Life Story
According to the biographical sketch of his grandson Clement Cecil Simpson, John Simpson was born in Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, on 28 December 1750.1 The sketch was published in 1888 while Clement was still living and appears to preserve detailed information supplied by the family. No contemporary birth or baptismal record has been located.
John was the son of another John Simpson, a Mispillion Hundred landholder whose surviving will shows both the advantages and obligations attached to the family property. In March 1772, the elder John gave Robert Simpson the portion of land Robert already occupied and left the dwelling plantation and residue of the estate to the younger John. In return, the younger John was required to “maintain sustain and keep” his father with the necessaries of life without charging the other children. John and Robert were also to provide a house and garden ground for their unmarried sister Mary.2
The inheritance carried debt as well as land. The elder John’s will referred to a mortgage through the General Loan Office and a disputed bond connected with the estate of John Vining, with the two sons expected to share the liabilities.2 A later sheriff’s deed explicitly called the elder John the father of John and Robert and recited the earlier division between the brothers.3
John married Mary Hilford, daughter of Matthew Hilford and his wife Ann. Matthew’s 1763 will named Mary among his daughters,4 and a deed dated 8 May 1772 joined “John Simpson and Mary his wife” with the other Hilford heirs in conveying their interests to Thomas Hilford.5 The deed supplies the direct link between the daughter Mary named by Matthew and the wife of John Simpson.
Scharf’s sketch identifies five children of John and Mary: Nancy, Esther, Clement, John, and Thomas. It reports that Nancy died accidentally as a young woman, that Clement and the younger John moved to Ohio in 1818, and that Thomas remained in Mispillion Hundred.1 The surviving censuses and land records do not name all five children in a single contemporary record, but they fit the family structure and geographic pattern reported in the sketch.
John and his brother Robert continued to reshape the property inherited from their father. On 16 May 1787, Robert Simpson and Alice his wife conveyed 43½ acres in Mispillion Hundred to John for £30.6 Three years later, Andrew Barrett, high sheriff of Kent County, executed the deed that completed title to John’s portion of the land divided by the elder John. The instrument described the elder John as the father of John and Robert and placed John’s allotted portion at about 66 acres and 152 square perches.3
In December 1791, John and Mary sold 112 acres and 7 square perches to Ezekiel Riggs. The tract lay near Simpson’s Cross Roads, also called Guiney Town, and included former Moses Stuart land and parts of Mount Pleasant and Simpson’s Folly. Robert Simpson’s property formed one of its boundaries.7 The deed also recited earlier title proceedings, evidence that the family’s ownership was shaped by mortgages, unpaid obligations, and sheriff’s process as well as ordinary purchases and inheritances.
The Hilford estate continued to involve John and Mary decades after Matthew’s death. In 1796, a Simpson and his wife sued the administrator of Thomas Hilford to recover the wife’s share of the balance remaining from Matthew Hilford’s estate. Parallel reports spell the family name Helford and Hillford, but both identify the plaintiff’s wife as one of Matthew’s daughters and residuary legatees.8 The reports omit the couple’s first names; their identification as John and Mary rests on correlation with the 1772 deed.
Two records from 1797 give an unusually detailed view of John’s home and property. A survey for John Catts placed the “present Dwelling of John Simpson” near the main branch of Mispillion Creek within the bounds of a tract called Catts Folly.9 The survey does not mean that John owned the entire Catts tract, but it supplies geographic context for his home.
The Mispillion Hundred tax assessment for the same year charged John with 85½ acres valued at forty shillings per acre. It also recorded a new two-story house, a cookhouse, livestock, and other taxable personal property, for a total assessment of £322 2s. 6d.10 Together, the survey and assessment show an established farm household near Mispillion Creek rather than merely an abstract ownership interest in scattered land.
