Notes for Simeon BISHOP

Thurtell and Related Families Thurtell and Related Families

Notes for Simeon BISHOP

Dr. Simeon Bishop was among the pioneers in Nevada. He and his family are listed in the U.S. Census for 1880 for Washoe County, Nevada, page 24, SD 81, ED 51.

Most of the information on Dr. Simeon Bishop and his descendants was received in 1999 from his granddaughter, Phyllis Munsey, in July 1999. Her e-mail address is Munseyent@@aol.com. She recalled that Dr. Simeon Bishop died in San Francisco, California, sometime between 1913 when Phyllis' brother was born, and 1920, when she was born.

She recalled that about half of Dr. Bishop's children, including her father, Franklin Curtis Bishop, were by Rowena Harris, his second wife. The other half, including Ella Bishop, were by his first wife. She recalled seeing papers at the Nevada Historical Society showing he had married Rowena in Carson City, Nevada; but she had previously tried to get their marriage certificate with no success. The historical society paperwork showed that Simeon Bishop went to medical school in Ohio and that the Bishop family was presumably related to the Lees of Virginia.

She also recalled that the Bishop family moved to San Francisco prior to 1909 after leaving the Mother Lode country once Simeon was no longer the head of the Insane Asylum in Reno, Nevada. She advised that Simeon Bishop was a surgeon in the Civil War and a doctor in Reno, in charge of the State Insane Asylum.

There is a record of a Simeon Bishop who "claimed residence in St. John" and enlisted on August 7, 1862, as a corporal in A Company 81st Infantry Regiment of Illinois and who was "disch disability" in the Illinois Roster of Officers and Enlisted Men published about 1900 and found on the internet in November 1999 in the Ancestry.com library of "American Civil War Research Database, Soldiers." Whether or not this is the same person is unknown. It probably is not the same person since the Civil War Pension Index found on Ancestry.com in July 2000 showed that a Simeon Bishop who had been in the 81st Illinois Infantry filed for an invalid pension in 1880 (application number 354.770, certificate number probably 318,957) and his widow Emaline Bishop filed in Illinois for a widow's pension on April 24, 1926 (application number 1344727, certificate number A-7-22-26).

The 1870 U.S. Census for Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, on page 13 shows S. Bishop as age 39, a white male, whose occupation is as a physician. The value of his real estate and personal property each appear to be $600 but are very hard to read. It shows he was born in Ohio, but no family members at all are listed with him.

Living in Wadsworth, Washoe City, Nevada, as shown in the 1870 U.S. Census for Nevada, on Page 2, Line 22, is A. C. Bishop, a physician who is age 31 and a white male, whose personal property is valued at $700. No real estate value is shown. This census shows he was born in Illinois. Living with him is his wife Mary Bishop, a white female age 25 who was born in Ohio, with both her parents of foreign birth. Her occupation is shown as keeping house. An index to the Nevada State Journal newspaper for 1870-1900 found on the internet in the Ancestry.com library in October 2000 showed that Dr. Alva C. Bishop died April 26, 1888, in Butte, Montana, and that the deceased was the brother of Dr. S. Bishop of the Asylum, and W. W. Bishop of San Francisco.

An index to the Nevada State Journal newspaper for 1870-1900 found on the internet in the Ancestry.com library in October 2000 showed that Dr. Bishop married Miss R. M. Harris on April 4, 1872, in Carson City and that the bride is the sister of Judge Charles N. Harris.

Phyllis Munsey's record of the 1875 Nevada census showed that it listed Dr. Simeon Bishop as age 44. Rowena M. Bishop was shown as age 30. The children were shown as Elvira (Ella) age 12, Persia age 8, Simeon age 6, Harris age 1, and Fred, with no age shown. Her information from the Nevada Historical Society showed that Simeon was born in Ohio and that Rowena was born in New York and that she and Simeon were married in May 1872 in Carson City, Nevada. His first wife (no name shown) died in 1868 or 1869.

The index to the 1875 Nevada census found in the Ancestry.com library in November 2000 showed Simeon Bishop as a physician and head of the household, a white male age 44 born in Ohio, and living in Washoe County, Nevada. His ID number in this index is 6723. With him is Rowena M. Bishop, ID number 6724, a white female age 30 born in New York. Also with them are Elvira L. Bishop, ID number 6725, a white female age 12 born in Illinois; Persia Bishop, ID number 6726, a white female age 8 born in Nevada; Simon I. Bishop, ID number 6727, a white male age 6 born in Nevada; Harris Bishop, ID number 6728, a white male born in Nevada; and Frederick W. Bishop, ID number 6729, a white male age 5 months born in Nevada.

