Pvt Virgil Simmons
| Simmons, Virgil F. Born: c. 1842, Windsor, Connecticut Died: January 28, 1864, New Haven, Connecticut Burial: Palisado Cemetery, Windsor, Connecticut Occupation: Waiter Enlisted: November 30, 1863, Hartford, Connecticut Unit: 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment Company: C Rank: Private --------------------------- Virgil F. Simmons was born in Windsor, Connecticut around 1842. The identities of his parents are unclear, but he appears in the 1850 census living in the Windsor household of Henry Simmons. Virgil is listed as nine years old, while Henry is listed as fifty. Because of the significant age difference, Henry may have been Virgil’s father or grandfather. A man named Harry married Marietta Rockwell in Windsor on December 25, 1833. It is not clear whether Harry Simons is the same person as Henry Simmons, but if so, Marietta Rockwell may have been Virgil Simmons’s mother or grandmother. In the Town of Windsor vital records, Marietta Rockwell is listed with a death date of May 4, 1848, at the age of 45, with cause of death written as “throne from Waggon”. Additional Simmons individuals appear nearby in the 1850 census. Living in a structure next door to Henry Simmons is a sixteen-year-old male named George Simmons, who may have been related to Virgil, possibly an older brother. In the household of Nathaniel Hayden, a prominent white Windsor family, there is also a twelve-year-old mulatto child named Charlotte Simmons. While it is not known whether Charlotte was related to Virgil, she may have been another sibling. Further uncertainty appears in the same census entry. Living in Henry Simmons’s household alongside Virgil is a nine-year-old child named Georgiana Smith. Three doors away is the household of Isaac Smith and Aurelia Percy—Georgiana was likely their daughter. Based on her age, Aurelia Percy may have been the sister of Julie Ann Percy and the granddaughter of Ozias Pettibone. According to the late Granby, Connecticut archivist Carol Laun, Ozias Pettibone was a white enslaver in Granby who fathered children with an enslaved woman named Rose. It is not clear whether any relationship existed between Virgil Simmons and the Percy family, but the proximity of these households raises the possibility of a connection. The question of Virgil Simmons’s family relationships becomes even more complicated in the 1860 census. Julie Ann Percy—by then known as Julie Rockwell after marrying John Rockwell around 1839—is listed in the household of Mary A. Ceasar. Also living there are two young women: nineteen-year-old Emily Simmons and nine-year-old Aurelia E. Simmons. Their presence raises the possibility that they may have been related to Virgil, perhaps as siblings. Why they were living with Julie Ann Percy and the Ceasar household, however, remains unclear. In November 1863, Virgil Simmons decided to join the fight for freedom. Legislation allowing the organization of a Black regiment had just passed the Connecticut legislature on November 13, 1863, and the new call for colored soldiers may have inspired him. Virgil traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, where he enlisted in the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment on November 30, 1863. He listed his occupation as a waiter and noted that he was unmarried. Virgil was assigned to Company C. Virgil’s time in the regiment was brief. After enlistment he fell ill and was admitted to Knight Hospital in New Haven. The hospital consisted of a large encampment of temporary buildings and tents on Cedar Street and was operated by the federal government capable of accommodating up to one thousand patients. Virgil died there on January 27, 1864. His cause of death was recorded as congestion of the lungs. In 1870, a monument was erected at Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven to honor the 204 Union soldiers who died at Knight Hospital during the Civil War. Many of those men are buried adjacent to the monument. Although Virgil Simmons was initially assigned a grave next to the monument, his remains appear to have subsequently been sent for burial at Palisado Cemetery in Windsor, Connecticut. His obituary appeared in the Columbia Register on Saturday, February 6, 1864. |