The 1800 census recorded John as the head of a Mispillion Hundred household containing one boy under ten, three men aged sixteen through twenty-five, one man aged forty-five or older, two women aged sixteen through twenty-five, and one woman aged forty-five or older. The oldest man and woman are consistent with John and Mary, while the younger residents were not named and cannot be assigned with certainty. No other free persons or enslaved people were recorded in John’s household.11
John continued to acquire or consolidate land. On 1 December 1806, Andrew Fleming of Caroline County, Maryland, and Alexander Fleming of Kent County conveyed a tract to him. Its description placed the land near Shockley’s Choice and among properties associated with Thomas Simpson, Jacob Fleming, Joseph Marritt, John Catts, and other local landholders.12
The 1810 census captures the family clustered together. The households of Clement Simpson, John Simpson, John Simpson Jr., and Thomas Simpson were entered consecutively in Mispillion Hundred.13 The enumerator’s use of “Jr.” distinguishes John’s same-named son from the elder John. The sequence places a father and three sons in neighbouring households shortly before Clement and the younger John left Delaware for Ohio.
Scharf reports that John died on 14 July 1819.1 The following year, land remained assessed under the name John Simpson while the entry carried no personal property, a pattern consistent with a posthumous assessment but not, by itself, proof of the exact death date.14
Contemporary deeds soon supplied direct confirmation that John was dead. On 20 April 1821, a neighbouring conveyance referred to the “late dwelling of John Simpson deceased.”15 His 85-acre farm was then sold under a court judgment. The sheriff offered John Simpson’s right and title at public sale on 19 April 1821, and James Sharp purchased it for $99. The deed was executed on 12 June 1821 and recorded on 30 March 1822.16
John’s life remained centred on the same part of Mispillion Hundred in which his father had established the family. The records show a farm improved with a substantial house, continuing dealings with siblings and in-laws, and a dense neighbourhood of adult children by 1810. They also show the financial vulnerability of landholding: mortgages, litigation, and sheriff’s process recur across two generations, and the home farm finally passed outside the family through debt proceedings after John’s death.
Research Notes
Scharf’s Biographical Sketch
Scharf is the source for John’s exact birth date, exact death date, and complete list of children.1 It is not a contemporary record of John’s life, but it is more valuable than an ordinary compiled county genealogy. The sketch concerns John’s grandson Clement Cecil Simpson, was published while Clement was alive, and contains precise family and migration details that appear to have come from Clement or close relatives. The contemporary probate, deed, tax, court, and census records corroborate the surrounding family structure and chronology. The profile therefore treats Scharf as strong family-informed biographical evidence while identifying it openly as the source of the exact dates.
Mother
John’s mother has not been identified. His father’s will named the children John, Robert, and Mary but did not name a wife or widow.2 No reviewed deed, probate record, or church record has supplied her name.
Marriage and Children
No marriage date or marriage record has been located for John and Mary. Their marriage is established by the 1772 Hilford-heirs deed, which calls her “Mary his wife” and connects her to Matthew Hilford’s heir group.5 Scharf supplies the five-child family group. The censuses and later migration pattern are compatible with that account, but the unnamed household columns should not be used to assign each child individually.
Parallel Hilford Case Reports
The reports at 1 Del. Cas. 400 and 1 Del. Cas. 494 are parallel accounts of the same litigation, preserved from Bayard’s and Clayton’s notebooks.8 They vary in spelling and give the estate balance as £61.1.3 and £61.0.3 respectively. The Helford version also prints a date for Thomas Helford’s death that falls after the reported 1796 case, an internal chronological error. The profile does not silently reconcile those discrepancies.
The 1797 Assessment and Survey
The tax-list notation “40/” is the valuation rate of forty shillings per acre, not a statement that forty acres were cleared.10 The survey of Catts Folly is a separate source that places John’s dwelling within the surveyed bounds; it does not establish that he owned the full 197-acre tract surveyed for John Catts.9
Census Interpretation and Enslavement
The 1800 census explicitly records zero in the final column for enslaved persons in John Simpson’s household.11 An earlier working draft incorrectly transferred evidence concerning a person named Thomas from the household of John’s son Thomas Simpson to the elder John. That material has been removed. The 1810 family-cluster evidence should likewise be used only for the households and columns actually shown on the original image.13
Death, Tax Assessment, and Probate
Scharf gives the precise death date of 14 July 1819.1 The 1821 deed referring to John as deceased independently establishes his death by 20 April 1821.15 No ordinary will or probate file for John has been located in the records reviewed for this project. The sheriff’s sale explains how the home farm passed through debt proceedings rather than an ordinary division among heirs.16
Y-DNA Evidence
Y-DNA testing independently corroborates the documented paternal line. Davis Simpson, a direct male-line descendant through John’s son Clement, and Lee Simpson, a direct male-line descendant through Moses Simpson, match at FamilyTreeDNA and share haplogroup R-FGC39762.17
The test does not independently prove each intermediate parent-child link. Its value comes from agreement with the documented pedigrees of two branches descending through different sons of William Simpson. It therefore corroborates the broader Simpson paternal reconstruction rather than replacing the record evidence.
