The Church family was founded by Richard Church, born 1608, in England, who came to America in the fleet with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and was admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts colony, October 19 of that year. He first located in Weymouth, whence he removed to Eel river, in the Plymouth colony, where he was admitted freeman, October 4, 1632. On the tax lists of Duxbury he appears as early as 1637. He was a carpenter by trade, and in association with John Thompson was engaged to build the first meeting house and the first gun carriage in Plymouth in 1637. In 1649 he sold his land there and removed to Eastham, Massachusetts, was in Charlestown, Massachusetts colony, in 1653, and in 1657 at Hingham. In 1664 he was in Sandwich. He served often at inquests, was frequently a referee in disputes, and was sergeant of a military company, serving in the Pequot war. He died December 27, 1668, at Dedham, and was buried at Hingham, beside his wife. He married, in 1636, Elizabeth Warren, daughter of Richard Warren, the pioneer, who came to Plymouth in the "Mayflower," and was among the Pilgrim fathers. All of his descendants are eligible to membership in the societies of Colonial Dames, Mayflower Descendants and the Colonial Wars. His eldest son, Joseph Church, born 1638, died 1711, was a carpenter, and married, December 30, 1660, Maria Tucker, born October 8, 1640, in Hingham, daughter of John Tucker, a pioneer of Watertown and Hingham, Massachusetts. Their daughter became the wife of Samuel Gray in 1699, as above noted. Children:

Samuel, mentioned below; John, born April 14,1701; Dorothy, January 14, 1704; Joseph, January 20, 1706; Lydia, October 16, 1707; Simeon, December 15, 1709; Ignatius, September 18, 1711, died next year. Samuel (2), eldest son of Samuel (1) and Deborah (Church) Gray, was born April 16, 1700, in Little Compton, where he died April 22, 1764. He married there, in 1720, Hannah Kent, born October 3, 1703, in Barrington, Rhode Island, eldest child of Samuel and Desire (Cushman) Kent, granddaughter of Joseph Kent, who came from England to Dedham, Massachusetts. She was also a granddaughter of Thomas and Ruth (Howland) Cushman, the last-named a daughter of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, both passengers of the historic "Mayflower." She died in Little Compton. Children: Desire, born 1721, died young; Deborah, 1723, died young; Samuel, mentioned below; Hannah, born April 22, 1728; Deborah, November 26, 1730; Lydia, March 20, 1733; Desire, July 7, 1735; Mary, July 5, 1739; Thomas, September 7, 1741; Simeon, January 16, 1743; Lois, June 12, 1745. Samuel (3), eldest son of Samuel (2) and Hannah (Kent) Gray, was born May 12, 1726, in Little Compton, where he died March 30, 1813. He married, in 1750, Deborah Peck, born February 23, 1733, died 1791, daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Loring) Peck (see Peck IV). Their daughter Sarah became the wife of Richard Palmer, as above noted. Children: Amaziah, born June 24, 1777; Susanna, May 3, 1779; Gideon, mentioned below; Richard, December 21, 1782.

(VII) Gideon Palmer, second son of Richard and Sarah (Gray) Palmer, was born May 1, l 781, in Little Compton, and died at Providence, Rhode Island, June 5, 1854. He married Elizabeth Simmons, born 1778-79, in Newport, Rhode Island, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Simmons, of that city (see Simmons VI). She died in Providence, March 16, 1853, at the age of seventy-four years. They had children: Benjamin, born 1814-15, died June 1, 1870; Richard, mentioned below; Mary P., married Nathaniel (2) Searles, of Newport.

(VIII) Richard (2) Palmer, second son of Gideon and Elizabeth (Simmons) Palmer, was born March 22, 1812, in Providence, where he died September 13, 1862, at the age of fifty years. He married, February 22, 1838, Patience Hathaway Andrews, born November 24, 1817, died June 7, 1860, in Providence. Children: Eleanora S., born 1844, died July 9, 1858; Fallie O., born 1847, died August 23, 1868; Mary Anna, mentioned below; Sarah S., born September 26, 1852.

(IX) Mary Anna, youngest child of Richard (2) and Patience H. (Andrews) Palmer, was born May 15, 1850, in Providence, and married, November 1, 1876, Asel P. Bartlett, of Providence (see Bartlett VII).

