| 8. | David "Big Dave" Simmons was born in 1811 in Hickory Flats, Allen, Louisiana (son of James Simmons, Jr and Nancy Sullivan); died in 1865 in Hickory Flats, Allen, Louisiana. Notes:
The following accounts of some Simmons family records were found in a letter written by Pat Simmons to his cousin Irene Simmons at Robstown, Texas. I will quote this letter.
Dayton, Texas
July 10, 1941
Dear Cousin Irene,
At last I have a few idle moments and will begin on the family history of the Simmons, which I promised to send you when we met at the family reunion.
This history of the Simmons family was told to me by my father, my uncles and aunts, and the older people of Louisiana who were friends and neighbors. In giving names of children born to our uncles and aunts, I do not include those who died in infancy or early childhood.
On the next page I give a brief description of the place where our parents were born.
In Allen Parish, La. there is a strip of land about four miles wide and ten miles long that was named by the early settlers "Hickory Flat". It was so named because of the great number of hickory trees growing on ridges of land between the flats. Hickory Flat is between Calcasieu River and Bayou Blue.
The early settlers built log houses on the ridges and rail fences around small cleared spaces for farms. The houses were nearly all alike, having two large rooms with a hall between, a mud chimney at each end, and a wide porch in front; and one or two shed rooms on the porch on the back of the house.
It was here that David Simmons and Millie (Amelia) Forman, our grandparents grew to manhood and womanhood, and in about the year 1828 they were married.
In 1848, when my father was 12 years old and your father was 3, our grandfather moved from Hickory Flat to within six miles northwest of Sugartown on the Whisky-Chitto Creek. There Aunt Susan, Uncle Ab and Aunt Nannie were born.
The only sign remaining of the old Sugartown home is a depression where the well was dug. Some people believed that grandfather had buried some gold and several holes have been dug around the old home.
I have been told that grandfather was a big man and in his younger days wore a long red beard. He had a cousin named Dave, and people called grandpa "Big Dave" and his cousin "Black Dave". I think grandmother was a big portly woman, as were her daughters, Aunt Susan and Aunt Nannie.
In 1862 Grandmother died and is buried in a cemetery within a few hundred yards of the old home. Grandfather lived three years longer. He decided to marry again but his children opposed a second marriage. To show them he was still boss, he mounted his horse, took his girl (Lila Gill) behind the saddle and rode up and down the road where his children could see him. He finally married the woman and they had one child but it died soon after birth.
He died in 1865 and was buried by grandmother's side." End of quote.
They are buried in Smyrna Cemetery near Sugartown, Allen Parish, La. They were married Feb. 24, 1829 by Isham Nettles, a Baptist minister.[SDForman Family.FTW]
David married Amelia Forman on 24 Feb 1829 in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Amelia (daughter of William Forman and Susan Cole) was born in 1814 in Hickory Flats, Allen, Louisiana; died in 1862 in Sugartown, Louisiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1883 - 1925 (41 years)