James Simril was the son of James and Margaret Ware Simril. He married Violet Barry Henderson Feb 11, 1762 in Rowan Co. NC. Their children were Rhoda, Catherine, Rachel, James Franklin, Francis Ross, Violet, Margaret, William, Elizabeth, and Mary. James was a patriot in the American Revolutionary War. James Simril is listed on the DAR Ancestor List--Born 1740 in Rowan County, NC. Died abt. 1820, buried in western Tennessee, Patriot Service Calvalry, Camden District South Carolina. His name is listed as JAMES SIMRALL. He was given 1000 acres of land in White Co., Tennessee in 1793 from the state of North Carolina for his service to the American Revolutionary Cause.

He married Violet Barry Henderson Feb 11, 1762, at Rowan, NC. Violet Barry Henderson Simril is buried in the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Rock Hill, SC.

* * * *

James Simril of York County South Carolina
Daniel Troublefield, 6 Sep 2016
Mistaken Identity: Sorting out the men named James Simril
This is an article written for and published in The Quarterly, a publication of the York County Genealogical and Historical Society, Rock Hill, South Carolina.

One of the pitfalls of genealogy is finding records of multiple persons of the same or similar names living in the same general area at about the same time and then confusing their identities. The focus of this article will be a comparison of records of five different men with similar names. In this way, I hope to give them all back their separate identities.

There were five men named James Simril, or variations of that name, who have been misidentified as the same man: James Simril of York County, South Carolina. All five lived in the Piedmont area of the two Carolinas or close to it. Two of these men were Revolutionary War soldiers, one in South Carolina and one in North Carolina. The other three had no known military service. There were also others of the name in Virginia and Pennsylvania, but their identities have not been confused with that of James Simril, Sr., of York County.

(1) James Simril, born 1735 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, moved with his mother and stepfather George Davison to Davidson's Creek in Rowan County, North Carolina.
This James Simril married a widow, Violet Barry Henderson with a son John Henderson, Jr., in 1762 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Together James and Violet had nine children. The names of their children were proved, after the parents's deaths, by an 1803 court record in York County, South Carolina: Rhoda McWhorter, Catherine Douglass, Violet McCorkle, Margaret McWhorter, Rachael Choat, Elizabeth Soward, James Simril Jr., Francis Ross Simril, and Mary Brown. (Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas, 1803, pages 136-137. See also "Elizabeth Berry's Petition," by this author, in The Quarterly, York County, South Carolina (December 2008), Vol. 17, No. 3, pages 12-14.) Simril fought as a lieutenant and as a private soldier in the New Acquisition, South Carolina militia during 1779 and 1780. James Simril's history can be found in his stepfather's will, court records, deeds and land grants in Rowan during the 1760s, a Mecklenburg grant and deed also in the 1760s, and his Revolutionary War claims, several deeds and court records, and the 1790 federal census during his residence in York County, South Carolina. He died in the latter county in or soon after 1792. He had been deeply in debt and unable to support his family so the local court had threatened to place his sons as apprentices to learn a trade.

(2) A second James, called "Simeral" and "Simmeral," died in Iredell County, North Carolina, before November 1792. George Simeral, his closest relative, was his administrator and his heir. (Iredell estate records and North Carolina General Assembly records.) A year later on 15 Nov 1793 a bounty land warrant (1000 acres) was granted by North Carolina to "The Heirs of James Simmeral a Sargeant in the line of this state" (meaning that this James was dead). No specific location in the part of western North Carolina that later became the state of Tennessee was designated in the warrant. George Simeral arranged in 1796 and 1806 to choose the particular land for surveying - in Davidson, Williamson and Hickman Counties, Tennessee. (Author's email correspondence with Carole Pierce Gardner and Sue Lynn Cooper, September 2008.)

(3) A third James Simril married Elizabeth Stephens in 1803 in Rowan County, North Carolina. His wife Elizabeth was born in 1780 in Chatham County, North Carolina, and it is reasonable to suggest that her husband was about the same age, making him too young to be a Revolutionary veteran. This man could not be either (1) or (2), above, who were dead. No later records have been found to prove the further history of this couple.

This James and this Elizabeth are said by writers online to have had a child Daniel Simril born in 1797 before the marriage. There is no proof of Daniel's parentage, however. The assumption of illegitimacy seems to be based solely on his birth year and the marriage date of his alleged parents. Census, deeds, and court records in White County, Tennessee, show the presence of Daniel Simril and his wife and children there.

