...
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
So who was William Seaver, where did he come from, who was in his family, and what happened to them?
I think I can answer the first three questions, and will save the last question for later.
I did not have a William Seaver with a death date of 1821 in my database. However, a correspondent wrote me that she was researching a William Seaver who married a Martha and had children Martha, William and Sarah (no dates given). This was the William Seaver that was murdered in 1821, and my correspondent is researching the wife and children of William Seaver.
I consulted The Seaver Genealogy, compiled by Jesse Montgomery Seaver in 1924 and published by the author as a typescript. This typescript was based on collected records and correspondence with many Seaver families who passed their family data to him.
One of the families with no further information in The Seaver Genealogy by Jesse Montgomery Seaver (page 64, accessed on Ancestry.com) was:
"William was murdered, m. Martha Davis: ch: Martha, William, Sarah."
Comparing my correspondent's secondary information with the Seaver book's secondary information, all of the family names match, and the critical fact of the murder matches. Is this a fortuitous coincidence? Perhaps. But perhaps it is the same family. Recall that in one of the newspaper articles it notes that William Seaver was born in Massachusetts.
The Seaver Genealogy notes that the William Seaver that married Martha Davis was born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver. A marriage of William Seaver to Martha Davis on 12 December 1809 in Providence, Rhode Island was found in the book:
David Colby Young and Elizabeth Keene Young, Vital records from Maine newspapers, 1785-1820 (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1993)
Where did Jesse Montgomery Seaver obtain the information about the marriage, the names of the spouse and children, and the murder? It is very likely that he obtained it from a family member who had a family record or memory book - perhaps from William Seaver's siblings or their children.
I have abstracts of many of the Seaver probate records from Middlesex County and Norfolk County, Massachusetts (Norfolk was formed from Suffolk County in 1793) and do not see William Seaver mentioned in those records. Ebenezer Seaver died in 1820 in Brighton, Massachusetts (in Middlesex County then). I don't have Seaver probate abstracts from Suffolk County, however, and several of Ebenezer Seaver's sons also resided there. There may be newspaper records from Boston at the time of the murder that I haven't found yet.
What about other persons with the name William Seaver (and variants)? I have several of them in my database who were old enough to marry in 1809, but only one that is not "connected" to a set of parents. He was born in about 1780, birthplace unknown, and resided in Maine into the 1850s. He could be the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver. The key piece of information is likely to be some sort of record of Ebenezer Seaver that names his children and their residence.
While all of the evidence I have is based on derivative sources, and is secondary information, there are no evidence conflicts yet. It is likely that the William Seaver murdered in 1821 in Alexandria, Virginia was the William Seaver born in 1782 in Roxbury, husband of Martha Davis, and father of Martha, William and Sarah Seaver. I am actively searching for further records. There may be church records, land records and probate records for William Seaver in Washington, DC.
What happened to the wife Martha (Davis) Seaver, and the children Martha Seaver, William Seaver and Sarah Seaver? There may be records for them hiding in vital, church, census, newspaper, cemetery and other records. I'm looking! My correspondent is looking too! More later!
Does any reader have suggestions for further research? This is a challenging research problem and I will appreciate any help. Please email me at rjseaver@cox.net. Thanks!
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query william seaver murder. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query william seaver murder. Sort by date Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
William Seaver Murder Mystery, and Family History Compendium
...
One of the most challenging research tasks for me this year was to determine who the William Seaver, murdered in Arlington, Virginia, in 1821, really was - who were his parents, who was his spouse, and what happened to his family after his death.
The study took some unexpected turns, but I think that I've found the answers I was looking for when I started.
The series is composed of these posts:
* "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. (posted 15 March 2011). The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that?
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered (posted 17 March 2011) - by the President of the United States, and three mayors.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession (posted 18 March 2011) seemed to solve the case with the arrest of a man who confessed.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? (posted 21 March) was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession (posted 30 March 2011), provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, Part 2 (posted 31 March 2011) provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
* Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver (posted 5 April 2011) summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married a Martha Davis in 1809.
* Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members (posted 8 April 2011) described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children.
* Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? (posted 12 April 2011) - I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver.
* More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821) (posted 4 May 2011) uncovered more information about the ancestral family if Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen, and the wills of the two daughters.
* The Family of Martha (Davis) Seaver (1793-1868) (posted 9 May 2011) revealed the family of Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen, and described the will of the last child, Sarah A.C. Seaver and why her will was contested.
This research was conducted completely with a variety of online resources. Much more research could be performed for these persons in repositories holding vital records, land records, probate records, cemetery records, newspaper records, and many more record types in order to conduct a reasonably exhaustive search. I think that I've just scratched the surface. However, I managed to answer, at least to my satisfaction, the challenging questions using only online resources in a relatively short period of time.
I started this research as a result of receiving an Ancestry.com message asking if I could identify the William Seaver who was murdered in 1821, and if I knew what happened to the wife Martha, and the children. Unfortunately, the person who asked the question has not contacted me since early April. I hope that she sees this set of posts that answer her questions.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/william-seaver-murder-mystery-and-family.html.
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
One of the most challenging research tasks for me this year was to determine who the William Seaver, murdered in Arlington, Virginia, in 1821, really was - who were his parents, who was his spouse, and what happened to his family after his death.
The study took some unexpected turns, but I think that I've found the answers I was looking for when I started.
The series is composed of these posts:
* "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. (posted 15 March 2011). The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that?
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered (posted 17 March 2011) - by the President of the United States, and three mayors.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession (posted 18 March 2011) seemed to solve the case with the arrest of a man who confessed.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? (posted 21 March) was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession (posted 30 March 2011), provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper.
* William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, Part 2 (posted 31 March 2011) provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
* Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver (posted 5 April 2011) summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married a Martha Davis in 1809.
* Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members (posted 8 April 2011) described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children.
* Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? (posted 12 April 2011) - I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver.
* More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821) (posted 4 May 2011) uncovered more information about the ancestral family if Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen, and the wills of the two daughters.
* The Family of Martha (Davis) Seaver (1793-1868) (posted 9 May 2011) revealed the family of Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen, and described the will of the last child, Sarah A.C. Seaver and why her will was contested.
This research was conducted completely with a variety of online resources. Much more research could be performed for these persons in repositories holding vital records, land records, probate records, cemetery records, newspaper records, and many more record types in order to conduct a reasonably exhaustive search. I think that I've just scratched the surface. However, I managed to answer, at least to my satisfaction, the challenging questions using only online resources in a relatively short period of time.
I started this research as a result of receiving an Ancestry.com message asking if I could identify the William Seaver who was murdered in 1821, and if I knew what happened to the wife Martha, and the children. Unfortunately, the person who asked the question has not contacted me since early April. I hope that she sees this set of posts that answer her questions.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/william-seaver-murder-mystery-and-family.html.
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Family of Martha (Davis) Seaver (1793-1868)
...
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children. In Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver. Last week, I found a book by Gilbert A. Davis in the BYU Family History Archive that shed more light on this family - see More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821).
One of the unknowns when we started this investigation was the origins of Martha Davis, who married William Seaver. The book:
Gilbert A. Davis, History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, Volume II, Windsor, Vermont, by the author, 1903.
sheds some light on her parents and siblings, and nieces and nephews. Here is what I've learned:
Stephen Davis was born 20 March 1765, the son of Jacob Davis (1742-1809) and Dorothy Baker. Stephen married 1 July 1787 Martha Tileston of Dorchester, Mass., daughter of Nathaniel Tileston; she died 14 November 1825. Stephen Davis was a leather dresser, and had his place of business on what is now Washington Street in Roxbury, Mass. Neither Stephen Davis nor his wife was a church member, but they attended the Congregational church, of which Rev. Dr. Porter was pastor. He was one of the founders of Washington Lodge, F. & A. Masons, instituted at Roxbury, 14 March 1796, and was for many years Master of this lodge. He was commissioned Adjutant of the Battalion of Artillery in the 1st Regiment, 1st Division of Massachusetts Militia, by Moses Gill, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief. His commission bears date 12 June 1799, "to take rank from 27 April 1799, when elected." He held the position until 1 March 1804, when, on resignation, he was honorably discharged. He was a tall slim man, light complection, and of moderate circumstances as to property. He died 22 March 1821, at age 56 years, of pulmonary consumption, and is buried in the old cemetery at Roxbury.
The children of Stephen and Martha (Tileston) Davis were (all born in Roxbury, Mass.):
i. Stephen Davis, born 22 December 1787, died in Portland, Maine; he married a Blanchard in Portland, and had a daughter. He was a circus rider.
ii. Asa Davis, born 22 August, 1789, married 12 October 1815 Mary Hosmer at Chester, Vermont. He died 13 January 1873 in Reading, Vermont. They had children Charles L. Davis (1833-????); Gilbert A. Davis (1835-????).
iii. Artemas Davis, born 26 October 1791, married Sarah Gardner Tuck on 8 March 1822, and resided on the island of Nantucket, Mass. They had children Sarah Elizabeth (1822-1826); Mary Susan Davis (1824-1829); Samuel Stephen Davis (1835-????), married Avis Swift.
iv. Martha Davis, born 1 March 1893, married William Seaver of Roxbury (see More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821).
v. Ebenezer Davis, born 11 June 1794, died 5 June 1810.
vi. Jacob Davis, born 13 March 1796, died 7 September 1832 in Charleston, S.C. He married, and had children Jacob Davis, Mary Davis, and others.
vii. Cecilia Davis, born 22 Devcember 1798, married Stephen A. Dix, and they had children Stephen A. Dix, Sarah Anna Dix, and Francis Henry Dix.
viii. Nathaniel Tileston Davis, born 11 October 1802. He went to sea in 1820 on the ship "Independence," and was working in the store of William Seaver in Washington when Mr. Seaver was murdered. He worked at the store that succeeded Seaver & Bulfinch in Washington, then returned to Boston, and settled in Wellfleet, Mass. where he married Mrs. Hannah Kemp. She had three small children: Hannah Kemp, Robert Kemp, and Henry Kemp who died young.
ix. Sally Davis, born 2 April 1804, married Charles Lowrey and they settled in Washington, D.C. They had one son who was in the Union Army.
x. Abigail Davis, born 8 May 1806, died 5 September 1806.
xi. Elizabeth Dorothy Davis, born 15 April 1809, died 14 February 1818.
The Gilbert A. Davis book has much more information about some of these families, especially for his own line.
In More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821), the will of Sarah A.C. Seaver (daughter of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver) was contested by five cousins - Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, Samuel S. Davis, Sarah A. Gordon and Martha T. Miller. I believe that these persons are:
* Charles L. Davis, son of Asa and Mary (Hosmer) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Gilbert A. Davis, son of Asa and Mary (Hosmer) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Samuel S. Davis, son of Artemas and Sarah (Tuck) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Sarah A. Gordon, probably daughter of Stephen and Cecilia (Davis) Dix, a niece of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Martha T. Miller, probably a daughter of one of the other children, perhaps Stephen Davis or Jacob Davis, a niece of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
Why did the cousins contest the will? Recall that all three children of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver had not married, and had no children. If Sarah had died intestate, her estate would have gone to descendants of her parents siblings, and I believe that the five named in the will contest are nieces and nephews of Martha (Davis) Seaver. What about the siblings of William Seaver? William died in 1821, 79 years before Sarah Seaver's death in 1900. It is very probable that the children of William Seaver lost contact in the Boston area with their Seaver aunts and uncles.
