Updated 17 January 2021

ENTRIES IN THE NEWSPAPER AT THE TIME OF HIS PASSING

20 November 1918 Wednesday evening, Chico Enterprise, pg 8, column 5 included this article:
INFLUENZA TAKES FRANK SIMMONS
Word received late last night announced the death of Frank Simmons at Ukiah, from influenza. Frank Simmons spent his boyhood in Chico. His mother dying when he was but an infant, left Frank and two sisters, Jennie and Edith, and two brothers, Lewis and Fred, in charge of his grandmother, Mrs. Mary Bowden, of this city. The sisters have married and moved away; Lewis is employed by the Sacramento Northern and Fred is supposed to be in Yuba City.
Frank as a youngster was in the employ of A.G. Eames and continued to work in the Chico Bottling and Soda Works for a period of about then years. He was also a member of the Western Hose Company.
No further information as to his death or burial have been received here.

21 November 1918 Chico Record newspaper included on pg 4:
FRANK SIMMONS, FORMER CHICO FIREMAN, IS DEAD
Word was received in Chico yesterday of the death in Ukiah of Frank Simmons, a former well known resident of this city. Deceased was a victim of Influenza. While in Chico he was an active member of the Western Hose Company, and the fire bell was tolled yesterday in hl« honor. Simmons was employed for many years by A. G. Karnes of the Chico Soda Works. He is survived by two brothers and two sisters. One brother. Lewis Simmons, is employed by the Sacramento Northern. The widow and several children also survive. The body will arrive In Chico today and the funeral will be held Friday at 2 p. m. in Chico Cemetery, where interment will be made.

Chico Record
"CF Simmons was the proprietor of the Ukiah ice works, the Grace Bros Ice and Brewing Co, who has been at death's door for many days with the prevailing scourge, passed away at his home on Clara Ave on Tuesday, 11 am. Was a local railroad employee. Frank Simmons died in Ukiah a victim of influenza. The wife and two children (Robert and Wilton) of the deceased were unable to accompany the body to Chico, owing to their severe illness and the remains were brought to Chico from Ukiah by a brother-in-law, Oliver Allwardt. His wife and one of the boys being confined with the dread disease.
He contracted the disease while on a business trip to San Francisco last week (mid-November 1918).
Well known resident of Chico; was an active member of the Western Hose Company and the fire bell was tolled in his honor. C. Frank Simmons was elected a member of Western Hose Co in Chico at a meeting held December 5, 1902. Simmons was employed for many years by AG Eames of the Chico Soda Work.
He is survived by two brothers and two sisters. One brother, Lewis Simmons is employed by the Sacramento Northern. Buried in Chico Cemetery on Saturday, Nov 23, 1918."

Chico Daily Record, Sunday Morning, 24 November 1918, pg 5, column 5:
FRANK SIMMONS IS LAID TO REST HERE
Attended by a number of sorrowing friends, the funeral of Frank Simmons, former Chicoan and popular member of the Chico fire department, was held from the Bicknell & Moore parlors yesterday, Rev. Galen Lee Rose officiating.
Buried in a pall of beautiful floral tributes, the sympathetic tokens of scores of friends, the remains were borne to their last resting place in Chico cemetery by Floyd McPherson, Walter Moore, John Moore, Bert Reed, John McDaniel and Foss Perry.
During the last few years Simmons with his family resided in Ukiah. His widow and family were unable to attend the funeral, being confined to her home with influenza.

BIOGRAPHY

HIS PARENTS: His father, William Montgomery Adkinson Simmons was born 25 May 1839 in Howard County, Missouri. His mother, Mary Permelia Bowden was born 20 August 1855 in Oregon to James Frederick Bowden & Mary Elston Bowden. Mary Permelia and William were married on 1 January 1874 in the residence of the bride's father, John Bowden, at Rio Seco, (near Chico) Butte County, California. William and Mary Permelia had five children; the first four were born at Cherokee Strip/Dry Creek in Butte County. They were Edith Ann (20Aug1875-27April1964), William Louis (16Jan1876-8June1930), Frederick Orn (20Jan1877-6Dec1959) and Jennie Permelia (7July1883-23Apr1941). Some time in late 1883 or early 1884, the couple and their four children moved south about 30 miles to Sutter, Calif, a small town just at the south foot of the Sutter Buttes, and just to the west of the twin cities of Marysville and Yuba City, California. Mary Permelia passed away on 9 January 1885 near Yuba City, Ca. William passed away 37 years later on 1 January 1922 of pneumonia, at Bidwell Bar.

