Family Connections

James Harvey 'Simpson' Mooney and Family

Photo is of the James Harvey and Ella (Pease) Mooney family. Taken about 1947 or 1948 at their home in Washburn, Barry Co., MO.

On the top and back row are pictured Carolean Williams, Mary Ellen Cook, Lawrence Mooney, Loyd Mooney and their father James Harvey Mooney.

Second row: ? - part of Minnie's family; Helen (Mooney) Cook; A. J. Cook; Lena (Mooney) Williams - husband was Carroll Williams; Juanita (Morgan) Mooney - wife of Lawrence; Estella E. "Stella" (Pease) Woodruff - husband was Sam Woodruff - she has top knot hair style; Ruth (Berryhill) Mooney - wife of Loyd Mooney; Junior Lawrence aka: Mooney; Ella Mae (Pease) Mooney, wife of Jamie Mooney - barley can see her; Janetta (Fetrow) Pease barely can see her, too; and Minnie Etta (Pease) Lund - husband was Earnest Arthur Lund. [Junior was a son of Fern Mooney and a grandson of James and Ella Mae Mooney. He is the one with the ball glove.]

Minnie and Ernest are buried in the same cemetery at Mansfield, MO, where the lady is buried who wrote the Little House on the Prairie books. The house the author lived in is across the road from the cemetery.

Juanita Morgan was a descendant of Zachariah Haddock, Barry Co., MO.

First Row: Children on the front row are unknown or are still living, except little girl in white dress and dark sweater is Donna Haddock Cooper, little boy with sailor hat is Billy Joe Williams. He was killed in a car accident and buried at Washburn Prairie. Most of these are buried at Washburn Prairie Cemetery. here. Rev. Donald Cook is standing behind Donna. Bryon Cook, husband of Helen (Mooney) Cook, took the photo.

Lawrence, Loyd, and James "Jamie" Harvey Mooney.

Pictured here is Janetta (Fetrow) Pease mother of Ella (Pease) Mooney - wife of James "Jamie" Harvey Mooney and her son Loyd Mooney. This was three generations, and was taken about 1946 - 1948 or around that time.

Pictured here is Ruth Berryhill and Loyd Mooney, they were married January 17, 1921 in Bentonville, Benton Co., AR, but lived almost all their lives in Barry Co., MO. They were my grandparents on my mother's side of the family. They are both buried at Washburn, Barry Co., MO. I am not sure but think this may have been their wedding picture.

Pictured is Jamie Mooney, Ella (Pease) Mooney, Janetta (Fetrow) Pease, Estella "Stella" (Pease) Woodruff, Ernest Lund and Minnie (Pease) Lund. Sam Woodruff died in 1949, the husband of Stella. Jamie Mooney died in 1952 so this photo was taken between 1949 and 1952. [Fields Photo, Cassville, MO]

James "Jamie" Harvey Mooney and family. Pictured is Rex Mooney and wife Doris, and maybe their daughter. In front is "Jamie" Mooney and wife Ella (Pease) Mooney. To the left of Ella, the lady in the flowered dress, is June wife of Raymond Mooney, and next to June is Raymond in the vest. Behind June and Raymond is probably Rex's son. Photo was taken probably the same day that the photo, given above, of Jamie and Ella and family, was taken. [Fields Photo, Cassville, MO]

James "Jamie" Harvey Mooney and the Simpson Story

Research continues on the Simpson family.

James "Jamie" Harvey Mooney was born Nov 10, 1877 in Washington, Franklin Co., MO. He was left at the Timothy Patrick Mooney household at age 3 by his mother, America Simpson. She never returned. She had also another son named John Simpson. We were once told that he was the son of Asahel Burris, a married man, who lived in the Roaring River area near where her parents lived when she was growing up. More more research - and it was determined that he was a son of George Simpson as was Jamie Mooney.

The story is complicated, but on Jamie's adoptive mother's dying bed, Mrs. Timothy Patrick Mooney, told him, that she was not his mother but had always loved him as her own. She told him then what his mother's name was - America Simpson. Jamie learned later that John Simpson was his brother.

