He is the son of Rezin Burgess Simpson and Jane (Sleppy) Simpson.

I have often questioned his middle name being "Power." I have thought it was Page or Pogue; he named his first son James Page Simpson and the surname of Page and Pogue were in his maternal line.

Baltimore Sun Obituary, 7 Feb 1893 - "Rev. James P. Simpson, of the Methodist Protestant Church, and a native of Maryland, died recently at Enfield, N.C. He was about seventy years of age."

The Roanoke News Obituary, 2 Feb 1893 - "Enfield. The Rev. J. P. Simpson, a prominent preacher of the M. P. Church, died in this town on Friday morning, January 27th, aged about seventy years. Mr. Simpson was a native of Maryland, but he had spent a large portion of his life in this State. He had been a great sufferer from rheumatism. He was widely known as a preacher of power. His burial took place on Sunday with Masonic honors. There was a large congregation of people in attendance."

NOTE: Death date on his tombstone is 1886, which is unexplainable since there are obituaries appearing in two different newspapers which are dated 1893.

He first married Sarah Price Jacobs, 14 Sep 1848, at the bride's residence in Anne Arundel Co., MD. (Ref. Church Record for Anne Arundel Circuit of the Methodist Protestant Church, 1830-1894.) Sarah Simpson died 6 Oct 1861 at the parsonage, Elizabethtown, NC, and is buried at Mrs. Purdie's. (Ref. North Carolina Conf. of the UMC, Raleigh, NC, and Marriages & Death Notices from the Southern Christian Advocate, 1861-1867.)

Directory of Ministers and the Maryland Churches They Served by Edna Kanely - James P. Simpson, (Methodist) Bladensburg Circuit, Ross St., Bladensburg, 1845-46; Severn Circuit, 1846. Three references cited by E. Kanely: (1) Methodist Clergy (1773-1964): Minutes of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal and the Methodist Protestant Churches, also Methodist Episcopal, South, and the Washington Conference Minutes, Methodist Episcopal Churches, 1864-1964, and other records. Rev. Edwin Schell, Historian, Lovely Lane Museum, 2200 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21218. (2) History of the First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville, MD, 1793-1792. (3) Edwin Schell, Beginnings & Rebeginnings of Methodism in Southern Maryland.

Lovely Lane Methodist Church Records, Baltimore, MD - James P. Simpson, 1846 Bladensburg, MD; 1847 Bellefonte, PA; 1848 Sunbury, PA; 1849 Located. He was a probationary member of the conference 1846-7; was received into full connection and ordained deacon in 1848, and ceased to be under appointment in 1849. He was recommended as a preacher by the Severn Circuit (MD) 1/10/1846.

Church Record for Anne Arundel Circuit of the Methodist Protestant Church, 1830-1894 - Henry Yealdhall and Margt. S. Hawkins married Nov. 18, 1849, at the bride's home by Rev. Jas. P. Simpson.

North Carolina Conference of the UMC Records, Raleigh, NC - James P. Simpson; 1850 Greensboro; 1851 located Salisbury; 1852 Rowan; 1853 Rowan #1 and B. B. Shelton #2; 1854 Halifax #1 and John S. Davis #2; 1855-1856 Yanceyville, 1857-1858, Leasburg; 1859 retired; 1860 Elizabethtown; 1861 Tarboro & one T.B.S.; 1862-1863 Tarboro; 1864 Leasburg; 1865-1866 Roanoke; 1867 Tar River; 1868 Transferred to KY Conference; 1872 Pineville, to be supplied by J. P. Simpson, S. M. Davis #2; 1873 readmitted, Mount Pleasant, one to be supplied by W. S. Roan; 1874-1876 Snow Hill; 1877 Kinston; 1878 retired; 1879 Alexander; 1880 withdrawn.

History of Guilford Co., NC - He was Pastor of West Market Street Methodist Church in 1850. (West Market Street Methodist Church now located at 302 West Market St., Greensboro, NC, 27401.)

DAR Application for Membership of Mary Olivia Yeatman (nee Simpson), 1891, offers as authority for statements made in the application, a "letter in possession of the Rev. James P. Simpson dated Feb. 11, 1854, written by my father, Rezin Burgess Simpson." Elsewhere in the application she refers to "a letter from my father dated February 11, 1854 to my brother."

Plank Chapel United Methodist Church, Kittrell, NC - Methodist Episcopal Church, South - 1866-1867 J. P. Simpson.

History of Scotland Neck United Methodist Church by C. franklin Grill - J. P. Simpson was assigned to the Roanoke Circuit in the new Roanoke District in 1867 with the care of 641 white members.

North Carolina Conference - Charlotte District, Mt. Pleasant Circuit - J. P. Simpson, W. S. Rone, 1874.

Rainbow Methodist Church, Snow Hill, Greene Co., NC - 1875, J. P. Simpson.

Cyclopedia of Eminent and Representative Men of the Carolinas of the Nineteenth Century, Brant & Fuller, 1892 - "William P. Simpson, one of the leading manufacturers of the south, was born at Gransburgh, Guilford county, N.C., September 30, 1851. James P. and Sarah (Jacobs) Simpson, his parents, were natives of Baltimore, Md. The Rev. James P. Simpson, at one time a prominent member of the Baltimore conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, removed to North Carolina in 1848, and has been stationed in different places in the state as pastor, and is now residing in Halifax county, N.C. The other children born to these parents are F.A., a commercial traveler, of Wilson; William P., James D., and Lizzie. The mother died and Mr. Simpson married a second time, Money Williams, of Pitt County, N.C., becoming his wife."

Children of Rev. James P. Simpson and 1st wife Sarah Price Jacobs: James Page Simpson (5 Sep 1850-2 Oct 1850); William Preston Simpson (30 Sep 1851-3 Jun 1898); Francis Asbury Simpson (1853-1906); Mary "Mollie" W. Simpson (1854-26 Aug 1888).

Children of Rev. James P. Simpson and 2nd wife Nancy May Williams: Edgar W. Simpson (d. 2 May 1875); Nannie May Simpson (d. 27 Apr 1868); Elizabeth L. Simpson (29 Mar 1866-9 Apr 1907); James Dorsey Simpson (31 Jan 1868-21 Oct 1927).

Written and documented by Linda Simpson Davidson after many years of research.