Simmons Family, Barrie ON

My paternal Grandmother, Gertrude Mona Simmons was a member of the Simmons Family of Barrie, Ontario.
I can reconstitute a bit of the family tree, some from personal knowledge, some from Brent Arlitt, some from Bart Simmons Jr., some from the Internet and some gleaned from the Simmons’ family gravestone in the Barrie Union Cemetery. View it at https://billiongraves.com/grave/George-Bartlett-Simmons/14962279

– Rosamond Bartlett (Simmons) 1828-1883 wife of Simeon Simmons (June 17, 1827-1904). [This is Simeon Szyemoński (or Simonsky), born in Filehene, Prussia. Our information is that Simeon lived for a while in Norway, Maine, where he was a fur trapper. He was either of Polish or Prussian origin, possibly an Ashkenazy Jew. Many Jews changed their names so as to be better accepted in North America. Of course, it could be that the immigration officer at Ellis Island anglicized his name for him, simply by dropping the Polish suffix -ski. Simeon later moved from Maine to Saint-Jean sur Richelieu, south of Montreal, then onto Barrie, presumably after the Grand Trunk Railway was completed from Montreal to Toronto in October 1856. In Barrie, he traded furs with the Huron Indians. These are the antecedents of the Simmons & Co. Furs and Ladies Wear (ca. 1875). The store is still present at 39 Dunlop Street East, Barrie ON] .

For a historical overview of the R. Simmons’ Fur and Hat Store, with a photo showing it ca. 1880 (published January 16, 2022), click here: https://www.barrietoday.com/then-and-now/then-and-now-bear-welcomed-customers-at-furriers-downtown-shop-4944449
The Simcoe County Museum features an exhibit on Barrie’s Main Street with reference to the Simmons’ store: http://museum.simcoe.ca/exhibits/barriemain

— I thank Bart Simmons Jr. of Vancouver (son of Bart Simmons Sr. of Barrie, ON) , for supplying the following information:
— Simeon Szyemoński was born in Prussian town of Filehene, now the Polish town of Wielen in Posen Province which is west of Poznan and east of Berlin. I received an 1838 census from Wielen and 3000 people lived there at that time. Of these, 1200 were Jewish and of the 1200, one must have been Simeon. There was one synagogue, no idea if it is still there with the records. When I was in Poznan, I visited a synagogue and the Germans had turned it into a swimming pool! I also remember seeing birth records of Simeon and Rosamund Bartlett from Norway, Maine, which I need to dig up again to get exact dates.
— Somehow Simeon made it to the US from Wielen after the Posen Uprising of 1848 (he would have been 21 at the time) entering at New York City. Then on to Norway, Maine, where he met, married and absconded with the youngest daughter of Ichabod Bartlett (Rosamund Bartlett). Then off to St-Jean sur Richelieu south of Montreal.
— The Posen uprising was the Poles rising up against the Prussians. The Prussians crushed the revolt and I guess this is what prompted Simeon to leave. There seemed to be a lot of unrest at this time throughout Poland. I visited the oldest synagogue in Krakow and there was article on the Krakow uprising at this time as well. Krakow is a very lovely town as it turned out. We spent a day there walking about in the old city and the Jewish district. It is much nicer than Katowice where the COP 24 conference was held and much nicer than Oswiecim where we rented an Airbnb. To my utter shock, Oswiecim was Polish name for Auschwitz which I also visited and Belkin and we should all honour Simeon’s vision or drive to leave this area as things did not end well for the Polish Jews. The Barrie Union Cemetery cut down a cedar tree that had been growing on the Simmon’s family plot for at least 100 years. I’m told that it is a Jewish tradition to plant a cedar tree at a gravesite.

– Clara C. Carson (Simmons) (1863-1942), wife of George Bartlett Simmons (1860-1920). George was born at St-Jean sur Richelieu, Québec. These are my great grandparents on the paternal side [Bartlett Simmons, the son of Vivian and Gladys Simmons, once showed me a portrait of Clara, that was hanging in his stairway on Donald Street in Barrie, doubtless his grandmother. I saw her during her last days, when she was living with Norine Simmons and Roy Rinehart on Arden Avenue, Newmarket, Ontario
– Looks like the preceding couple had five children, Mabel, Vivian, Edward, Gertrude and Norine, as described below.

– 1) Mabel Simmons (1883-1883).
– 2)Vivian (Viv) Simmons (1885-1964), married to Gladys Vida Hood (1895-1986). Details here: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Gladys-Vida-Hook-Simmons/15962585
– 3) Gertrude Mona Simmons (1887-1957), wife of William Percy Corbett (1889-1973), my grandparents and parents of my father. Gertrude is buried in the Simmons’ family plot in Barrie. Percy’s information is inscribed on his parent’s headstone, which is at the Barrie Union Cemetery, as I recall it west of the central workshop or chapel. He isn’t buried there because his remains were cremated. Their only child was Robert Percy Corbett (1913-1991), my father. He was married to Hazel Alma Douglas (1910-1989). They had three children: Noel (1938-), Carol (1945-) and Paul Corbett (1951-).

