JOHN A SIMMONS

The following bio was taken from page 386 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited by

Rusk County Historical Commission

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria B. Mayfield, Rusk Co. CC

In 1869, soon after the Civil War, my great-grandfather, John Washington Crow, came to Rusk County. Leaving Louisiana with his wife and several small children, they settled on a farm about twelve miles southeast of Henderson. The family lived off the land.

My grandmother, Lillie Florence Crow Morris Griffith, was one of these children. Her greatest love became the "homeplace" left to her by her father. She taught that love to her children and grandchildren.

My earliest memories of Grandmother are of her walking up a hot sandy road to attend church and picnics at Zion Hill Baptist Church. This was not always easy because she was crippled from a fall and had to walk with the aid of crutches. Sacred Harp singing, visiting with old friends, and a new hat made the annual picnic a special event for her. Walks through the woods were slow but fruitful with dogwood blossoms, wild flowers, and berries, some of these gathered perhaps from the same vines and bushes she gathered from as a child.

Through the years my father and mother, Ivy Loren Griffith and Lillie Elise Brooks Griffith, have loved the "homeplace". They have raised three children and lived a large part of the time off the land. The house they live in was originally the log cabin built by my great-grandfather. Each year they grow a vegetable garden large enough for all the family.

After my marriage to John A. Simmons, we left Rusk County for several years, but there was always the plan in our lives to come home again. We moved back in 1979. Our home is located very close to the "homeplace" my grandmother loved so well.

John and I have two daughters, Donna and Rhonda, who now make their homes in Rusk County. Donna is Mrs. Barry Townsend of Route 2, Mt. Enterprise, and Rhonda is Mrs. Kenneth E. Keeling of Route 1, Longbranch.

As I watch my granddaughter, Amber Elise Townsend, help her great-grandfather feed his cows, taste huckleberries for the first time, or pick wildflowers on our walks together, joy fills my heart! You see, I’m trying to teach her there are no stronger ties that bind than those of her heritage in Rusk County.  Submitted by Opal Griffith Simmons