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Just Bury Me at the Public Library

“I should be obliged to you to let me have your New Natura Breinum or if you will be so kind and send for another for me, or any other Book of the kind that you may think proper for me, and I will run all Risque and greatfully pay you again.”
William PARSONS’ request to William PETERS in a letter written in Easton, Pennsylvania, on 28 November 1754.²

First Things First

I was so blessed to be writing this while on vacation in Pennsylvania. I’d been thinking for a few months that it would be nice to get back to Pennsylvania so when the opportunity arose, I took it! Bart was on a job up there and when he’s on a job that means I fend for myself, which typically means that you’ll find me in a library or archives or courthouse or graveyard somewhere doing research. There are so many people I want to tell you about right now but there’s one in particular that stood out. I met him…at the library.

William PARSONS’ grave in front of Easton Public Library in Easton, Pennsylvania.

That’s right. I went to the Marx Room at Easton Public Library to do some research. I didn’t notice William at first. I was distracted when I entered the building and in a hurry to go grab lunch when I exited the building but after lunch, I stopped to straighten up my backpack before re-entering the library. I happened to look up and there in the grass in front of the little rock wall my backpack was sitting on was a…GRAVE! I kid you not! A grave in front of a public library! I thought it was hilarious so I took a picture to send to my mom. She was a school librarian like me so I figured she would appreciate it as much as I did. I didn’t think much more about the grave until I was going through some files I requested, looking for my ancestors, and who should I come across but Mr. William PARSONS – the same man that was buried in front of the library I was sitting in! I was stunned. I looked at the librarian on duty and asked her if the man buried in front of the library was the same man in the family file I’d requested. She said he was. Before I launch into William’s story though, let me tell you how he connects to me. William PARSONS is my 8th great grand-uncle. He was the brother of my 8th great grandmother, Sarah PARSONS CUMMINS. Sarah was the mother of Elizabeth CUMMINS. Elizabeth was the mother of Esther TODD. Esther was the mother of Rebecca LEWIS. Rebecca was the mother of Mary ELSTON. Mary was the mother of Rebecca WHITE. Rebecca was the mother of my 2nd great grandmother Lucinda DOW (whom I’ve written about here). Lucinda is the mother of Dettie GIBSON (whom I’ve written about here) and Dettie is the paternal grandmother of my mom. I love that this is almost completely a maternal link (with the exception of my grandfather).

William’s Beginning

This is said to be William Parsons. I found the photo on Ancestry.com.

William was born in Bermondsey, Surrey, England on 6 May 1701. Historians differ on whether he learned his shoemaking trade during his youth in England and was already proficient when he came to America. Other historians say he came to America as a young boy and learned the shoemaking trade here in Philadelphia where his parents settled with their children. The information I have for his next younger sibling’s birth says she was born in America. So I’m inclined to believe he came as a young boy and learned his trade here in Philadelphia. In any case, he opened his shoemaker shop in Philadelphia and he had a good life. He had English friends who also lived here, he made a decent living as a shoemaker and he was free to do as he pleased in his spare time.

What pleased him as a spare-time activity was to educate himself on, among other topics, the subject of mathematics as it related to astrology. At some point it seems he moved away from astrology but maintained his avid interest and study of mathematics. He also loved geography and Benjamin Franklin, one of William’s best friends in Philadelphia, referred to William as a “geographer” when Ben spoke of William in April, 1744.¹

It seems William also educated himself on the law as noted in a couple of letters he wrote in 1753 and 1754 where he requested a specific book on the law of writs called The Nature of Writs by Fitzherbert. The book’s full title is La Novel Natura Brevium by Anthony Fitzherbert.

…I must also desire you while you are in London to buy me the last English Treatise concerning the Nature of Writs, Fitzherbert if translated which shall likewise be great-fully paid you.
William PARSONS’ request for a book in a letter he wrote to William PETERS, Stonyhill, 17 Nov 1753.²

The book William requested is a treatise on the topic of legal writs. To this day, the book is still cited in common law courts as an authority on writs. There are very few “books of authority” that courts of law will accept but this is one. So in addition to math, we can assume that William was interested in law. In truth, William had many interests including grammar, letter-writing, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, astrology, general mathematics, geography, and law to name a few. The extent and success of his self-education was impressive. We’ll soon see how impressive.