Another lingering mystery is why the marriage of William Seaver and Martha Davis in 1809 in Providence, Rhode Island was reported in a Maine newspaper? The reason is most likely that one of Martha's uncles, Jacob Davis, resided in Gardiner, Maine at the time,
I think that this is the end of the William Seaver murder saga. I didn't know where it was going when I started, but it has been challenging and interesting and fun. I've done this research in online historical record collections and newspapers, and there are probably many more records in brick-and-mortar repositories like the National Archives, state archives, local and regional historical societies, county vital records offices, county probate courts, etc.
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children. In Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver. Last week, I found a book by Gilbert A. Davis in the BYU Family History Archive that shed more light on this family - see More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821).
One of the unknowns when we started this investigation was the origins of Martha Davis, who married William Seaver. The book:
Gilbert A. Davis, History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, Volume II, Windsor, Vermont, by the author, 1903.
sheds some light on her parents and siblings, and nieces and nephews. Here is what I've learned:
Stephen Davis was born 20 March 1765, the son of Jacob Davis (1742-1809) and Dorothy Baker. Stephen married 1 July 1787 Martha Tileston of Dorchester, Mass., daughter of Nathaniel Tileston; she died 14 November 1825. Stephen Davis was a leather dresser, and had his place of business on what is now Washington Street in Roxbury, Mass. Neither Stephen Davis nor his wife was a church member, but they attended the Congregational church, of which Rev. Dr. Porter was pastor. He was one of the founders of Washington Lodge, F. & A. Masons, instituted at Roxbury, 14 March 1796, and was for many years Master of this lodge. He was commissioned Adjutant of the Battalion of Artillery in the 1st Regiment, 1st Division of Massachusetts Militia, by Moses Gill, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief. His commission bears date 12 June 1799, "to take rank from 27 April 1799, when elected." He held the position until 1 March 1804, when, on resignation, he was honorably discharged. He was a tall slim man, light complection, and of moderate circumstances as to property. He died 22 March 1821, at age 56 years, of pulmonary consumption, and is buried in the old cemetery at Roxbury.
The children of Stephen and Martha (Tileston) Davis were (all born in Roxbury, Mass.):
i. Stephen Davis, born 22 December 1787, died in Portland, Maine; he married a Blanchard in Portland, and had a daughter. He was a circus rider.
ii. Asa Davis, born 22 August, 1789, married 12 October 1815 Mary Hosmer at Chester, Vermont. He died 13 January 1873 in Reading, Vermont. They had children Charles L. Davis (1833-????); Gilbert A. Davis (1835-????).
iii. Artemas Davis, born 26 October 1791, married Sarah Gardner Tuck on 8 March 1822, and resided on the island of Nantucket, Mass. They had children Sarah Elizabeth (1822-1826); Mary Susan Davis (1824-1829); Samuel Stephen Davis (1835-????), married Avis Swift.
iv. Martha Davis, born 1 March 1893, married William Seaver of Roxbury (see More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821).
v. Ebenezer Davis, born 11 June 1794, died 5 June 1810.
vi. Jacob Davis, born 13 March 1796, died 7 September 1832 in Charleston, S.C. He married, and had children Jacob Davis, Mary Davis, and others.
vii. Cecilia Davis, born 22 Devcember 1798, married Stephen A. Dix, and they had children Stephen A. Dix, Sarah Anna Dix, and Francis Henry Dix.
viii. Nathaniel Tileston Davis, born 11 October 1802. He went to sea in 1820 on the ship "Independence," and was working in the store of William Seaver in Washington when Mr. Seaver was murdered. He worked at the store that succeeded Seaver & Bulfinch in Washington, then returned to Boston, and settled in Wellfleet, Mass. where he married Mrs. Hannah Kemp. She had three small children: Hannah Kemp, Robert Kemp, and Henry Kemp who died young.
ix. Sally Davis, born 2 April 1804, married Charles Lowrey and they settled in Washington, D.C. They had one son who was in the Union Army.
x. Abigail Davis, born 8 May 1806, died 5 September 1806.
xi. Elizabeth Dorothy Davis, born 15 April 1809, died 14 February 1818.
The Gilbert A. Davis book has much more information about some of these families, especially for his own line.
In More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821), the will of Sarah A.C. Seaver (daughter of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver) was contested by five cousins - Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, Samuel S. Davis, Sarah A. Gordon and Martha T. Miller. I believe that these persons are:
* Charles L. Davis, son of Asa and Mary (Hosmer) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Gilbert A. Davis, son of Asa and Mary (Hosmer) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Samuel S. Davis, son of Artemas and Sarah (Tuck) Davis, a nephew of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Sarah A. Gordon, probably daughter of Stephen and Cecilia (Davis) Dix, a niece of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
* Martha T. Miller, probably a daughter of one of the other children, perhaps Stephen Davis or Jacob Davis, a niece of Martha (Davis) Seaver, and a first cousin of Sarah Seaver.
Why did the cousins contest the will? Recall that all three children of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver had not married, and had no children. If Sarah had died intestate, her estate would have gone to descendants of her parents siblings, and I believe that the five named in the will contest are nieces and nephews of Martha (Davis) Seaver. What about the siblings of William Seaver? William died in 1821, 79 years before Sarah Seaver's death in 1900. It is very probable that the children of William Seaver lost contact in the Boston area with their Seaver aunts and uncles.
Another lingering mystery is why the marriage of William Seaver and Martha Davis in 1809 in Providence, Rhode Island was reported in a Maine newspaper? The reason is most likely that one of Martha's uncles, Jacob Davis, resided in Gardiner, Maine at the time,
I think that this is the end of the William Seaver murder saga. I didn't know where it was going when I started, but it has been challenging and interesting and fun. I've done this research in online historical record collections and newspapers, and there are probably many more records in brick-and-mortar repositories like the National Archives, state archives, local and regional historical societies, county vital records offices, county probate courts, etc.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821)
...
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children. In Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver.
While searching in the BYU Family History Archive yesterday, I searched the keywords [william seaver murder] and was rewarded with eight books containing those terms. One of the books was:
Gilbert A. Davis, History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, Volume II, Windsor, Vermont, by the author, 1903.
This work has the following information about the William Seaver/Martha Davis family:
Page 151:
"(d) Martha [Davis] b March 1 1793, m Wm. Seaver of Roxbury Mass., a grocer. They had three children living.
William, a tea broker, in Philadelphia.
Martha and Sarah, daughters, unmarried, resided in Baltimore, Md.
"Wm. Seaver, Sr., went to Baltimore, and went into the grocery business. Then went to Washington, and became a member of the firm of Seaver & Bulfinch, Grocers, Wines, &c., on Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Seaver was a great judge of liquors, teas, &c. In 1q820 he was murdered between Washington and Alexandria. He had been to Alexandria to buy goods from foreign vessels, and, missing the stage and boat, was found near the bridge crossing the Potomac. The murder was thought to have been for the purpose of robbery. His widow subsequently kept a millinery establishment, including dress and mantau making, employing some 25 girls. She had the patronage of the best families in Washington. Her store was on Penna Avenue, and she amassed quite a property. She d at her home in Baltimore, Md."
Pages 155 and 156:
"Children of Wm. Seaver and Martha Davis (6) --
The son, Wm. R. Seaver, removed to New York City, and was successful in business. He never married. He was a devoted, generous and self-sacrificing brother. His sisters loved him and had entire confidence in his judgment. At the time of his death, intestate, in 1896, he resided at Newark, N.J.
"Sarah A.C. Seaver was his sole heir, Martha Seaver having died in 1889.
"Sarah died at Baltimore, Md., June 27, 1900, unmarried, in the 84th year of her age. She owned, and at the time of her death, resided at No. 13 No. Calhoun st.
"A controversy arose over an instrument purporting to be her last will and testament, written and executed Dec. 5, 1898, in which she had entirely ignored and disinherited her heirs-at-law, and cousins, Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, Samuel S. Davis, Sarah A. Gordon, and Martha T. Miller, and these cousins filed a caveat, and contested the allowance of said instrument. Miss Seaver had made three wills previous to this, in each of which she had recognized her cousins and devised to them the balance of her estate. The last of these wills was executed on May 27, 1898. The Orphans' Court of Baltimore city, after a protracted hearing Aug. 30, 1891[sic? probably 1901], by a majority decision sustained the instrument of Dec. 5, 1898 as her last will. The cousins at once appealed to the Court of Errors and appeals, and that Court by unanimous opinion of the Judges reversed the order of the Orphans' Court, set aside the instrument of Dec. 5, 1898, and established the will of May 27, 1898. O.Brien, J., in giving the dissenting opinion in the Orphans' Court, used this language:--
"'Miss Seaver had all through her life been recognized by her friends and acquaintances as a woman of culture and refinement, and in her later years as a bright, intelligent, and courteous person, affable and kind to her friends, and very capable in transacting business affairs.'
"The Seaver family are interred in lot 129, in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Md."
In Have you checked the FamilySearch.org collections recently? You should!, I found the will of the daughter, Martha C. Seaver in 1888 in the Maryland Register of Will Books. I also found, but did not list, the will of daughter Sarah A.C. Seaver, mentioned above, in the 1900 volume of the Will Books.
So far, everything I've posted about this family has been very consistent (with one exception - it was claimed that the murdered William Seaver was killed in the War of 1812).
Why is the useful and fascinating information printed in the Reading, Vermont history book? There's a really good reason - the author of the book, Gilbert A. Davis, is related to Martha (Davis) Seaver, the wife of the murdered William Seaver. I will post more about the Davis family in a subsequent post in this series. There are some interesting sketches of some of these people, and the accounts provided by this book demonstrate very nicely how complicated family relationships can be.
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members described some records found in online census and city directories for the widow and children. In Is this William R. Seaver, son of the murdered William Seaver? I thought that I had found the son of William and Martha (Davis) Seaver.
While searching in the BYU Family History Archive yesterday, I searched the keywords [william seaver murder] and was rewarded with eight books containing those terms. One of the books was:
Gilbert A. Davis, History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, Volume II, Windsor, Vermont, by the author, 1903.
This work has the following information about the William Seaver/Martha Davis family:
Page 151:
"(d) Martha [Davis] b March 1 1793, m Wm. Seaver of Roxbury Mass., a grocer. They had three children living.
William, a tea broker, in Philadelphia.
Martha and Sarah, daughters, unmarried, resided in Baltimore, Md.
"Wm. Seaver, Sr., went to Baltimore, and went into the grocery business. Then went to Washington, and became a member of the firm of Seaver & Bulfinch, Grocers, Wines, &c., on Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Seaver was a great judge of liquors, teas, &c. In 1q820 he was murdered between Washington and Alexandria. He had been to Alexandria to buy goods from foreign vessels, and, missing the stage and boat, was found near the bridge crossing the Potomac. The murder was thought to have been for the purpose of robbery. His widow subsequently kept a millinery establishment, including dress and mantau making, employing some 25 girls. She had the patronage of the best families in Washington. Her store was on Penna Avenue, and she amassed quite a property. She d at her home in Baltimore, Md."
