Surnames: Head, Gillette, Munger, Searles
Regions: Fenner, Madison Co., NY; Utica, Oneida Co., NY
Source: History of the Mohawk Valley - Gateway to the
West - 1614-1925
Covering The Six Counties of Schenectady, Schoharie,
Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer and Oneida.
Volume IV, Illustrated; Page
721
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925
George Philip Simmons, vice president of the Horrocks Desk Company of Herkimer, New York, was born in Utica, Oneida Co., New York, on May 24, 1869. His parents were Henry M. and Florence A. (Head) Simmons. Henry M. Simmons, a Unitarian minister, author and lecturer, was born at Paris Hill, New York, in 1845, and died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May, 1906. He was the son of Philip and Miranda (Head) Simmons. Philip Simmons was an agriculturist at Paris Hill. Florence A. (Head) Simmons was born at Paris Hill in November, 1846, and is now living near Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the daughter of George Washington and Sarah Bartlett Head. George W. Head was born in Rhode Island on May 21, 1815, and died in Utica, New York, in April, 1885. He was a wholesale grocer of Utica.
George Philip Simmons was educated in the Minneapolis high school, then was tutored by his father for several years, after which he took a business course at Curtiss Business College in Minneapolis. He came to Utica at the age of twenty and became associated with his grandfather, George Washington Head, in the wholesale grocery business, continuing thus engaged for five years, at the end of which time he opened a merchandise brokerage business under his own name and continued engaged along that line until 1912, when he came to Herkimer and became vice president of the Horrocks Desk Company, which position he still holds.
On October 31, 1898, at Herkimer, Mr. Simmons was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Munger, daughter of Henry G. and Ellen (Searles) Munger. Henry G. Munger was born on March 28, 1846, at Fenner, Madison County, New York. He is the president of H. G. Munger & Co., Incorporated, also of the Horrocks Desk Company and of the First National Bank of Herkimer, and is known all over the state as a prominent merchant and banker. He is the son of J. H. and Irene (Gillette) Munger. Mrs. Simmons was educated at Vassar preparatory school at Englewood, New Jersey, and at a French school at Short Hills, New Jersey. She is an ex-regent of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Herkimer and a member of the Episcopal church of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are both members of the Mayflower Society.
Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have one child a son Henry Munger Simmons, who was born at Utica on October 20, 1899. He was graduated from Philips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1917, and then entered Yale University, from which institution of learning he graduated in 1920 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. . Henry M. Simmons now is associated with the operations of H. G. Munger & Company, in charge of the advertising department of that concern's great department store at Herkimer. During the time of his attendance at Yale he was a member of the Yale University wrestling team and a member of the Mandolin Club and a Sachem Hall man. He is a member of the University Club of Utica and of the Little Falls Country Club. His church associations are with the Episcopal Church of Herkimer.
During the World war Mr. Simmons was a member of the Home Guards of Herkimer and took an active part in the Liberty Loan and Red Cross drives. He is a member of the Fort Schuyler and Utica clubs. He attends the Episcopal Church, his political affiliations are with the republican party. For diversion Mr. Simmons enjoys gardening and he is a great lover of his home and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends.
