dated 2 January 1864 state 
that he was 18 years of age, blue eyes, light hair, and 5'4". He signed by having 
his mark witnessed as did his mother who certified that he was 18. It, however, 
is unlikely that he was more than 15 or 16 at the time. He died in Mobile, Alabama 
on 27 June 1865 of "chronic diarrhea" and was buried on 28 June 1865 in the Mobile 
City Graveyard, Soldiers Rest, Grave No. 88.

[Frances]: Little is known of her to date. There is a record in Hancock County, 
Illinois of a marriage between Frances Sammons and one Joab Thornburg. Also, there 
is a mention of a Joab Thornburg in Schuyler Co., Missouri in a probate record 
regarding Edmund Sammons' estate and also a land record for Joab Thornburg in 
Schuyler. Hence, they may have moved to Schuyler County in conjunction with the 
rest of the family but there is so far no more data.

[Jonathan]: There is little information on Jonathan beyond census records. Mary Lou 
(Sammons) Martin in California had been in touch with a Margaret Sower, a grand-
daughter, but I do not have any information on that contact other than a family 
group sheet provided to me. Available information indicates that he stayed in 
Hancock County when the rest of the family moved on to Missouri. He was married to 
a Catherine McCarty who was born in Ireland. He appears to have been widowed 
sometime after 1880 and remarried to a Rebecca Harvey, 20 years his junior. No 
date of death is available. There is an indication that one son, Frank, was 
living in Montana in 1900. The others presumably remained in the Illinois area but 
there is no information on them to date.

[James]: First a quote from the book, [History of Hancock County]. "[James was 
born May 24, 1835. He is a son of Edward [sic] and Anna (Hays) Samons [sic], the 
former a native of Virginia, and born in 1800; the latter a native of Rutherford 
Co., Tenn., was born in 1818 [sic]. Edward came to Illinois in 1831, and lived in 
Morgan county until 1847, when he moved into St. Mary's town, and was there eight 
years. He finally moved to the State of Missouri, and lived there until his death i
n 1857. At the age of 20 James located in McDonough county and there remained four 
years, and then moved to Hancock county, and has since resided on his present farm
of 267 acres, valued at $30 per acre. Mr. S. was married in 1855 to Sarah E. Way, 
native of Illinois and was born in 1840. They have been blessed with 7 children; 
viz., Mary J., Edmond, Chars. W., Ruth E., Louisa, Stephen A.,
Ida May. Mr. S. enlisted in Co. A, 118th Reg., under Capt. Campbell, in 1862;
was in battles of Thompkins Hill, and Baker Creek; discharged at Port Hudson,
Louisiana, in 1864. He is a Republican]."

In a 19 February Certificate of Disability for Discharge, it was stated that
James enlisted on 15 August 1862 in Captain John D. Rosenbrook's Company
K of the 118 Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. He was described at the time
(age 26) as 5' 7" tall, light complexion, blue eyes, light hair and "[by
occupation when enlisted a farmer]". The form noted that "[said soldier
had been unfit for duty for 60 days. Said James Samons contracted his disease
in the line of his duty while on the march around Vicksburg, Miss. He is
a good soldier who executed his duties promptly]." James was discharged
at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on 12 March 1864, giving his address at the time
as Fountain Green, [Hancock County], Illinois.

James applied for an invalid pension in 1890 based on his complaint of "[bronchial 
affection and rheumatism and heart trouble and deafness and ventral hernia and 
general disability]." He stated at the time that he was a resident of Joetta, 
Illinois. His wife, Sarah, died in 1903. He remarried in 1908 to a Lucy Wade in 
1908. He had probably known her for some years as she gave her previous places 
of marriage to previous husbands as St. Marys City and Plymouth, Illinois. 
Interestingly, they were married in Lancaster, Schuyler County, Missouri, by 
[Charles] Wesley Burnett, very likely because he was the husband of James' sister, 
Mary, the widow of Henderson Legrand, who had moved back to Missouri and married 
Burnett in 1904.

