I am proud to be a descendant of a long line of entrepreneurs and statesmen, many of whom were prominent farmers and ranchers of their time. I am the first cousin (five times removed) of Ulysses S. Grant, a farmer and frontiersman who became the 18th president of the United States of America at the young age of 46. I am the granddaughter of one of Colorado’s historical characters, Emory Simpson, (Cabin and a Clothesline; A Saga of The North Fork High Country And Its People) and the daughter of miner and rancher, George Phillip Simpson (1930-1972). My father’s life was taken by cancer at the young age of 42 due to radon poisoning from working in the uranium mines. My grandfather passed away in 1992.
My maternal side of the family was filled with farmers, tradesmen, and teachers. After my mother Shirley Jean Trout Simpson (1933-2011) passed away, I received memorabilia and photos passed down to her. I’m finally getting around to spending more time researching her family heritage as a result.
I’ve always been fascinated by my family’s history. I used to spend hours on end listening to my Grandfather Simpson spin stories of his youth. In 1994 I purchased my first piece of genealogy software, Family Tree Maker, and began to research and document our family tree. My son’s family history project assignment for school moved me to purchase the software. I showed him how to create his family tree with it and then I became hooked on continuing the research. I’m still working on the project, primarily because it satisfies my need to solve a good mystery now and then.
Genealogy Links of Interest:
- Maternal
- Fraternal
- Simpson Genealogy
- Grandmother Jessie Luretta Walkup was adopted
- Find-A-Grave Memorials
- Jonathan Ray Family (Maternal) – Virtual cemetery I set up to help me locate and position Ray family members in my genealogy chart. Includes links to Find-A-Grave records.
- Ricord ~ Ray Line (Maternal) – Virtual cemetery I set up to help me locate the graves of family members.
- Simpson Family (Fraternal) – Virtual cemetery I set up to help me round up gravesites I’ve found of Simpson family members.
- Simpson ~ Hellyer Line (Fraternal) – Virtual cemetery I set up to help me round up gravesites from the Hellyer family line.
- Arthur Line ~ Virtual cemetery I set up to round up family connections to James Daniel Arthur