A young truck driver's tragic Christmas-time death
How a photograph of George and Ardith Simmons led to discovering a family tragedy
As I was organizing some family photos recently, I came across a picture of a young couple holding a puppy. I didn’t recognize them, but thankfully someone had written their names on the back: George + Ardith Simmons. I knew the Simmons surname was part of my maternal grandfather’s line, so I decided to do some research to learn more.
I recognized the name Ardith as one of my great-grandfather Archie Hylton’s sisters, so I used that as a starting place for my research. I opened my family tree on Ancestry and pulled up her name. I hadn’t spent much time on this line of the family, so details were sparse. Thanks to the “hints” feature, it didn’t take long to build out a timeline of her life.
Here’s the summary that Ancestry provides of Ardith’s life:
When Ardith Hylton was born on December 18, 1915, in Floyd, Virginia, her father, Elisha, was 41, and her mother, Daisy, was 32. She had one son with George H Simmons in 1939. She died on March 24, 2001, in Montgomery, Virginia, at the age of 85, and was buried in Christiansburg, Virginia.
Ardith married George Simmons on 01 June 1935 in Radford, Virginia1 and the couple lived in Christiansburg before moving to Pulaski. In 1939, Ardith gave birth to their son, Richard.
In 1940, George Simmons was a 25-year-old grocery truck driver, working 60 hours per week and earning $1040 annually, while his 24-year-old wife Ardith raised their one-year-old son Richard at their home in Pulaski, Virginia.2
Just three years later, tragedy would strike the Simmons family during the Christmas season.
On 23 December 1943, George Simmons died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to “sitting in a car asleep with engine running.”3
A local newspaper described the tragic accident in detail:
Ardith would go on to raise her son as a widow. By 1950, 34-year-old Ardith and her 11-year-old son Richard were living on County Road 619 in Montgomery County. Ardith worked as a sewing machine operator at an overall factory to support her family.4
Discovering this family tragedy put a new perspective on that photograph of George Ardith Simmons. It was a snapshot of their brief time together, capturing the joy of being a happy couple.
Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60214/records/3152426
Original data: Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
Year: 1940; Census Place: Pulaski, Pulaski, Virginia; Roll: m-t0627-04287; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 78-16
Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/17569913
Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958; Roll Number: 12
Ancestry.com. Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2376/records/1072534
Original data: Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1965. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Tennessee City Death Records Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis 1848-1907. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Auburn, Montgomery, Virginia; Roll: 1976; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 61-7
Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/113119669
Original data: Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950. Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington, DC.
Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950. NAID: 43290879. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, DC., Washington, DC.
An extremely sad story Nicole but from that one picture you have ensure that their memories will forever live on.
A touching story, and I also connected with the locations. I used to live in tiny Floyd, Virginia, and frequently traveled to the surrounding towns you mentioned.