St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

St. Clair County Courier - Appleton City Journal
15 December 1988
Contributed by Teresa Walker

Thomas Jefferson Simmons and Rosa Anne Cripe

The story of Thomas Jefferson Simmons and Rosa Anne Cripe is a story of
devotion to God's work and love of family. The little Church of the Brethren
northeast of Osceola, Missouri owes its history and beign to these two
people.
Thomas Jefferson Simmons was born February 1, 1856 in Hawkins County,
Tennessee, the third child of John Hiram Simmons, Sr. and Mary Francisco.
The Simmonses (once Simon) had been involved with the Dunkard (Church of the
Brethren) Church almost since its beginnings in America, there having been
many preachers in the family. Thoams Jefferson was to follow in thei shoes.
Rosa Anne Cripe was born September 4, 1867 in Oakley, Illinois and was
brought to Osceola, St. Clair County, Missouri when she was ten months old.
She was the daughter of Christian Cripe and Catherine Annie Replogle. Both
Christian and Catherine are buried in the Old Dunkard South Cemetery near
Osceola.
The Cripes (once Greib) had also been Dunkards of long standing. When the
small congregation in St. Clair County was in need of a preacher in 1882,
they advertised in the church paper and young Thomas Jefferson Simmons was
called from Tennessee as a "temporary" minister until an older, more
experienced man could be found. Little did they know that this man was the
only preacher they would have for the next 51 years. When Thomas Jefferson
met Rosa Anne Cripe, love blossomed almost immediately and the young couple
was married March 3, 1885 and soon began their family which would come to
include eleven children.
Shortly after the marriage, T.J. and Rosa Anna's brother-in-law, Abraham
Repplogle, began building the small church that still stands and holds
regular Sunday services in St. Clair Co. That same year, Rachel Simmons
Henderson had come from Tennessee to visit her brother and his new wife. One
early morning Rachel and Rosa were picking blackberries on the hill behind
the site of the new church. Rachel looked down on the scene below and told
her sister-in-law that it was such a beautiful spot that if she died she
would like to be buried right there. Perhaps she was ill at the time, or
just had a premonition, but Rachel sickened and died shortly thereafter and
hers was the first burial in what is now the Pleasant Mound Cemetery.
T.J. and Rosa had moved to a house about two miles from Rosa's parents when
they married. When Christian became ill, they moved in with them to help in
his illness. In November of that year, Christian died and thereafter, T.J.
bought out the other heirs; thus, Rosa Anne Cripe Simmons lived her entire
life - 84 years - in the same house on the same land. T.J. gave the piece of
land for the church and cemetery to his congregation. The house and property
are still owned by the Simmons descendants.
T.J. and Rosa and their family were devote Brethrens and never shirked their
Christian duty, always ministering to the sick even during epidemics of flu,
smallpox and diptheria. Several of them were ill themselves during these
epidemics, but the Lord always allowed them to live to carry on their work.
The children of Thomas Jefferson Simmons and Rosa Anne Cripe are:
Daniel Christian Simmons, John Abraham Simmons, Thomas James Simmons, Iva
Susan Simmons Zeiler, William Earnest Simmons, Rosie Alma Simmons Minert,
Samuel Harry Simmons, Charles David Simmons, Mary Katherine Simmons Walker,
Viola Elizabeth Simmons Snyder, bertha Myrtle Simmons Foster.
In May, 1964, the descendants of Thoams Jefferson Simmons and Rosa Anne
Cripe, including their two remaining children at that time, Sam and Bertha,
met at Osceola, Missouri for the first time sicne 1946. This family reunion
was held in conjunction with the annual homecoming of the Church of the
Brethren which is held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
The usual Sunday service was conducted that day (and still is) by Harold
Foster, who had followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, Thomas
Jefferson Simmons. There were over 100 Simmonses in attendance.

Submitted by: Mary Zeiler