Pages 155 and 156:
"Children of Wm. Seaver and Martha Davis (6) --
The son, Wm. R. Seaver, removed to New York City, and was successful in business. He never married. He was a devoted, generous and self-sacrificing brother. His sisters loved him and had entire confidence in his judgment. At the time of his death, intestate, in 1896, he resided at Newark, N.J.
"Sarah A.C. Seaver was his sole heir, Martha Seaver having died in 1889.
"Sarah died at Baltimore, Md., June 27, 1900, unmarried, in the 84th year of her age. She owned, and at the time of her death, resided at No. 13 No. Calhoun st.
"A controversy arose over an instrument purporting to be her last will and testament, written and executed Dec. 5, 1898, in which she had entirely ignored and disinherited her heirs-at-law, and cousins, Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, Samuel S. Davis, Sarah A. Gordon, and Martha T. Miller, and these cousins filed a caveat, and contested the allowance of said instrument. Miss Seaver had made three wills previous to this, in each of which she had recognized her cousins and devised to them the balance of her estate. The last of these wills was executed on May 27, 1898. The Orphans' Court of Baltimore city, after a protracted hearing Aug. 30, 1891[sic? probably 1901], by a majority decision sustained the instrument of Dec. 5, 1898 as her last will. The cousins at once appealed to the Court of Errors and appeals, and that Court by unanimous opinion of the Judges reversed the order of the Orphans' Court, set aside the instrument of Dec. 5, 1898, and established the will of May 27, 1898. O.Brien, J., in giving the dissenting opinion in the Orphans' Court, used this language:--
"'Miss Seaver had all through her life been recognized by her friends and acquaintances as a woman of culture and refinement, and in her later years as a bright, intelligent, and courteous person, affable and kind to her friends, and very capable in transacting business affairs.'
"The Seaver family are interred in lot 129, in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Md."
In Have you checked the FamilySearch.org collections recently? You should!, I found the will of the daughter, Martha C. Seaver in 1888 in the Maryland Register of Will Books. I also found, but did not list, the will of daughter Sarah A.C. Seaver, mentioned above, in the 1900 volume of the Will Books.
So far, everything I've posted about this family has been very consistent (with one exception - it was claimed that the murdered William Seaver was killed in the War of 1812).
Why is the useful and fascinating information printed in the Reading, Vermont history book? There's a really good reason - the author of the book, Gilbert A. Davis, is related to Martha (Davis) Seaver, the wife of the murdered William Seaver. I will post more about the Davis family in a subsequent post in this series. There are some interesting sketches of some of these people, and the accounts provided by this book demonstrate very nicely how complicated family relationships can be.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Some Records for the William Seaver Family Members
...
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. The records I need to find for William Seaver's land and probate records cannot be done online, so I have that on my list for my next visit to the Family History Library or Washington DC area archives.
In the last post, I wondered what happened to the wife and children of William Seaver - his wife Martha, and children Martha, William and Sarah. I did some more searching in city directory and census records, and found these bits of information:
1) Washington DC City Directories on http://www.footnote.com/:
a) The 1822 Washington, D.C. City Directory (page 68) listed her as:
"Seaver, Martha, widow, fancy goods store, n side Penn av btw 9 and 10w"
b) In the 1827 Washington DC City Directory (page 70) listed her as:
"Seaver, Mrs. now Mrs. M. Bowen, widow, milliner and ladies dress maker, n side Penn av btw 9 and 10w"
It's not clear if she is a widow of Mr. M. Bowen.
c) The 1830 Washington D.C. City Directory (page 8), listed her as:
"Bowen, Mrs. M. ladies' dress maker and milliner, Varnum's Row, n. side Penn av. btw. 9 and 10w ent. by D st. n."
The next available Washington City Directory on footnote is 1834, and Martha Bowen was not listed, nor were the Seaver sisters. I checked up to 1850 and concluded that they moved away from Washington DC. My correspondent has them in Baltimore for many years.
2) Census records on http://www.ancestry.com/:
a) A search for Martha Bowen in the 1850 census did not find her or her daughters with surname Seaver.
b) In the 1860 United States census, Martha and her two daughters reside in Baltimore Ward 18, Baltimore County, Maryland (Page 853 (penned), Dwelling #5345, Family #5541, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 465). The household included:
* Martha Bowen - age 60, female, born Massachusetts
* Martha Coolidge - age 40, female, $3000 in real property, $1000 in personal property, born Massachusetts
* Sarah Coolidge - age 30, female, born Maryland
c) A search for Martha Bowen in the 1870 census did not find her. She may have died between 1860 and 1870.
In the 1870 United States Census, the daughters resided in Baltimore Ward 19, Baltimore County, Maryland ( (Page 353B, Dwelling #1408, Family #1700, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 580). The household included:
* Martha Seaver - age 40, female, white, keeping house, $7000 in real property, $400 in personal property, born Massachusetts
* Sarah Seaver - age 30, female, white, a milliner, born Maryland
e) In the 1880 United States Census, the daughters resided in Baltimore Ward 19, Baltimore County, Maryland (Page 66B, Dwelling #137, Family #154, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 504). The household included (indexed on Ancestry.com as "Leevers"):
* Martha C. Seevers - white, female, age 65, single, born Massachusetts, parents born Massachusetts/Massachusetts
* Sarah A. Seevers - white, female, age 57, sister, single, keeping house, born Maryland, parents born Massachusetts/Massachusetts
f) I did not find Martha Seaver or Sarah Seaver in the 1900 U.S. Census records.
My conclusion is that these are the same persons throughout the census records found.
In the 1860 census, we find the three women together, although I don't know why the daughter Martha was surnamed "Coolidge" (and Sarah's surname was a ditto mark under Martha's), but the birthplaces are consistent. The ages aren't! Their ages are about 10 to 20 years off, aren't they (I think Martha (Davis) Seaver) Bowen was born before 1790, daughter Martha was born in about 1810, and daughter Sarah was born in about 1815). The "Coolidge?" Recall that William Seaver's mother's name was Sarah Coolidge, and daughter Martha is Martha C. Seaver - perhaps she was using their grandmother's maiden name for some reason, or she answered "Martha Coolidge" when asked what her name was by the census enumerator.
In the 1870 census, we see that the sisters haven't aged a bit since 1860, and their ages are now 20 to 25 years off. They may have discovered the "fountain of youth!"
By the 1880 census, the ages are off by only 5 to 10 years. It looks like the "fountain" dried up, doesn't it?
One of the most important clues in these census records are the real property values in the 1860 and 1870 census records. It is likely that the daughter Martha, listed with significant real property, bought the home in Baltimore where she and her sister reside in 1860 through 1880. Is there a probate record for the estate of William Seaver? I think it is likely. Why didn't the mother, Martha Bowen in the 1860, own the property? I think it was because she married again, and gave up her "thirds" from the estate of William Seaver at the time of her marriage.
I'm still looking for records of:
* A marriage record, or announcement, of Martha Seaver to M. Bowen in the 1822-1827 time frame (likely in Washington DC).
* A death record for Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen (likely in Baltimore).
* A death record for Martha C. Seaver (likely in Baltimore).
* A death record for Sarah A. Seaver (likely in Baltimore).
* What happened to the son, William Seaver? Where did he live, did he marry and have children, where did he die?
Stay tuned - there are more bits of evidence in the available online records! I'm having lots of Genealogy Fun with this genealogy hunt!
Updated 9:30 a.m. - every time I copy/paste something from RootsMagic it seems to mess up my blog formatting. Sorry for the confusing information earlier - I think I have it fixed now. Stay! darn blog.
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, and Part 2 on 31 March provided more detail of the murder from the confession.
In Clues for the Ancestry of murder victim, William Seaver, I summarized the information I have for William Seaver's ancestry. It wasn't much, but seemed to point to him being the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, born in 1782 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who married Martha Davis in 1809. The records I need to find for William Seaver's land and probate records cannot be done online, so I have that on my list for my next visit to the Family History Library or Washington DC area archives.
In the last post, I wondered what happened to the wife and children of William Seaver - his wife Martha, and children Martha, William and Sarah. I did some more searching in city directory and census records, and found these bits of information:
1) Washington DC City Directories on http://www.footnote.com/:
a) The 1822 Washington, D.C. City Directory (page 68) listed her as:
"Seaver, Martha, widow, fancy goods store, n side Penn av btw 9 and 10w"
b) In the 1827 Washington DC City Directory (page 70) listed her as:
"Seaver, Mrs. now Mrs. M. Bowen, widow, milliner and ladies dress maker, n side Penn av btw 9 and 10w"
It's not clear if she is a widow of Mr. M. Bowen.
c) The 1830 Washington D.C. City Directory (page 8), listed her as:
"Bowen, Mrs. M. ladies' dress maker and milliner, Varnum's Row, n. side Penn av. btw. 9 and 10w ent. by D st. n."
The next available Washington City Directory on footnote is 1834, and Martha Bowen was not listed, nor were the Seaver sisters. I checked up to 1850 and concluded that they moved away from Washington DC. My correspondent has them in Baltimore for many years.
2) Census records on http://www.ancestry.com/:
a) A search for Martha Bowen in the 1850 census did not find her or her daughters with surname Seaver.
b) In the 1860 United States census, Martha and her two daughters reside in Baltimore Ward 18, Baltimore County, Maryland (Page 853 (penned), Dwelling #5345, Family #5541, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 465). The household included:
* Martha Bowen - age 60, female, born Massachusetts
* Martha Coolidge - age 40, female, $3000 in real property, $1000 in personal property, born Massachusetts
* Sarah Coolidge - age 30, female, born Maryland
c) A search for Martha Bowen in the 1870 census did not find her. She may have died between 1860 and 1870.
In the 1870 United States Census, the daughters resided in Baltimore Ward 19, Baltimore County, Maryland ( (Page 353B, Dwelling #1408, Family #1700, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 580). The household included:
* Martha Seaver - age 40, female, white, keeping house, $7000 in real property, $400 in personal property, born Massachusetts
* Sarah Seaver - age 30, female, white, a milliner, born Maryland
e) In the 1880 United States Census, the daughters resided in Baltimore Ward 19, Baltimore County, Maryland (Page 66B, Dwelling #137, Family #154, accessed on Ancestry.com, citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 504). The household included (indexed on Ancestry.com as "Leevers"):
* Martha C. Seevers - white, female, age 65, single, born Massachusetts, parents born Massachusetts/Massachusetts
* Sarah A. Seevers - white, female, age 57, sister, single, keeping house, born Maryland, parents born Massachusetts/Massachusetts
f) I did not find Martha Seaver or Sarah Seaver in the 1900 U.S. Census records.
My conclusion is that these are the same persons throughout the census records found.
In the 1860 census, we find the three women together, although I don't know why the daughter Martha was surnamed "Coolidge" (and Sarah's surname was a ditto mark under Martha's), but the birthplaces are consistent. The ages aren't! Their ages are about 10 to 20 years off, aren't they (I think Martha (Davis) Seaver) Bowen was born before 1790, daughter Martha was born in about 1810, and daughter Sarah was born in about 1815). The "Coolidge?" Recall that William Seaver's mother's name was Sarah Coolidge, and daughter Martha is Martha C. Seaver - perhaps she was using their grandmother's maiden name for some reason, or she answered "Martha Coolidge" when asked what her name was by the census enumerator.
