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Tag: Charles Harvey Seely

Happy Anniversary, Lum and Mary

Today’s blog post is about George Columbus BATES and Mary Ann SEELY, my maternal 2nd great grandparents.  They were married on this date (13 January) in 1880.  If you’d like to review what I’ve already written about George, you can find posts about George’s apple orchard here and I mentioned George in this post, too.

1860-1869

George Columbus BATES was born in December of 1856 in Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia, to John C. and Mary Jane (MOBLEY) BATES.  George went by a shortened form of his middle name- Lum – and that’s how I’ll be referring to him here in this blog post.  By 1860 (4 years after Lum’s birth) he was living with his family in Fancy Hill, 1013th Georgia Militia District in Murray County, Georgia.  Hiram GARRETT (possibly SARRETT) was the census enumerator that year and he came by the family home on a Wednesday- 1 August 1860.  Lum would have still been a few months shy of his 4th birthday at that time but he is enumerated as 4 years old in the census.  His father, John, was a farmer.  John valued his real estate at $800 and his personal estate at $1000.  These amounts were about “middle of the pack” in comparison the other families censused on the same page.
In 1860, Lum’s older brother, Greenberry BATES was living with the family.  Green was 18 years old and was a farm laborer.  Just a few years later Green would be serving in the Civil War for the Confederacy.
Mary was born on Sunday, 6 June 1858 in Lawrence County, Missouri, to Charles and Synthia (FOSTER) SEELY.  In 1860 Mary and her family were living in Mount Pleasant, Mount Pleasant Township, Lawrence County, Missouri.  Their census enumerator that year was John W. PAYNE who came to enumerate the family on Saturday, 16 June 1860.  Mary was 2 years old at the time.  Living in the home were Mary’s parents plus four of her older siblings including Elijah, William, James, and John.  In addition to these older siblings, she had an older brother who died as an infant.  His name was George.  In the years to come, Mary would help welcome two younger siblings- Elzora Josephine and Charles Harvey.  Mary was living right next door to her maternal grandparents, Frederick and Mary (BURNETT) FOSTER.  Mary’s dad was a farmer.  Charles valued his real estate at $400 and his personal estate at $700.  These values were toward the lower end of the spectrum in comparison to the families censused on the same page as Charles.

1863: A Difficult Year

In July of 1863, Lum was 6 years old.  That year both his dad and his older brother were fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War.  John (his dad) was fighting at Tullahoma, Tennessee when he was taken prisoner and transported to Rock Island.  Rock Island was the Yankee version of Andersonville Prison.  It wasn’t a place you wanted to go.  In July of 1863 John died.  I blogged a little about John’s military service and death here and my cousin did a guest blog post for us here.
Lum’s brother, Green, was taken as a prisoner of war at Missionary Ridge in November of 1863.  He was initially sent to Rock Island but was transferred to a different military prison a couple of weeks after his capture.  Green survived the war.  I’m sure it was a pretty rough year for the whole family.  If you want to read more about Rock Island and our part in the Civil War you can follow the links above that discuss John’s service.  You can view the Missionary Ridge battlefield here.  You can view a dramatic skit that explains the Tullahoma Campaign here.  I also recommend Wikipedia for a brief, to-the-point overview of any topic.
Other known siblings of Lum’s were an older sister Martha, an older brother Washington who I think died in 1860, and a younger brother Henry Franklin who wasn’t yet born in 1860.  In 1868, Lum’s mom got married again.  This time she married Paul E. BRINEGAR.
Side note:
The best I could tell, this was the location of John and Mary (MOBLEY) BATES’ homestead in Georgia.  They had a nice view of the mountain.
John Mary Bates view from homestead GA

