Life History

Other facts

Notes

• 1880 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, Page 15C, LDS transcription of census, household numbers not given, Jennie reported as a child of John W and Mary Miller:
  Jennie Miller  Dau  S  W 13 AR  MS  NY
  
  In 1910, Jennie is listed with her children in the household of her father, widower J W Miller.  The record appears to indicate she is divorced, rather than widowed.  The enumerator is sloppy and has poor penmanship.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 6 June, Prairie Township, District 7, page 4A, Hse #55, Fam #56
  Simmons, Pleas S  Head W M  Sept 1874  55 Married 3 yrs  TN NC NC Farmer
  Simmons, Jennie Wife W F Apr 1867  33 Married 3 yrs borne 4 children,4 living  AR MS MS  Dairy Farmer
  Simmons, Loula Daughter W F  Feb 1884  6  AR TN TN
  Simmons, Arthur Son W M  Aug 1897 2  AR TN AR
  Seemons, Lillie Daughter W F  Nov 1884  15 [?]  AR TN AR
  Seemons, Ethel Daughter W F  Apr 1888  12 [?]  AR TN AR
  Seemons, Tempa Daughter W F  Dec 1892  7  AR TN AR
  
  The name of the head of household is smudged, partially faded  and overwritten.  Ancestry.com transcribes it as Pleas S.  The first name may be Pleasant, which is a man's first name in many families in the 1800s.
  
  The section of the sheet containing this family is faded, so parts ofletters are illegible, only certain heavier strokes appear.  Some arealso smeared or smudged.  The birth dates are generally clear, but some numbers are faded.  The enumerator's e's are closed, but somewhat rounded, while the i's are straight and usually clearly dotted.
  
  I note that Jennie is shown with an occupation, Dairy Farmer, different from her husband's occupation of simply Farmer.  Were they operating two separate farm homesteads?
  
  Note that all the children are reported as children of Mr Simmons, though we know the Seamons (Seemons) children are the children of ThomasSeamons, who died before this census and Jennie's marriage to Mr Simmons.  Also the last listed is shown as older than the other two girls.  The oldest is usually listed first.
  
  The Seemons name is partially faded, and is written only on the firstentry, that for Lillie.  Lillie's name is spelled here the way the family sources spell it, and as it is spelled in her obituary.  The census of 1910 also spells it Lillie, but in 1930 it is spelled Lilly.
  
  The last child listed is hard to read.  The name is largely faded.  It is appears to be Tempa, matching the family information in the nameTempie.  It is transcribed by Ancestry.com as Amka.  The k is not clear, and the lower part looks like some of the p's on this page.  The first letter is mostly gone.  It appears this name could be a form of the name Tempie.  At any rate it seems to match that child, who appearsin this census, but is probably the child reported in the 1910 census, as having died.  The child reported as Tempie in family sources hadno birth or death dates.  The full name of this child was likely Temperance.
  
  1910 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 5 May, North Prairie,District 12, page 8A, Hse #144, In household of her father J W Miller:
  Miller, J W Head M W  63 Widowed  MS Germ AL Farmer
  Seamans, Jinnie Daughter F W  40  borne 4 children, 3 living  AR MS AL
  Seamans, Lillie Granddaughter F W 20  AR AR AR Laborer, Home Farm
  Seamans, Ethel Granddaughter F W 16  AR AR AR Laborer, Home Farm
  Simmons, Arthur Grandson M W 13  AR TN AR Laborer, Home Farm (born abt 1997)
  
  The ages vary wildly here for Lillie and Ethel.  In 1900 Ethel was 12, which matches her birth date known by the family as 19 Jul 1889.  The birth date reported in the census, however, partially faded, appears to be April 1888, which is wrong.  In 1930, her age is 41, which isstill within range.  But in 1910, we see her age is said to be 16, only 4 years older than in 1900!
  
  In this 1910 census, Lillie is reported as 20, only 5 years older than in 1900.  Her birthday is reported in 1900 as November 1884, while the family records her birth date as 11 November 1886.
  
  Arthur Simmons is the son of Jennie's second husband, whose first name is Pleas, probably short for Pleasant.  Since the last census, Jennie has divorced Mr Simmons.  Also one child has died, as now only 3 ofher 4 children is reported as living.  This must be the child called Tempie in family sources, and probably listed as Amka or similar in the faded entry in 1900.
  
  Note that the birthplace of Jennie's mother is now shown as Alabama, not New York.  Ancestry.com has the surnames of the Seamans members ofthis family badly mistranscribed, with every one of them having a different name.  The closest to what is actually written is Lille Seamens.  The family did spell the name as Seamans at times.  The more common spelling seems to have been Seamons.
  
  In 1930, Jennie has moved into the household of her daughter Ethel Oral Seamons Dumond.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 18 April, Prairie Township, District 25, page 6A, Ethel and Point Rd, Hse #106, Fam #107
  Dumond, Ira E Head M W 36 AR AR AR Farmer
  Dumond, Ethel O Wife F W 41 AR AR AR
  Maddox, Alma M Dau F M 16 S AR IL AR
  Dumond, Bertie Dau F W 12 S AR AR AR
  Dumond, Lillian Dau F W 10 S AR AR AR
  Dumond, Gertrude Dau F W 8 S AR AR AR
  Dumond, Ira E Jr Dau F W 3yrs 9mos S AR AR AR
  Seamons, Jennie Mother-in-Law F W 67 [Married state unreadable] AR ARVT
  
  This census reports Jennie's mother as born in Vermont instead of NewYork.  1910 said Alabama.  1900 said Mississippi.  While Jennie was still in her parents' home in 1880, at age 13, her mother's birth statewas said to be New York.  That census reported that Jennie's maternalgrandmother was born in Vermont.

Sources

• 1. 1880 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 2 June, PrairieTownship, page 21 (scan p15C), Hse #21, Fam #25
• 2. 1900 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 6 June, Prairie Township, District 7, page 4A, Hse #55, Fam #56
• 3. 1880 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 2 June, Prairie Township, District 2, page 21 (scan p15C), Hse #21, Fa
• 4. 1910 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 5 May, North Prairie, District 12, page 8A, Hse #144
• 5. 1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 18 April, Prairie Township, District 25, page 6A, Ethel and Point Rd.
• 6. Bertie Lois Dumond McSwain, Personal Conversation with Orville Boyd Jenkins, 1980
• 7. Bertie Lois Dumond McSwain, letter to Orville and Edith Jenkins, 12 March, 1977
• 8. George Oliver McSwain, email correspondence, November 2006
• 9. Social Security Death Index
• 10. 1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 21 April, Prairie Township, District 24, page 8A, Hse #147, Fam #148
• 11. Bertie Lois Dumond McSwain, Family Information, handwritten 27 February, 1979
• 12. Gravestone of Ethel Seamon Dumond, Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas
• 13. 1910 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 27 April, La Grue Township, DeWitt Town, District 9, page 4B, Hse/Fam