Joshua Simmons II, a Revolutionary War veteran, was born on a Massachusetts farm in the early 1760's. In 1778 he volunteered to fight the British and served with various units in Massachusetts for about two years. In 1790 he married Ruth Andrews, and later the family migrated to western New York. His wife died in 1806, leaving Joshua to raise their eight children. In the 1830's his younger son David settled in this area, and Joshua joined him; when he died in 1840, he was buried here on his son's land.