1870-1879

On Tuesday, 26 July 1870, census enumerator Robert M. ROMBERT visited the BATES family.  By this time Lum’s dad, John, had died as a prisoner of war at Rock Island prison and Lum’s mom had remarried to Paul E. BRINEGAR.  The family consisted of stepdad Paul E. BRINEGAR, mom Mary J. (MOBLEY) BRINEGAR, younger half brother Franklin (later enumerated as ‘Henry’).  In 1870, Paul was farming and he valued his real estate at $850 and his personal estate at $200.  If I were to judge based on the information given by other respondents on the page, Paul was in the middle of the pack as far as money and possessions owned by the people in his area.  Mary Jane was “keeping house” as were the majority of women that I’ve encountered on older census records.  Lum was a farm laborer.  Franklin was only 2 years old.  He was not working or in school.
On Thursday, 23 June 1870 enumerator John H. STROUD visited the SEELY family.  Parents Charles and Sinthia were living in Bentonville, Osage Township, Benton County, Arkansas with their children, James, John, Mary, Elzora, and Charles.  The elder Charles was a farmer and valued his real estate at $500 and his personal estate at $250.  If I were to judge based on the information given by other respondents on the same page, Charles more well off than most of the people around him.  Sinthia was keeping house.  Despite their ages, the older children (ages 20 and 17) were not working – or at least no occupation was listed by the census enumerator.

1880

Sometime between 26 July 1870 and 28 June 1880, Lum and Mary met each other and fell in love.  I wish I had stories to tell you either from records or family stories passed down through the years.  Sadly I don’t, so we’ll skip right to the month of the wedding.
On Wednesday, 7 January 1880 it was warmer than usual in Benton County, Arkansas.  The weather was described as “too warm for overcoats and fires”.  (Arkansas Democrat, 7 Jan 1880)  That was the day that the license was issued for George Columbus BATES and Mary Ann SEELY to marry.  The wedding didn’t happen until Tuesday, 13 January 1880.  By then, it was “decidedly cooler”. (Arkansas Democrat, 14 Jan 1880)  Lum (George) was 21 years old according to the marriage license although other official documents have put him at age 24 at the time of his marriage.  (My personal belief is 24 years old.)  Mary was 20 years old according to the marriage license.
The first record I have that was dated after the wedding is the 1880 Federal Census.  On the Monday, 28 June or Tuesday, 29 June 1880, census enumerator John M. CLAYTON arrived at the newly-married couple’s home.  They were living in Dickson Township, Benton County, Arkansas.  He was listed as being 23 years old and she as being 22.  They lived next door to Lum’s now-widowed mother, Mary and Lum’s half brother who is now listed as Henry.  Living on the other side of Mary was her older son Berry, now married and with his own large family.  Lum was farming and Mary was keeping house.

A Good Stopping Point

If you work on your own family history then you know that most of the 1890 census was destroyed.  So, unfortunately it’s hard to know what Lum and Mary did in the 20 years between the 1880 and 1900 censuses.  One thing I do know they did was have babies.  Starting with Albert (my great-grandfather) in 1881 and continuing with Charles in 1887, Herman in 1891, and Vesta in 1894.
It is at this point that I’m going to stop their story.  I’ll finish it during the year in other blog posts about Lum and Mary as I celebrate their births and write about their deaths.
Until then,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

There’s a Way

Today you’re going to get a small glimpse of how my crazy mind works. I’m going back to the second week of May to make up that week’s blog post. The theme was “there’s a way”. In my mind I kept thinking “the way”. Do you remember playing a game where someone says a word and you’re supposed to say the first word that comes to your mind (no filtering)? Well this is how that worked for me on this blog post. My mind said “the way” and then responded with “the truth and the life”. (The Holy Bible~ John 4:16, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) So that thought led to Christianity, which led to church, which led to preachers, which led to Reverend Charles SEELY. So I present to you today, my Baptist minister ancestor- Charles SEELY.

Charles SEELY and wife, Synthia Arrena FOSTER

Charles SEELY was born in 1826 in Missouri. I don’t know anything of his childhood and I don’t know anything about his parents, siblings, or any of his family. The first time he shows up in any record that I can find is on 15 October 1845 when he married Synthia Arrena FOSTER in Lawrence County, Missouri.

Charles Seely and Syntha Foster marriage record.
Charles Seely and Syntha Foster marriage record.
Second page of marriage record for Charles Seely and Syntha Foster.
Second page of marriage record for Charles Seely and Syntha Foster.