In the 1870 census, we see that the sisters haven't aged a bit since 1860, and their ages are now 20 to 25 years off. They may have discovered the "fountain of youth!"
By the 1880 census, the ages are off by only 5 to 10 years. It looks like the "fountain" dried up, doesn't it?
One of the most important clues in these census records are the real property values in the 1860 and 1870 census records. It is likely that the daughter Martha, listed with significant real property, bought the home in Baltimore where she and her sister reside in 1860 through 1880. Is there a probate record for the estate of William Seaver? I think it is likely. Why didn't the mother, Martha Bowen in the 1860, own the property? I think it was because she married again, and gave up her "thirds" from the estate of William Seaver at the time of her marriage.
I'm still looking for records of:
* A marriage record, or announcement, of Martha Seaver to M. Bowen in the 1822-1827 time frame (likely in Washington DC).
* A death record for Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen (likely in Baltimore).
* A death record for Martha C. Seaver (likely in Baltimore).
* A death record for Sarah A. Seaver (likely in Baltimore).
* What happened to the son, William Seaver? Where did he live, did he marry and have children, where did he die?
Stay tuned - there are more bits of evidence in the available online records! I'm having lots of Genealogy Fun with this genealogy hunt!
Updated 9:30 a.m. - every time I copy/paste something from RootsMagic it seems to mess up my blog formatting. Sorry for the confusing information earlier - I think I have it fixed now. Stay! darn blog.
Monday, March 21, 2011
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved?
Last Tuesday, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On Thursday, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on Friday seemed to solve the case. But did it? Was Van Orden tried and convicted? Was the reward paid to an informant? Inquiring minds want to know!
Unfortunately, I could find no more news articles in the available online newspaper websites about the case, perhaps because the online historical newspaper sites have only spotty coverage through the years following 1821.
While diligently searching, I managed to find an article published 7 December 1874 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (accessed on GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com). The article transcription is long, but interesting:
"WILLIAM SEAVER'S MURDER
"In the meeting of the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants of Washington, held in that city on Wednesday night, reference was made to a murder that created intense excitement in this city at the time of its occurrence. The Washington Republican, in alluding to the subject, says:
"The discussion in the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants relative to the murder of William Seaver, in 1821, at a point on the Alexandria and Washington turnpike, alongside the turnpike or near the stopping point, now called Fort Runyon, recalls the fact that no thoroughly reliable account of that murder has ever been made, and in the fifty years which have intervened, it has never been discovered, notwithstanding the rewards offered, by whom the murder was committed. Some twenty years ago a sailor died at the Marine hospital, near Norfolk, who, it is alleged, confessed that many years before, he could not remember the date, he started, after his discharge from the navy yard, at Washington, with a shipmate, to walk to Alexandria, and that on the road he met a man from whom they attempted to take some articles of value, and on being resisted they killed him.
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run. The only well authenticated facts are that a peddler named William Seaver, having missed the packet boat then running from Alexandria to Georgetown, left Alexandria on the evening of July 5, 1821, to walk to Washington, and that he was never seen alive after he passed out of town. Traces of blood were found on the road, near Roach's Spring, and the whole population of the neighborhood, assisted by many persons from Washington and Georgetown, turned out to search for the body. They cut down all the undergrowth for half a mile, and at last discovered the body under a culvert in a stream near by. A gambling haunt at the spring, near by, was soon after set on fire and burned to the ground, and several persons were arrested on suspicion, but the murderer was never brought to justice."
"A similar case of murder, without detection, occurred about a mile from the same point in the March of Gen. Pierce's inauguration. The body of a white man, with his throat cut from ear to ear, was discovered a few days after the inauguration, on the tow path of the Alexandria canal, near Arlington. The body was brought and exposed to public view in the rail yard. Among those who saw it was a leading citizen, President of one of the city's fire companies, who recognized the body as that of his wife's uncle, a resident of Charles county, Md. The lady, when brought to identify the corpse, exclaimed that it was her uncle, and fainted; but when a messenger dispatched to give his family information of the murder reached the house, the supposed murdered man was sitting at the table enjoying a hearty meal.
"A photograph of the dead man was taken by Mr. Grubb, of Alexandria, and the mangled body hid from sight under the clods of the valley; but some two years afterwards a gentleman from Pennsylvania, whose father had been missing at the time of Pierce's inauguration, came to Alexandria in search of information as to this murder, with a view of ascertaining if the murdered man was not his brother. In this search he called at the newspaper offices at Alexandria, and was carried to Mr. Grubb. Upon seeing the photograph he recognized it as that of his brother; but he, too, was mistaken, for the brother returned within a year after this recognition.
"if 'murder will out' it is a long time getting to light in these cases."
Isn't that a fascinating account of unsolved murders near where William Seaver was murdered. There is significantly more detail about the circumstances of the murder and the search for his body. There is also information about two other murders, and two more confessions! And one more, likely still, unidentified body.
The biggest clue in this article is the second paragraph:
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run."
Was that the William Seaver murder? If so, at least two facts are wrong - William Seaver was not an "old man" - he was more like 39 years old, and he didn't "make his home in a cave." What about this account? And why was it called "a romantic account?"
Apparently, Mr. Van Orden was not convicted of the murder of William Seaver, and was released. The reward money was not given to an informant, and this is a 53-year old "cold case" in Alexandria. At least those questions have been answered, assuming that the memories of the oldest inhabitants of Washington remembered it correctly in 1874.
We'll take a look at it in the next installment of this dreadful, and seemingly unending, murder mystery story.
Unfortunately, I could find no more news articles in the available online newspaper websites about the case, perhaps because the online historical newspaper sites have only spotty coverage through the years following 1821.
While diligently searching, I managed to find an article published 7 December 1874 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (accessed on GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com). The article transcription is long, but interesting:
"WILLIAM SEAVER'S MURDER
"In the meeting of the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants of Washington, held in that city on Wednesday night, reference was made to a murder that created intense excitement in this city at the time of its occurrence. The Washington Republican, in alluding to the subject, says:
"The discussion in the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants relative to the murder of William Seaver, in 1821, at a point on the Alexandria and Washington turnpike, alongside the turnpike or near the stopping point, now called Fort Runyon, recalls the fact that no thoroughly reliable account of that murder has ever been made, and in the fifty years which have intervened, it has never been discovered, notwithstanding the rewards offered, by whom the murder was committed. Some twenty years ago a sailor died at the Marine hospital, near Norfolk, who, it is alleged, confessed that many years before, he could not remember the date, he started, after his discharge from the navy yard, at Washington, with a shipmate, to walk to Alexandria, and that on the road he met a man from whom they attempted to take some articles of value, and on being resisted they killed him.
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run. The only well authenticated facts are that a peddler named William Seaver, having missed the packet boat then running from Alexandria to Georgetown, left Alexandria on the evening of July 5, 1821, to walk to Washington, and that he was never seen alive after he passed out of town. Traces of blood were found on the road, near Roach's Spring, and the whole population of the neighborhood, assisted by many persons from Washington and Georgetown, turned out to search for the body. They cut down all the undergrowth for half a mile, and at last discovered the body under a culvert in a stream near by. A gambling haunt at the spring, near by, was soon after set on fire and burned to the ground, and several persons were arrested on suspicion, but the murderer was never brought to justice."
"A similar case of murder, without detection, occurred about a mile from the same point in the March of Gen. Pierce's inauguration. The body of a white man, with his throat cut from ear to ear, was discovered a few days after the inauguration, on the tow path of the Alexandria canal, near Arlington. The body was brought and exposed to public view in the rail yard. Among those who saw it was a leading citizen, President of one of the city's fire companies, who recognized the body as that of his wife's uncle, a resident of Charles county, Md. The lady, when brought to identify the corpse, exclaimed that it was her uncle, and fainted; but when a messenger dispatched to give his family information of the murder reached the house, the supposed murdered man was sitting at the table enjoying a hearty meal.
"A photograph of the dead man was taken by Mr. Grubb, of Alexandria, and the mangled body hid from sight under the clods of the valley; but some two years afterwards a gentleman from Pennsylvania, whose father had been missing at the time of Pierce's inauguration, came to Alexandria in search of information as to this murder, with a view of ascertaining if the murdered man was not his brother. In this search he called at the newspaper offices at Alexandria, and was carried to Mr. Grubb. Upon seeing the photograph he recognized it as that of his brother; but he, too, was mistaken, for the brother returned within a year after this recognition.
"if 'murder will out' it is a long time getting to light in these cases."
Isn't that a fascinating account of unsolved murders near where William Seaver was murdered. There is significantly more detail about the circumstances of the murder and the search for his body. There is also information about two other murders, and two more confessions! And one more, likely still, unidentified body.
The biggest clue in this article is the second paragraph:
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run."
Was that the William Seaver murder? If so, at least two facts are wrong - William Seaver was not an "old man" - he was more like 39 years old, and he didn't "make his home in a cave." What about this account? And why was it called "a romantic account?"
Apparently, Mr. Van Orden was not convicted of the murder of William Seaver, and was released. The reward money was not given to an informant, and this is a 53-year old "cold case" in Alexandria. At least those questions have been answered, assuming that the memories of the oldest inhabitants of Washington remembered it correctly in 1874.
We'll take a look at it in the next installment of this dreadful, and seemingly unending, murder mystery story.
Friday, April 1, 2011
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession: Part 2
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866.
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper. We got up to the point where John Trust confessed to the murder and was describing his seeming escape to a friend's home about 20 miles away, seeing the news that the murdered man was named "Seaver" and not "Wroe," and ending with a call to go to Alexandria for bad news. What was the bad news? John thought the authorities wanted him for the murder. Did they?
We finish the story about the murder with these excerpts from Chapter 10, the last chapter, of "A Wonderful Narrative of Old Alexandria, or the Confession of John Trust," published on 2 August 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (found online on GenealogyBank - http://www.genealogybank.com/).
"I soon learned that my sister had died a short time after I left her, and that the letter, and exclamation of Mrs. H., had referred to the news of her death, and not to my guilt.
"But my great stay was Lorentz [apparently a family servant]. Never once did I miss him from the side of my couch when I needed his services, and under his untiring care I rapidly improved. I regained my health so far as to resume my apparel. The first time I dressed I remembered the locket..."
"My knees trembled, and without waiting to finish my toilette, I searched my pockets. It was gone! While I was searching, Lorentz came to assist me. At a glance he knew I missed something.
"'Oh,' said he, 'the locket fell from your clothes as we were disrobing you, and I put it in your dressing case' and then, continuing, for I was too embarrassed to answer, 'I did not know you had that locket; it is an old acquaintance of mine, I assure you.'
"'My poor brother painted it as a birthday present for your father. They were the only miniatures he ever made, and he painted them especially to suit this old locket, that one of the schoolboys found and gave to your father.'
