| Simon genealogy - mining for clues about Bernhard Simon from Bingen Germany | |
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This fellow is supposedly James Bowman Waddington. James was born in Ontario Canada in 1840 and died in Iowa in 1895. James was the 10th child of Robert Johnson Waddington and Sabara Ellen Hotham (they had total of 14 children). James and his wife Nancy Eleanor Bauder (Bordeau? Border?) had eight children: Alice Emma Waddington, Pearl E. Waddington, Levi O Waddington, Ida Elizabeth Waddington, Charles Wilbur Waddington, Mary Ellen Waddington, Perry Robert Waddington, and Sadie Waddington. The third daughter--Ida Elizabeth Waddington--married Bernhard Simon, my great-grandfather. After 1904 Bernhard Simon seems to be better known as "Ben Simons" to his family, and sometimes Ben Simon. Ben worked at a tin mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Ben told the 1905 South Dakota census taker he was born in Germany, was 28 years old (born 1877), and had been in the US for 15 years (since age 13). Bernhard Simon served in the "War with Spain" July 1898-April 1899 with the New Jersey Infantry, Company L, 4th Regiment. Bernhard also served in the 13th Regiment US Cavalry, Company K, and the US Cavalry 1st Regiment, Company H. Shortly after my grandfather's birth in 1904, the legend tells us Bernhard "went west" to make money for the family. Supposedly he did quite well, perhaps with a gold mining operation somewhere in California. At any rate, Ben's name disappears from all records I've found until it is mentioned in the obituary of his wife, Ida Simons. To my knowledge, we have no photos of Ben Simons. My search for Ben is not unlike the vocation of my great-grandfather: I am mining for clues. Ben is an enigma. I am hoping Ben turns out to be more than a flash in the pan. I'm looking for clues regarding:
Other surnames that tie into this puzzle include:
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