unmarked

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John was born abt 1819-1820. The date listed for him at the top of this memorial is an ESTIMATE, included so that he will appear in the proper order in the list of Stephen Sims' children. He married, probably about 1841, Rosanna or Rosenna or Rosannah Nugent. Rosanna's father, William Nugent, had died abt 1825, and her mother, Rebecca Hanna Nugent, married (2nd) Elisha Warford Lake in Marion Co, IN on 17 Feb 1828. From 1834 to 1837, Elisha and Rebecca (and, no doubt, Rosanna) were in Carroll Co, IN. John F. Sims apparently married Rosanna abt 1841, because their daughter Elizabeth Sims (apparently their eldest child) was born abt 1842. Their 2nd child, George Washington Sims, was born 17 Feb 1845 in Clinton Co, IN, so probably John and Rosanna married in either Carroll Co or Clinton Co, IN (the latter being the county of residence of John's father, Stephen Sims). By 1850, John and Rosanna were in Jackson Twp, Hamilton Co, IN, where the household was listed in federal censuses in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880.
Between 1857 and 1861, he was a Representative in the Indiana State Legislature. In 1861, he was a Captain in the Indiana Legion, Hamilton Co, IN. In the 1880 census, he's listed as a lumber dealer.

John and Rosanna were the parents of nine known children:

Elizabeth Sims, born abt 1842;
George Washington Sims, born 17 Feb 1845;
William F. Sims, born 9 Mar 1848;
Mary Jane Sims, born abt 1850;
Lewis H. Sims, born abt 1852;
Anna Laura or Laura E. or Annie E. Sims, born Feb 1855;
John M. Sims, born Aug 1857;
Mattie or Sarah Sims, born abt 1859;
Oliver P. Sims, born between 1860-1866.

[Point of clarification: A bio of John's father (Stephen Sims) says that Stephen had five sons and four grandsons in the "National" army during the Civil War. Five of John's brothers (from Stephen's first marriage, as was John) were Captains in various Indiana regiments. John himself was in the Indiana Legion -- apparently not part of the national force, thus not qualifying him for pension from the federal government or for a government-issued grave marker.] Can anyone confirm that interpretation?