Evidence Timeline
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Birth
Scharf's 1888 sketch gives this exact birth date in Mispillion Hundred.
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Named in his father's will
John received the dwelling plantation and residue of his father's estate, with obligations to support his father and unmarried sister Mary.
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Documented with Mary Hilford
John and Mary joined the Hilford heirs in conveying their interests to Thomas Hilford.
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Land dealings
John acquired 43½ acres from Robert and Alice Simpson, received his divided share by sheriff's deed, and later conveyed 112 acres to Ezekiel Riggs.
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Farm household and Hilford litigation
The parallel 1796 case reports connect John and Mary to Matthew Hilford's estate; the 1800 census records no enslaved persons in John's household.
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Simpson households clustered
Clement, John, John Jr., and Thomas Simpson appeared in consecutive Mispillion Hundred households.
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Death
Scharf reports this exact date; a 1821 deed independently calls John deceased.
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Farm sold by sheriff
John's 85-acre farm was sold at public sale for $99; the deed was recorded 30 March 1822.
Family Group Sheet
- Parents
-
- John Simpson - documented father; mother unidentified
- Mother unidentified
- Spouse / family connection
- Mary Hilford, daughter of Matthew and Ann Hilford; marriage established by 8 May 1772
- Children and direct-line notes
-
- Nancy Simpson - reportedly died accidentally as a young woman
- Esther Simpson - died 1840
- Clement Simpson - direct-line child; moved to Ohio in 1818
- John Simpson Jr. - moved to Ohio in 1818
- Thomas Simpson - remained in Mispillion Hundred
Places in John Simpson's Life
Documentary Base
Sources
published-history
[1] Clement Cecil Simpson biographical sketch, 1888
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: J. Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609–1888, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: L. J. Richards & Co., 1888), 1174, biographical sketch of Clement Cecil Simpson; digital image, Internet Archive, scan page n807 (https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_mqwUAAAAYAAJ/page/n807/mode/2up : accessed 12 July 2026).
Access: Internet Archive digital scan of the 1888 publication; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Reports that Mary was born on 15 January 1748 and died on 19 April 1826.
- Identifies Mary as the wife of John Simpson.
- Reports that John Simpson was born in Mispillion Hundred on 28 December 1750.
- Reports that John Simpson died on 14 July 1819.
- Identifies John’s wife as Mary Hilford.
- Identifies their children as Nancy, Esther, Clement, John, and Thomas.
- Reports that Clement and the younger John moved to Ohio in 1818.
- The sketch concerns John’s grandson Clement Cecil Simpson and was published during Clement’s lifetime.
- The exact dates and complete child list are family-biographical information; contemporary records corroborate the surrounding identities, relationships, residence, and landholding pattern.
probate
[2] Will and probate file of John Simpson, 1772–1775
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Delaware Public Archives, Dover, Kent County Register of Wills, estate file of John Simpson, will dated 17 March 1772, proved 4 January 1775, RG 3545.000, roll 199, “Short, Peter to Simpson, John”; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSRM-4BBG?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 743–747 of 762; Image Group Number 104426528.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of records held by the Delaware Public Archives; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Names John's children John Jr., Robert, and Mary.
- Names John Jr. as sole executor.
- Divides the land and associated debts between John Jr. and Robert.
- Requires John Jr. to maintain his elderly father for life.
- Provides detailed property and housing provisions for unmarried daughter Mary.
- Establishes that John was alive on 17 March 1772 and dead by probate on 4 January 1775.
