In Search of Levi Simpson
By Kelly Ann Pritchard 
Levi Simpson 1833-1915
Levi Simpson was born in Virginia on February 21 1833.
His first two wives were direct descendants of Johann
Nicholas Beckner, the leader of a religious movement,
called Church of Brethren by polite society, and
Dunkards by others, for their habit of baptism by total
immersion. Johann Beckner brought his family from
Germany, aboard the Lydia, sailing out of Rotterdam in
1740 to practice freedom of religion in America. I
assume that my Great Grandfather, William F. Simpson was
the child of Levi Simpson’s first wife, Rhoda Shepard,
whose parents were William Shepard and Elizabeth
Beckner. I and other Simpson researchers are try to
establish this for sure, as record keeping was not at
it’s greatest during these times. A lot of people hid
from the census takers and simply are not listed. The
Simpson clan was no exception. However from family
tintypes and photos handed down to me, I know Levi was
my GGGGrandfather as I have photos of him and of his son
William’s wife, Rhoda Crosswaite, sometimes spelled
Crosswhite, which were handed down to me from my family.
What I Know For Sure
Levi is buried, in the Davis Cemetery, away from his
children’s graves, who are mostly buried in the Christ
Church Cemetery in Johnston City, Hancock County,
Tennessee. I do not understand how the Christ Church of
Johnson City, Tennessee fits in with the Church of
Brethren, as while researching I see that there is also
a Church of Brethren located in Johnson City. There is
some question as to whether the COB ( Church of Brethren
) called themselves by other names in earlier times.
Levi Simpson’s Daughter – in –law, Rhoda Crosswhite,
born and raised in Sneedville, was the grand daughter
of John Melvin Crosswhite who was the preacher at the
Johnson City Church of Christ. Her Father was Jesse
Crosswhite, and her Mother was named Lavina Thomas.
Dunkards did not believe in taking up arms against
another human being. It is quite amazing, that they made
it to America, having been kicked across Eurasia for
thousand of years; it is reported, from the time of
Christ. After trying to survive by moving into a new
culture, marrying willing new converts, and then after a
couple of generations being told to move along, their
early centuries could not have been too pleasant. Feared
by their new neighbors, who thought it was important for
survival to keep their tribes pure and intact, they were
always pressured to move along.
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Who was Levi Simpson? The photo of him, staring
intelligently at a camera, with the walking stick in his
hand and his toes on his left foot resting upon a rock,
intrigues me and engages my curiosity about his life and
times. Levi had this image captured 100 years or more
ago. I wonder what he was thinking of while posing
there. Early photography took a long time, sometimes 25
minutes or more of standing stock still to capture an
image. While standing there, did he speculate upon his
many ancestors who might have looked at his image and
wonder about him? When he thought upon his family moving
through the portals of time, could he have envisioned
the ease in which a GGGGrand daughter could sit at her
desk and reach back across time?
Levi Simpson’s children would have DNA from the Johann
Nicholas Beckner line, picking most of it up from Eurasia, India, the Romany, (known to us today as the
Gypsies) Arabs, Jews, and other places along their
travels to America. Jewish by blood,
Christian by faith, this group had a hard time finding a
place to call home. One thing is for certain, in coming
to America, they sought out other mixed ethnic peoples
as they always had done, ending up first in
Botetourt County in Virginia and later in Hancock
County, Tennessee, for the whole of Levi’s lifetime. Was
he of mixed ancestry, and was his grandmother, Elizabeth
Lantern a Mulatto born of Rubin Lantern? At the same
time; some missionaries traveled over the
Cumberland Gap to bring religion to the
mountainous areas. The link provided at the bottom of
this feature is to the genealogy and travels of the
Early Church of Brethren to the
Eastern Tennessee area.
Levi Simpson was born in the
Appalachian Mountains on the
Virginia-Tennessee boarder. He was the first child born
to his parents, Samuel and Lavina Bedins. At the time of
Levi’s birth, the Simpson family had lived in the
general area for quite a few generations, coming from
the tidewaters of the Carolinas to
Boutourt County, Virginia, then on to Hawkins County which became Hancock County, Tennessee. It is unclear as to if the Simpson
family crossed the state lines, or if the state lines
crossed the Simpsons. To place the area in the mind of
the reader, however let’s just say it is near the
Cumberland Gap.