Shortly after the Simmons family settled in Sutter, Mary became pregnant with their fifth child.

Charles Franklin "Frank" was born on 29 October 1884.

Tragically, Frank's mother Mary Permelia Bowden Simmons passed away, at age 29, just 73 days later on January 9, 1885. Mary preceded both of her parents and all her siblings in death. Perhaps she experienced complications at the time she gave birth to her son and never recovered.

When Mary passed away, Frank's father, William, age 45, was left to care for five young children, ages: new born, 1 ½, 8, 9 and 10 ½, and operate a farm. At that time, it's likely the two youngest children, incapable of caring for themselves and helping around the farm, went to live with their Grandparents, Mary (Elston) & James F. Bowden in Chico.

25May 1894, Chico Weekly Enterprise, 25 May 1894, pg 4, included an article entitled, The Promotions. The article was a page-long full list of those students, grades 1 – 9, promoted to higher grades at the close of the late term of our public schools. Amongst the thirty-six 2nd graders promoted to 3rd grade are: Jennie Simmons and Frank Simmons. The teacher was Cora Kennedy.

Frank lost his grandfather eleven years later, at age 11, when James F Bowden died in Chico on 7 January 1896.

The US Federal Census of 1900, lists Charles Franklin Simmons as age 15, as living in the Chico home of his grandmother, Mary M Bowden (age 63), and with his sister, Jennie Simmons, age 16. There's no address given, but location is, between 6th & 7th Streets on Walnut. (Other information we have is that Grandmother Bowden lived at 1415 Sixth Street).

The first Oakdale School was located on the south bank of Little Chico Creek between Park Avenue and Broadway. It was in use 1874 until the late 1940s.
Grades one thru six were taught in the old building, and Chico High School was established in 1902 and initially was located on the 3rd floor of Oakdale School. [Source: Chico Life & Times of a City of Fortune, the Making of America Series, by Debra Moon, 2003]

The population of Chico in the year 1900 was 2,640.

Frank became a well known resident of Chico and at age 18, was elected a member of Western Hose Company [Fire Department] in Chico at a meeting held December 5, 1902.

Beginning about 1903 Frank performed military service as a member of the organized uniformed militia known as the National Guard of California. California law mandated every able bodied male inhabitant of the State of California, Mongolians and Indians excepted, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, excepting ministers of religion, civil and military officers of the United States, officers of foreign governments, civil officers of this State, and all persons exempt from military duty by the laws of the United States, is subject to military duty.
Frank served in A Company of the Second Infantry Regiment. In June 1904, the Second Infantry Regiment consisted of 40 officers and 490 enlisted men. The regiment was made up of eight companies spread across northern California: A Company – Chico, B - Colusa, C - Nevada City, D - Marysville, E – Sacramento, F – Woodland, G - Sacramento, H – Placerville & I – Grass Valley. The companies were required to drill at least three times each month, excepting in the month of December, but usually four drills are held. The companies also participated in annual encampments which providing training in drills, guard duties and other exercises incident to service in the field. Soldiers were taught obedience to orders, to rely upon himself and to acquire that steadiness of purpose so necessary to military discipline.

Significant events during the life of Frank Simmons include:
- September 6, 1901: President McKinley assassinated; Vice President Teddy Roosevelt become President
- March 1902: Philippine Insurrection ended; more than 4,200 American soldiers and 20,000 Filipino troops and 200,000 civilians died.
- April 18, 1906, the San Francisco Earthquake; at 5:18am a foreshock followed 25 seconds later by violent shaking that lasted from 45 to 60 seconds and split the earth for 290 miles. The quake jarred residents from Oregon to Los Angeles and from the coast to Nevada. It was near the epicenter in San Francisco that it did the most damager and took the most lives.