- Does not name a wife, supporting the conclusion that she was probably already deceased.
deed
[3] Sheriff's deed completing John Simpson's land division, 1790
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volume C2–D2, pages 30–32, deed from Andrew Barrett, high sheriff of Kent County, to John Simpson of Mispillion Hundred, 12 August 1790, reciting the ownership of John Simpson the elder and the division of his land between his sons Robert and John; acknowledged in the Kent County Court of Common Pleas in August 1790; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37X-M164?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 36–38 of 644; Image Group Number 008577930; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Explicitly identifies John Simpson the elder as the father of the grantee, John Simpson.
- Identifies Robert Simpson and John Simpson as sons of the elder John.
- Recites that the elder John had held approximately 237 acres in Mispillion Hundred.
- Describes the division of the property between Robert and John.
- Describes the portion laid off to John as approximately 66 acres and 152 square perches.
- Documents Andrew Barrett’s conveyance of title to John Simpson through sheriff’s proceedings.
- The grantee was John alone; the deed recites the earlier division between John and Robert.
probate
[4] Will and probate file of Matthew Hilford, 1763
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Delaware Public Archives, Dover, Kent County Register of Wills, probate file of Matthew Hilford, will dated 15 February 1763, proved 28 November 1763, RG 3545.000, roll 108, “Hill, Martina to Hinsley, Amos”; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS55-GQGW-8?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), image 304 of 884; Image Group Number 104399991.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of records held by the Delaware Public Archives; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Identifies Ann as Matthew Hilford’s wife.
- Identifies Mary Hilford as a daughter and residuary heir of Matthew Hilford.
- Names son Thomas, married daughter Susannah Truitt, and daughters Martha, Ann, Jane, Esther, Mary, and Rachel.
- Establishes that Matthew made his will on 15 February 1763 and that it was proved on 28 November 1763.
- Does not identify Ann’s maiden name or Mary’s future husband.
deed
[5] Matthew Hilford heirs to Thomas Hilford deed, 1772
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volume S1–T1, pages 244–245, deed from the heirs of Matthew Hilford to Thomas Hilford, 8 May 1772; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37X-ZSCN-2?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), image 637 of 671; Image Group Number 008577928; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Identifies Mary, wife of John Simpson, among the heirs of Matthew Hilford.
- Connects Mary Simpson directly to the Mary Hilford named as Matthew’s daughter in his 1763 will.
- Establishes the marriage of John Simpson and Mary Hilford by 8 May 1772.
- Places John and Mary within the wider Hilford heir and kinship group.
- Places Mary among the married Hilford daughters and their husbands, including the Killen, Smith, Fleming, Nickerson, Simpson, and Catto or Catts families.
- Does not give John and Mary’s marriage date.
deed
[6] Robert and Alice Simpson to John Simpson deed, 1787
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volumes Z1 and A2–B2, deed from Robert Simpson and Alice his wife to John Simpson, 16 May 1787; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37X-69K4-J?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), image 102 of 713; Image Group Number 008577929; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Identifies Robert Simpson and Alice his wife as grantors and John Simpson as grantee.
- Documents John’s acquisition of 43½ acres in Mispillion Hundred for £30.
- Shows a continuing land relationship between the brothers after their father’s division of the family property.
deed
[7] John and Mary Simpson to Ezekiel Riggs deed, 1791
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volume C2–D2, deed from John Simpson and Mary his wife to Ezekiel Riggs, 2 December 1791; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37X-MT9B?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 223–224 of 644; Image Group Number 008577930; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Identifies Mary as the wife of John Simpson.
- Places John and Mary in Mispillion Hundred on 2 December 1791.
- Documents their conveyance of 112 acres and 7 square perches to Ezekiel Riggs.
- Locates the tract near Simpson’s Cross Roads, also called Guiney Town.
- Describes the property as former Moses Stuart land and portions of Mount Pleasant and Simpson’s Folly.
- Names Robert Simpson’s land as an adjoining boundary.
- The deed recites earlier title proceedings involving Samuel Savil; the precise sequence should not be summarized beyond the legible text without a fresh full transcription.
court-case
[8] Simpson and Wife v. Helford/Hillford, 1796
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Simpson and Wife v. Robert Helford, Administrator of Thomas Helford, 1 Del. Cas. 400 (Delaware Court of Common Pleas, Kent County, July 1796, adjourned), Bayard’s Notebook, 147; and Simpson and Wife v. Hillford, Administrator of Hillford, 1 Del. Cas. 494 (Delaware Court of Common Pleas, Kent County, July 1796), parallel account in Clayton’s Notebook; digital PDF copies supplied from Casetext and CaseMine, consulted 12 July 2026.
