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Submitted by Cheryl VanWormer

					LYMAN SIMMONS
				MRS. ANNIE (KELLEY) SIMMONS
				MRS. JANE (WILLARD) SIMMONS

	Lyman Simmons, son of William and Betsey (Ives) Simmons, and the fourth son in a family 
of twelve children, was born in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., July 13, 1821.  His parents were natives 
of the same county, his father's birth occurring June 16, 1796, and his mother's July 27, 1797.  
William Simmons, a farmer by occupation, had served in the war of 1812 when a young man.  His 
father was Scotch and his mother German.  The family moved into Rensselaer County at an early 
day.
	Lyman Simmons assisted to the extent of his ability on the home-farm, and at the age of 
fourteen removed with his parents to Niagara Co., N. Y., where his father purchased and cleared 
a new farm.  In 1843, Lyman Simmons was married to Miss Annie Kelley, of Niagara County.  Her 
parents, Hugh and Annie Kelley, were from New England. In 1849, Mr. Simmons and his wife came to 
Michigan and settled on an unimproved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Berlin, Ionia Co. 
He now possesses four hundred acres of land.  In 1852 his parents and family located in the 
immediate vicinity on an eighty-acre tract.  Mrs. Simmons died in 1858, leaving five children.  
Three years later Mr. Simmons was married to Miss Jane Willard, of Barry Co., Mich., and by her 
he has had two children.  Mr. Simmons was one of the pioneers of Berlin, and as such passed 
through the varied experiences of a "dweller in the wilderness."  The northern portion of the 
township was but thinly settled at the date of his arrival.  Mr. Simmons has for twenty years 
been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, during ten years of which he has been 
class-leader, and has held other important offices in the church.  He has aided liberally in the 
support of the gospel, and as a man is known to possess sterling traits of character.  He has 
always been a hard worker, and in 1878 he rented his farm to his sons and removed to Ionia, 
where he now resides.  His father died April 5, 1872, and his mother Feb. 24, 1871.



This biography is taken from "HISTORY OF IONIA AND MONTCALM COUNTIES, MICHIGAN" 
by John S. Schenck. Philadelphia:  D. W. Ensign & Co., 1881. Pages 168-169.