"The time occupied in this statement gave me a chance to collect my thoughts. I intended to allow his mistake to pass by, and change the subject, but he was too full of it, and continued to talk, until I told him he was mistaken. 'Oh no,' he answered, taking up the locket, 'Look here;' he pressed it as though trying to touch a hidden spring -- 'It must have rusted, but it is here,' continued he, as I took up the ornament which he laid upon the table, in order to open his pocket knife. 'What is there,' said I, doubly interested. 'Your dear mother's miniature too: the thing has two faces, one of which opens by a spring that has been clogged up. It is strange you did not know it.'
"'No one ever told me before,' said I, most truly. The knife did the work in the twinkling of an eye, and another lid sprung open. I looked with eager interest, and saw, if ever portrait was true, Blanche Fordenhame [his sister]. The other picture, too, seemed to me more like Wroe than ever. I was disappointed. Lorentz must have been mistaken. This was certainly Wroe and his wife; the similarity of the case had doubtless led the old man into the belief that the faces were identical. These conclusions made themselves mentally whilst I gazed at the picture. I thought it prudent, however, to dissemble my knowledge, and let the intelligence just given explain my emotion, which I was sensible the old man plainly perceived. So I pressed my lips to the locket and returned it to the case.
"But a new surprise awaited me. A few messages had been left for me during my illness, mostly notes of courtesy or business; when I entered my cabinet, they were for the first time put in my hands. One of them at once riveted my attention; the handwriting was as familiar as my own - it was Wroe's: I eagerly broke the seal. It was dated the day after the murder, and read thus:
"THE LETTER
"'This note will be the punishment of your crime, for it will tell you that you have lost the chance of winning, with your brother, the proudest triumphs man has ever achieved. When I toss away crowns as baubles, you may sorrow to feel that in despairing of a success you did not earn, you sought to steal from me, by murder, a glorious future; which I valued most, because I could share it with you. In my despairing travels, after my wife's death, I met, in England, people, and learned circumstances, which showed that you were my long lost brother.But for my unstrung nerves and wandering faculties, at our first meeting, beside the grave, I would have made myself known. Deterred, then till a calmer time, I thought that I would postpone the revelation until, our art perfected, we should achieve our triumph, and then clasp you to my heart as my brother. You know, with what unwearied zeal, I sought to guard you from everything which might interfere with our high pursuit. You were unworthy, you were morose, suspicious: at last, jealous of my success, you laid in ambush to murder me. My father watched over me, and his image, by dropping from my breast, and causing me to go back in a fruitless search, saved one son from becoming the assassin of another.
"'I saw the pedlar fall, and watched you hide your dreadful burden, but wretch as you are, I cannot consign to the gallows, my brother.
"'Go! ingrate wretch! Cain! The world is wide enough for us both, but remember when triumphs cluster around me that they would have been won for you -- MURDERER.'"
"Used as I had grown to startling and unlooked for events, the recitals of the page before me, were strange beyond all the marvels I had seen worked in my apprenticeship to that fatal art. As I recalled under the impetus of the strange intelligence, all Wroe had told me of his early life, it seemed strange that a suspicion of the truth had not crossed my mind. That the kind seaman and his wife, of whom he had spoken to me so often, were the same persons to whom my poor mother had intrusted her two eldest children on my father's death, was now beyond doubt.
"I could well understand, too, that he had dropped the locket on the road, that 'Seaver' coming along behind, had picked it up, and passing Wrote, as the latter turned back, held the locket in his hand when he was shot. My first impulse was to seek my new found brother, confess my guilt, implore his pardon, and begin again at his side the pursuit which had proved my undoing. But stronger than the fear of his hatred, which I even now I believe I could have overcome, my promise to my dead sister interposed, and I dashed the thought aside as a temptation from the evil one, and then my thoughts turned again upon the locket. I opened it once more.
"Lorentz was then right -- that was my father, and I bedewed his picture with reverential tears; and this - my poor mother; again the striking resemblance to Blanche pressed itself upon me with a deadening conviction that no one but my mother's daughter could be so like her, and that she too was my sister."
It continues from there - John Trust goes to Baltimore with his servant, Lorentz, and the embark for the West Indies, then to Mexico where he found religion, wrote the letter and sent it via a Spanish envoy to Washington, and perhaps lived out his life as a hermit near Alexandria and dying in 1857. Was John Trust his real name? Was Wroe the real name of his intended victim? There is no telling.
There is so much detail in his description of the murder and his actions following, and the explanation of how he came to obtain the locket seems to hang together. As mentioned before, the murder happened in 1821 and it is not known when the manuscript was written by John Trust, and it was published 45 years later.
These historical newspaper article archives are wonderful, aren't they? GenealogyBank has done an excellent job of continually imaging and digitizing over 5,000 titles; however, not every title has the full run of the specific newspaper. The indexing done by optical character recognition seems better on GenealogyBank than most other commercial historical newspaper providers. The indexes permit genealogists and historians to uncover articles like these that may shed significant light on the lives of our ancestors. We could not do this work well without the images and indexes! We all need to remember that not every historical newspaper ever published has not been imaged yet - far from it!
If you had been a reader in 1866 of the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, would this set of ten chapters have intrigued you? Whoever wrote it was a gifted writer of the times. Reading it aloud really helps a person understand the vocabulary and speech traits of the time, doesn't it? I was mesmerized by the whole ten chapters. I can see news-hungry readers in 1866 waiting impatiently for the next installment of the saga. It is a story about more than the murder of William Seaver, although I've tried to focus on that in my excerpts from the lengthy chapters.
What of poor William Seaver, perhaps mistakenly murdered by John Trust? Where did he come from? Who were his family? What happened to them? Are there any descendants?
Or were the last three posts in this series just an April Fool's Day prank on my part? Did anyone really go to GenealogyBank and check out these articles?
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession, posted on 30 March, provided the first part of the 1866 Confession of John Trust from the Alexandria Gazette newspaper. We got up to the point where John Trust confessed to the murder and was describing his seeming escape to a friend's home about 20 miles away, seeing the news that the murdered man was named "Seaver" and not "Wroe," and ending with a call to go to Alexandria for bad news. What was the bad news? John thought the authorities wanted him for the murder. Did they?
We finish the story about the murder with these excerpts from Chapter 10, the last chapter, of "A Wonderful Narrative of Old Alexandria, or the Confession of John Trust," published on 2 August 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (found online on GenealogyBank - http://www.genealogybank.com/).
"I soon learned that my sister had died a short time after I left her, and that the letter, and exclamation of Mrs. H., had referred to the news of her death, and not to my guilt.
"But my great stay was Lorentz [apparently a family servant]. Never once did I miss him from the side of my couch when I needed his services, and under his untiring care I rapidly improved. I regained my health so far as to resume my apparel. The first time I dressed I remembered the locket..."
"My knees trembled, and without waiting to finish my toilette, I searched my pockets. It was gone! While I was searching, Lorentz came to assist me. At a glance he knew I missed something.
"'Oh,' said he, 'the locket fell from your clothes as we were disrobing you, and I put it in your dressing case' and then, continuing, for I was too embarrassed to answer, 'I did not know you had that locket; it is an old acquaintance of mine, I assure you.'
"'My poor brother painted it as a birthday present for your father. They were the only miniatures he ever made, and he painted them especially to suit this old locket, that one of the schoolboys found and gave to your father.'
"The time occupied in this statement gave me a chance to collect my thoughts. I intended to allow his mistake to pass by, and change the subject, but he was too full of it, and continued to talk, until I told him he was mistaken. 'Oh no,' he answered, taking up the locket, 'Look here;' he pressed it as though trying to touch a hidden spring -- 'It must have rusted, but it is here,' continued he, as I took up the ornament which he laid upon the table, in order to open his pocket knife. 'What is there,' said I, doubly interested. 'Your dear mother's miniature too: the thing has two faces, one of which opens by a spring that has been clogged up. It is strange you did not know it.'
"'No one ever told me before,' said I, most truly. The knife did the work in the twinkling of an eye, and another lid sprung open. I looked with eager interest, and saw, if ever portrait was true, Blanche Fordenhame [his sister]. The other picture, too, seemed to me more like Wroe than ever. I was disappointed. Lorentz must have been mistaken. This was certainly Wroe and his wife; the similarity of the case had doubtless led the old man into the belief that the faces were identical. These conclusions made themselves mentally whilst I gazed at the picture. I thought it prudent, however, to dissemble my knowledge, and let the intelligence just given explain my emotion, which I was sensible the old man plainly perceived. So I pressed my lips to the locket and returned it to the case.
"But a new surprise awaited me. A few messages had been left for me during my illness, mostly notes of courtesy or business; when I entered my cabinet, they were for the first time put in my hands. One of them at once riveted my attention; the handwriting was as familiar as my own - it was Wroe's: I eagerly broke the seal. It was dated the day after the murder, and read thus:
"THE LETTER
"'This note will be the punishment of your crime, for it will tell you that you have lost the chance of winning, with your brother, the proudest triumphs man has ever achieved. When I toss away crowns as baubles, you may sorrow to feel that in despairing of a success you did not earn, you sought to steal from me, by murder, a glorious future; which I valued most, because I could share it with you. In my despairing travels, after my wife's death, I met, in England, people, and learned circumstances, which showed that you were my long lost brother.But for my unstrung nerves and wandering faculties, at our first meeting, beside the grave, I would have made myself known. Deterred, then till a calmer time, I thought that I would postpone the revelation until, our art perfected, we should achieve our triumph, and then clasp you to my heart as my brother. You know, with what unwearied zeal, I sought to guard you from everything which might interfere with our high pursuit. You were unworthy, you were morose, suspicious: at last, jealous of my success, you laid in ambush to murder me. My father watched over me, and his image, by dropping from my breast, and causing me to go back in a fruitless search, saved one son from becoming the assassin of another.
"'I saw the pedlar fall, and watched you hide your dreadful burden, but wretch as you are, I cannot consign to the gallows, my brother.
"'Go! ingrate wretch! Cain! The world is wide enough for us both, but remember when triumphs cluster around me that they would have been won for you -- MURDERER.'"
"Used as I had grown to startling and unlooked for events, the recitals of the page before me, were strange beyond all the marvels I had seen worked in my apprenticeship to that fatal art. As I recalled under the impetus of the strange intelligence, all Wroe had told me of his early life, it seemed strange that a suspicion of the truth had not crossed my mind. That the kind seaman and his wife, of whom he had spoken to me so often, were the same persons to whom my poor mother had intrusted her two eldest children on my father's death, was now beyond doubt.
"I could well understand, too, that he had dropped the locket on the road, that 'Seaver' coming along behind, had picked it up, and passing Wrote, as the latter turned back, held the locket in his hand when he was shot. My first impulse was to seek my new found brother, confess my guilt, implore his pardon, and begin again at his side the pursuit which had proved my undoing. But stronger than the fear of his hatred, which I even now I believe I could have overcome, my promise to my dead sister interposed, and I dashed the thought aside as a temptation from the evil one, and then my thoughts turned again upon the locket. I opened it once more.
"Lorentz was then right -- that was my father, and I bedewed his picture with reverential tears; and this - my poor mother; again the striking resemblance to Blanche pressed itself upon me with a deadening conviction that no one but my mother's daughter could be so like her, and that she too was my sister."
It continues from there - John Trust goes to Baltimore with his servant, Lorentz, and the embark for the West Indies, then to Mexico where he found religion, wrote the letter and sent it via a Spanish envoy to Washington, and perhaps lived out his life as a hermit near Alexandria and dying in 1857. Was John Trust his real name? Was Wroe the real name of his intended victim? There is no telling.
