Library of Congress

SIMMONS, James Fowler, a Senator from Rhode Island; born on a farm near Little Compton, Newport County, R.I., September 10, 1795; attended a private school in Newport, R.I.; moved to Providence, R.I., in 1812; employed in various manufacturing concerns in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; engaged in the manufacture of yarn at Simmonsville, N.H., in 1822; moved to Johnston, R.I., in 1827 and resumed the manufacture of yarns and engaged in agricultural pursuits; member, State house of representatives 1828-1841; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1847; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1846 and for election in 1850 to the United States Senate; chairman, Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses), Committee on Printing (Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses); returned to Johnston, R.I., and resumed his former pursuits; again elected to the United States Senate as a Republican and served from March 4, 1857, to August 15, 1862, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (Thirty-seventh Congress); resumed his former manufacturing pursuits; died in Johnston, R.I., July 10, 1864; interment in North End Cemetery, Providence, R.I.