In regard to religion, William was described as “nominally Lutheran”.³ Religion doesn’t seem to have been important to him until the end of his life. When he married in 1722 though, he married a devoutly religious German woman named Johanna Christiana ZEIDIG. She came from a Pietist upbringing which gifted to her a very morose, gloomy nature. Her father was described by one author as, “a gloomy pietist who…shunned all worldly amusements.” By contrast, William was intelligent, industrious, ambitious, social…and did I mention ambitious? He meant to go places and do things and leave his mark on the world. I think you can imagine how these two humans got along.

The Middle Years

In October of 1723, Benjamin Franklin landed in Philadelphia ready to take America by storm. Sometime between October of 1723 and 1726, Ben and William met and became very good friends. Soon after William returned from London in 1726, Benjamin started The Junto Club and invited William to be a charter member. This is incredible! The Junto Club was no ordinary club. Money couldn’t buy you a spot in the club. Fame or social class couldn’t secure you a position in the club. Nope. Ben’s goal was mutual improvement and to this end he searched for interesting, intelligent people. He capped membership at 12 persons (with Ben being the first member) and membership was by invitation only. William enjoyed Friday evening Junto company with the likes of Benjamin FRANKLIN, Hugh MEREDITH (printer), Stephen POTTS (Book Binder), George WEBB (Printer?), Joseph BREINTNALL (merchant & scrivener), Thomas GODFREY (Glazier, mathematician, and inventor), Nicholas SCULL II (Surveyor and bibliophile), William MAUGRIDGE (Cabinetmaker and mechanic), William COLEMAN (Merchant’s Clerk), Robert GRACE (Gentleman), John JONES, Jr. (Shoemaker). In an auto-biography, Benjamin referred to these men as “most of my ingenious acquaintance”.⁴ If you’d like to learn more about The Junto Club, I suggest this PDF for starters.⁵

In 1726, William took on two apprentices. In 1727, in addition to joining the Junto Club, he opened a tavern with co-owner and fellow Junto Club member Nicholas SCULL. In 1730, Ben suggested the Junto members pool their books and open a library for the benefit of the Junto members which they did and it soon broadened to a subscription library. On 8 November 1731, the Directors of the library (who were handpicked by Ben FRANKLIN and included William PARSONS) met and elected a treasurer and a secretary. The voted in a library subscription cost of 40 shillings and 10 shillings annual dues for the library. With this money they ordered books from London. The books arrived October, 1732 and the shipment contained about 100 books. William was there to unpack the books.

On 14 March 1734, the library Directors voted William PARSONS as the first librarian. William maintained his cobbler business and worked the library on Saturday afternoons from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. His salary from the library was 6 pounds a year. He would retain this librarianship until 1746.

In 1736, Ben FRANKLIN started another venture, Union Fire Company. The first fire department in America. I’m not surprised at all that William PARSONS was a charter member of this fire department. It’s said that any time there was a fire in Philadelphia, it was common to see Ben FRANKLIN and William PARSONS running through the streets together toting in each hand a green leather bucket filled with water.

On 3 March 1742 a charter was granted to the library and it became The Library Company of Philadelphia – the first successful lending library.⁶

Prior to the charter being granted, William took on another roll. In October of 1741 he was elected a member of the Common Council of Philadelphia.⁷ This was, as far as I can tell, his first venture with the PENN family.

Let’s back up a bit to 1730. William’s first professional surveys had been conducted in 1730. By 1734 he was a very active surveyor. He was so capable a surveyor that he caught the attention of Richard PETERS, who was in charge of the land office at that time. This was the relationship and circumstances that got him appointed to be Surveyor General which also occurred in 1741. William’s hard work – all those work-all-day-and-study-all-night years of his life – had finally paid off. His dream came true. Unfortunately, due to poor health, he would be forced to resign this position in 1748.