There is so much detail in his description of the murder and his actions following, and the explanation of how he came to obtain the locket seems to hang together. As mentioned before, the murder happened in 1821 and it is not known when the manuscript was written by John Trust, and it was published 45 years later.
These historical newspaper article archives are wonderful, aren't they? GenealogyBank has done an excellent job of continually imaging and digitizing over 5,000 titles; however, not every title has the full run of the specific newspaper. The indexing done by optical character recognition seems better on GenealogyBank than most other commercial historical newspaper providers. The indexes permit genealogists and historians to uncover articles like these that may shed significant light on the lives of our ancestors. We could not do this work well without the images and indexes! We all need to remember that not every historical newspaper ever published has not been imaged yet - far from it!
If you had been a reader in 1866 of the Alexandria Gazette newspaper, would this set of ten chapters have intrigued you? Whoever wrote it was a gifted writer of the times. Reading it aloud really helps a person understand the vocabulary and speech traits of the time, doesn't it? I was mesmerized by the whole ten chapters. I can see news-hungry readers in 1866 waiting impatiently for the next installment of the saga. It is a story about more than the murder of William Seaver, although I've tried to focus on that in my excerpts from the lengthy chapters.
What of poor William Seaver, perhaps mistakenly murdered by John Trust? Where did he come from? Who were his family? What happened to them? Are there any descendants?
Or were the last three posts in this series just an April Fool's Day prank on my part? Did anyone really go to GenealogyBank and check out these articles?
Friday, March 18, 2011
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession
On Tuesday, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On Thursday, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors.
Was anyone ever arrested? Was the reward given?
An article in the Boston Semi-Weekly Advertiser newspaper dated 4 May 1822 (found on www.GenealogyBank.com), reprinting an article from the Washington Gazette newspaper (which I cannot find on GenealogyBank) sheds some light on the issue:
This article says:
"Murder of Wm. Seaver. -- A man named Van Orden, whilst under confinement in the Baltimore penitentiary, it is reported, confessed to a fellow prisoner that he was the murderer of the late William Seaver. Orden, who, we understand, has, in consequence, been removed to the Alexandria jail for trial, was shortly after the perpetration of the horrid deed, apprehended on suspicion, examined in this city and discharged, for want of sufficient evidence. An intelligent friend, tells us Orden at that time, gave very contradictory statements, when closely questioned on the subject, seemingly incompatible with innocence; but still there was not sufficient testimony against him then to justify detention. -- Wash. Gaz."
This article also appeared in the Baltimore (MD) Patriot newspaper dated 30 April 1822 (but it was incomplete in GenealogyBank), the Providence (RI) Patriot newspaper of 11 May 1822, and the Saratoga (NY) Sentinel dated 15 May 1822.
You would think that there would be news of a confession, or of a trial, perhaps the conviction and even the execution of the murderer, and the giving of the reward. What happened to Van Orden, and wa? s that his real name. Alas, I haven't been able to find any more evidence of these potential events. Why not? Probably because of my search tactics, or, more likely, because of the fragmentary nature of online newspapers and their indexes.
I've looked for this incident in GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com), the Ancestry.com newspaper collections (mainly NewspaperARCHIVE), the Chronicling America collection at the Library of Congress, and the Early American Newspapers, Series I 1690-1876 (from Readex and Newsbank) and the 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (from the Gale Group) collections on the www.AmericanAncestors.org site.
As you can see on the District of Columbia page on Miriam Midkiff's Online Historical Newspapers website, the coverage of online newspapers for Washington D.C. is really pretty limited at this time. That pages shows the Washington Gazette is available for 1817 to 1821, which is why I couldn't find it online.
It is likely that there were additional articles about this incident, but they are not (yet!) available online with a useful index. One lesson in this series is that not every issue of every newspaper is online yet. These historical newspapers are probably available in local or state archives, but are usually not indexed, which makes perusing them very difficult.
This is not the end of the William Seaver murder story, however. There is more to come! Plus the efforts to identify William Seaver and his family members.
Was anyone ever arrested? Was the reward given?
An article in the Boston Semi-Weekly Advertiser newspaper dated 4 May 1822 (found on www.GenealogyBank.com), reprinting an article from the Washington Gazette newspaper (which I cannot find on GenealogyBank) sheds some light on the issue:
This article says:
"Murder of Wm. Seaver. -- A man named Van Orden, whilst under confinement in the Baltimore penitentiary, it is reported, confessed to a fellow prisoner that he was the murderer of the late William Seaver. Orden, who, we understand, has, in consequence, been removed to the Alexandria jail for trial, was shortly after the perpetration of the horrid deed, apprehended on suspicion, examined in this city and discharged, for want of sufficient evidence. An intelligent friend, tells us Orden at that time, gave very contradictory statements, when closely questioned on the subject, seemingly incompatible with innocence; but still there was not sufficient testimony against him then to justify detention. -- Wash. Gaz."
This article also appeared in the Baltimore (MD) Patriot newspaper dated 30 April 1822 (but it was incomplete in GenealogyBank), the Providence (RI) Patriot newspaper of 11 May 1822, and the Saratoga (NY) Sentinel dated 15 May 1822.
You would think that there would be news of a confession, or of a trial, perhaps the conviction and even the execution of the murderer, and the giving of the reward. What happened to Van Orden, and wa? s that his real name. Alas, I haven't been able to find any more evidence of these potential events. Why not? Probably because of my search tactics, or, more likely, because of the fragmentary nature of online newspapers and their indexes.
I've looked for this incident in GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com), the Ancestry.com newspaper collections (mainly NewspaperARCHIVE), the Chronicling America collection at the Library of Congress, and the Early American Newspapers, Series I 1690-1876 (from Readex and Newsbank) and the 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (from the Gale Group) collections on the www.AmericanAncestors.org site.
As you can see on the District of Columbia page on Miriam Midkiff's Online Historical Newspapers website, the coverage of online newspapers for Washington D.C. is really pretty limited at this time. That pages shows the Washington Gazette is available for 1817 to 1821, which is why I couldn't find it online.
It is likely that there were additional articles about this incident, but they are not (yet!) available online with a useful index. One lesson in this series is that not every issue of every newspaper is online yet. These historical newspapers are probably available in local or state archives, but are usually not indexed, which makes perusing them very difficult.
This is not the end of the William Seaver murder story, however. There is more to come! Plus the efforts to identify William Seaver and his family members.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered
On Tuesday, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that?
Would you believe that the President of the United States, James Monroe, offered a reward? Here's the screen from the American Presidency Project website with the Proclamation:
The transcription of this proclamation is:
"Proclamation 27 - Offering Reward for the Apprehension of the Murderer of William Seaver
July 10, 1821
"By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
"Whereas information has been received that an atrocious murder, aggravated by the additional crime of robbery, was on the 6th or 7th dau of this present month, committed in the county of Alexandria and District of Columbia on William Seaver, late of this city, and
"Whereas the apprehension and punishment of the murderer or murderers and his or their or accessary or accessaries will be an example due to justice and humanity and every way salutary in its operation:
"I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby exhorting the citizens of the United States, and particularly those of this District, and requiring all officers, according to their respective stations, to use their utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring the principal or principals, accessary or accessaries, to the said murder to justice.
"And I do moreover offer a reward for $300 for each principal, if there be more than one, and $150 for each accessary before the fact, if there be more than one, who shall be apprehended after the day of the date hereof and brought to justice, to be paid upon his conviction of the crime or crimes aforesaid.
"In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
"Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of July, A.D. 1821, and of the independence of the United States the forty-sixth.
"JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
"JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
Secretary of State."
The Washington area newspapers carried articles about this proclamation for several mnths, often daily.
In addition, the Mayors of Washington D.C., Georgetown and Alexandria offered a reward, as seen in this newspaper announcement from the Washington Gazette newspaper, dated 16 July 1821 (obtained at GenealogyBank):
Would you believe that the President of the United States, James Monroe, offered a reward? Here's the screen from the American Presidency Project website with the Proclamation:
The transcription of this proclamation is:
"Proclamation 27 - Offering Reward for the Apprehension of the Murderer of William Seaver
July 10, 1821
"By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
"Whereas information has been received that an atrocious murder, aggravated by the additional crime of robbery, was on the 6th or 7th dau of this present month, committed in the county of Alexandria and District of Columbia on William Seaver, late of this city, and
"Whereas the apprehension and punishment of the murderer or murderers and his or their or accessary or accessaries will be an example due to justice and humanity and every way salutary in its operation:
"I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby exhorting the citizens of the United States, and particularly those of this District, and requiring all officers, according to their respective stations, to use their utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring the principal or principals, accessary or accessaries, to the said murder to justice.
"And I do moreover offer a reward for $300 for each principal, if there be more than one, and $150 for each accessary before the fact, if there be more than one, who shall be apprehended after the day of the date hereof and brought to justice, to be paid upon his conviction of the crime or crimes aforesaid.
"In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
"Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of July, A.D. 1821, and of the independence of the United States the forty-sixth.
"JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
"JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
Secretary of State."
The Washington area newspapers carried articles about this proclamation for several mnths, often daily.
In addition, the Mayors of Washington D.C., Georgetown and Alexandria offered a reward, as seen in this newspaper announcement from the Washington Gazette newspaper, dated 16 July 1821 (obtained at GenealogyBank):
This article transcribed is:
"Five Hundred Dollars
"WILL be given to any person who shall afford, Information whereby the murderer of William Seaver can be brought to punishment. The subscribers, in their individual as well as their official capacities, feeling solicitous that the dreadful villain should receive the punishment due to an offence of such enormity, and also an anxiety for the preservation of the peace and the good government of the District, will pay the above reward to any person by whose agency the murderer shall be convicted.
"SAML. N. SMALLWOOD,
Mayor of Washington City.
CHRISTOPHER NEAL,
Mayor of Alexandria.
JOHN PETER,
Mayor of Georgetown."
This article ran in the Washington area newspapers for several months also.
I'm amazed that the President of the United States would offer a reward. Was this a common occurrence? I got 65 matches on Google when I searched for the words murder proclamation and 77 matches when I searched for the words murder reward on the American Presidency Project website. So it was done occasionally, but it wasn't common. Some of the matches overlap, and some are for a general discussion on the pages.
What happened in this case? Was the murderer ever found and convicted? Were the rewards ever awarded? I'm still looking for more information.
The bigger questions for me are "Who is this William Seaver?" "Who were his parents, and where was he born?" "Who were his wife and children?" I have clues, but I don't have confirmation of the details.
If you have or find information about this case, I would love to know about them, and will credit you for the finds in my posts. Email me at rjseaver@cox.net.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - the 1866 Confession - Post 1
On 15 March, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria. The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that? On 17 March, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors. The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on 18 March seemed to solve the case. William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved? posted on 21 March was an article from 1874 claiming that the murder was a "cold case," but mentioned a confession to a murder printed in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in 1866. The phrase used was:
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run."
What about this "romantic account?" Ten lengthy installments, titled "A Wonderful Narrative of Old Alexandria, or the Confession of John Trust," were published between 12 July and 2 August 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (all found online on GenealogyBank - http://www.genealogybank.com/).