John Simpson, we later learned, had been left with Sarah Leakey - Mrs. Polly - family, for them to raise. She was first married to william Bradford then Clay Dean Burris and then Ansel Polly. He is somewhat of a mystery too, but we do know that he is buried at Washburn Prairie Cemetery, in the same cemetery, and near where Jamie Mooney is buried. John has a homemade stone that has an incorrect date of birth on it.

It seems so odd that John Simpson isn't located on any census records except perhaps the 1900, and according to his death certificate never married and wasn't in the military service. He didn't have a social security number.

We know also that America Simpson married John Wilkerson after she had one and maybe two children. That marriage was in Cassville, Barry Co., MO, April 18, 1880. She wasn't married long to John Wilkerson. They were Charles Wilkerson and there was probably a daughter that is thought to have been named Nila Wilkerson. These two children lived in LeFlore Co., OK, near where America and her husband Elijah Bailey lived. I found them living together on one of the census years and am only assuming that they were the children of America Simpson.

America lived in Berryville, Arkansas for a long time. But the census taken never managed to find her. The record of her existence there is from the obituary of Dovey Louise Bailey, her daughter. She married John James Payton and lived in Noel, MO.

We aren't sure when America Melinda P. Simpson Wilkerson Bailey died, but my grandfather thought that it was before he was married and so it was before 1921. And the last account that I have of America is of a listing on the 1910 census in LeFlore Co., OK. It reads that she had given birth to 7 children and had 5 living children.

In that same county her brother, named Green Simpson, and her mother Louisa Bristow Simpson Reed Allred were also living there. There were some Reed half-brothers and a few more relatives also there. It's not known where she is buried nor when she died. It is very possible that she died before 1920. Louisa is thought to have been buried at Hontubby Cemetery, in an unmarked grave, and next to her son Green Simpson.

Elijah Poe Bailey is listed in 1920 in Missouri and his marriage record was also listed in McDonald Co., MO. He gave his address Noel, MO, which is where Dovey was living. So from that, it is assumed, that America was dead by then. He is buried in Bentonville, AR, but his obit only lists the one child.

When I went to LeFlore County, OK, a few years ago, I looked up a descendant of America's brother, Green Simpson. She was an older lady, and so I was excited about having found her. But she would not talk to me. While I had her on the phone, her daughter took over. She took the phone from her mother and said that her mother had nothing to say or to tell. That situation left me with even more questions.

The family story goes that when America died, Charles Wilkerson came to Washburn, MO, to see Jamie Mooney and to tell him that his mother had died. At that same time Jamie learned that Charley was a brother to him and that he had a sister named Dovey Louise who was married to John James Payton. They lived at Noel, MO. My grandfather thought that Charley lived in Arkansas. I have never been able to find him on the census records or any other record that I could be sure that he was the Charles Wilkerson that I was looking for.

Barry County, MO, marriage record: John Wilkerson married America Simpson, 18 April 1880, by G. W. Kennedy, M. G., Page 141, Book D. This G W Kennedy who performed the 18 April 1880 marriage must be the one who was listed as a farmer, age 47, Liberty Twp. in 1880.

This census doesn't really match but almost does and it was in Liberty twp., where G. W. Kennedy was from who performed the marriage of John and America. There seems to be no other record that explains this census record. Barry County, MO, page 357 B, John Wilkerson, male, age 27, born in MO and mother and father both born in MO. His wife is listed as Lousinda Wilkerson and she is age 18, born in MO. And both her parents are born in MO. Children are John, age 2, born in MO and James, age 1, born in MO. Living in the house is Rebecca Wilkerson, age 45, born in MO and both her parents are born in MO. This was in Liberty, Barry, Missouri. [Family History Library Film 1254673, NA Film Number T9-0673.] Next door was A. N. Reed, age 32, born in MO and his wife, Rachel, Reed, age 30, born in MO and their family. I don't know who A. N. Reed is, but since Louisa, America's mother had married into the Reed family, it might be someone of that Reed family. John and James were older than 2 and 1, actually they probably were 3 and 2, but since they were America's children, John may not have known their ages and he could have given the record to the census taker. So this record is taken here with caution and open for discussion.