The marriage record started on one page and ended on the next, thus the reason for two photos to show one record.
Synthia was born in 1824 in South Carolina to Frederick FOSTER and Mary (BURNETT) FOSTER. Her family moved from South Carolina to Tennessee sometime between 1830 and 1840. Sometime between 1840 and 1860 they moved to Lawrence County, Missouri.


Finding Their Way from Missouri to Arkansas

Both SEELYs and FOSTERs were present in the area at the time Lawrence County was created. There is an annual “pioneer families” reunion each year in September. The reunion is a big deal complete with printed t-shirts, a day for genealogical information exchanges, etc. See these two websites for information about previous years’ reunions: http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/wormington/44/ (2013 gathering and includes a contact name and email address) and http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/spilman/361/ (2014 gathering). Although neither of our families are listed as pioneer families that are included in the reunion, another SEELY researcher said that she went one year and she seemed to feel it was profitable to her research.

Charles and Synthia had eight children together- Fifth Sergeant Elijah SEELY, blacksmith William, blacksmith James (who went by Frank), farmer John, baby George who only lived 8 months, Mary Ann (my great-grandmother and wife of George BATES), Elzora (who went by Josephine and married a HARRELL), and farmer Charles. They resided in Lawrence County, Missouri until the late 1860’s. Charles owned land there as evidenced by a land patent issued in 1860 and a deed dated 1867. You can view the land patent at this link along with a map of where the property was located-

http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=MO5700__.226&docClass=STA&sid=cduxnu03.ddp.

Around 1868, Charles packed up his family and left Lawrence County, Missouri for Benton County, Arkansas. On 7 April 1869, Charles was licensed as a Minister of the Gospel in Benton County, Arkansas. He was the first preacher at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church located in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas.


The Way, The Truth, The Life

The recording of his credentials:

Charles Seely's official credentials as a minister in Benton County, Arkansas.
Charles Seely’s official credentials as a minister in Benton County, Arkansas.

I’ve transcribed it here the best I can, leaving any misspellings as they appear in the record:

      Credentials of Seely: Credentials of Charles Seely- Benton County Arkansas This is to certify that we being duly called as a
          presbytary have examined into the carcter, call qualifications of our beloved brother Charles Seely and with the consent of the
          Church of Christ at New Sili (?) to which he belongs have by prayer and imposition of hands set him apart to the great work of
          the gospel ministry and he is hereby authorized to excrise himself in the several parts of the ministerial functions where he may
          be called whether occasionally or Slated by Given under our hands this the 26 day of October 1868
          E. T. Willingham, J. Dungan, Presbytary
          Filed and recorded the 7 day of April 1869
          J. R. Rutherford recorder

Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Gravette, Arkansas.
Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Gravette, Arkansas.
Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Gravette, Arkansas.
Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Gravette, Arkansas.

The Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church was organized in a log school house above Cash Springs in the Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas area on 28 May 1870. The church moved to it’s present location in 1880. The story I read was that Charles was an elder in the church and moderator of the organization committee when he was chosen as the first pastor. I have contacted the church and am waiting on a response. Maybe soon I’ll have an update with new information if the church has any.  I wasn’t able to find Cash Springs on any map but I found Cash Springs Road in Gravette so I’m going on the assumption that Cash Springs is nearby.  Here is a map showing the distance from Cash Springs Road (Where the arrow and pinned spot is) to the current church location:

Map showing Cash Springs Road and the current location of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church.
Map showing Cash Springs Road and the current location of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church.

I know Charles performed marriages while he was licensed. He was the minister who performed the wedding ceremony for Greenberry BATES and Eliza PENDERGRAFT in 1872. (Greenberry was one of the sons of John C. BATES. You can read about John BATES in a previous blog post found here: http://happy-girl-24.livejournal.com/16413.html. Charles SEELY’s daughter, Mary Ann, married George BATES- another of John C. BATES’ sons). Later in Charles’ life (after the death of Synthia), Charles himself married a PENDERGRAFT. Two years after Synthia’s death, Charles married Mary Ann (PENDERGRAFT) SEAMSTER. She was the widow of Williamson SEAMSTER who was also a Baptist minister.