After a series of applications, he was finally approved for a pension of $15 per 
month to commence 23 February 1907. In a subsequent declaration in 1912 seeking an 
increase, he gave his address as Plymouth, Hancock County, Illinois. He died in 
November 1915. According to subsequent letters by his widow, Lucy, in unsuccessfully 
attempting to claim his accrued pension, he was very ill the last few years, 
requiring intensive care from her. 

At this time, there is no further information on his descendants other than their 
names. Note that he seemed consistently to prefer to spell his name Samons, vice 
Sammons.

[Thomas Sammons]: Thomas Sammons accompanied his parents to Schuyler County, 
Missouri in 1855. On 1 April 1859, he married Mary Jane Owings on 1April 1859 in 
Keosauqua, Iowa. He seems to have had more ties to Iowa than his brothers though 
it should be noted that Van Buren County is just across the state line from 
Schuyler County, Missouri. He, in fact, enlisted in September 1862 in Company G, 
3rd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry Volunteers, with his father-in-law, Douglas Creath 
Owings, and his brother-in-law, John William Owings, this probably because he was 
living with the Owings family in Van Buren County, Iowa. He was discharged on 9 
August 1865.

During his service, he received an injury that apparently troubled him for the 
remainder of his life. Because of this injury, in December 1887, while living in 
Wanetto, Chase County, Nebraska, he applied for an invalid pension stating that 
he had contracted a rupture from being thrown from his horse. Details of this are 
contained in an affidavit from a fellow soldier contained in his pension file as 
follows: "On or about the 20th of December 1861 while on a Scout from Jefferson 
City up into Howard County Mo we capture 171 Kegs of powder and on our return to 
the boats which were left at or near Boonville we made a night march passing 
through the town of Glasgow about dark the claimant Thomas Sammons was along Said 
Sammons & myself with about twenty others were detailed as rear guard under command 
of Lieutenant McCrary and in that night march the horse of Said Thomas Sammons 
stumbled into a ditch throwing him forward on the pommel of the Saddle and injuring 
him so as to cause permanent rupture ever after this by permission of the commanding 
officer he was permitted to carry his carbine & Saber attached to the front of his 
saddle as a relief from downward pressure."

He seems to have been associated with the Legrand brothers (Thomas' brothers-in-
law) and possibly worked for Henderson Legrand. In fact Thomas may have been the 
first Sammons in Kansas as he witnessed the pension application of Henderson Legrand 
in Wyandotte County, Kansas in 1875. Henderson Legrand was reputed to have been the 
first settler in western Rooks County, probably in late 1877 or early 1878, and 
Thomas may have accompanied him. Certainly Thomas applied for a homestead in Rooks 
County, and his wife applied for one in Phillips County.

Nonetheless, Thomas does not appear to have settled in one place for too long. It 
is possible that his war injury made it difficult to be on his own and he may have 
spent much of his life working for others. In 1883 he was reportedly living in 
Reedsville, Washington County, Kansas, probably in company with his brothers-in-law, 
Richard and James Owings. As noted above, he applied for a pension from Chase 
County Nebraska. In 1889, he filed an affidavit from Redington, Cheyenne County, 
Nebraska, followed by another in 1891 from the same place. The latter affidavit 
cited his desperate circumstances and urged action on his pension. Finally, his 
widow applied for a pension, noting that her husband, Thomas Sammons, had died in 
Redfern, Pennington County, South Dakota on 15 October 1891.  

According to Mary (Stewart) Tucker of Denver, CO, a descendent of the Thomas 
Sammons/Owings line who has researched the line thoroughly, she did not know if 
Thomas ever owned land or if he just lived on and helped with the work on land 
owned by relatives. It must have been a hard life for the family with the father 
disabled. His mother-in-law, Martha Owings, appears to have traveled from one 
family to another nursing the sick or helping with the birth of the babies. She 
homesteaded a claim in Arcadia Township, Phillips County, Kansas, at the same time 
the Sammons' were settling in Rooks County, Later, Thomas appears to have been in 
Washington County, Kansas, presumably with Richard Owings, his brother-in-law. Some 
of the family seems to have bounced back and forth between Nebraska and Kansas and 
then moved north with Thomas dying in South Dakota and some of his children and 
descendants moving on to Wyoming, Montana, and the coast states.