This name is of Dutch origin and is a contraction of the name as it first appeared in this country. At the time of the early Dutch immigration surnames were not common in Holland, and every man took his father's baptismal name, with the syllable son added for a patronymic. Thus it occurs that this name is derived from Symonson. The original immigrant came from Leyden, Holland, and thus fell among the Pilgrims of New England. The first settlers of New York were his compatriots, and in the empire state are many ancient families still preserving some form of the old Dutch names.

(1) Moses Simonson, or Symonson, a native of Leyden, Holland, came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the ship "Fortune," in 1621, and settled at Duxbury, near Plymouth. His father was a communicant of the Dutch church at Leyden, and Moses was one of the "purchasers," which entitled him to admission to the Plymouth church in this country, where his children were baptized. He was made a freeman in 1634 and served three years later as a juryman. In 1638 he received a grant of land in addition to one previously made. He had sons, Moses and Thomas.

(II) Moses (2) Simmons, son of Moses (1) Simonson, or Simmons, as the name very quickly was rendered by the English-speaking people, resided in Duxbury, where he died in 1689. He had a wife Sarah and children: John, Aaron, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah, all of whom married and reared families.

(III) John Simmons, son of Moses (2) and Sarah Simmons, married, about 1670, Mercy Pabodie, born January 2, 1649, daughter of W illiam and Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie. The last-named was a daughter of John and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden, of the "Mayflower," and their descendants are all eligible to the Society of Mayflower Descendants. Children: John, born February 22, 1671; William, mentioned below; Isaac, January 28, 1674; Martha, November, 1677.

(IV) William Simmons, second son of John and Mercy (Pabodie) Simmons, was born September 24, 1672, in Duxbury, and joined the movement from that town which was largely instrumental in the settlement of Little Compton, then in Massachusetts, rjpw a part of Rhode Island. He married, in 1696, Abigail, born 1680, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Tucker) Church, elsewhere mentioned in this work (see Palmer VI). She died July 4, 1720, and was survived for about forty-five years by her husband, who died in 1765. Children: Mercy, born July 1, 1697; William, September 30, 1699; Lydia, December 15, 1700; Joseph, mentioned below; John, August 14, 1704; Abigail, July 14, 1706; Rebecca, May 8, 1708; Mary, October 15, 1709; Benjamin, February 21, 1713; Ichabod, January 6, 1715; Peleg, December 21, 1716; Sarah, August 26, 1718.

(V) Joseph Simmons, second son of William and Abigail (Church) Simmons, was born March 4, 1702, in Little Compton, where he lived, and married, March 28, 1726, Rebecca Wood, born December 20, 1704, in Little Compton, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Thurston) Wood. Children: John, born January 29, 1727; Abigail, December 7, 1728; Edward, mentioned below; Betsey, March 8, 1733; Jonathan, August 20, 1736; Ephraim, June 29, 1739; Susanna, July 8, 1742; Rebecca, February 7, 1746; Joseph, 1748.

(VI) Edward Simmons, second son of Joseph and Rebecca (Wood) Simmons, was born March 16, 1730, in Little Compton, and settled in Newport, where he was an active and prominent citizen, and died September 10, 1803. He married, May 10, 1753, in Newport, Mary Robinson, born October 8, 1736, in South Kingstown, daughter of William and Abigail (Gardiner) Robinson, of that town (see Robinson line). She died March 17, 1804, aged sixty-nine years. The Newport town records record only two children of Edward and Mary ( Robinson) Simmons, namely: Martha, born April 1, 1754, and Jonathan, mentioned below. The church records indicate that Edward Simmons had a daughter, who died in October, 1760, under two years old, and a son who died in August, 1762, born in that year; another son, unnamed, in January, 1764.

(VII) Jonathan Simmons, eldest son of Edward and Mary (Robinson) Simmons, was born in July, 1755, in Newport, where he made his home, and died before 1819. Jonathan Simmons, of Newport, was an ensign in the First Newport Regiment in the revolutionary war under Colonel George Irish. He was later a lieutenant in Colonel Elliott's regiment of revolutionary soldiers in 1776, when his pay account was certified at nine pounds five shillings and eight pence. Jonathan Simmons' wife was Elizabeth, but no record of his marriage can be discovered to show her birth or parentage. She died his widow at Bristol. Rhode Island, December 4, 1819, aged sixty-three years. The fragmentary records of Rhode Island show that Mary Ann Simmons, daughter of Jonathan, was married in Providence, April 14, 1822, to Jonathan Bassett Nichols. The family records show that he had also a daughter, Elizabeth, who became the wife of Gideon Palmer, of Providence (see Palmer VII).

Source: William Richard Cutter. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 1 (Google eBook). Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915.