The story is that John Wilkerson was abusive to American Simpson's boys.

Before America left Barry Co., MO she married Elijah P. Bailey. On the marriage record she signed her name Melinda Wilkinson. Her name appears to have been America Melinda P. Simpson and her married name was Wilkerson.

That marriage was February 12, 1886 in Barry Co., MO and her name in this listing was spelled Wilkinson and not Wilkerson. [Barry County, MO Bailey, Elijah P. married Wilkinson, Melinda A. P., Aug. 12, 1886, Ernest Kleen, JP, Marriage Book F, page 1. He was from Beaver, AR, in Carroll County, and she was from Roaring River, Barry Co., MO.]

7 Generation	6 Generation	5 Generation	4 Generation
William and Sarah Bristow are the logical parents of Louisa, but I need proof. They lived in Skelton Twp., where Louisa lived when she married.	Louisa Bristow and William H. Simpson, of Warrick Co., IN. Louisa died in Leflore Co., OK, came to Barry Co., MO, with second husband Alfred Reed. Alfred died in Barry County. William Simpson died in Camden, Cape Girardeau Co., MO. Louisa's parents were born in IL. Ignatus Simpson and his much younger wife Margaret who lived next door to William are his parents.	Timothy Patrick Mooney, born in Dublin, Ireland, died in Washburn, Barry Co., MO was the adoptive father of "Jamie" Mooney - he was a woods colt, and the illegitimate son of America Simpson. He could have been a son of T. P. Mooney's or perhaps a Reed and a son of one of her step-brothers or step-father. His adoptive mother told "Jamie" on her death bed the name of his true mother and told him that she'd always loved him as a son. America Melinda P. Simpson died in LeFlore Co., OK, as the wife of Elijah Bailey.	James Harvey and Ella Mae (Pease) Mooney died in Barry Co., MO - Jamie was a little drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. He was born in Washington, Franklin Co., MO.
3 Generation
Lloyd Patrick & Ruth (Berryhill) Mooney - they died in Barry Co., MO, he was a nurse or medic in WW I. His nick-name was Dude. They are buried at Washburn Prairie Cemetery.

7 Generation	6 Generation	5 Generation	4 Generation
Ignatius and Margaret Simpson. They lived in Warrick Co., IN, Skelton Twp., next door to William Simpson and his wife Louisa Bristow lived. He was born in VA and she was born in PA, and he was a lot older than she.	Louisa Bristow and William H. Simpson, of Warrick Co., IN. Louisa died in Leflore Co., OK, came to Barry Co., MO, with second husband Alfred Reed. Alfred died in Barry County. William Simpson died in Camden, Cape Girardeau Co., MO. Louisa's parents were born in IL. Ignatius Simpson and his much younger wife Margaret who lived next door to William are his parents.	George Simpson and America Simpson were James Harvey and John Simpson's parents. As far as I know they were not from the same Simpson family. George Simpson apparently had a connection to Washington, MO, because his parents and grandparents had moved there from Barry Co., MO. John Simpson's death certificate names George as his father. Research continues. Timothy Patrick Mooney, born in Dublin, Ireland, died in Washburn, Barry Co., MO was the adoptive father of "Jamie" Mooney.	James Harvey and Ella Mae (Pease) Mooney died in Barry Co., MO - Jamie was a little drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. He was born in Washington, Franklin Co., MO.
3 Generation
Lloyd Patrick & Ruth (Berryhill) Mooney - they died in Barry Co., MO, he was a nurse or medic in WW I. His nick-name was Dude. They are buried at Washburn Prairie Cemetery.

If you have facts about this family that might help, I'd like to hear from you.