# Representative women of New England/Harriet P. Simpson

​HARRIET PEASLEE SIMPSON, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is the wife of Greenlief Wadleigh Simpson, of Brookline, Mass., and a woman of prominence in philanthropic and patriotic work of Boston. She claims Maine as her native State, her birthplace being the town of Jefferson, Lincoln County. Her parents were Alden Bradfoid and Emiiy (Hilton) Chancy. Her first Chaney (or Cheney) ancestor in America was John Cheney, who came from England in 1635, settled in Newbury, Mass., and died in 1666. The line of descent is through his son Peter,$^2$ born in 1639; John,$^3$ born May 10, 1666; John,$^4$ born in 1705; Ralph,$^5$ born in Georgetown, Me., October 4, 1750: and Ralph,$^6$ born in Wiscasset, Me., in July, 1775.
Ralph Cheney served as a "private in Captain John Blunt's company: service from September 27, 1779, to November 10, 1779, one month, fifteen days, with Major William Lithgow's detachment, defending frontiers of Lincoln County" ("Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution," vol. iii.).
Alden Bradford' Chaney, son of Ralph$^7$ and father of Mrs. Simpson, was born in Alna, Me., in August, 1816. He died August 15, 1866, in Savannah, Ga. He was a captain in the merchant marine service, a Whig in politics, and a Baptist in his religious belief. His wife, Emily Hilton, born in Jefferson, Me., February i, 1821, died in Bath, Me., September 19, 1863. She was the daughter of James and Harriet (Hilton) Hilton. Her parents were married in May, 1820. Her father, James Hilton, died in London, England, February 2, 1821; and her mother married in 1822 his half-brother, Reuel Peaslee. James Hilton and his wife were both descendants in the seventh generation of William Hilton, who came over from England in the "Fortune," arriving at Plymouth in November, 1621. The lines of descent were: William,$^{123}$ Stilson,$^4$ Samuel,$^5$ John,$^6$ James$^7$; and William,$^{1234}$ Captain James,$^5$ Deacon John,$^6$ Harriet.$^7$
John,$^6$ born in Alna, Me., in 1765, son of Samuel$^5$ and his wife, Judith Carter, and father of James,$^7$ married Jane, daughter of Captain James$^5$ and sister of Deacon John$^6$ (born in 1767), who married Sally Blunt and was father of Harriet.$^7$ From this it appears that James' and Harriet' had five Hilton ancestors in common, namely, the four Williams and Cai)tain James.$^7$
William.$^1$ the immigrant, died in York, Me., in 1655 or 1656. His son, William,$^2$ a mariner at York, died about 1700. William$^3$ Hilton,# ​who was engaged in fisheries and the coasting trade at Muscongus, Me., and Manchester, Mass., died in Manchester in 1723. He married in Marblehead, in 1699, Margaret, daughter of James Stilson. The eldest child born of this union was named Stilson. In 1723 Stilson Hilton and his wife Hannah joined the church in Marblehead. Their son, Samuel,$^5$ born in Manchester, Mass., in 1741, died at Alna, Me., in 1809.
Samuel$^5$ Hilton was in Colonel William Allen's regiment and afterward in Captain Gidding's company, Colonel Jonathan Bagley's regiment of provincial troops, raised for the invasion of Canada in 1759. He removed to Alna, Me., in 1763.
In the Revolutionary War Samuel Hilton served as private in Captain Benjamin Lemont's company. Colonel Samuel McCobb's regiment, and in Captain John Blunt's company, Colonel Prim's regiment, under Brigadier General Wadsworth in 17.S. Company raised for the defence of Western Massachusetts. James Hilton, of Bristol, Me., was chosen Captain of the Seventh Company (Third Bristol) of the Third Lincoln County Regiment of Massachusetts militia, and was commisioned on May S, 1776, as ordered in council. He was one of the men raised to serve in the Continental army from the Seventh Company, Third Lincoln County Regiment, as returned by said Hilton, Captain, agreeable to order of council, November 7, 1777.