In 1743, Ben FRANKLIN organized the American Philosophical Society⁸ for which William PARSONS not only qualified but, at Ben’s request, became a charter member. Throughout all of these adventures – the Junto Club, the library & librarianship, the fire company, the Common Council, the Surveyor General appointment, and the American Philosophical Society, he maintained his shoemaking shop and also continued studying, conducted a wholesale general merchant business, and continued his literary, educational and political organizations.

But What About…

The extent of his adventures at such a young age is overwhelming. As overwhelming and exciting as his public life was, his private life was equally under-whelming. Johanna thought only of religion and continually sought new religious experiences. One author described her saying she “inherited the gloomy outlook of the pietists. Her restless, morbidly religious craving could not be satisfied.”⁹ The same author described Johanna as having bouts of despondence and joining each new sect with which she came into contact. I don’t fault Johanna for trying to find her way spiritually. However, as hard as William pursued his work and social life, Johanna pursued religion that hard or harder. It seemed they were going in opposite directions and each working as hard as they possibly could to go in those opposite directions. William seemingly had no sympathy or empathy for Johanna’s desires and she didn’t seem to have any for his either. Johanna bounced from her Pietist upbringing to the Tunkers to the “French Propehts” to being Separatist to being Agnostic to seeking out the Moravian Evangelists. While William was laser-focused on his goal, Johanna was floundering in her life and neither cared to help the other. Into this union, they brought six children – William Jr. (born about 1722), Johanna Grace (b. 1736), Juliana Sarah (b. 1738), Anna Mary “Molly”, and Susannah (who died, unmarried, the year before William died). They also had a daughter that died very young and was not named. Some historians say he also had a son named Robert and a daughter named Hannah.^{10, 11}

The Moravians did not have a good reputation in Pennsylvania at that time and the men paying William’s wages didn’t necessarily favor the Moravians and from all these circumstances, William adopted his opinion of Moravians. When Johanna turned to the Moravians for spiritual solace, William hit his limit with her religious searching. Johanna and their older daughter had been going to services together. William put his foot down when Johanna involved the children. He told her she could choose the Moravians or him but he wouldn’t have her marring his good reputation by associating with the Moravians. Johanna chose the Moravians and, true to his word, William packed up the youngest two daughters and left in 1745.

The Foundation

I’ve laid out a pretty good foundation of William’s early and middle life. I’ll fill in some holes and finish his life in the next post. Whether you love William or hate him, his life was incredibly interesting. Like all of us, he has his faults. I’m looking forward to finishing his story in the next post. Like William, I hope you choose your dream and pursue it with gusto! I wish you all the best in your adventures.

Dream big,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Blog

Resources

Jordan, John W. “William Parsons. Surveyor General, and Founder of Easton, Pennsylvania.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 33, no. 3, 1909, pp. 340–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20085475. Accessed 10 Jun. 2022.
Weaver, Ethan Allen. Copies of Revolutionary War Letters Relating to Northampton County, PA. Easton Public Library, 1936.
Ancestry.com. A frontier village, pre-revolutionary Easton [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com. Operations Inc, 2005.Original data: Chidsey, Andrew Dwight,. A frontier village, pre-revolutionary Easton. Easton, Pa.: Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1940.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto_(club), accessed 10 June 2022.
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/ideas/text4/juntolibrary.pdf, accessed 10 June 2022.
https://librarycompany.org/about-lcp/, accessed 10 June 2022.
https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid1002councilpetitions.pdf, accessed 10 June 2022.
https://www.amphilsoc.org/, accessed 10 June 2022.
Ancestry.com. A frontier village, pre-revolutionary Easton [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com. Operations Inc, 2005.Original data: Chidsey, Andrew Dwight,. A frontier village, pre-revolutionary Easton. Easton, Pa.: Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1940.
Jordan, John W. “William Parsons. Surveyor General, and Founder of Easton, Pennsylvania.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 33, no. 3, 1909, pp. 340–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20085475. Accessed 10 Jun. 2022.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7788351/william-parsons, accessed June, 2022.