Of most immediate interest to the Sammons of western Kansas are the two brothers,
Joseph and Devrix, who, as stated probably came out without their families
sometime in 1878, taking out claims in Richland Township in Rooks County. Much 
more is known of Joseph than of Devrix, because of Devrix's early death, while 
Joseph lived to a ripe old age and is still remembered by some of his descendants. 
First though are some details on their two sisters, Mary Maria and Susan, who were 
also early residents of the county. 

[Mary Maria]: Mary married Henderson Legrand on 24 June 1860 near Lancaster, 
Schuyler Co., Missouri. Based on the records on Henderson Legrand, she presumably 
would have accompanied him to the Wyandotte Co., Kansas area sometime in late 1873 
or so and went with him to homestead in Richland Township in Rooks County in 1877. 
As noted above Henderson and Mary were the first settlers in western Rooks County. 
An article in the 3 September 1887 issue of the [Webster Eagle], reported the 
following: ["H. Legrand of Richland township will start next Tuesday for Illinois, 
where he will remain awhile then go to Kentucky. He has leased his ranch for two
years, and contemplates being absent about the same period. Mr. Legrand will go 
thru with a team, taking along some broncos. Mrs. Legrand will go by rail.
H. Legrand was the first man to take a claim in Alcona township, and consequently
is the oldest settler in western Rooks County. He has accumulated wealth enough to 
allow him a two years vacation and his friends wish himself and family a safe and 
pleasant journey and good health while sojourning among their friends and relatives.]" 
A later article, on 22 June 1888, in the [formerly Webster] [Stockton Eagle] under 
the column, Richland Rumors, noted that ["H. Legrand who left here last Fall for 
Illinois after a pioneer residence of ten years resumed control of his farm and herd."]

She and Henderson are thought to have one child, named William or Willie. Henderson 
died in July 1897. Mary M. Legrand filled out a "Declaration for Original Pension 
for Widow" on 8 September 1897, giving her age as 52 and noting that she was the 
widow of Henderson Legrand who "enlisted at Hannibal, Missouri on 2nd January 1864 
in Co. B 21st Vol Infty in the war of the Rebellion." This application was 
accompanied by several affidavits, one by Joseph McNulty of Stockton certifying 
Henderson's death and burial at Alcona Cemetery, and another from a W.R. Chandler 
of Webster attesting to the same thing. There was also an affidavit from Mary's 
sister, Susan (Sammons Legrand) Pettijohn, living at Mascot, Harlan County, 
Nebraska, stating that she had been present at the marriage of Henderson Legrand 
and Mary M. Sammons at her father's house near Lancaster, Missouri.

There is only limited information on Mary from this time on. She seems to have 
been living in Nebraska, probably with or near her sister for a time based on an 
affidavit a short time later. In 1900, she was back in Kansas apparently as she 
was listed in that year's census as living with her brother, Joseph. Not too long 
afterward she must have gone back to Missouri as she married a [Reverend] Charles 
W. Burnett at Lancaster, Schuyler Co. Missouri on 25th February 1904. He died on 
11th January 1919 and she applied for reinstatement of her pension as a widow of 
Henderson Legrand. She was apparently successful as in a later letters she was 
seeking an increase. The letter is interesting enough to be quoted as follows:

["Lancaster Missouri 1927

"Aprile th 10

Dare Mr Winfield Scott

the commissioner of Pension

I will rite you a few lines in regard to my increace of Pension under the act of 
July the 3th as I have not receved eney nor herd eney thing I wood rite you and 
hope you will let me know if I am title to the increace if you pleas I was the 
wife of my former Husban while he was in the Sivel ware and he die with desese c
ontracted in the ware of hart trubel and cronic direa he was a good Soldier and 
belong to the Grand armey & a member of Mason Log in good Standin I am a pensioner 
of thirty dolars per month and my pension certificate No 459-291 I hope to here 
from you in thener futher yours respectful from Mary M Legrand now Mary M. Burnett.

