Simpson, S. N. (Samuel Newell), 1826-1915.

(October 3, 1826 – November 27, 1915)

The son of Samuel and Hannah Pearson Simpson of Deerfield, New Hampshire. Family tradition attributes the first shot for the American side at the Battle of Bunker Hill to Samuel N. Simpson’s grandfather, John Simpson. Samuel N. Simpson was among the party of the first sixty settlers to found Lawrence, Kansas. He is credited with suggesting the town’s name – after Amos A. Lawrence. Simpson was involved in establishing Sunday Schools and churches. He is attributed with discovering the Franklin plots to destroy Lawrence, Kansas, as well as establishing the Free State Vigilance Committee. Simpson was also active in the Free State cause, acquiring arms and ammunition from the East to aid in the defense of the town. Samuel Newell and his brothers Henry M. and William A. Simpson were proprietors of Simpson Bank for several years. Samuel Newell Simpson worked with John Brown during Brown’s eighteen months of activity in Kansas. Simpson was in charge of guns and ammunition, as well as burying victims. Simpson married Kate L. Burnett of Ohio in 1864. The couple had three children, Charles Lyon, Theodore (died in infancy), and Burnett Newell. Samuel Newell Simpson was active in real estate and established the town of River View near Kansas City, Missouri. Samuel N. Simpson died in 1915 and is buried in Lawrence, Kansas.

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