Rock Island…Haven’t We Been This Way Before?

One interesting story I found while researching for this blog post was the story of why Charles’ son William packed up his family and moved to Texas and what happened along the way. The story goes that William and his family were living near Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas. He was a blacksmith there. His house and shop were next to each other. Crews were blasting out a path for the Rock Island Railroad nearby (that is possibly the same railroad company that ran the train that hit my great-great-grandfather Samuel WILLIAMS whom you can read about in the blog post at http://happy-girl-24.livejournal.com/20385.html). The crews were having to blast through a hillside to make a deep cut for a section of the railroad and the rocks from all the blasting were falling on William’s house and blacksmith shop. William said he wasn’t going to live where they were tearing up everything so he packed up his family and set out for Texas in a wagon. Somewhere along the way Indians started to attack the family. William’s sons were big boys and they scared the Indians away with their guns.  That’s all of the story I know.  I have to believe they made it to Texas alright since there is now a large branch of distantly-related SEELYs in Texas.

A railroad cut in Gravette, Arkansas.
A railroad cut in Gravette, Arkansas.

I love this postcard found at http://ahc.digital-ar.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16790coll7/id/112/rec/ depicting a railroad cut similar to the one being done (maybe the actual one being done??) near William’s home that made him decide to move.  I also love how Rock Island crept into my stories again.  If you’ll remember, Rock Island was where John BATES (referenced above) was imprisoned during the Civil War.  Also every day on my way to work during the school year, I pass a Rock Island caboose that’s been restored.  I don’t have a photo of it but here is another Rock Island caboose for you to look at:

Rock Island caboose car.
Rock Island caboose car.

I also found this great picture of the old depot in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas at myoldtownpics.com:

Gravette, Arkansas depot.
Gravette, Arkansas depot.

And I couldn’t help but post this 1901 depot sign:

1901 depot sign.
1901 depot sign.

Finding His Way to His (Heavenly) Home
In addition to being a preacher, Charles was a farmer. He died on 29 June 1891. He had a very short obituary which reads:

      Rev. Charles Seeley died on the 29th of June and was buried on the day following at Gamble’s
          grave yard. Mr. Seeley had lived here a number of years and had lots of warm friends to mourn
          his death.

The obituary appeared in The Bentonville Sun on 11 July 1891.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Charles SEELY and “the way” he lived his life.  Here’s hoping you find your way to a safe and happy weekend spent with loved ones.


Until next week,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Fearless Females- 1 March entry for Women’s History Month

I am looking for information about my great-great-great-grandmother, Synthia Arrena FOSTER SEELY. Synthia was born November 1824 in either South Carolina or Tennessee. She and her husband, Reverend Charles Harvey Seely, were married on 15 October 1845 and together they had 8 children. Reverend Seely was a Baptist preacher in Northwest Arkansas. Their children included 6 boys- Elijah, William, James, John, George, and Charles Jr.- and 2 girls- Mary and Elzira. Charles’ and Synthia’s daughter Mary was my great-great-grandmother. Synthia died 23 June 1884 in Benton County, Arkansas. She is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Gravette, Arkansas. Reverend Seely was the first preacher of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church which sits next to the cemetery.
This is my “fearless female” for the 1st of March.

Seely’s in BLM records

Regarding “my” Seely’s:

Charles Seely’s land record transcription:


Seely, Charles/MO/Lawrence County/ID: 8-1-1860/LO: Springfield/Doc: 22479/ACC-Serial #: MO5700_.226
40 acres T- 27 N, R – 28 W, S 31 NWSE
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Image.asp?PatentDocClassCode=STA&Accession=MO5700%5F%5F%2E226&Format=LargeGIF&Page=1&Index=1&QryID=59340%2E98


This appears to be Charles’ father, Elijah Seely rather than his son:
Seely, Elijah/MO/Chariton/ID: 4-30-1819/LO: MO/Doc #: 11236/Acc-Ser. #: MO6200_.236
160 acres SW T-54 N, R-19 W, S-35

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