Protected: Jealousy and Bad Whiskey, Day 2: Witness Preston SEELY, May He Rest In Peace

Plowing Through the Lean Times

John C. Bates (1817- 21 July 1863)
When I started drafting this blog post I was not planning on writing about my 2nd great-grandfather, John C. BATES. Nope. I was going to tell you about my great-grandfather Nicholas Wilhelm REITER. Both of these men are my ancestors on my mother’s side. I’m very proud of both men for very different reasons. The theme this week was “plowing through” and I wanted to tell you how Nicholas persevered through some difficult situations in his life and how late in life he became a cabinet maker and I wanted to show you pictures of a circa-1900 plow plane similar to what he likely used in his work. One day- I’ll finish that post and publish it. But today, I want to tell you about “plowing through” all the dead ends until you finally hit pay dirt.
It was getting late tonight when I was trying to write the original post and I don’t write well when I’m tired but I couldn’t go to bed yet either. So I switched tactics and began browsing through Ancestry.com. I decided to click on one of my “brick walls”- John C. BATES. I didn’t expect to find anything that I hadn’t already found a hundred times. There was no “little leaf” telling me Ancestry had found new hints for me. It was just a routine “I’ll try one more time because I’m bored and tired and have nothing better to do” try. As has happened so many times- and always when I least expect it- one of those routine “tries” netted me some much-needed and long-sought-for bits of information.
Before we get there though, let me back up and fill you in on who John is to me. John C. BATES is my second great-grandfather. I’m almost certain his middle name is Columbus as that is a name that has been handed down through the generations. John’s son was George Columbus BATES. George’s grandson was Troy Columbus BATES. So it stands to reason that John’s middle name was most likely Columbus as well. I always surmised that John died while fighting in the Civil War. I lost track of him in the records around that time and he never re-appeared. It was a hunch that I could never prove.
John was born about 1818 in Georgia. In 1840 he was living in Murray County, Georgia which is just south of the Georgia-Tennessee state line. That was also the year he married Mary Jane MOBLEY. In the 10 years between census enumerations, they had three children together- Martha, Greenberry, and Washington. In 1850 they were in East Chickamauga, Walker County, Georgia but by 1856 they had moved to Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia where they had my great-grandfather, George. As far as I know, they lived in Murray County, Georgia when John died. I previously believed John died between 1860 and 1862.

Portrait of Mary (Mobley) Bates Brinegar.

Mary Jane MOBLEY BATES BRINEGAR
In 1868, Mary married Paul BRINEGAR and they remained in Murray County, Georgia until sometime between 1870 and 1880. In 1880, the family was living in Benton County, Arkansas where Mary remained until her death. Mary is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Hiwasse, Benton County, Arkansas. One story my granny always told me that I have neither proved nor disproved is that George walked behind a wagon all the way from Georgia to Arkansas when the family moved to Arkansas.
Now to the exciting find on Ancestry.com tonight! I found the following story tonight that finally explained John’s death and why it has been so difficult to find information about his death and burial.

John BATES
When a man and wife both have very common names it is difficult to
determine exactly who they were and which families they came from.
This John BATES was born about 1817 in Georgia. His wife, Mary
BATES, was born about 1822.
The Census of 1860 listed the household as: John BATES, age 43;
Mary BATES, age 38; Green B. BATES, age 18; and Columbus BATES,
age 4. They used the post office at Fancy Hill.
Records in the Murray County Courthouse listed John BATES
(or BAITS), with service that began November 1861. While a member
of Company F, 3rd Confederate (Whorton Brigade), Army of Tennessee,
was captured at Tullahoma, Tennessee. He was taken to Rock Island
Prison, in Illinois and died there while a prisoner-of-war. Confederate
Army records listed him as John BAITS.
A transcription (also found on the Ancestry website) of Civil War records states,
JOHN BATES (Private). Service began November 1861. First known
as Company C, 3rd Confederate, then reorganized into Company F, 3rd
Confederate, Whorton Brigade, Army of Tennessee. Captured at Tullahoma,
Tennessee, during fighting in that area from January 2 to September 10,
1863. Died while a prisoner-of war at Rock Island Prison, Illinois.
Preceding was copied from records in Murray County Courthouse, with
spelling of battles and place names corrected as needed and dates of
engagements added. Military service records contain this information:
John Baits, Company F, 3rd Confederate Cavalry. Murray County
Census of 1860, visitation #720, shows John Bates, age 43, wife Mary,
used post office at Fancy Hill.
I just made this discovery late tonight so I have not had time to further research it. There is a lot left to learn. There is a conflict in the dates given in the above transcriptions and the official opening date for Rock Island Prison. (Just so you know- Rock Island was the Yankee version of the Confederates’ Andersonville Prison. It was the worst possible place for a Confederate soldier to go.) I’m hoping to clear up some of the confusion in the near future. In the meantime, I will leave you with some photographs and links to information about Rock Island Prison.
Click here to read a personal account from a former Rock Island Prisoner.