1906 Facts of Life in the US
- The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
- 14% of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub, 8 percent had a telephone.
- There were 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
-.California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union, with a mere 1.4 million people.
- 2 out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 % of all Americans had graduated from high school.
- More than 95% of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
- Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
- Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
- Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza, 2. Tuberculosis, 3. Diarrhea, 4. Heart disease, 5. Stroke
- The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
- There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
- Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Post cards dated 1907 from Frank to Ida Caroline Allwardt are addressed to 4415 6th Street, Chico, which is the address of Frank's Grandmother Bowden.

Frank married Ida Caroline Allwardt, age 22, of Chico, California on 17 Oct 1908 in San Jose, twelve days before his 24th birthday.

The San Jose Mercury and Herald newspaper of Sunday morning, October 18, 1908, pg 10, column 1, "Marriage Licenses" included as the second of six entries:
"Chas. Simmons, a native of California, aged 24, and Ida C. Allwardt, a native of Iowa, age 22, both of Chico."

The Chico Record newspaper of Wednesday 21 October 1908 carried the following story:
"CHICO COUPLE WED IN SAN FRANCISCO
Although Frank Simmons and Miss Ida Alwardt of this city announced separately to their friends that they were going to San Francisco to visit with relatives, merely for short vacations, It is now known that they had another purpose. In view, for they were married in the metropolis last Saturday and are expected to return to this city soon to reside. Miss Alwardt is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Alwardt, residing in east Chico. She was reared in Chico and after completing the Normal Training school course attended the Normal proper for a period. A few weeks ago she left for San Francisco for a visit with relatives. The groom is the son of Mr. Wm M.A. Simmons, and for many years a resident at the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets. He attended the grammar schools and for the last few years has been a faithful employee of the Chico Soda works. He is an industrious, aggressive young man with many friends."

On 11 February 1908, at age 23, Frank was presented a 19 ½" x 14" ornate certificate. It read:
This certifies that
Frank Simmons
Having served the time prescribed by the
laws of the State of California, in the
CHICO FIRE DEPARTMENT
is an Exempt Fireman
and is entitled to all the honors, benefits and
privileges granted under said laws.
Joined the Department December 5 1902
Certificate issued February 11th 1908
Followed by signatures of: Chief Engineer of Fire Department – OD Taber Jr, Foreman of Company – EP Bevins, City Clerk – AE Steinigard and President of Board of Trustees - Wm Robbie

1910 Census (11May1910) reflects Frank and Ida's address at 330 Oak Street and is "owned" with a "mortgage". The census lists CF Simmons' profession as Bottler and establishment, as Soda Works.

Frank and Ida had three children, all born in Chico (probably in their 330 Oak Street home):
Wednesday morning, 11 August 1909 at 2:00 AM, Robert William was born. He weighed 6 ¾ lbs.
Saturday evening, 3 September 1910 at 9:10 PM, Wilton Lawrence was born. He weighed 6 lbs.
Thursday morning, 14 November 1912 at 2:30 AM, Frances Elizabeth was born; weighed 8 ½ lbs.
[Source: Frank Simmons bible, backside of the last blank page]

The family left their Chico home and moved to Oakland in April 1913 to get better health care for baby Frances. Frank and Ida's daughter died April 20, 1913, at age 5 months. Frances was buried in Chico Cemetery, in the Allwardt plot (her mother's family).

San Francisco, "the city by the bay," the fall 1913 – summer 1916, was where the Simmons family settled, in a townhouse at 42 Lloyd Street in San Francisco. Lloyd Street is a narrow, steep, one-way block-long street off of Divisadero Street, near Alamo Square [a nice neighborhood, still as of Feb 2020].

The 1914 Crocker – Langley San Francisco City Directory, a document of 2,322 pages, containing an alphabetical list of business firms and private citizens as well as schools, churches and social societies. It sold for $10. Included in the Private Citizen section on page 1712, which spans Simens, Arthur to Simmons, Merle, an entry midway down the column on the right, the following: "Simmons, C Franklin (Ida C) agt Prudential Ins Co, h 42 Lloyd." Per the abbreviations listing at the beginning of the directory, "h" is "home address" and "agt" is agent.