(4) The 1820 federal census records for White County, Tennessee, show James "Simrell," age 45 and over, so born in or before 1775. From the age given in the census and the probable age of Elizabeth Stephens' husband in 1803, there is the possibility that this James was the same man who married Stephens. However, no records have been found tying the 1803 couple to White County, Tennessee. One argument that allegedly tied the 1793 land warrant, the 1803 marriage couple, James Simrell in the 1820 census, and Daniel Simril together was the supposition that the warrant was for land in White County, Tennessee. However, the lands that George Simeral's agent obtained were located in Davidson, Williamson and Hickman Counties, Tennessee, not in White County.

(5) A certain James Somerville (original spelling of the Simril name) died in 1790 and was buried at Old Waxhaw Cemetery in Lancaster County, South Carolina. There is no record of his having married and at first it was thought that there were no claimants to his estate and it escheated to the state. However, legislative petitions in the South Carolina Archives show that this James had a daughter Jean Simral born out of wedlock. "Jane Summerville alias Somerville" made a claim on her father's estate in 1800, but was denied. In her own 1807 will Jean "Simral" left all her property to her natural daughter Sinthy Simral. Somerville's granddaughter Cynthia or Synthy Simral, alias "Summerville," married William M. Hill and made a successful claim on the estate of James Somerville in 1822.

Some descendants of James Simril, Sr., of York County, South Carolina, who have written about their ancestor have confused his identity with these other men. Mary Irwin Belk, a North Carolina descendant, applied for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution based on his service and claimed a "family tradition" that Simril left his wife and children behind and married again. The justification is that James # 1 disappeared from the South Carolina records after a certain point before the 1793 grant to the heirs of James # 2 and before the 1803 marriage of James # 3. The wording of the original warrant indicating that James #2 was dead in 1793 and had been a North Carolina soldier, whereas James Simril of York served in the South Carolina militia,
was ignored.

Supportive of the legend is the lack of probate records for James #1 in York County, South Carolina, but he had no property to leave to his heirs. He had several times lost what lands he owned over the years for the payment of debts - not at all unusual in the post-Revolutionary War period. Deeds and court records concerning him end by 1792. No public records refer to this James Simril after 1792, except for an alleged reference to him (or to his son James, Jr., who sold it a few years later) in a South Carolina land grant in 1799. The place of burial of James # 1 and his wife Violet is uncertain. Several children and grandchildren are buried at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church cemetery in Rock Hill. Many unmarked graves are there as evidenced by rough rocks or wide open spaces. The church's records do not go back that far. Some of Violet Simril's Barry siblings and her mother are buried at Bethel Presbyterian Church near Clover where there are also many unmarked graves.

A recent trend among persons who only occasionally engage in family research is the posthumous provision to ancestors long dead of middle names or an extra given name that they never bore in life. The idea seems to be that everyone now living has a middle name (not true) and therefore all who ever lived must have had a middle name. This trend has further confused the identity of our James Simril, Sr. In the 1900s a middle name "Franklin" was added to our James Simril's son James Jr., by a couple of respected family historians. It seems this insertion must have resulted from a misreading of the 1850 will of James Simril Jr. in which he mentions a grandson and partial namesake as one of his legatees. The grandson was and remains the only member of the Simril family who actually bore James Franklin Simril as his full name. Recently that misidentification has been added to James Simril Sr. on sites such as Findagrave.com and Ancestry.com.

All surviving records for our James the elder and his son James the younger have been painstakingly collected and reviewed. Although the surname Simril has undergone many spellings, no official records concerning James or his son and namesake, including documents signed by the men themselves, show either middle initial or middle name.

As a result of superficial research by a number of persons, my sixth great-grandfather has been wrongfully accused of desertion of his wife and nine children, fathering a child out of wedlock, and bigamy. Family researchers need to look at all the records for all men of similar names living in the same general area and use those records to distinguish between them and not to confuse their identities.