The 1880 U.S. Census for Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, on pages 23-24, Supervisor's District Number 81, Enumeration District Number 51, lists Simeon Bishop and his family. It shows Simeon Bishop as a white male, age 49, who is married and a Physician. It shows he was born in Pennsylvania, as were both his parents. Rowena Bishop is shown as a white female, age 35, who was born in New York, as were both her parents. She is shown as married, with an occupation of keeping house. Living with them, with the following relationships shown to Simeon Bishop, are his daughter, Ella L. Bishop, a white female age 17 who is attending school. She is shown as born in Illinois, with her father born in Pennsylvania and her mother born in Illinois. Simeon's daughter, Persia Bishop, is shown as a white female age 14 who was born in Nevada and is attending school, with her father born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Illinois. His son Simeon Bishop is shown as a white male attending school who is age 12, born in Nevada, with his mother born in Illinois and his father born in Pennsylvania. His son Harris Bishop is listed as a 7 year old white male born in Nevada and attending school, with his father born in Pennsylvania and his mother born in Illinois. His son Fred William Bishop is shown as a white male attending school who is age 5, born in Nevada, with his mother born in Illinois and his father born in Pennsylvania. His son Char Bishop is shown as a 4 year old white male born in Nevada, with his mother born in Illinois and his father born in Pennsylvania. His daughters Minnie B. Bishop, age 2, and Clara Bishop, age 6/12, are listed as a white females both born in Nevada whose father was born in Pennsylvania and mother in Illinois.

The U.S. Census for 1900 for Placer County, California, in Township 7, on Sheet 8, Volume 21, E.D. 63, shows Simeon Bishop as a white male born in April 1831 as age 69, married 28 years, who was born in Ohio. This census shows his father was born in Rhode Island and his mother in Vermont. He is listed as a physician with no months unemployed in the prior year. He is shown as renting his home and able to read, write, and speak English. Living with him is his son, Harris Bishop, a white male born in May 1873 who is age 27 and single. He is shown as born in Nevada, with his father born in Ohio and his mother born in Minnesota. He is listed as a newspaper reporter with no months unemployed in the prior year and able to read, write, and speak English. Rowena, Frank or Franklin, Charles, and Fred Bishop are not listed in the 1900 U.S. Census Soundex for California.

A notice of the death of Dr. Simeon Bishop appeared in the "Reno Evening Gazette," Reno, Nevada, for February 21, 1920, on page 8, column 1, as found in microfilm in the Nevada Historical Society, Reno, Nevada. It shows, "Dr. Simeon Bishop Passes Away on Coast - Dr. Simeon Bishop, one of the picturesque figures of the early days of Nevada, a constructionist and community benefactor, died on February 8 in San Francisco, according to advices which reached Reno today. Dr. Bishop practiced medicine in Washoe county before there was a Reno, and was the second superintendent of the state hospital for the insane east of this city, having served in that capacity during the administration of Gov. Stephenson. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-eight years and ten months.

"Old timers today spoke affectionately of Dr. Bishop. Those who were not intimately familiar with his useful career remember him by his tall, gaunt figure and the old fashioned stove-pipe hat, which antedated the times by many years.

"Dr. Bishop was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Nevada back in the sixties. He practiced at Washoe City for many years before Reno was much more than a sparse settlement, later establishing his residence in this city. His first wife died here and was buried on the old Mary Wall ranch. The second Mrs. Bishop survives him. Dr. S. L. Lee, secretary of the state board of health at Carson City, is a nephew. Dr. Bishop's daughter, Persia, married Henry Thurtell, who is at the present time attached to the interstate commerce commission and another daughter, Mrs. Wells Drury, is the wife of the secretary of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Other children who survive him are Mrs. Robert Westcott, Simeon Bishop, Jr., Harris Bishop and Mrs. Minnie Tewkstury.

"Dr. Bishop was one of the original developers of the famous Pyramid mines and when the Orr ditch became a factor in land development in this section, he purchased a ranch in Spanish Spring Valley. Later he developed one of the largest vineyards in the West in Inyo County, Cal. The present Mrs. Bishop was a sister of Judge Harris of Carson City and Judge William Boardman married one of Dr. Bishop's sisters. Dr. Bishop was a member of Reno Lodge, No. 13, A. & F. M."

| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |
Footer Additions and corrections are always appreciated!