Access: Digital PDF copies of both published Delaware case reports, consulted 12 July 2026.
- Identifies the plaintiff’s wife as one of Matthew Hilford’s daughters and residuary legatees.
- States that Matthew appointed his wife Ann and only son Thomas as executors and that Thomas became the surviving executor.
- Documents litigation to recover the plaintiff wife’s share of the estate balance.
- Reports that two other surviving daughters brought similar suits.
- The reports do not name the plaintiff couple; identification as John and Mary Simpson depends on correlation with the 1772 Hilford-heirs deed.
- The two reports are parallel accounts of the same litigation, not independent events.
- The reports differ slightly in the estate balance and contain a chronological error in the Helford version; the discrepancies should not be silently harmonized.
land-survey
[9] Survey of Catts Folly including John Simpson’s dwelling, 1797
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Delaware State Archives, Dover, Kent County Warrants and Surveys, C5 no. 1 through D1 no. 53, RG 3555.005, roll 4, survey for John Catts, tract called “Catts Folly,” surveyed 6 March 1797, containing 197 acres and 12 square perches and including the “present Dwelling of John Simpson”; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSBW-VYQY?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), image 432 of 894; Image Group Number 104986001.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of a survey held by the Delaware State Archives; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Places John Simpson’s dwelling in Mispillion Hundred in March 1797.
- Locates the dwelling near the main branch of Mispillion Creek.
- Shows that the dwelling lay within the bounds of a tract surveyed for John Catts and called Catts Folly.
- Does not establish that John owned the entire 197-acre, 12-square-perch tract.
tax-record
[10] John Simpson’s Mispillion Hundred tax assessment, 1797
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Levy Court Commissioners, Mispillion Hundred tax assessment, 1797, John Simpson entry; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGD-RSV4-6?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), image 308 of 642; Image Group Number 008217912; citing Delaware Levy Court Commissioners, Kent County.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of Kent County tax records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Places John Simpson in Mispillion Hundred in 1797.
- Assesses him with 85½ acres valued at forty shillings per acre, producing a land valuation of £171.
- Records a new two-story house and a cookhouse.
- Documents livestock and taxable personal property.
- Records a total assessment of £322 2s. 6d.
- The notation “40/” is the per-acre valuation rate and does not state that forty acres were cleared.
census
[11] John Simpson household, 1800 census
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: 1800 U.S. census, Kent County, Delaware, Mispillion Hundred, p. 92, John Simpson household, enumeration 10301-00201-0-0; National Archives microfilm publication M32, roll 4; digital image, United States, Census, 1800, FamilySearch, digital folder 004955929, image 53, indexed entry for John Simpson (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRH-HT3 : accessed 12 July 2026); Family History Library microfilm 6413.
Access: FamilySearch indexed record and associated original census image; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Places the John Simpson household in Mispillion Hundred in 1800.
- Records one male under ten, three males aged sixteen through twenty-five, and one male aged forty-five or older.
- Records two females aged sixteen through twenty-five and one female aged forty-five or older.
- The oldest male and female are consistent with John and Mary Simpson; Mary would have been about fifty-two.
- The younger household members were not named and cannot be identified from the census alone.
- Records no other free persons and no enslaved persons in John Simpson’s household.
deed
[12] Andrew and Alexander Fleming to John Simpson deed, 1806
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volumes I2–K2, deed from Andrew Fleming of Caroline County, Maryland, and Alexander Fleming of Kent County, Delaware, to John Simpson, 1 December 1806; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37X-HQST-X?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 579–580 of 697; Image Group Number 008577931; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Documents a land conveyance from Andrew Fleming and Alexander Fleming to John Simpson on 1 December 1806.
- Identifies Andrew Fleming as a resident of Caroline County, Maryland, and Alexander Fleming and John Simpson as residents of Kent County, Delaware.
- Places the tract near Shockley’s Choice and among lands associated with Thomas Simpson, Jacob Fleming, Joseph Marritt, John Catts, and other neighbours.