The family of James Simril and Violet Barry Henderson Simril:

James Simril II, born about 1735 in Chester Co., Penn., (son of James Simril I and Margaret Wear), died in or shortly after 1792 between Rockey Allison Creek and Fishing Creek, York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Presb. Church Cem. (unmarked grave), York Co., S.C. Married 14 Sep 1762 in Rowan Co., N.C., Violet Barry, born about 1738 in Cecil Co., Md., (daughter of John Barry Sr. and Catherine Porter) died between 1800-1803 in York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem. (unmarked grave). Violet had a son John Henderson, Jr., born 1760 Rowan Co., N.C., died 1832 York Co., S.C., buried Ebenezer Cem., by her first husband. Her son John married Mary McWhorter, born 1761, died 1835. By Simril, Violet had nine children.

I. Rhoda Simril, born 1765 in Rowan Co., N.C., died 1834 in Mount Hope, Lawrence Co., Ala., buried in Rock Springs Cem., Mt. Hope, Ala.. Married about 1783 in York Co., S.C., John McWhorter, born about 1764 in Rowan Co., N.C., (son of Hance McWhorter Sr. and Sarah Winsley) died 04 Mar 1840 in Mt. Hope, Lawrence Co., Ala., buried in Rock Springs Cem., Mt. Hope, Ala..

II. Catherine Simril, born 1767 in Rowan or Mecklenburg Co., NC, died between 1803-1809 in Madison Co., Ky., buried in Madison Co., Ky.. Married about 1784 in Camden Dist., S.C., Jesse Douglass Sr., born 1765 in Waxhaws, Craven Co., S.C., died Mar 1811 in Madison Co., Ky., buried in Madison Co., Ky..

III. Violet Simril, born 1769 in Mecklenburg or Tryon Co., N.C. (York Co., S.C.), died 02 Oct 1796 in York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem.. Married between 1786-1790 in York Co., S.C., William McCorkle, born 1757 in Pennsylvania, (son of Stephen McCorkle Sr. and Ann Forbes) died after 1840 in St. Clair Co., Ala., buried in St. Clair Co., Ala..

IV. Margaret Simril, born 1770 in Tryon Co., N.C. (York Co., S.C.), died 22 Aug 1845 in Lawrence Co., Ala., buried in Lawrence Co., Ala.. Married abt 1787 in York Co., SC, Moses Winslow McWhorter Sr., born 1767 in ?Rowan Co., NC, (son of Hance McWhorter Sr. and Sarah Winsley) died 06 Aug 1846 in Lawrence Co., Ala., buried in Lawrence Co., Ala., probate 1846 in Lawrence Co., Ala., estate settlement 1847.

V. Rachael Simril, born 22 Jan 1772 in Tryon Co., N.C. (York Co., S.C.), died 12 Jul 1850 on Allison Creek, York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem.. Married between 1787-1792 in York Co., S.C., William Choate, born 12 Jan 1766 in Bedford or Pittsylvania Co., Va., (son of Augustine "Austin" Choate Sr. and Unknown Unknown) died 29 May 1844 on Rockey Allison Creek, York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem..

VI. Elizabeth Simril, born 1775 in New Acquisition (York Co.), S.C., died 22 Aug 1805 in York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem.. Married before 1802 in York Co., S.C., John Soward, born about 1766 in Anson or Mecklenburg Co., N.C., died about 1856 in Lauderdale Co., Tenn., buried in Lauderdale Co., Tenn..

VII. James Simril III, born 1776 in New Acquisition (York Co.), S.C., died 13 May 1851 in York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem. (no marker). Married about 1798 in York Co., S.C., Jane R. "Jennie" Garrison, born about 1783 in York Co., S.C., (daughter of Benjamin Garrison Sr. and Agness Faries) died 06 Apr 1866 in York Co., S.C., buried in Ebenezer Cem..

VIII. Francis Ross Simril, born 1778 in New Acquisition (York Co.), S.C., died 07 Feb 1834 in Mecklenburg Co., N.C., buried in Steele Creek Presb. Church Cem., Mecklenburg Co., N.C.. Married about 1800 in York Co., S.C., Mary Herron, born 1784 in Mecklenburg Co., N.C., (daughter of Hugh Herron and Elizabeth McGill Boyd) died 19 Feb 1848 in Mecklenburg Co., N.C., buried in Steele Creek Presb. Cem., Mecklenburg Co., N.C..

IX. Mary "Polly" Simril, born about 1780 in Camden Dist., (York Co.), S.C., died after 1803. Married before Nov 1803 in York Co., S.C., Archibald Brown, born before 1780, died after 1803.
Contributor: Dan Trouble (47131204)

* * * *