Early Texans DNA Project
Michael Symns
1822 - 1893 (71 years)Symns - Michael Symns - Brief bio
It is unknown whether Symns was actually the name that Michael Symns was born with. Stories of shortening names when arriving in America has made it impossible to find any records in Germany where the 1850 census indicates he was born. Germany was made up of many little kingdoms until the 1870s. Baden and Bavaria are mentioned in some later census enumerations. Texas GLO Unconditional Land Certificate no. 31 indicates that Michael Simms arrived in Texas prior to 1 January 1842. Family lore indicates that Michael's mother, Katherine, and his brother, George came with him.
George Hemphling received Texas GLO Unconditional Land Certificate no. 32 on the same day that Michael received his. The family story indicates that George, his son, George, and his daughter, Margaret, came over with the Symns family. Katherine, even though she is ten years older than George, marries him in 1847. Michael married the young widow, Racheal Sarah Middleton Curd, in 1847. Michael and Racheal had eight children and continued to farm their land in the Peach Creek area of Brazos County. They are both buried in Peach Creek Cemetery; it was once known as Simms Cemetery as Michael donated some of the land.
The various spelling of the name Symns (each generation seemed to spell it differently) caused the
Sons of the Republic of Texas to ask how can we be sure that the Michael mentioned in the earliest records and the Michael buried in Peach Creek Cemetery were the same person. The Warranty Deed where George Hempling mentions giving Katherine's estate to her two sons, Michael and George, provides evidence. The Texas GLO Unconditional Certificate no. 31 is found in the Texas GLO records with the other land Michael owned over the years in the tax records of Brazos County.
Through the DNA of TX000098, the third-great-grandson of Rachel's only child by James Fred Curd was found.
The Symns family married into the Price, Greenwood, Bean, Jordan, Triplet, Watson, Appling, Greer families. Rachael's sisters married into the Price, Walker, Jackson, Lyons, and Weeks families.
GLO Records from GLO Austin, Texas
Tax Records for Brazos and Washington County
US Census for Brazos County, Texas, and surrounding counties and East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, Franklin Mississippi
Republic of Texas Poll list for 1846, compiled by Marian Day Mullins
Pioneers of Brazos County, Texas 1800-1850 by W. Broadus Smith
"Twixt the Brazos and the Navasot" by Johnnie E Stribling
Texas Civil War records
Marriage records from the same places as the Census
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