- Provides additional evidence of John’s continuing landholding activity.
census
[13] Consecutive Simpson households, 1810 census
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: 1810 U.S. census, Kent County, Delaware, Mispillion Hundred, consecutive households of Clement Simpson, John Simpson, John Simpson Jr., and Thomas Simpson; National Archives microfilm publication M252, roll 4; digital image, United States, Census, 1810, FamilySearch, digital folder 005157121, image 37, indexed entry for Clement Simpson (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH24-KQZ : accessed 12 July 2026); Family History Library microfilm 224381.
Access: FamilySearch indexed record and associated original census image; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Places Clement Simpson, John Simpson, John Simpson Jr., and Thomas Simpson in Mispillion Hundred in 1810.
- Shows the four Simpson households entered consecutively in the enumeration.
- Distinguishes the elder John from his same-named son through the enumerator’s use of “Jr.”
- John’s household contains an older woman consistent with Mary, but the census does not name her.
- Supports a concentrated family neighbourhood before Clement and the younger John moved to Ohio.
- Does not support assigning the enslaved person associated with Thomas Simpson’s household to the elder John.
tax-record
[14] John Simpson entry in the Mispillion Hundred tax assessment, 1820
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Levy Court Commissioners, Mispillion Hundred tax assessment, 1820, John Simpson entry; digital image, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-CX62?view=explore : accessed 21 May 2026), image 59 of 889; Image Group Number 008141637.
Access: FamilySearch digital image of Kent County tax records; accessed 21 May 2026.
- Records land in the name of John Simpson in the 1820 Mispillion Hundred assessment.
- Records no personal property for the entry as summarized in the supplied research.
- Is consistent with the land remaining assessed under John’s name after his reported 1819 death, but does not alone prove the date of death.
deed
[15] William Hamilton to Manlove Smith deed, 1821
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volumes V2–X2, deed from William Hamilton to Manlove Smith, 20 April 1821, referring to land near the late dwelling of John Simpson, deceased; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGD-G3ZQ-F?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 179–180 of 712; Image Group Number 008217891; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Refers to the late dwelling of John Simpson, deceased.
- Establishes that John had died by 20 April 1821.
- Provides geographic context for John’s former home and adjoining land.
- Does not establish the exact date of death.
deed
[16] Sheriff’s sale of John Simpson’s farm, 1821
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Kent County, Delaware, Deed Records, volumes V2–X2, sheriff’s deed from Richard Harrington, sheriff of Kent County, to James Sharp, dated 12 June 1821, conveying John Simpson’s right and title in an 85-acre Mispillion Hundred farm following a sheriff’s sale on 19 April 1821; acknowledged 12 June 1821 and recorded 30 March 1822; digital images, “Kent, Delaware, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGD-G348-1?view=explore : accessed 12 July 2026), images 176–177 of 712; Image Group Number 008217891; citing Kent County Recorder of Deeds.
Access: FamilySearch digital images of Kent County deed records; accessed 12 July 2026.
- Documents the sheriff’s conveyance of John Simpson’s right and title in an 85-acre Mispillion Hundred farm to James Sharp.
- States that the sheriff’s sale occurred on 19 April 1821.
- Records a purchase price of $99.
- Connects the sale to a court judgment at the suit of Jacob Biddle, John Mitchell, and James Clayton.
- Shows that the homestead passed through debt proceedings rather than an ordinary estate division.
- Records acknowledgment on 12 June 1821 and recording on 30 March 1822.
dna-evidence
[17] Y-DNA comparison of the John and Moses Simpson branches
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: FamilyTreeDNA, Y-DNA Matches and Big Y results for kit B24208, match to kit 436237; reviewed May 2026. Davis Simpson and Lee Simpson are documented direct male-line descendants of William Simpson of Mispillion Hundred through different sons, John Simpson and Moses Simpson. The testers match with six Big Y STR differences and both belong to haplogroup R-FGC39762.
Access: FamilyTreeDNA account results and supplied DNA-confirmation information reviewed May 2026.
- Independently corroborates that the documented John and Moses branches share the same biological Simpson paternal line.
- Supports the broader paternal-line reconstruction back to William Simpson.
- Does not independently prove every documentary parent-child link in either lineage.
- Tester names and kit numbers are included because they were supplied for this public genealogical analysis.