Zalmon Gilbert Simmons Sr. (September 10, 1828February 10, 1910) was a businessman, manufacturer, Wisconsin legislator, and mayor of
Kenosha
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
.
Early life
Born September 10, 1828, to Ezra and Mary Gilbert Simmons in Euphrates,
Montgomery County, New York
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,532. The county seat is Fonda. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 17 ...
, Soon after Zalmon was born, the family moved to
Oneida County, New York
Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,125. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or ''Haudenos ...
, and established a farm. After 1839, the family moved to
Benton Township, Lake County, Illinois
Benton Township is a township in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and includes all of the village of Winthrop Harbor, most of the village of Beach Park, and small portions of the cities of Zion and Waukegan. As of the 2010 census, its p ...
, where Zalmon attended common schools during the winter months. On June 12, 1843, the family moved to Southport (now Kenosha), Wisconsin.
Simmons came to Kenosha with US$3 () when he was 15 or 21 years of age. His brother was
Rouse Simmons
The ''Rouse Simmons'' was a three-masted schooner famous for having sunk in a violent storm on Lake Michigan in 1912. The ship was bound for Chicago with a cargo of Christmas trees when it foundered off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, killing all on boar ...
who also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly for Kenosha. Rouse was a member of the Republican party and served in 1875.
Simmons completed his schooling in Kenosha and then worked as a teacher between 18 and 21 years of age.
Business career
Among his pursuits, Simmons was the president of the First National Bank of Kenosha, Northwest Telegraphy Company, and the Rock Island Railway Company. In 1859, he was the president of the Kenosha and Rockford Railway Company, while also working at the Wisconsin State Telegraph Company.
Merchant
Beginning at the age of 21, Simmons worked as a general store clerk for pioneer Seth Doan for $200 () per year. Due to Mr. Doan's ill health, Simmons ran the store after six months employment. He bought the store after working there 16 or 18 months. He ran the store successfully for 12 years, until he sought other interests.
Telegraph
Simmons acquired half interest in the Wisconsin State Telegraph Company in 1856, became a director, and in December 1858 became its secretary and treasurer. In 1864, he was made president. The company became the North-West Telegraphy company when it merged with the Minnesota State Telegraph Company in 1865. Simmons was elected president of the new company. He remained president until 1881, when the company leased its lines to the
Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...
Telegraph Company. At the time that Simmons invested in the company, it was almost worthless and had service only between Milwaukee and Madison. Simmons extended service into remote areas, with lines established through nearly impenetrable swamps and forests.
Simmons was on the board of directors of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Simmons designed a wooden telegraph insulator and on April 16, 1871, purchased a cheesebox factory that became the Simmons Manufacturing Company to manufacture the insulators.
Simmons Bedding Company
One of his general store customers paid for merchandise with a patent for a woven wire bedspring. At that time, mattresses were made of cotton or horsehair. Simmons took the ideas from the patent and found a way to make the cost of manufacturing affordable. In 1870, Simmons founded what would become the
Simmons Bedding Company
The Simmons Bedding Company is an American major manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products, based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1870, and is one of the oldest companies of its kind in the United States. Simmons' fla ...
,
but the market had not yet developed for spring beds. Instead, Simmons manufactured brass beds that were sold domestically and internationally. The Northwestern Wire Mattress Company was incorporated in 1884 and in 1889 the name was changed to Simmons Manufacturing Company. In 1925, Simmons produced the Beautyrest mattress, for which the company is best known. It was sold at three to four times the cost of wire mattresses at the time for $39.50 () and four years later had sold more than $9 million () of the mattresses. The company introduced the pull-out bed, Hide-a-Bed, in 1940. By 1941, the company made springs, mattresses, steel beds and furniture and employed about 2,500 men. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, it produced 2,700 different products needed to support the war effort.
Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway
Simmons surveyed the
Englemann Canyon Englemann Canyon (also spelled Engleman's Canon) is a valley along Ruxton Creek, in Manitou Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. It is one of three canyons in Manitou Springs, the others are Ute Pass and Williams Canyon.
Upper Englemann Canyon
In 188 ...
for telegraph lines to
Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest ...
in Colorado.
He was instrumental in stringing telegraph lines alongside railroads and had earlier purchased a fifty percent interest in a telegraph company. After a miserable two-day trip to the top of the mountain on a mule, he thought that there should be a more comfortable and "civilized" way to make the trip. He got the idea of a train from the owner of a hotel where he was staying. Simmons then financed the building of the
Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway
The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway (also known as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, near ...
in 1889. The railway itself was built by Italian laborers and was operational by 1891. It can still be ridden to the top.
Political career
In 1865, Simmons served as the representative of
Kenosha County
Kenosha County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 169,151 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth most populous county in Wisconsin. The county shares the same name as the city of Kenosh ...
in the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...
, serving as a member of the
National Union Party.
He later served as mayor of
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...
, from 1884 to 1886, during which time he refunded its debt of $1.75 million ().
Personal life
Simmons married Emma E. Robeson from Lake County, Illinois on April 20, 1850, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Emma was the daughter of Captain Morris Robeson. Their children were Minnie, Emma, Gilbert, Zalmon
and two sons who died during their childhood, Nelson who died at three years of age and Ezra who died when he was 13.
Emma and Zalmon were
Unitarians.
He built the
Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library
The Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, and is a location of the Kenosha Public Library (KPL). KPL consists of 4 locations, an Outreach department, and is a member of both the Kenosha County Library ...
and donated it to the city of Kenosha in memory of his son who had died in 1890. The building, dedicated on May 30, 1900,
is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Emma died on October 11, 1899. Simmons died on February 11, 1910, in Kenosha, and his son, Zalmon Simmons, Jr. took over the Simmons Manufacturing Company.
See also
*
List of mayors of Kenosha, Wisconsin
This is a list of mayors of Kenosha, Wisconsin, also known as the Village of "Southport" until 1850.
Village presidents (1841–1850)
The City of Kenosha was incorporated from the area previously known as the Village of Southport in 1850.
...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Zalmon G.
1828 births
1910 deaths
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Mayors of Kenosha, Wisconsin
Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
People from Montgomery County, New York
Pikes Peak
19th-century American legislators
19th-century American businesspeople
19th-century Wisconsin politicians