– 4) George Raymond (Ray) Simmons (b. ca. 1886?). Ancestry.ca also cites another brother, Edward G. Simmons, (1896-1921), but omits brother Vivian. This is probably an error for Edward C. Simmons (1867-1921) who was actually the younger brother of George Bartlett Simmons (1860-1920). Since George Bartlett Simmons and his wife Clara Christina Carson had only four surviving children… see the photo below, I’m thinking that Ray Simmons was the musician who died in New York City in the 1920s, having thrown himself in front of a subway train, an anecdote my father told me]. The Simmons family was quite musical, my dad Robert P. Corbett was an accomplished pianist in his youth. Jack Arlitt and his cousin Bart Simmons played in Canadian Army Corps Band during the Second World War.
-5) Margaret Norine Simmons (1890-1969), wife of Paul H. A. Arlitt (1890-1941). Both interred at the Newmarket Cemetery, near Veterans’ Way (west side). Paul Arlitt’s real name was Herman Alphonse Paul Arlitt. His family came from Halle, Germany outside Berlin. They lived in Milwaukee, but Paul ran away from home. He developed tuberculosis and met Norine Simmons in a hospital in Niagara Falls ON, where she was a nurse. The original family name was Arletta in France, but they fled to Germany and changed their name during the Huguenot uprisings. Germans were not popular in Canada during the early to mid 1900’s so Norine always maintained that Simmons family came from Ireland. She threw out all of the Arlitt family records, hoping to hide the past. Trouble is, she later married Roy Rinehart, whose name was somewhat revealing. Both Paul Arlitt and Roy Rinehart were bandmasters in the two bands in Newmarket. Son Jack Arlitt was an accomplished coronetist, who served in the Canadian Military Band Corps during the Second World War. I found the mention “Rhinehart, Roy, 81” in a document that looks like the index to a book entitled Newmarket Centennial 1857-1957, [n. d. 1958?, pp. 128] compiled by John Luck. Book is available at the Toronto Reference Library, presumably also in Newmarket (view the reference at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyrbogs/pdfs/Newmarket_1857_1957.pdf)
A pictorial history of the Newmarket Citizens’ Band here: http://www.newmarketcitizensband.ca/archives/OurHistoryinPictures/index.html

– Viv and Gladys Simmons appear to have had four children, as follows:
– Kenneth F. Simmons D.D.S 1923-1973, buried near his parents.
– Bartlett (Bart) Hook Simmons 1915-2004 (Former owner of Simmons & Co. Furs and Ladies Wear . Bart was a World War II RCAF Bandsman), married to Violet McLeod Simmons.
– Beverly (Bid) Simmons) wife of Paul Nixon Hart
– Another son, Paul Simmons 1930-2011, was born deaf and raised at the Belleville School for the Deaf. Husband of Gerda (Keller). He was learning to speak and read lips. He would speak in loud outbursts, which were hard to understand. He had wild and sudden movements which were kind of scary to those who didn’t know him.
– Not sure if this obituary is the Paul in question, but he’s given as the son of Viv and Gladys: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Donald-Paul-Simmons/14995477. His obituary is here: http://www.yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=489865

– Various References
– Information on Paul Arlitt found here (search “Arlitt” in the page: https://archive.org/stream/NewmarketEra_771/newmarket_era_1941_09_18_djvu.txt
– Many mentions of Jack Arlitt, coronetist, here: http://fultonhistory.com
– Jack P. Arlitt (1915-2001) and Beatrice M. (Hammond) Arlitt (1921-1999), buried at the Ivy Presbyterian Church Cemetery, 5067 Twentieth Sideroad, Essa Township, Ivy, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.
References: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2447620/memorial-search?page=1#sr-124608229
http://news.ourontario.ca/Barrie/results?ln=Arlitt
– Coincidentally, my first Corbett ancestors in North America are buried in the same cemetery: David Corbett, Born 12 May 1824 County Down, Northern Ireland, Died 21 Jan 1895 Essa, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada and his wife Isabella (Cunningham) Corbett, born 15 Mar 1824 Ireland, died 1 Nov 1911 Essa, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada
– Mention of a visit by Jack Arlitt and Beatrice Hammond + Norine Arlitt to my grandparents’ home in Bowmanville, on Sunday November 2, 1941, not long after the death of Paul H. A. Arlitt (see the Social and Personal column) http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/ClaPL/CLaPL002714220pf_0008.pdf

– Jack and Bea Arlitt’s daughter Susan B. Arlitt lives in Ottawa, where she practices Family Law. Visit her website here: http://arlittfamilylaw.ca/

– Their son Brent Arlitt and his wife Diane are retired and live in Toronto. Both are accomplished artists. View some of their work here:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/brent-Arlitt
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/diane-Arlitt

-Using Ancestry. ca, Brent Arlitt identifies the earliest Simmons’ ancestor in North America as Francis Cooke (1583-1663), who arrived in Plymouth with his son John aboard the Mayflower. Four years later, his wife arrived with the rest of the family. The family tree showing their descendants can be found here: https://www.ancestry.ca/family-tree/tree/105031556/family?cfpid=240188875193.
Also a write-up and picture of one Josiah Bartlett, possibly our 6th Great Uncle, who was the Massachusetts signatory of the Declaration of Independence (immediately after John Hancock). View it here: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/bartlett.html