The 1915 Crocker – Langley San Francisco City Directory, a document of 2,379 pages, included on page 1753, which spans Simonoff, Winerth – Simon, Chas K, and entry two thirds down the column on the left the following entry: "Simmons, C Franklin (Ida C) sawyer, h 42 Lloyd".
The 1916 Crocker – Langley San Francisco City Directory, a document of 2,379 pages, included on page 1735, which spans Silvey, Chas D to Simmons, Harold, and entry two thirds down in the right column reads: "Simmons, C Franklin (Ida C) sawyer, h 42 Lloyd".

May 22, 1915, an explosive eruption at Lassen Peak, the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range, devastated nearby areas and rained volcanic ash as far away as 200 miles to the east. This explosion was the most powerful in a 1914-17 series of eruptions that were the most recent to occur in the Cascades prior to the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Lassen Peak is the largest of a group of more than 30 volcanic domes erupted over the past 300,000 years in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

June 1916, the Simmons family moved from San Francisco north approx. 120 miles to Ukiah, and which is approximately 100 miles west of Chico in.
Ukiah was linked to San Francisco by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad which ran from Tiburon (north side of Golden Gate), through nineteen stops (towns, e.g. San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, etc) before terminating in Ukiah.

16 June 1916, Friday, the Ukiah Republican Press newspaper carried the following article on the lower front page:
"DISTILLED WATER ICE WILL BE HANDLED HERE
C.F. Simmons, formerly a resident of this city, but lately of Chico where he has been interested in the brewery and ice business, has purchased the Grace Brothers building on Clara avenue at the railroad and early next week will open a bottling and ice plant.
He has been busy this week with a crew of men cleaning up the building preparatory to receiving his first carload of distilled water ice, which will reach here in a few days.
Mr. Simmons will also handle the famous Grace Brothers beer and soda waters and with the quality of goods he expects to furnish his patrons, he will undoubtedly make a big success of the venture."

23 June 1916, Friday, the Ukiah Republican Press newspaper included the following on pg 5:
"SNAPSHOTS AT THE WEEK'S LOCAL NEWS.
Mr. and Mrs. C.F. Simmons and two sons came up from San Francisco Wednesday to join her husband, who has opened the Ukiah Ice Works. They expect to make their home on Clara avenue."

The Simmons family settled into their new home at 122 Clara Ave.

14 July 1916, Friday, the Ukiah Republican Press newspaper included the following on pg 11,
"SNAPSHOTS AT THE WEEK'S LOCAL NEWS" among the approx.. 60 snapshots was:
"J. Walking representing Wieland's brewery of San Francisco, was here this week and has established a local agency through C.F. Simmons of the Ukiah Ice Company."

11 August 1916, Friday, Ukiah Dispatch Democrat newspaper, carried on pg 5,
"SHORT ITEM OF INTEREST INCLUDING PERSONAL NOTES CONCERNING LOCAL PEOPLE" included approx. 60 notes, among them:
"Bob McKinley and C.F. Simmons motored through the coast section on a business trip during the latter part of last week."

6 April 1917, United States declared war on Germany and began sending soldiers and Marines to France. When war was declared, President Wilson asked for the Army to increase to a force of one million. But by six weeks after war was declared, only 73,000 men had volunteered for service. The President and Secretary of War determined a draft was necessary.

18 May 1917, the Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act was enacted. It authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. All males aged 18 to 30 were required to register to potentially be selected for military service. At the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August 1918 to expand the age range to include all men 18 to 45, and to bar further volunteering
Conscription was by class. There were five classes of conscription. The first candidates for being drafted were to be drawn from Class I. Members of each class below Class I were available only if the pool of all available and potential candidates in the class above it were exhausted.
Class 1 was defined as "Eligible and liable for military service" and included the two categories: Unmarried registrants with no dependents, and Married registrants with independent spouse or one or more dependent children over 16 with sufficient family income if drafted.
Class 2 was defined as "Temporarily deferred, but available for military service. The lone category of Class 2 was Married registrants with dependent spouse or dependent children under 16 with sufficient family income if drafted.

There were three draft registrations during WWI. The first, on 5 June 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 30. The second, on 5 June 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after 5 June 1917. Frank was not required to register until the third registration was held on 12 September 1918, for men age 18 through 45.
On his WWI draft registration card dated 12 September 1918, Frank, at age 33, listed his occupation as "ice dealer" and employer as "self." He listed the color of his eyes as brown, color of his hair as brown, height and build – both, as medium.

