James A. Simpson, mayor of Mountain Grove, Wright County,
Mo., and proprietor of Mountain Grove Marble Works, was born in
Cannon County, Tenn., September 7, 1846, being the son of John A.
and Margaret (Cherry) Simpson, and grandson of Valentine Simpson,
who was a native of North Carolina, and was a farmer by occupation.
He moved from his native State to Tennessee, and there resided until
an old man, when he immigrated to Oregon County, Mo., and here
received his final summons. He was born in 1790, and died in 1865.
He was said to have been a soldier in the Black Hawk War. The pa-
ternal great-grandfather, Peter Simpson, was a native of North Caro-
lina, and immigrated to Tennessee, where he died. The name Simpson
is purely English. The maternal grandfather was born in North Caro-
lina, and also immigrated to Tennessee, where he died. The maternal
grandmother, Sarah Cherry, was a descendant of English ancestors.
John A. Simpson, father of subject, was born in Tennessee February
27, 1821, and there grew to manhood and was married. He immigrated
to Missouri in 1851, and located in Lawrence County, removing in 1861
to Randolph County, Ark., where he died in 1865. He was in the
Confederate service during the late war, and participated in a number
of battles. Margaret (Cherry) Simpson is still living, and resides in
Lawrence County, Mo. She is the mother of eight children, of whom
James A. Simpson is the eldest. He was reared to man's estate in
Lawrence County, Mo., received a common-school education, and came
to Wright County, Mo., in 1873, where he was married to Miss Helen
R. Ellis, a native of Wright County, Mo., born in 1852. Seven children
were the fruits of this union: Loren E., Margaret E., Verona J., An-
nie V., JohnW., Francis Edward and James Arthur. Mr. Simpson
followed farming until 1883, and then engaged in the marble business,
which he has since continued, and does all his own work. He is also
the owner of three houses and lots. He was elected justice of the
peace of Mountain Grove Township in 1886, elected mayor in 1887, and
filled the office of city treasurer for one year, previous to being elected
to the position of mayor. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, being a trustee of the same.
Mr. Simpson comes of long-lived ancestors on both the paternal and
maternal sides, having seen all his grandparents except the grand-
mother on his father's side, and in infancy was held in the arms of
his great-grandparents on his father's side.