b. 24/05/1859 London, England. d. 03/04/1881 at sea on board the “City of Savannah”.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 31/10/1877 Monrovia, Liberia.
Born in London, England, in 1859, Simpson immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from New York. By October 31, 1877, he was serving as a first class fireman on the USS Essex, which was at Monrovia, Liberia. On that day, he and another sailor, Ordinary Seaman John Millmore, rescued their shipmate Ordinary Seaman John W. Powers from drowning. For this action, both Simpson and Millmore were awarded the Medal of Honor seven years later, on October 18, 1884. Simpson’s award was posthumous.
Simpson was accepted into the United States Naval Academy as an engineering student (then known as cadet-engineers). He was admitted to the class of 1882, but resigned his appointment on February 28, 1881, before graduating.
On Apr. 3, 1881 at age 21 Simpson died of consumption on board the City of Savannah (a steam ship) and was buried at the Delaware County Society of the New Jerusalem Church Burial Ground in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. In the 1970s all remains were removed and reinterred in a mass grave at Mt Zion Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania.
MOH CITATION:
For rescuing from drowning John W. Powers, ordinary seaman on board the U.S.S. Essex, at Monrovia, Liberia, 31 October 1877.
BURIAL LOCATION: MOUNT ZION CEMETERY, COLLINGDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.
MASS GRAVE.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
