Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Who is Mr. Seaver? - Part 1

Everyone loves a good family history mystery, and occasionally I get a question via email asking for help with a Seaver mystery. Here is part of an email from Marilyn that I received several months ago:

"Sir, seeing the Seaver name on the computer interests us. One of our family married a Seaver in the 1800s (probably in the late 1870s). The name isn't common and we haven't been able to trace him or where he came from. He married a widow Euphemia (maiden name Kirk, born in Scotland and 1st married name Marshall, her first husband also from Scotland. Her first husband was lost on a ship going around the horn.) Her daughter came to live with them when she was divorced and brought her little son to live with them too. In time her son's name was changed to Seaver so that branch has been Seavers since then, but no one knows who the man's name is that it came from. Obviously he helped raise the child. I saw the LONG detailed list you have on the computer and can't get over how many Seavers there are. Do you have any idea how we could trace this unknown Seaver in our family?"

Aha - a mystery Seaver. Is the husband of Euphemia in my Seaver database posted in an Ancestry Member Tree or on my website? I looked in my database, and did not see a Euphemia married to a Seaver, so I probably don't have information about her, or her marriage, in my database.

Marilyn had provided some names, but few dates or places. The name "Euphemia" really stood out for me. Where could I find Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver? I started with the census records in 1920:

1) In the 1920 census, this family resided at 517 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 27 in San Francisco, California (Sheet 10A, ED 332, NARA Microfilm T625, Roll 142). The household included:

* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 59, married, born Illinois, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Ireland, an engineer, works in construction, rents home
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 58, married, born California, parents born Scotland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 77, widow, born Scotland, parents born Scotland.

This is probably the Euphemia I'm looking for, and there is her daughter Louise married to an Atchison. Let's look in 1910:

2) In the 1910 census, this family resided at 519 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 37 of San Francisco, SF County, California (Sheet 10A, ED 176, NARA Microfilm T624, Roll 99). The household included:

* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 47, first marriage, married for 19 years, born Illinois, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 47, second marriage, married 19 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 67, widowed, 4 children born, 1 child living, born Scotland, parents born Scotland, immigrated in 1857.

More clues here - including the number of children, and how long Louise has been married to Mr. Atchison - they married in about 1891. Going back ten more years:

3) In the 1900 U.S. Census, this family resided at 836 East 6th Street in Ward 7 of Los Angeles city, Los Angeles County, California (Sheet 3A, ED 64, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 90). The household included:

* James R. Atchison - head of household, white, male, born Jun 1860, age 39, married, for 10 years, born Illinois, father born PA, mother born ??, an engineer, works in a powerhouse, owns home with a mortgage.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, white, female, born Feb 1861, age 39, married, for 10 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father and mother born in Scotland
* Frank L. Seaver - step-son, white, male, born Oct 1878, age 21, single, born CA, father and mother born CA, a machinist
* Euphemia Seaver - mother-in-law, white, female, born Mar 1843, age 57, a widow, 4 children born, 2 children living, born Scotland, father and mother born Scotland.

There is Frank L. Seaver, listed as a step-son of James Atchison - if that is correct, then Frank is the son of Louise, not of Euphemia. Birth months and years for all of them too, which can be useful in later searches. And the Atchisons married in about 1890, which corroborates the approximate 1910 date.

4) In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found no matches for a Euphemia as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Louise as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Frank as a Seaver or a Marshall. So now I'm stuck - where was Euphemia? Was she married by 1880? Is she listed with a first name that I cannot find? Is she living with her daughter and grandson? Do they have a surname other than Seaver or Marshall?

5) I put "Euphemia Seaver" in the Ancestry.com search box, and found the Los Angeles City Directories available on http://www.ancestry.com/:

* 1899: Euphemia Seaver (widow L.B.), resident 836 East 6th St.
* 1899: Frank L. Seaver, machinist, Fulton Engineering, resident 836 East 6th St.

Aha - the first real clue! Euphemia Seaver was perhaps the widow of L.B. Seaver. Finally, a clue to a first and middle name. My Seaver database had one person with initials L.B. that might be Euphemia's late husband - a man named Loren B. Seaver, born in July 1848 in Vermont, but he had a wife Aranna and five children in the 1880 to 1910 census records, and resided in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont in the 1900 census (Page 164, ED 53, Sheet 4, Line 45, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 1690). So - that couldn't be the L.B. that married Euphemia, unless he had two families on opposite sides of the country in the 1870 to 1900 time frame. Of course, my database had many males with first names starting with L born around the 1840 time frame - was L.B. Seaver one of them?

Now, this is a series, so please don't go running off to the census and other records to try to help me out here. There are a few more clues as to the identity of L.B. Seaver, and Marilyn has some interesting stories to tell - so stick around and enjoy the ride.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The common short name for Euphemia was effie currently others shorten it to Fay. I have also seen phemie used on an odd occasion.

Anonymous said...

Excellent article. Good case study.
I can't wait for more on this mysterious Seaver. How do you do this so fast and so accurate? I am already "enjoying the ride".