The story is fairly convoluted, but interesting! This John Trust was born in England, comes to America to make his fortune, has a problem with a suitor, named Wroe, of his ill sister in Alexandria, Virginia, and lies in wait near the Potomac River determined to kill Wroe. Here is the description of the murder event:
From the 28 July 1866 issue (excerpted from Chapter 8):
"...I saw Wroe walking on at his usually rapid pace. The sun fell behind the trees and he disappeared in the valley of the roadway almost at the same moment.
"I cam a short distance down the declivity, and laying myself, at full length, behind a belt of shrubbery, rested my gun upon the roots, so as to be invisible, and at the same time to command any object on the road for several hundred feet. Ere long I saw the man cross a rivulet which ran at the bottom of the valley. I could not discern either his countenance or his clothing in the gathering shadows, but I knew his gait. He fell before the hill opposite echoed the shot.
"I dashed forward, and as I lifted the still warm body, a golden locket dropped to the ground. I grasped it as it reached the earth and placed it in my pocket; hurried on to a culvert near by, and then hid my horrid burden. I had not dared to look upon its features."
Then the start of Chapter 9, published on 31 July 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper:
"The body out of sight, my chief care was to gain my boat unperceived. I hastened into cover of the underbrush, just in time; for I heard the feet of horses approaching, and skulked from the deed of blood. Still the blood was on me; my hands encardined, stained everything I caught hold of; the body had gushed blood at the murderer's touch, whilst I carried it to its hiding place, and the gore had, in several places, soaked through my clothing, until I felt its clammy touch, like the cold damp hand of the dead upon my skin. As I fled I knew that every motion marked me yet more deeply, and I feared as I crept through the brushwood lest some of it might rub off upon the leaves, to tell the world which way the murderer had gone. My gun was bloody; my hair was bloody; my face dabbled in blood; my whole body and soul already before heaven and earth reeking in blood that called to Heaven for Vengeance; -- each drop armed with worse than serpent's sting, seemed piercing my brain, until, when I reached the river, I ran in, pulling the boat after me, and then swam out into the broad current, pushing the skiff ahead. The water washed away some of the filthy witnesses of the deed, and cooled the fever which burned upon my brow; so I climbed into the skiff, and still keeping midway of the stream, paddled down the river; meanwhile changing my clothing for the suit I had brought for the purpose, still keeping the locket., and sinking all else in the channel of the stream. It had originally been my intention to have returned home after the deed was done, and gone about my affairs as usual; but the terror which was now upon my heart warned me that it would be impossible to do so, without subjecting myself to almost certain discovery. Not that I feared the consequences. I know that but for the thought of my dear sister, I should have surrendered myself to the authorities, confessed my crime, and offered my life in expiation; but for her to know it! Even the hell then burning in my heart was heaven to that! So I determined to land in Alexandria, get some further necessaries, and then leave behind me all that could call up the memory of my deed; seek an asylum in South America, and then send for my sister."
After stopping in Alexandria to see his ill but sleeping sister, he traveled about twenty miles to Dr. H's home in Virginia, and took refuge there. Several days later:
"...I feigned disposition and kept to my chamber as much as possible. I had, perhaps, from some vague fear , deferred, from day to day, to open the locket I picked up beside Wroe. But the first day in doors compelled me to do something to keep from going mad, and, with less horror than I expected, I undid its clasp. It was of fine gold, set with a few precious stones and carved of the fashion of a century gone by, and contained a miniature of Wroe. How gladly, now would I have laid down my life to have restored breath to him. I put the gem in my pocket, for a rap was made on my door, and the servant brought Alexandria and Washington papers. The murder was out, and there was published a proclamation of the President, exciting hue and cry -- terrible thought! -- against me. Strangely enough the proclamation called the murdered man 'Seaver,' and described him as a citizen of Washington!
"No time was left me for surmises, for almost instantly Dr. H. came to my room, bringing a letter from a friend in Washington, detailing the circumstances attending the discovery of the body. He read it to me: the body was described as being found precisely where I had thrown it, but there too, the murdered man was called 'Seaver,' with the additional circumstance that he was a pedlar, and had probably been robbed of a large amount of money. I kept calm enough during the reading, though my heart seemed on fire, and I was able, as he left the room, to thank him for his courtesy in giving me the news. When the door closed, my brain reeled -- 'Could I have been mistaken? What if I killed some poor man, who never thought harm, and left Wroe alive and my sister at his mercy?' While in this anguish of perplexity, a servant said that Mrs. H. desired to see me. I went at once to the sitting room, barely able, with all my strength, to conceal my agitation. She rose, weeping, as I entered, and handed an open letter to me, saying, 'You must go back to Alexandria -- it is so bad that I cannot have the heart to tell you.'"
"I saw, in my imagination, the officers of the law, and fell senseless."
We'll look at how this turns out in the next post in this series. There are several mysteries here, aren't there? He apparently killed the wrong man, but he had a gold locket in his possession with a miniature of Mr. Wroe (remember, this is in 1821 before photographs, so the miniature was hand painted). I've omitted all of the details of the events before the murder, but suffice it to say that he thought that Mr. Wroe had designs on his sister and was taking advantage of her. John Trust was apparently a hunter familiar with the rivers and woods of the Alexandria area.
Each chapter in this series takes up about two columns of agate type on one page of the newspaper. I transcribed about half of Chapter 9 above. If you want the read all of the chapters, go to GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/) and search for the keywords [alexandria confession trust] and limit your search to [July 1866] and you'll find them. Don't put names in the search field.
"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run."
What about this "romantic account?" Ten lengthy installments, titled "A Wonderful Narrative of Old Alexandria, or the Confession of John Trust," were published between 12 July and 2 August 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (all found online on GenealogyBank - http://www.genealogybank.com/).
The story is fairly convoluted, but interesting! This John Trust was born in England, comes to America to make his fortune, has a problem with a suitor, named Wroe, of his ill sister in Alexandria, Virginia, and lies in wait near the Potomac River determined to kill Wroe. Here is the description of the murder event:
From the 28 July 1866 issue (excerpted from Chapter 8):
"...I saw Wroe walking on at his usually rapid pace. The sun fell behind the trees and he disappeared in the valley of the roadway almost at the same moment.
"I cam a short distance down the declivity, and laying myself, at full length, behind a belt of shrubbery, rested my gun upon the roots, so as to be invisible, and at the same time to command any object on the road for several hundred feet. Ere long I saw the man cross a rivulet which ran at the bottom of the valley. I could not discern either his countenance or his clothing in the gathering shadows, but I knew his gait. He fell before the hill opposite echoed the shot.
"I dashed forward, and as I lifted the still warm body, a golden locket dropped to the ground. I grasped it as it reached the earth and placed it in my pocket; hurried on to a culvert near by, and then hid my horrid burden. I had not dared to look upon its features."
Then the start of Chapter 9, published on 31 July 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper:
"The body out of sight, my chief care was to gain my boat unperceived. I hastened into cover of the underbrush, just in time; for I heard the feet of horses approaching, and skulked from the deed of blood. Still the blood was on me; my hands encardined, stained everything I caught hold of; the body had gushed blood at the murderer's touch, whilst I carried it to its hiding place, and the gore had, in several places, soaked through my clothing, until I felt its clammy touch, like the cold damp hand of the dead upon my skin. As I fled I knew that every motion marked me yet more deeply, and I feared as I crept through the brushwood lest some of it might rub off upon the leaves, to tell the world which way the murderer had gone. My gun was bloody; my hair was bloody; my face dabbled in blood; my whole body and soul already before heaven and earth reeking in blood that called to Heaven for Vengeance; -- each drop armed with worse than serpent's sting, seemed piercing my brain, until, when I reached the river, I ran in, pulling the boat after me, and then swam out into the broad current, pushing the skiff ahead. The water washed away some of the filthy witnesses of the deed, and cooled the fever which burned upon my brow; so I climbed into the skiff, and still keeping midway of the stream, paddled down the river; meanwhile changing my clothing for the suit I had brought for the purpose, still keeping the locket., and sinking all else in the channel of the stream. It had originally been my intention to have returned home after the deed was done, and gone about my affairs as usual; but the terror which was now upon my heart warned me that it would be impossible to do so, without subjecting myself to almost certain discovery. Not that I feared the consequences. I know that but for the thought of my dear sister, I should have surrendered myself to the authorities, confessed my crime, and offered my life in expiation; but for her to know it! Even the hell then burning in my heart was heaven to that! So I determined to land in Alexandria, get some further necessaries, and then leave behind me all that could call up the memory of my deed; seek an asylum in South America, and then send for my sister."
After stopping in Alexandria to see his ill but sleeping sister, he traveled about twenty miles to Dr. H's home in Virginia, and took refuge there. Several days later:
"...I feigned disposition and kept to my chamber as much as possible. I had, perhaps, from some vague fear , deferred, from day to day, to open the locket I picked up beside Wroe. But the first day in doors compelled me to do something to keep from going mad, and, with less horror than I expected, I undid its clasp. It was of fine gold, set with a few precious stones and carved of the fashion of a century gone by, and contained a miniature of Wroe. How gladly, now would I have laid down my life to have restored breath to him. I put the gem in my pocket, for a rap was made on my door, and the servant brought Alexandria and Washington papers. The murder was out, and there was published a proclamation of the President, exciting hue and cry -- terrible thought! -- against me. Strangely enough the proclamation called the murdered man 'Seaver,' and described him as a citizen of Washington!
"No time was left me for surmises, for almost instantly Dr. H. came to my room, bringing a letter from a friend in Washington, detailing the circumstances attending the discovery of the body. He read it to me: the body was described as being found precisely where I had thrown it, but there too, the murdered man was called 'Seaver,' with the additional circumstance that he was a pedlar, and had probably been robbed of a large amount of money. I kept calm enough during the reading, though my heart seemed on fire, and I was able, as he left the room, to thank him for his courtesy in giving me the news. When the door closed, my brain reeled -- 'Could I have been mistaken? What if I killed some poor man, who never thought harm, and left Wroe alive and my sister at his mercy?' While in this anguish of perplexity, a servant said that Mrs. H. desired to see me. I went at once to the sitting room, barely able, with all my strength, to conceal my agitation. She rose, weeping, as I entered, and handed an open letter to me, saying, 'You must go back to Alexandria -- it is so bad that I cannot have the heart to tell you.'"
"I saw, in my imagination, the officers of the law, and fell senseless."
We'll look at how this turns out in the next post in this series. There are several mysteries here, aren't there? He apparently killed the wrong man, but he had a gold locket in his possession with a miniature of Mr. Wroe (remember, this is in 1821 before photographs, so the miniature was hand painted). I've omitted all of the details of the events before the murder, but suffice it to say that he thought that Mr. Wroe had designs on his sister and was taking advantage of her. John Trust was apparently a hunter familiar with the rivers and woods of the Alexandria area.
Each chapter in this series takes up about two columns of agate type on one page of the newspaper. I transcribed about half of Chapter 9 above. If you want the read all of the chapters, go to GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/) and search for the keywords [alexandria confession trust] and limit your search to [July 1866] and you'll find them. Don't put names in the search field.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Seavers in the News - Disputing Sarah A.C. Seaver's Will
It's time for another episode of Seavers in the News, wherein I find a newspaper article about a person with the surname Seaver who has had something interesting printed in a newspaper.
