mary thompson chapman simmons
1859–1963
A Century of Faith, Wisdom, and Quiet Strength
Early Life
Mary Thompson Chapman Simmons was born on January 13, 1859, in Newton County, Mississippi, to Richard “Dick” Chapman and Lucy Thompson Chapman (1815–?), both formerly enslaved people who lived through the great transition from bondage to freedom. Her early years unfolded in a time of profound change, when newly freed families were learning to navigate a world that offered freedom in name, but few supports in practice.
As a child, Mary worked as a farm laborer and helped care for her maternal grandparents, Luke and Lena Thompson, whose roots stretched back to the early days of Newton County’s settlement. The 1870 census listed her as living with them, and it was likely in their home that she absorbed her lifelong values of care, humility, and community service. These lessons shaped a woman who would, in time, become one of the most respected figures in the Lawrence and Altare communities.
Marriage and Family Life
By 1880, at only eighteen, Mary married Morris Simmons (1844–1910), a hardworking farmer. Together they built a home in the Lawrence community and raised twelve children, among them were:
- Millie Simmons (1878-?)
- Robert Simmons (1880-1979)
- Linsey Simmons (1880-?)
- Richard Simmons (1884-1968)
- Francis Simmons (1886-1921)
- Willie Simmons (1887-1962)
- Margaret Simmons (1890-?)
- Horton Simmons (1892-1931)
- Lucy Simmons (1896-1985)
- Archie Simmons (1898-1981)
- John Wesley Simmons (1902-?)
- Otto Ebeneezer Simmons (1904-1971)
Despite the challenges of Reconstruction-era poverty, racial segregation, and the hardships of farm life, Mary and Morris created a household that emphasized education, discipline, and Christian faith.
The couple were members of Union Chapel Methodist Church in Lawrence, where Mary would remain active for more than seventy years. Her children remembered her as a woman of firm faith who “carried all 11 of her children to church,” and whose home was always filled with the sounds of prayer, song, and laughter. Even after Morris’s death around 1910, Mary’s devotion to both her family and community never wavered.
A Life of Compassion and Common Sense
Mary’s century-spanning life was punctuated by both humor and heartache, her character vividly revealed in the local newspapers that chronicled her experiences.
In one story, she was described as a kindhearted woman who took in an abandoned baby left at the hotel where she worked in Newton by a traveling couple. Trusting their word that they would return, Mary cared for the infant as if it were her own, only to realize later that the parents had no intention of coming back. Though authorities intervened, her actions reflected her deeply maternal instinct—her readiness to extend love and shelter even to strangers.
In another episode, she fell victim to a clever conman, a self-proclaimed “doctor” who claimed he was a fortune teller and could raise buried treasure beneath her house. He wanted $300 from Mary to retrieve the buried gold underneath her house. Ever the optimist, Mary gave him $40 of her savings, believing his promise that the remainder would be paid after the gold was “raised.” The swindler vanished, but Mary’s story, later printed in The Newton Record, became one of local legend—proof of both her trusting nature and her enduring good humor in the face of misfortune.
Faith and Longevity
Mary’s life stretched across a century of Mississippi history. When a Newton Record reporter interviewed her at the age of 101, she was described sitting on the porch of her daughter Lucy Evans’s home near Lawrence, wearing a pink housecoat with a flower pinned to her lapel. She was alert, cheerful, and deeply spiritual. When asked about her secret to long life, she smiled and said simply:
“It ain’t my goodness, it’s the goodness of de Lord.”
She spoke of her memories of slavery, of spinning thread, weaving cloth, baking hoe cakes in the ashes, and attending Bethel Baptist Church, where enslaved people worshipped in a section apart from their white owners. Though she never received formal schooling, she was determined that her children would. As she put it, “I learned my ABC’s by singsong rhyme while listening to white children, but my chillun went to school.”
At over 100 years old, she still sewed quilts and offered advice to younger generations. Her sharp memory and witty tongue endeared her to everyone around her. She lamented how “people not good like they used to be,” but she also found joy in her faith, often singing “When the Saints Go Marching In” and saying,
“I want to meet my folks in that Great World up yonder.”
Final Years and Legacy
In her later years, Mary lived with her daughter Lucy Evans and continued to serve as a mother figure not only to her family but to the entire community. Known affectionately as “Aunt Mary,” she offered guidance to youth and comfort to the elderly. Her neighbors said she was always “willing to lend a helping hand to the needy,” and that “her life shone out as a bright and shining star.”
When she passed away on October 31, 1963, at the extraordinary age of 104, the entire county mourned. Her funeral at Union Chapel Methodist Church overflowed with people from all backgrounds—Black and white—who came to pay their respects to the woman whose gentle strength had touched so many lives.
She was laid to rest in the church cemetery near her husband, leaving behind six living children, 33 grandchildren, 57 great-grandchildren, and 18 great-great-grandchildren.
Mary Thompson Chapman Simmons’s story is one of resilience, compassion, and unwavering faith. From slavery to freedom, from fieldwork to motherhood, and from hardship to a century of grace, she lived a life that reflected the enduring spirit of the Altare and Lawrence communities she helped shape.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Graveyard
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1860 Federal Slave Schedule
- 1870 Federal Census
- 1880 Federal Census
- 1900 Federal Census
- 1910 Federal Census
- 1920 Federal Census
- 1930 Federal Census
- 1940 Federal Census
- The Newton Record, Mary Thompson Simmons Obituary, Wed, Nov 06, 1963 ·Page 11
- The Commercial Appeal, Francis Dunn Obituary, Sat, May 28, 1921 ·Page 7
- U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current
- U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
- The Newton Record, Negress “Up From Slavery” Tells of 101 Years of Good Living, Wed, Aug 10, 1960 ·Page 1
- The Newton Record, Dr. D.P. Con Man, Thu, Oct 26, 1905 ·Page 5
- The Newton Record, Abandoned A Babe, Thu, Aug 29, 1907 ·Page 8
- The Newton Record, Mary Simmons Sick, Wed, Oct 30, 1963 ·Page 15
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