Born in London, England, in 1859, Simpson immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from New York.
Simpson was accepted into the United States Naval Academy as an engineering student (then known as cadet-engineers).
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.
[2][3] Simpson's official Medal of Honor citation reads: For rescuing from drowning John W. Powers, ordinary seaman on board the U.S.S.