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Lake Geneva 'gentleman' preserved county history

A photo gallery of this Mystery Place is HERE

The James Simmons house, located in the 200 block of Warren Street in Lake Geneva, is described as an English farmhouse in “A Walking Tour of Olde Lake Geneva Towne.” Built around 1860, the house is said to be “romantic and picturesque.” 

There are steep gables and windows with small panes, helping the house keep its historic appearance in spite of an addition during the 1930s.

The first owner of this house was James Simmons, an attorney and publisher of the Geneva Herald, which was the community’s newspaper before the Lake Geneva Regional News.

Simmons wrote a book about the happenings in the community over a period of years. If you would like to read about the early history of Lake Geneva, look for “History of Lake Geneva,” authored by him. It was published in 1875.

Simmons was very active in the community and the county. When the courthouse was dedicated in 1873, Simmons had a spot on the program. According to Albert Beckwith’s “History of Walworth County,” Simmons “read twenty-nine and one-half inches ... of ten-syllable verse.” Beckwith went on to say that whatever he did was done “in the manner of a liberally educated and kindly feeling gentleman.” 

Simmons served as a clerk of the circuit court from 1861 to 1870. He was a court commissioner from 1871 until 1893. He also is listed as a member of the First Cavalry during the Civil War.

In 1879, he was appointed to a special historical committee by the Old Settler’s Society, a forerunner of the county’s historical society. He helped compile the history of the various communities in the county. He served as corresponding secretary of that group from 1869 until 1881.

He is listed in Beckwith’s history as one of five men who helped preserve the early history of the county. This was based on his 222-page book on the history of Lake Geneva. Beckwith indicates he should have been named county historian, but his other pursuits did not allow it.

Simmons became involved with a county temperance society and was elected their secretary in 1843. He was town clerk in 1844, and on the county board in 1871. Then, from 1873 to 1874, he served as justice of the peace.

Simmons began life in Vermont on June 11, 1821. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1841 and then studied law. He came to the village of Geneva in 1843. He married Katherine McCotter on Nov. 12, 1848. She also was born in Vermont. According to Beckwith, they had five children, two having died at an early age. However, according to his obituary in the Herald on Oct. 20, 1899, they had seven children, four dying at a young age.

Simmons died Sept. 30, 1899. His obituary in the Herald covered about 21 inches. It included information that he served on a committee to revise the state statutes, which required him to move to Madison in 1848. The column ended with “James Simmons is not dead, he has but put out to seas, and his life’s rich legacy is an abiding heritage that will be tenderly cherished by all who were privileged to know him.”