The marriage of Harriet Peasley Chaney and Greenlief Wadleigh Simpson took place May 29, 1866, in Bath, Me. Her home has since been in Massachusetts. Mrs. Simpson is a graduate of the public .schools of Bath, Me., including the high school.
Mr. Simpson, a Boston merchant, was born in Alna, Me. He is a lineal descendant of William$^1$ Simpson, of Brunswick, Me. The following is a brief ancestral record:—William$^1$ Simpson was born in Scotland in 1691. AMien a young man he removed to the north of Ireland with his wife, Agnes Lewis, and their small children, About the year 1728 he came to America, and settled at New Wharf, Brunswick, Me., now known as Simpson's Point. About seven years later his wife came with their two daughters, Mary and Jane, leaving one son, David, with his uncle. In this country were born to them six children—Sanmel, William, .Ir., Robert. James. Lewis, and Josiah.
Robert$^2$ Simpson, born October 30, 1740, married Margaret Spear, January 19, 1769. He married a second wife, Jane Given, October 25, 1783. He .settled at Balltown, now Whitetield, Me. His children were: Nancy, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, Margaret, and Robert, Jr. Robert$^3$ Simpson, Jr., married Bertha Ford and had ten children — John, Lewis, George, Abner, Nancy, Mary, Lydia. Elizabeth, Julia, and Abbie. John$^4$ Simpson married Sophronia Dole m July, 1839. They had four children — Myrick. Greenlief W.,$^5$Hannah E., and Thomas A.
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have five children—Caroline K., Clarence W., Harry J., Edna H., and Charles F. Their residence at Brookline is enriched hy many art treasures collected during their visits to foreign countries, and also by many . ancestral relics, among them choice pieces of furniture, invaluable for age and family associations. While sincerely devoted to her home and family, Mrs. Simpson, with the generous co-operation of her congenial and sympathizing husband, has been able to do more than an ordinary amount of public work: and her efforts and success in both walks of life may well he a lesson and example to younger women, stalling out with many impulses and untried purposes.
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson are members of the Baptist church, and have labored zealousy to promote its influence in the community. Mrs. Simpson is one of the five ladies on the executive board of the Tremont Temple Church, Boston. She has been for many years a director of the Benevolent Society of the church and a member of the Home and Foreign Mission Society'. She is a constant attendant at Tremont Temple Church, an active working member of its various charities and .societies, and prominent in its councils. She is a charter member and director of the Baptist Social Union, which specially appeals to her kindly nature, as the aim of the society is the encouragement of a more ​friendly interest and association among Baptist women, the promotion of a more general Christian fellowship, and the development of larger social and mental qualities. She is a charter member and trustee of the Home for the Aged in Somerville, a director of the Baptist Home in Cambridge, a member of the Benevolent Social Union of the Union Square Baptist Church of Somerville, of the Somerville Hospital Association, of the Associated Charities of Somerville, and associated member of the Young Women’s Christian Association of Boston and Somerville. She gives her name, money, and influence to the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, to the Helping Hand Society, and the Charity Club of Boston. Her latest philanthropic work, and one in which her heart is deeply interested, and to which she has given herself without stint, is the Somerville Day Nursery, of which she is one of the founders, being also a vice-president.
While Mrs. Simpson finds her most congenial work in her own beautiful home life and in her many charitable enterprises, she is not neglectful of the pleasant demands of society and friends. She is one of the Board of Directors of the Daughters of Maine Club, and is actively interested in promoting the objects of the society. She is one of the charter members of the Heptorean Club of Somerville.
Into patriotic work Mrs. Simpson puts great love and interest. For several years she has been an efficient member of the board of management of the John Adams Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. At the Eleventh Continental Congress of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, held in Washington, D.C., in February, 1902, she was elected, by a very large and flattering vote, to the office of vice-president-general for Massachusetts. She now belongs to some of the most important standing committees of the National Board, namely: on Finance, on Continental Hall, on Building Committee, on Ways and Means, on the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and on the American Monthly Magazine. To her arduous official duties she has attended in such a way as to command the respect and admiration of all concerned, discharging them promptly, ably, and thoroughly.