Simpson, Maria D. (Maria Dean), approximately 1844-1918 September

Dates

• Existence: 1844 - September 1918
• Usage: February 23, 1860 - September 1918
• Usage: 1844 - February 23, 1860

Biography

Lewis Legare Simpson (spelled Louis in Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War) was born in Hingham, MA on April 16, 1842 or 1843 to George Whitney Simpson and Eliza (Freeman) Simpson. He was one of 14 children and the great-grandson of Asher Freeman, a Black Revolutionary War soldier who served in the Continental Army from 1777 to 1781.

Maria Dean Johnson was born around 1844 and was the daughter of Benjamin Johnson of Bridgewater, MA.

On February 23, 1860 Maria married Lewis Legare Simpson. Maria was 16 at the time of their marriage, and Lewis was 18. Lewis worked as a shoemaker, and they lived in Hingham, MA until he enlisted in the Union Army on November 25, 1863 as a Private in Company G of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, referred to as a “colored” unit at the time of the Civil War.

After the Civil War, Maria and Lewis Simpson moved to Cottage Street in Bridgewater, MA where she lived until their deaths, he on September 30, 1918 at the age of 78 and she a few weeks earlier. They had 11 children including Ruth Butler and Isabelle Talbot of Brockton, Lora Frye of Boston, Benjamin Simpson of Worcester, Preston Simpson of Worcester, and Geroge, Alden, Carl, and Howard Simpson of Bridgewater. They attended the New Jerusalem Church where Lewis worked as a janitor for more than 11 years.

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