Bennet Barton Simmes (1811-1888)

Bennett Barton Simmes:

Founding father of Simmesport, Louisiana. The first post office was established as, Simmes Port, in 1840. Mr. Simmes was from Maryland, d. Washington D.C. in 1888, and was buried in Port Tobacco, Maryland. His home in Louisiana is located on the east side of the Atchafalaya River at Simmesport. Whitehall Plantation is still there and (it) was used during the Civil War as General Nathanial Banks' Headquarters in the 1864 Red River Campaign; this campaign began and ended at Simmesport, Louisiana ... at the confluence of three rivers: Mississippi, Red and Atchafalaya Rivers.

b.p.mayeux 3/2013