Frank was not drafted.

Just two weeks later, on 24 September 1918, the San Francisco Chronicle reported the city's first known case of Spanish influenza. 18 October, San Francisco announced all amusement and public gathering places and schools were shut down. 1,067 died of the flu complicated with pneumonia in October alone in San Francisco; the normal number of deaths per month was 630. On 1 Nov, San Francisco mandated all people appearing on the public streets, in any public place must wear a mask or covering except when partaking of meals, over the nose and mouth, consisting of four-ply materials, known as butter-cloth or fine mesh gauze. Most San Franciscan wore the simple hospital style mask, a pad of gauze tied in place by strings around the head.

19 October 1918 was the first mention of the great epidemic in Mendocino County. In a story called "Flu was busy in the County Seat — Spanish influenza has Ukiah in its grippe." The Grammar School and the High School were closed, and public gatherings were prohibited. No dances, motion picture shows, lodge meetings or religious gatherings were allowed. [Source: Article: Kelley House Calendar: Mendocino County and the Great Flu of 1918 by Katy Tahja,
The Mendocino Beacon, 26 March 2020]

Most every issue of the Beacon listed Influenza Death Notes. The Beacon warned, "Cover up each cough and sneeze; if you don't you'll spread disease." Masks were to be worn in the business section of town. By the end of October, Fort Bragg had 175 cases and the Apple Fair in Mendocino was cancelled. Young and healthy folks in the prime of life were often the first to fall sick. Tie makers, donkey bosses and choppers in the logging camps, undertakers in town and especially doctors and nurses, died. The wife of the owner of the Cecil Hotel in Ukiah was a graduate nurse and did everything she could to save her husband, but he died at age 30. All saloons and pool halls were shuttered, and stores closed from noon to 2 p.m. daily on the coast so employees could go out and catch some fresh air.
Fort Bragg had five people die in one November week. There were 35 cases reported in Albion and doctors were being called to Point Arena. The Albertinum Orphanage in Ukiah said 50 boys and three nuns were in bed sick. Turnout in the November election was low.

11 November 1918; Germany signs armistice agreement, ending WWI

On Tuesday, 19 November 1918, soon after a business trip to San Francisco in mid-November 1918, Frank Simmons died at 11 a.m. in his Ukiah home of the Spanish flu.

On Saturday, 23 November 1918, Frank Simmons was buried in the Chico Cemetery in the Bowden Plot, along with his mother Mary Permelia [Bowden] Simmons, who had died in 1885. He preceded in death his father, William MA Simmons (died 1 Jan 1922), and his father & mother-in-law William Allwardt (died 18 Feb 1922) and Lizzie A (Sander) Allwardt (died 2 Nov 1946).

Buried in the Bowden Plot are:
James F. Bowden 1833-1896 Mary M. (Elston) Bowden 1836 - 1916
Wm MA Simmons 1839 - 1922 Mary Permelia (Bowden) Simmons 1855 - 1885
Melinda (Bowden) Klepper 1859 – 1934 John Klepper 1856 - 1939
Florence (Klepper) Handley 1894 - 1982 Ed Handley 1886 - 1962
Thelma (Rowe) Reichman 1905 – 1986 Fred Reichman 1889 - 1969
John Wm Bowden 1865 – 1933 Mary (McDaniel) Bowden 1864 - 1946
Charley Holt Sep 1893 – Nov 1893
Charles F. Simmons 1884 - 1918

DIRECTIONS: To find the grave in Section 8, Block B, Lot 73 of the Chico Cemetery, enter the cemetery on its east side off of Mangrove Ave, then around the garden and turn right; proceed approximately 100 yards on the cemetery road and turn left (south). Continue south past the cemetery office and shops, past three right turns to Section 8B "Masonic Pioneer Cemetery." Charles grave is on the west side of the cemetery road, in the near (northeast) corner of the Bowden Plot, distinctive by the 8'tall white marble memorial in the center of the plot.

(Memorial created and maintained by Robert G. "Bob" Simmons, son of Wilton L Simmons, grandson of C Frank Simmons; [email protected])