Memorials › William Thomas Martin Simpkins
William Thomas Martin Simpkins
26 Jun 1867 – 14 Feb 1908
| Birth | 26 Jun 1867 |
| Death | 14 Feb 1908 |
| Cemetery | Lake Valley Cemetery Sunset , Montague County , Texas , USA |
| Added by | Bill Simpkins on 10 Mar 2011 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18575959 |
Bio
William Thomas Martin was the first of the 11 children of Lewis Castle and Lucinda Jane Simpkins. He was born in Heard County, GA, moving just across the state line into Randolph County, AL after he met his bride-to-be Mary Elizabeth Huddleston in the Providence Baptist Church there. He and Mary were married in 1888 and they purchased 40 acres of farmland from Mary's father there in Lamar, Alabama, and began to raise crops and a family. They farmed that land for over 10 years and their first five children were born there. In the early 1900s, they purchased 160 acres of farm land in Texas and moved there. Three more children were born in Texas. Martin and Mary died from "complications of measles" within two weeks of each other in 1908 leaving a family of eight orphan children; not counting the two day-old infant who died with Mary on January 30th. The older children (Laura, Joe and Berl) decided to keep the family together and try to make it on their own. The maternal grandparents, Joel and Sarah Huddleston, lived on a farm nearby, but could be of very little help to the Simpkins children. At that time, they still had two unmarried children living at home plus five orphaned grandchildren from when another daughter, Milbrey, had died in 1905. Their house was full and their hands were full! Links to the gravesites of seven of their children are supplied below, and one other child not linked here: Sarah Arby Simpkins Shirley (1896 - 1970) Arb is buried in Highland Cemetery in Iowa Park, Wichita County, TX, next to her husband Bill. Her FAG memorial is 8843632. The older children spoke with great affection for Martin and Mary all their lives. Their memories are still alive in their many and wide-spread descendants. The inscription on top of the stone reads: 'Tis hard to break the tender cord When love has bound the heart. 'Tis hard so hard to speak the word We must forever part.
Photos
Family
Parents
Spouse
Siblings
- James William Simpkins 1868–1941 FaG
- Alice Lonie Simpkins Berry 1870–1936 FaG
- Elizabeth M "Betty" Simpkins Traylor 1871–1951 FaG
- Robert Franklin Simpkins 1873–1960 FaG
- L. J. Simpkins 1877–1912 FaG
- Ruth Cordelia Simpkins Watson 1882–1951 FaG
- George Washington Simpkins 1884–1965 FaG
Children
- Laura Cordelia Simpkins Rice 1889–1939
- Joel Hudson "Joe" Simpkins 1891–1934
- Berl Dee Simpkins 1893–1957
- Sara Arby Simpkins Shirley 1895–1970
- Eva Leora "Leedy" Simpkins Holt 1900–1987
- Myrtle Bell Simpkins Hendrich 1902–1987
- Walter Simpkins 1904–1991
- Eugene "Gene" Simpkins 1906–1987
- Infant Simpkins 1908–1908
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