BIO: Mrs. May Murphy Simmons, Bullitt County, KY

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Transcribed by: Jan West  awest1@tampabay.rr.com
Date: 21 Jan 2000
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MRS. MAY (MURPHY) SIMMONS

Mrs. May (Murphy) Simmons, residing at 2834 Virginia avenue in Louisville, was born at 
"Maywood," Bardstown, Kentucky, on the 18th of October, 1861, her parents being William and 
Courtney (Colmesnil) Murphy. She traces her ancestry to the same family as Zachary Taylor, 
being a great-great-granddaughter of Captain Edmond Taylor, who was born in Virginia in 1744 
and who served as an officer in the Revolutionary war, as did also his nine brothers. 
Captain Edmond Taylor was placed in charge of Fort Boonesboro. He married Sarah Stubbs, and 
their son, Major Edmond Taylor of the United States Army, wedded Eloise Thruston, daughter 
of Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston, a Revolutionary officer and an Episcopalian minister. 
Courtney Taylor, daughter of Major Edmond and Eloise (Thruston) Taylor, became the wife of 
John D. Colmesnil, who was born July 31, 1787, and whose people emigrated from France to San 
Domingo, where they owned an immense coffee plantation. During an insurrection there, John
D. Colmesnil and his father were the only members of the family who were saved. They made 
their way to Georgia, to which state the two hundred slaves of the family followed the 
senior Colmesnil, who freed all of them in 1808 and who spent the remainder of his life in 
the Cracker state. John D. Colmesnil acquired his education in Athens, Georgia, and on 
attaining his majority took up his permanent abode in Louisville, Kentucky. Here he turned 
his attention to the dry goods business. He also owned a fleet of boats and barges that ran 
to New Orleans, his being the first fleet plying between Louisville and the Crescent City. 
His boats also touched Pittsburgh. The first wife of John D. Colmesnil bore the maiden name 
of Elodi Honore, and she was an aunt of Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago and of Mrs. Frederick 
D. Grant. His second wife was Courtney Taylor, as noted above. John D. Colmesnil became the
owner of "Paroquet Springs," in Bullitt county, and there resided for many years. He served 
as assistant secretary of the treasury under James Guthrie and was at one time the richest 
and largest merchant in the city of Louisville. He was a communicant of the Catholic church 
and he helped to build the first cathedral on Fifth street. 

William Murphy, the father of Mrs. May Simmons, was born in the vicinity of Bardstown, at 
"Maywood," once one of the show places of historic old Bardstown, and was a son of Judge 
Felix G. Murphy, at one time a member of the legislature. The Murphys were extensive slave 
owners, and some of the finest horses bred in Kentucky were raised at "Maywood," the family 
estate. The wife of Judge Felix G. Murphy bore the maiden name of Mary May and was a 
daughter of Stephen May, an early Virginia settler and surveyor who owned a tract of land 
comprising one thousand acres. Four sons of Judge Felix G. and Mary (May) Murphy served
in the Confederate army during the Civil war. Their brother, William Murphy, attended St. 
Joseph's College at Bardstown and subsequently pursued a medical course in the University of 
Pennsylvania, but he never engaged in active practice as a physician. He devoted his 
attention to the drug business at Bardstown prior to coming to Louisville in 1864. Thereafter he became connected with the old Galt House and the Louisville Hotel, being at 
the former when it was destroyed by fire. Later he associated himself with the management of 
the new Galt House. His last days were spent at Houston, Texas. 

May Murphy was one of a family of eight children born to William and Courtney (Colmesnil) 
Murphy and is the only one of the six survivors who still makes her home in Kentucky. She 
was about three years of age when brought by her parents to Louisville and she was graduated 
from Presentation Academy of this city. For two years she enjoyed the advantage of private 
instruction from Professor Noble Butler, an educator of renown and the author of a set of 
textbooks. It was in 1881 that she became the wife of Joseph Green Simmons, son of George W. 
and Margaret Hayes (Simmons) Simmons, the first named a native of Bullitt county and
the latter of Nelson county. For a period of fifteen years they resided within five miles of 
Bardstown, on the old Simmons property, in Nelson county. The Simmons family is one of the 
oldest and best known in Bullitt and Nelson counties. The original Simmons land grant, 
comprising one thousand acres, has been in possession of the family since Pre-Revolutionary 
days. Joseph G. and May (Murphy) Simmons returned in 1902 to Louisville, where the former 
passed away November 16, 1911, and where the latter has remained to the present time. Mrs. 
May Simmons belongs to John Marshall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution,
is a charter member and second vice president of the Taylor Family Association and also has 
membership in the organization known as American War Mothers. 

Joseph Green and May (Murphy) Simmons became the parents of six children, recorded below. 
(1) Margaret Courtney is the wife of Ira H. Brown and the mother of four children: Raymond, 
Margaret, Sue Lee and Ira H. Brown, Jr. 
(2) Elodi is the wife of Dr. A. Goodwill Worley, of Haynesville, Louisiana, and the mother 
of a son, Simmons Worley. She has membership in the Taylor Family Association and in the 
United Daughters of the Confederacy. 
(3) Miss Courtney Simmons belongs to John Marshall Chapter of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, to Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and 
to the Taylor Family Association. 
(4) Lily is the widow of Edward Huber and is the mother of two children, Edward Simmons and 
Abbie May Huber. She is a member of the Taylor Family Association and the United Daughters 
of the Confederacy, while her son and daughter belong to an organization known as Children 
of the American Revolution. Miss Abbie May Huber is an officer in the children's United 
Daughters of the Confederacy and also is a member of the Girl Scouts. 
(5) Joseph Thruston Simmons, living at Lexington, married Miss Glea Williams, of Chanute, 
Kansas, and has one son, Joseph Thruston Simmons, Jr. During the World war Joseph Thruston 
Simmons served ten months in France with the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Field Artillery 
and the One Hundred and Thirteenth Supply Train. He is a past commander of the American 
Legion,  belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution, the Sons of the Confederacy and to 
the Optimist Club, and is officially identified with the Lexington Building & Loan 
Association in the capacity of secretary-manager and director. 
(6) Sara Thruston Simmons became the wife of Lieutenant John B. Lord, U. S. A., son of John 
and Nella Lord, of Washington, and they have a daughter May Simmons Lord. Lieutenant Lord is 
now stationed at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont. His wife is a member of John Marshall Chapter of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Taylor Family Association and the United 
Daughters of the Confederacy. 

HISTORY of KENTUCKY The Blue Grass State
322886 VOLUME III ILLUSTRATED
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO - LOUISVILLE 1928
pp 432- 434