I hav ritin toyou sometime agoe and had not hern eney ting I though I wood rite a 
gane & hope that you will parden me for riting a gane]"

She lived to a ripe old age. The Bureau of Pensions was notified by a law firm in 
Lancaster that she died April 25th, 1939. One interesting point in this context is 
that the firm stated that they had been retained as attorneys for her estate by 
Reuben LeGrand, administrator with will annexed of her estate. Obviously there were 
still LeGrand's in the Schuyler County area and she retained her ties to them.

[Susan]: Susan married Joel Greenberry Legrand in 1857. After he returned from the 
Civil War, they appear to have lived on the family farm with her mother. Joel 
signed some affidavits testifying as to the merit of Mariah's claim for a dependent 
mother's pension. He first applied for a invalid pension for himself in August 1872 
but it was not approved until 1876, after his death in 1875 of typhoid fever when 
living in Armstrong, Wyandotte Co., Kansas. His widow, Susan, then applied for a 
widow's pension in 1877 while still living in Wyandotte County. She noted that she 
had one child -- Mary Eliza Legrand -- under 16. Her other child, a son, Thomas 
Henry Legrand (also known later as Henry) was not mentioned in her application as 
he was older. The affidavit was witnessed by Warner Legrand. A subsequent affidavit 
is also very significant. It was made in Phillips County in December of the same 
year by Mary Jane Owings [Sammons] and Martha Owings, Thomas Sammons' wife and 
mother-in-law respectively. The date of this affidavit further supports the 
conclusion that Thomas Sammons probably accompanied Henderson Legrand to Rooks 
County in 1877 making them the first of the family to arrive there. Susan probably 
went to Rooks County with her brother-in-law, Henderson Legrand, Mary's husband.

In fact, in 1882, Henderson who by then was a Justice of the Peace married Susan 
to Reuben Pettijohn. Reuben and Susan appear to have moved to Nebraska and to 
have lived in the area of Furnas and Harlan counties, for instance in Mascot and 
Oxford. Reuben died in 1906 and Susan appears to have gone back to Rooks County 
at some point after that as she was enumerated in the 1910 census as living with 
her brother, Joseph Sammons.

Susan Pettijohn married Samuel Wyatt in Topeka in 1912. He was an old friend from 
the early days in Schuyler County and, in fact, he and his then wife in 1868 both 
signed an affidavit supporting Susan's mother, Mariah, in her quest for a dependent 
mother's pension. Susan and Samuel Wyatt at some point moved to Phillipsburg, 
Kansas and apparently lived with her son, [Thomas] Henry Legrande [sic]. Samuel 
Wyatt died in 1920 at Phillipsburg. Since he was also a veteran of the Civil War, 
Susan is on record as having attempted to get a widow's pension from his service. 
In March 1922, she was mentioned by Henry Legrande's wife in a letter to the Bureau 
of Pensions in Washington asking the Bureau to send Susan Wyatt's pension "[in care 
of Henry Legrande, Box 87, Phillipsburg, Kans. And she will get it OK as I am 
taking care of this poor old blind woman and she is at our house."] Susan died 
later that year in December.

[Joseph]: He was born in Morgan County, Illinois on 12 December 1833. In the 1850 
census he was referred to as Jacob. It is not known whether changed his name later 
or, more likely, it was just an error on the part of the census taker. He moved 
with his parents to Hancock County, Illinois when he was 12 and then moved with 
them again to Schuyler County, Missouri in 1855. He enlisted in the army during 
the Civil War at Memphis, Missouri on 18 October 1861 in Co. B, 21st Regiment of 
Missouri Infantry. He served 4 years and 7 months, taking part in a number of 
battles, including the battle of Shiloh under General Sherman where he was wounded. 
In a later Declaration for Original Invalid Pension, he stated that "in the line 
of his duty at Shiloh and in the siege of Corinth, Mississippi on or about April 
1862, he contracted lung fever and chronic diarrhoea" which had troubled his since.
He was discharged on 19 April 1866 at Ft. Morgan, Alabama.

