Simmons, James F.

Born: 1795-09-10 Newport County, Rhode Island

Died: 1864-07-10 Johnston, Rhode Island

Born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, James F. Simmons was a farmer, manufacturer, state representative, and U.S. senator. After attending a private school in Newport, Rhode Island as a boy, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island in 1812. He worked manufacturing jobs in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts for a time, then worked in yarn manufacturing in New Hampshire in 1822. In October 1820, he married Eliza Randall, with whom he had at least one son. In 1827, he relocated to Johnston, Rhode Island, where he farmed and continued working in yarn manufacturing. He won election to the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1828 and served until 1841. Eliza died in April 1832 and, sometime before 1837, he married a woman named Sarah, with whom he had at least four children. In the 1840 Federal Election, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He served there as a Whig from 1841 to 1847. After failing to win reelection, he returned to Johnston. In the 1856 Federal Election, he ran as a Republican and won election again to the U.S. Senate, where he served until his resignation in August 1862. He returned to Johnston and continued work in manufacturing until his death. As of 1860, he owned real and personal property valued at 35,000.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1824; Donald Lines Jacobus, comp., Descendants of Robert Waterman of Marshfield, Massachusetts Through Seven Generations (New Haven, CT: Edgar F. Waterman, 1939), 1:307; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Johnston, Providence County, RI, 212; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Johnston, Providence County, RI, 59; James F. Simmons, Eliza Simmons, Gravestones, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI.