Great-grandfather of Wenda Fore

Private     Co. D     12th MI Infantry

Dates of Service: 31 Aug 1864 - 09 Sep 1865

Peter Simmons and Eleanor Higley became friends when the families moved to the Adamsville area in Cass County, Michigan in the middle 1850's. Eleanor indicated that she met her future husband in the year 1856. They were married by Justice of the Peace John Hillman on June 13, 1858. Their first child, a son George Marcus, was born on September 1, 1862. Their daughter, Mary E. was born on October 3, 1863. Peter was the village blacksmith in Adamsville, a trade he learned from his father William Simmons.

Peter enlisted in the 12th Michigan Infantry, Company D at Adamsville on August 21, 1864 under the command of William E. Stewart. His unit was stationed near Devall's Bluff, Arkansas where they were on guard duty on the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad. From this time until June 12, 1865 they remained at their camp near Devall's Bluff doing provost guard duty, picket and other duties, with occasional scouting.

Peter Simmons' account of his illnesses while serving in the Civil War at DeValls Bluff, Arkansas (From a letter written to a Mr. Starkweather for proof of his illness there, as he applied for a pension.)

"We first went to DeValls Bluff, Arkansas. There was a General Hospital there. I was detailed from my regiment to attend to the burials and all kinds of diseases. After I was there about two months, I had intermitting and roasting fever. I think In July I was at the hospital for putrid erysipelas which left me stone deaf in one ear and quite deaf in the other. My hair came out and the skin was callused tight to my head.  I think in August 1864 I was detailed away from the hospital by Gen. Thaylor as his orderly. After I was there a week or two I was taken with smallpox. They kept me in their barracks and treated me until I was better. I was there about three weeks, and then my regiment got marching orders. We went to Pine Bluff, Ark. – from there to Arkadelphia where we left two companies. The rest of us went to Washington, Ark. On my march I was taken with the bloody flu and had to go in an ambulance. When we got there we had four cases of smallpox. They took them to an old building and called it a hospital and I had to go take care of the sick. I think we were there about four weeks and then we were all called back to Camden and discharged."

When he returned home to Adamsville, he resumed work as a blacksmith, although he was unable to work more than a few hours at a time. At one time during the fall of 1865 it was reported that he was bedfast for several days at a time on account of his stomach and dizzy spells.

Peter and Eleanor Simmons had a son, William Warren, born on September 19, 1866, and grieved on the death of their first-born son, George Marcus, on September 30, 1868. Their twin daughters, Rosetta May (my grandmother) and Loretta May, were born on November 15, 1873 in Edwardsburg, Cass County, Michigan. Charles Leroy Simmons was born on December 13, 1878, and Myrtle Simmons was born on April 16, 1879 in Bangor, Van Buren County, Michigan, where her father worked in another blacksmith shop for a short time.

Before moving to Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan in 1879, Peter Simmons worked at a blacksmith shop in Fruitport, Muskegon County, Michigan. He later worked as a blacksmith in Lamont, Ottawa, County, Michigan, in the small village along the Grand River which was a lumber town. A nursing home now occupies that location on the river. Friends signed affidavits attesting to the fact that he was an able-bodied man before the war, but never again able to work full time at his trade after he returned to Michigan.

According to the R.L. Polk Co.'s Grand Rapids City Directory 1880-81, Peter W. Simmons advertised his trade as "Blacksmith and Horse Shoer" at 40 Summit in Grand Rapids.

Peter W. Simmons and his wife Eleanor Higley Simmons lived at 875 Fair St. when Peter passed away on February 12, 1902 of Erysipelas and Cerebral Meningitis. He had been receiving a Civil War Pension of $8 per month which was raised to $12. At his passing he was 65 years old and they had been married for 43 years. Peter is buried in the A. B. Watson G.A.R. Post 395 cemetery plot in Oakhill Cemetery, Grand Rapids Michigan. He was a member of the Custer Post 5/6 Grand Army of the Republic. Eleanor was granted a widow’s pension on February 28, 1902 and moved in with her daughter Myrtle Walsworth and family at 35 Griggs St. SW in Grand Rapids. By 1920 the pension amount was raised to $30 per month, and in 1926 to $50 per month. Eleanor passed away on November 13, 1929 after suffering with carcinoma of the mouth and hard palate. She is buried in Oakhill Cemetery next to their son Charles who passed away in 1920.

GRAVESITE:  Oakhill Cemetery A. B. Watson Post 395 cemetery plot

Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan

Written by Great-Granddaughter Wenda Leys Fore, April 2001

Updated February 2020