He returned to Missouri where he married Sarah (London) Wheeler on 14 February 
1867. Sarah had first married to Isaac Newton Wheeler in Missouri in 1863. He 
died 6 months later of an illness or "epidemic" as it was called in those days. 
Her son, Isaac Newton Wheeler Jr.., was born 25 February 1865, after his father's 
death, in Schuyler County, Missouri, and Joseph raised "Ike" Wheeler as his own 
son.

According to family tradition, Joseph's brother, Devrix, and his stepson, "Ike" 
Wheeler, along with Henderson Legrand [NB: Henderson may have come earlier] and 
others from Schuyler County, Missouri were the first to come to Kansas in the 
year 1877. It is more likely that he came in 1878, and later brought his family 
by covered wagon train, using a team of oxen, to the Alcona area in Rooks County, 
Kansas.

He homesteaded a mile strip of ground rather than what was considered a quarter,
to be sure he had water on his land as this strip went to the river. His 
homestead comprised 40 acres in Section 4 and 160 acres in Section 3 of Richland
Township close to the Alcona school. The family first lived in a combination
dugout and sod house. It was one big room divided off into smaller rooms with 
pieces of muslin cloth. Later he built a three-room stone house, a few remains of 
which stand today. Sarah and Joseph lived on their farm until he passed away there 
about midnight on 1 September 1925. 

His children lived primarily in Kansas and southern Nebraska although some went 
back to the Iowa area.

[Devrix]: As stated earlier, less is known of Devrix than of some of his brothers 
and sisters both because he had no military service and thus no records, and 
because he died earlier than most and so there was little oral history remaining 
about him. He was born circa 1851. The birth date on his tombstone in Alcona 
Cemetery has been the source of a good deal of confusion. The birth date may well 
be that of his next older brother, Gilbert, but if so, how the mistake arose is not 
known. He lived in Schuyler County, Missouri up until his departure for Rooks 
County. At the age of about 19 he married America Legrand (probably the Sarah A. 
Legrand who appeared in the 1860 census as a niece of Henderson and Joel Legrand). 
He had, as mentioned above, two children by her, Maggie and Thomas Park Sammons. 
There seems to be no record in Rooks county of the two children from Devrix's first
marriage. Devrix may have left them in Missouri, possibly with some Legrand in-
laws but this is speculation. Maggie probably and Thomas for certain ended up in 
Nebraska though exactly how is not known. There is data on Thomas showing that he 
married one Minnie Bates circa 1900 and was living with his father-in-law in 
eastern Nebraska. So far no mention of Maggie has been found. In any event, after 
he arrived in Kansas, he married Minerva Swift. Based on information located by 
Laura Sammons, Darrell Sammons' daughter, he took out a homestead claim and 
received a patent on it a few years later. However, he immediately sold it.

It is very difficult to define the movements of Devrix and his family at this 
period. Based on the age given in an affidavit written for Richard Owings (the 
brother-in-law of Thomas Sammons) around 1889 and some of the years he mentioned 
seeing Owings, he may have left Rooks County around 1885-7. At the time of the 
affidavit, he gave his address as P.O. Devizes, Norton County, Kansas Devizes is 
almost on the Nebraska line and is just across the border from Furnas County where 
his sister, Susan Pettijohn, and possibly some Legrand's were living. Later census 
records list Bob (1889) and Ike Sammons (1890) as having been born in Nebraska so 
either Devrix and his family moved again further north in Nebraska, or, quite 
possibly were living in Nebraska with Devizes just across the line as their Post 
Office address. In any case Frank was subsequently listed as having been born in 
1892 in Kansas so they presumably had moved back to Kansas, and Rooks County. 
Devrix died in 1893, cause unknown. However, there was mention in local newspaper
articles of that time that there were extensive cases of "la grippe" (influenza)
in the area so he may have died in a flu epidemic.