Rock Island Confederate Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois.

Click here to look at the official National Park Service website about Rock Island Confederate Cemetery.
I am looking forward to learning where Rock Island prisoners were buried and other information about Rock Island prison and John BATES’ service during the Civil War. I am looking forward to finding my own way to say ‘thank you’ to POW Private John C. Bates of Company F, 3rd Confederate Cavalry, Whorton Brigade, Army of Tennessee- a man who fought for something he believed in and fought to keep his family safe.
So tonight I encourage you to plow through all your dead ends and all those endless genealogies and records that don’t seem to be the right ones. Plow through those websites, lists of researchers and potential relatives to contact “one day”, and all those notes and copies you’ve made. The only people who are guaranteed to never break through their brick wall ancestral lines are those who stop looking. Don’t be that person!
Be sure to click on over to these blogs for more great stories! Down in the Root Cellar and Theology for Mom.

Until next week,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Surname Saturday- SEELY

2022 Update:

I made a correction to my 2nd great-grandfather’s name in the original portion of the blog post.
I added images to the original post.
For clarification to my family members who follow the blog, the line goes from Troy Columbus BATES’ dad Albert to Albert’s mom Mary SEELY BATES to Mary’s father, Charles George SEELY who is listed below in the original portion of the blog post.
Since I do have an Ancestry account at this point, I did a quick search for Theodore again. It turns out (if the Ancestry trees I consulted are correct), Theodore Martin SEELY is possibly related to us. It appears we share an English ancestral couple: Sir William SEELEY of Huntingdon and his wife, Lady Grace PRETT SEELEY. William and Grace are my 11th great-grandparents and Theodore Martin’s 10th great-grandparents. I haven’t done the research necessary to solidify this connection but I welcome others to join the search and verify this connection.

Happy searching! Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Original Blog Post:

My connections to SEELY: I can only trace my SEELY line back to my great-great grandfather Charles ~~Harvey~~ George SEELY. He was a Baptist preacher. He married Synthia Arrena FOSTER and together they had 8 known children. I descend through their daughter, Mary Ann, who was the sixth of the eight children. Charles and Synthia were married in Lawrence County, Missouri.

A review of online death records for Lawrence County, Missouri shows that Theodore Martin SEELY died on 17 Dec 1944 in the town of Marionville.

Death Certificate for Theodore Martin Seely. Image located at Ancestry.com.

Theodore lived in that area for 1 year and 2 months prior to his death. Theodore was a white male. He was married to Joyce Opal SEELY at the time of his death. He began his life on 28 Dec 1878 in Indiana. He was a retired oil worker. His cause of death was listed as “appoplexy” due to arteriosclerosis, a condition he had for 5 years prior to his death. Theodore’s wife, who was 20 years his junior, was unable to identify Theodore’s parents. I searched HeritageQuest but was unable to locate any information about Theodore with the information that I have from his death certificate. Ancestry listed Theodore and Joyce as living together in McDonald County, Missouri on the 1930 Federal Census.

Theodore Martin Seely family, 1930 U.S. Federal Census. Image located at Ancestry.com.

Beyond these details, I was not able to find anything else by doing a cursory internet search for Theodore and Joyce. If I had a subscription to Ancestry, I would have been able to find more and to possibly find out whether Theodore was a part of my SEELY family that lived for many years in Lawrence County before moving on to other parts of Missouri and nearby Benton County, Arkansas.

~~For now, Theodore and Joyce will remain a mystery for me.~~ Blessings to all my SEELY’s who are out there. I would love to connect with living relatives.

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