Why did he choose to live in a roughly inaccessible area
in Hancock County? This place is now associated with
the fact that many people of color lived in that county
in isolated ridges and hallows. Even today there
is only one road in, and the same road out. . Why
raise his children here? Why did he wed 3 wives,
two of which were descendants of Johann Beckner? Was
this to preserve a blood line, or to follow the parts of
culture separation as in the Book of Ruth in the Bible?
Why is his son William F. Simpson, and my Great
Grandfather not listed by the census? it because he
married Samuel’s mother the same year he was born? How
did the civil war affect him, and did he fight or stay
out of the way? The fact that he seemingly fathered no
children during the war years would suggest he was off
fighting. If he fought, did he fight for the Rebels or
the Yankees? Who was my Great Grandfather’s mother? Most
certainly she was a Johan Nicolas Beckner descendant,
for 2 of his wives were from the same family line. After
the war he remarried another Beckner woman, and went on
to father at least 8 more children.
Why did the Brethren clan marry into my Simpson Clan?
Was it because the Simpsons had money and influence?
Certainly some of the Simpsons were key in the
development of this country. It was a Simpson cousin
ancestor who founded Salem, Virginia. It was another Simpson who made the
paper and supplied it for the Congress of the United States.
Some Simpsons were bankers, and at least one; John
Simpson was the largest slaveholder in Hancock County. Some built roads and bridges and
some were quite possibly Free Persons of Color. Did the
Brethren marry into the FPC line hoping to lighten up
both physically and society wise?
Whatever Levi Simpson’s timeline was like, it seemed he
preferred to stay up on his mountain, even when his
children married and moved on. He married his last wife
2 years before he died in 1915.
His son William, my great-grandfather from his first
marriage to Rhoda Shepard moved on, sometime in his
early life, first to Missouri where it is said in my family history
that he built the Kansas City Savoy Hotel. It was
here that my 18 year old Grandfather, met and married my
14 year old Grandmother.
Grandpa Jesse was a Bell Boy, and Elta Teal was a maid
It is uncertain who Elta’s parents were. When she was 10
years old, she moved into the hotel with her
Grandmother, known to us only as Granny Marshall, a very
tiny woman. Granny is seen in the group family
photograph below. After the marriage, which got some
notice in the Kansas City Press, William F. Simpson then
moved to California with the
proceeds where, upon arrival, he died. How did William
become wealthy enough to be able to build what is still
billed as the oldest, largest operating hotel in Kansas
City MO?
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Upon William’s death in California,
my Great Grandmother quickly remarried another member of
the Church of Brethren. Mr. Jeans her husband,
made and sold salt-water taffy on the Santa Monica pier when my
mother was a small child. I knew all of William’s
children as my Great Aunties and my Grandfather: they
were named Jesse, Essie, and Bessie. What I remember
most about the twins, Essie and Bessie was that they
smoked like chimneys and had deep gravely voices. They
liked to kiss us kids a lot, both on arrival and
departure so we always had to be subjected to their
mannerisms from their old times. My Grandfather
did not like the name Jesse, and preferred to be called
Ray.
If you want to search as well for your family, this is
how I do it: I go to two trusted and fruitful sites on
the Internet:
www.familysearch.org, and
www.rootsweb.com . These two sites are free golden
mine fields of information and long lost cousins.
Joining Ancestry.com is another good idea, even though
it is expensive. Hopefully my story about my Levi
Simpson will inspire you to go look for your own family
roots. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself,
and there are so many more questions I can ask and look
for the answers within.
Simpson Family.
Back Row: Elta Teal, & Jesse Simpson, my grandparents
& My mother’s parents.
Middle Row: William Simpson, Levi Simpson’s son, GGG
Grandmother Marshall
Care keeper of Elta Teal, her Grand daughter and my
Grand Mother.
Rhoda Crosswhite, William Simpson’s wife.
Front Row: My great Aunts, Essie Simpson & Bessie
Simpson
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