Most of Devrix's children remained in Rooks County although later Edmond moved to 
Smith County and George to Colorado for a time and then to the Eldorado, Kansas 
area. The youngest, Frank, subsequently moved to Colorado.

Both Devrix and Joseph were the progenitors of a sizable clan of Sammons in Rooks 
County and elsewhere with many descendants. 

There is a major and important group of Sammons in upper New York State. As noted 
above there is extensive detail on the origins of this group of Sammons' but still 
contradictory in some ways and not conclusive. The early settlers in this group 
first lived north of New York City but many of them subsequently but prior to the 
Revolutionary War had settled in the Mohawk Valley of New York State, principally 
around Johnstown and some other towns such as Canajoharie. One source, as noted 
above, traced the Sammons in this area to one Richard Sammons who had arrived 
from England probably in the late 1600's.

However, the most well documented genealogical records state that they descended
from an immigrant from Holland named Johannes Thomassen (changed later to Sammons). 
His date of arrival is not known but he was married in New York City in 1677. His 
descendents lived in the Hudson River valley north of New York City but later moved 
northward and settled in the Mohawk River Valley.
They were strong advocates of revolution, despite earlier close relations with Sir 
John Johnston, the powerful governor of the whole area. The principal leader of 
this group was one Sampson Sammons who had sons, Jacob, Frederick, Thomas, and 
Benjamin. Sampson was a member of the Committee of Safety of Tryon (later 
Montgomery) County and all of his sons served in the revolution. One can even find 
a mention of these Sammons' in the well-known book [Drums Along the Mohawk].

The following excerpt from an early biography well illustrates their role in the 
revolution: "Prominent among the true men of the day was Sampson Sammons, born in 
1742 in Greenwich (now part of New York City), who came to this locality from 
Ulster County in 1769. He is mentioned as a man of unusual mental power, and well 
qualified for that position of influence and popularity which he gained among the 
settlers of the valley. He had a friendly acquaintance with the Johnsons, but their 
influence never abated his loyalty to the American cause. His family were ardent 
Whigs and as such suffered in person and property from the barbarity of Sir John 
[Johnson] and his followers. In 1780 Sampson Sammons and his son, Jacob, Frederick 
and Thomas, were all made prisoners, but the father and Thomas were released, while 
the others, as well as a number of horses belonging to the father, were taken to 
Canada. Sampson Sammons was a volunteer in the battle at Oriskany and Jacob was 
also there. After the departure of Sir John the committee of sequestration leased 
Johnson Hall and its estate to Sampson Sammons, at a rent of 300 pounds per annum.
The village of Sammonsville is named in honor of the pioneer family."

The history of the members of this family is very interesting. Frederick, for 
instance, was one of the party captured by Johnson, accompanied by the Indian 
leader, Brandt. He was taken to Canada with his brother (the father and one brother 
were released). After a few days there, he and a friend who were assigned to dump 
the privy tub in the river jumped and swam across the St. Lawrence. He was 
recaptured after some days in the woods and kept in irons for much of the next two 
years. When released from irons, he again managed to elude his captors and leaped 
in the river. After three weeks in the woods and in ill health, he managed to make 
his way south to the point where he sent word to his father, and his brother, 
Thomas, came in a wagon to pick him up.

The family continued its prominence. Thomas served one term in the US Congress,
Frederick served in the NY legislature and all were considered prominent citizens. 
Sammonsville still exists on the map a short distance south of Johnstown, NY.

I have found sketchy records of some of their descendants who went west later,
primarily to Illinois. However, they were more in northern Illinois and some of 
the Sammons of the Chicago area can trace their line back to New York. As noted 
earlier, there has to date been no success in tying in this line to the southern 
Virginian Sammons from whom we appear to trace our descent. One brother did go to 
Virginia after the war but to Greenbrier County (which became part of West Virginia 
at the time of the Civil War), not further south. At least one or more of his 
descendants moved westward to Ohio and Illinois and almost certainly some of the 
West Virginia Sammons descend from this line.

Charlotte Curlee Ramsey
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cramsey/index.html