Scanned documents about John Simonson (29 November 1743 – 30 June 1804) in familysearch.org; question about Revolutionary War service

Someone uploaded some scanned pages for church records for Readington Church in New York (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KFQK-YRW)--very helpful and nice to see sources!

A question was sent to me whether this the same John Simonson who fought in the Revolutionary War and was a lieutenant, who later moved to New Brunswick.  I do not think so since according to this source (source...), the death dates (1804 vs. 1816) and names of family members are different.

That does not rule out that John Simonson (1743-1804) did not fight in the Revolutionary War.  See for example this book, that to me implies there might have been two ensigns by the name of John Simonson (any opinions?).  Of course, I am still not aware of any definite Revolutionary War service: https://books.google.com/books?id=v5k_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=John+Simonson+and+the+revolutionary+war&source=bl&ots=BIB-eRhyae&sig=ACfU3U0eHp397G6jL4sjy6AGOU9VBt29sA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizmLmxtonlAhVB7J4KHYRsA-0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=John%20Simonson%20and%20the%20revolutionary%20war&f=false

How others can add posts to this blog

I was thinking today, "Some people have a lot of information and know a lot more about Simonson genealogy than I do.  It would be nice if they could also be able to also make posts on this blog."  Of course, you are welcome to send the information to me, and I can then post it.  However, I also thought it might be nice if other people could post directly.  I looked into it, and it looks very easy to do.  I just have to send you an invitation by email to become a "team member."  If you have something you would like to add to the blog and would like to become a team member, just let me know.  Or, if you would prefer I post it for you, I would be happy to do that as well.

Should Simonsons really be Van Arsdales?

Here is an interesting article in a Van Arsdale genealogy newsletter: "The Van Arsdale-Simonson Connection".  This is apparently the information, though not completely conclusive, that gives the ancestry of John Simonson (1743-1804).  It suggests that John Simonson's father was Jan Van Arsdale.

Descendants of John Groome Simonson through his second marriage

John Groome Simonson's first wife, Johanna Nielsen, died, and he later married Leonora Saxey.  I came across this website that lists a lot of descendants through this second marriage to Leonora (many listed are still living): Descendants of Jane Eliza POWERS.

Relationship between Garret Simonson (1819-) and Simon Van Arsdale Simonson (1830-1921)

I found this website that pegs Garret Simonson (1819-) and Simon Van Arsdale Simonson (1830-1921) as brothers: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/il/county/henderson/bios/s-bios.htm.  Simon Van Arsdale Simonson moved to Illinois first, and Garret followed and bought some land from Simon.  I am not sure, but according to new.familysearch.org, they should be half brothers.  Other siblings are also listed, which include a member of the Illinois legislature and a reverend who is almost certainly the same as the one in this New York Times article.

This clears up some questions in my previous post (Simonson Genealogist: Investigating the names in the Raritan Reformed Church Membership Roll).  It would be interesting to know where they got their source material for their website.

Identifying the family connections of the headstones in the Raritan, Illinois, cemetery

I did some searching on the internet today, and I believe I have identified all the family connections for the Simonson headstones in the Raritan, Illinois, cemetery, except Ray Simonson (see previous post for the photos of the headstones, Visit to the Raritan, Illinois, Cemetery).  The U.S. Census for 1900 (available at familysearch.org, search for Peter Simonson) gave it away.  It appears that most of the family buried in Raritan are descendents of Peter Wortman Simonson (1857-1934), who was the second son (but third child) of Simon Van Arsdale Simonson (1830-1921) and Anne Elizabeth Wortman (1832-1907).  I updated the information on new.familysearch.org to show the new links I have found.

The word I heard from the Raritan locals was that there was only one Simonson family that is still farming around Raritan.  Apparently they descended through Peter Wortman Simonson and Elmer Simonson.  Perhaps they work the old ancestral farm?  Maybe Peter Wortman Simonson inherited the farms of both Simon Van Arsdale Simonson and Garret Simonson (1819-)?

German bookkeeper kept residence for a time with Dennis Nevius Simonson (1855-1930) and Mary C. Groome (1857-)

I found something curious in the U.S. 1880 census for Dennis Nevius Simonson and Mary Groome.  They had a bookkeeper from Germany staying with them in Kansas.  Dennis was listed as farming at the time, and this would have been before they had their first child, John Groom Simonson (1881-1946).  I wonder what the story was behind this...