This week's article is from the Baltimore Sun newspaper, dated 28 June 1900:
The transcription of the article is:
"AGAINST MISS SEAVER'S WILL
"She Left $250 Each to Orphans' and Confederate Homes
"A caveat to the will of Miss Sarah A.C. Seaver, who died the 10th of last April, was filed in Orphans' Court yesterday by her cousins, Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, James M. Miller, Mary F. Herrick, Charles A. Miller, M.M. Miller, William A. Miller, John O. Miller, Samuel S. Davis and Sarah Anna Gordan, through Willis & Homer, attorneys. Letters on the estate were granted April 17 to James W. Denny and William L. Lyon, who were named as executors.
"The will in dispute was executed December 5, 1898. It bequeaths $250 each to St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Asylum, the Protestant Orphan Asylum on Stricker street and the Confederate Home at Pikesville. After the payment of three and a number of other small bequests the residue of the estate is left to Alverda Fullerton Schumacher, Isabella Fullerton, Mrs. Garafilla C. Lyon and Wilhelmina Friedly, friends of the testatrix.
"The value of the estate is about $15,000. The main allegation against the validity of the will is that Miss Seaver was of unsound mind when it was executed."
The source citation for this article is:
"AGAINST MISS SEAVER'S WILL," Baltimore [Md.] Sun newspaper, online index and digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 27 April 2017), Thursday, 28 June 1900, page 7.
From the article, I figured that Miss Sarah A.C. Seaver died unmarried, and I found her in my RootsMagic database, born in 1816 in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William Seaver (1782-1821) and Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen (1793-1868). Then I recalled that I had found information about the murder of her father, William Seaver, in 1821 - see William Seaver Murder Mystery, and Family History Compendium (posted 29 June 2011) for a list of all of the blog posts about this case. Included is a post about Sarah's will in More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821) (posted 4 May 2011). Apparently, Sarah's will was sustained by the Orphans' Court in 1901.
Who were all of the persons who contested the will? I think they were Miss Seaver's cousins - probably nieces and nephews (and perhaps grand nieces and nephews) of Sarah's mother, who was born Martha Davis in Massachusetts. I easily found the first two of them in the Davis records.
It was fun reviewing the earlier blog posts and trying to figure out who the cousins. I went down this rabbit hole again!
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/seavers-in-news-disputing-sarah-ac.html
This week's article is from the Baltimore Sun newspaper, dated 28 June 1900:
The transcription of the article is:
"AGAINST MISS SEAVER'S WILL
"She Left $250 Each to Orphans' and Confederate Homes
"A caveat to the will of Miss Sarah A.C. Seaver, who died the 10th of last April, was filed in Orphans' Court yesterday by her cousins, Charles L. Davis, Gilbert A. Davis, James M. Miller, Mary F. Herrick, Charles A. Miller, M.M. Miller, William A. Miller, John O. Miller, Samuel S. Davis and Sarah Anna Gordan, through Willis & Homer, attorneys. Letters on the estate were granted April 17 to James W. Denny and William L. Lyon, who were named as executors.
"The will in dispute was executed December 5, 1898. It bequeaths $250 each to St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Asylum, the Protestant Orphan Asylum on Stricker street and the Confederate Home at Pikesville. After the payment of three and a number of other small bequests the residue of the estate is left to Alverda Fullerton Schumacher, Isabella Fullerton, Mrs. Garafilla C. Lyon and Wilhelmina Friedly, friends of the testatrix.
"The value of the estate is about $15,000. The main allegation against the validity of the will is that Miss Seaver was of unsound mind when it was executed."
The source citation for this article is:
"AGAINST MISS SEAVER'S WILL," Baltimore [Md.] Sun newspaper, online index and digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 27 April 2017), Thursday, 28 June 1900, page 7.
From the article, I figured that Miss Sarah A.C. Seaver died unmarried, and I found her in my RootsMagic database, born in 1816 in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William Seaver (1782-1821) and Martha (Davis) (Seaver) Bowen (1793-1868). Then I recalled that I had found information about the murder of her father, William Seaver, in 1821 - see William Seaver Murder Mystery, and Family History Compendium (posted 29 June 2011) for a list of all of the blog posts about this case. Included is a post about Sarah's will in More Information on the Family of William Seaver (1783-1821) (posted 4 May 2011). Apparently, Sarah's will was sustained by the Orphans' Court in 1901.
Who were all of the persons who contested the will? I think they were Miss Seaver's cousins - probably nieces and nephews (and perhaps grand nieces and nephews) of Sarah's mother, who was born Martha Davis in Massachusetts. I easily found the first two of them in the Davis records.
It was fun reviewing the earlier blog posts and trying to figure out who the cousins. I went down this rabbit hole again!
=============================================
Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver
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Thursday, October 27, 2016
Seavers in the News - Mr. Seaver Kills a Man in Boston
The latest find in this series of blog articles about semi-famous (or infamous) Seaver persons is:
This article was published in the Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper dated 27 March 1907.
The transcription of this article is:
JEALOUSY LEADS TO DEATH IN DARK
------------------------------------
W.F. Seavers Shoots and Kills W.H. Saunders After Row in Wellington Street House
------------------------------------
William F. Seaver shot and killed William H. Saunders in a dark hallway at 33 Wellington Street, last night.
The slayer, who is locked up at the Dedham street police station, declared after his arrest that Saunders had been wildly and unjustly jealous of him for over a year, the woman in the case being Miss Della Tyler. That was the cause of the quarrel and fight which preceded the shooting.
There were no eyewitnesses to the affray, which occurred in the dark. Seaver, who is janitor of the house,m having a moment previously put out the lights, that being his object in visiting the place.
The inmates, who heard a row, could not distinguish any of the words used by the combatants. They declare that the argument was short, and was immediately followed by flying footsteps which led to the staircase. These ceased when the man was partly up the stairs and almost instantly afterward there was a revolver shot.
According to Seaver, he met Saunders in the hall on the lower floor. Saunders, who lives at the top of the building, lost no time in attacking him, declaring he would "fix" him.
A few words followed and Seaver declares that he ran to the stairs, having theirl ocation in hism ind and not being bothered by the darkness. As he reached the lower stairs he imagined he heard the click of a revolver as it was drawn from Saunders' pocket. He stopped, drew his own weapon and fired.
The falling body told him that he had hit, but he did not know that he had killed his man. He attempted to get away, but was met on the doorsteps by Patrolman William G. Hill, who placed him under arrest.
When the physician arrived, Saunders' dog, which had come with the other inmates of the building to the scene of the shooting, had taken its place beside the dead body and refused to allow police or doctor to approach. It was only after a battle that the dog was enticed away and locked up.
Seaver is a married man and lives with his wife and two daughters at 156 Warren avenue.
The source citation for this article is:
"Jealousy Leads to Death in Dark," Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Wednesday, 27 March 1907, page 2, column 1.
A second article appeared in the same newspaper the next day:
The article transcription is:
SEAVER HELD ON CHARGE OF MURDER
------------------------------
Killing of Saunders Due to the Latter's Jealousy of Mrs. Della Tyler.
------------------------------
Charged with the murder of William H. Saunders, William F. Seaver, janitor at 33 Wellington St., where the crime was committed, was yesterday morning held, in the municipal court, for the grand jury.
The shooting occurred in the lower hallway of the building, about midnight on Tuesday, and was the result of jealousy, on the part of Saunders of Mrs. Della Tyler, who lives at the Wellington street house.
Mrs. Tyler was in court yesterday, but was not placed on the stand. She declared that Saunders had been jealous of Seaver for a year, he having found the janitor in the kitchen with her one day. Beyond that, she declared, he had the occasion for jealousy, and in both these statements she bears out the claim of Seaver.
Seaver formerly lived at 156 Warren avenue with his wife and two daughters, but has been separated from his wife for some time. Mrs. Seaver and her children are in Somersworth, N.H.
The source citation for this article is:
"Seaver Held on Charge of Murder," Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Thursday, 28 March 1907, page 5, column 3.
Another article was published in the Boston Journal on 28 March 1907:
The transcription of this article is:
CLAIM OF SEAVER IS UPHELD BY WOMAN IN THE CASE
--------------------------------------
Mrs. Della Tyler Declares Saunders Threatened to Kill Seaver and Herself But Few Hours Before the Murder Took Place.
--------------------------------------
The claim of George F. Seaver, who on Tuesday night shot and instantly killed William H. Saunders in a house at 33 Wellington street, South End, that his own life was in imminent danger and that he shot only in self-defense, is upheld by Mrs. Della Tyler, the woman over whose affections the trouble occurred, according to statements which were made by her to a Journal representative yesterday.
That Saunders had repeatedly threatened to kill Seaver, as well as herself, and that he had declared his intention of carrying out his threat only a few hours before the murder took place, was one of the statements made by Mrs. Tyler yesterday.
"Saunders met me on Tremont street Tuesday evening and was apparently greatly agitated," said Mrs. Tyler. "He declared that he was 'going to do it tonight,' but his threats were so frequent that I thought nothing of it.
"I had been out all the evening, and returned home about 10 o'clock. Shortly afterward Saunders came in, white and pale and apparently worked up about something. He remained but a few minutes and then went out.
"That was the last I knew of his whereabouts until I heard the shooting and, running out, found him lying dying on the stairway."
Seaver was arraigned in the Municipal Court before Judge Ely yesterday morning charged with murder. He entered a plea of not guilty and was remanded to jail without bail to await the action of the grand jury. His wife has been visiting in Somersworth, N.H., for some time past, and although word had been sent to her she had not reached Boston at a late hour last night.
Mrs. Margaret Cowan, Saunders' widowed sister and his only known relative in Boston diud not learn of her brother's untimely death until she returned from her employment last evening and is prostrated. She lives at 23 Yarmouth street.
The source citation for this article is:
"Claim of Seaver is Upheld by Woman in the Case," Boston [Mass.] Journal newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Thursday, 28 March 1907, page 2.
I found no other articles about this case on GenealogyBank.
The most notable discrepancy in these articles is the killer's name - was it William F. Seaver or George F. Seaver. I could not find a William F. Seaver in my RootsMagic database that fit the description of a man by that name with a wife and two daughters.
The most likely George F. Seaver in my database and in the 1900 United States census was George Freeman Seaver (1858-????, born in New Hampshire, a broker), who married Ella Waterhouse (1855-1919, born in Massachusetts) in 1882, and had two daughters, Ida Florence Seaver (born in 1885) and Ottie Delle Seaver (born in 1886). George's brother, John D. Seaver (1867-????, born in New Hampshire, a janitor), is enumerated just below George and Ella, and he was married in Somersworth, New Hampshire in 1895.
So now I wonder what happened in this case. I did not find George or Ella in the 1910 or 1920 United States census records. I know that Ella died in 1919 in Newton, Massachusetts from vital records.
I love mysteries like this. This was fun to find and research, but sad in a way. Another Seaver story in the news.
This article was published in the Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper dated 27 March 1907.
The transcription of this article is:
JEALOUSY LEADS TO DEATH IN DARK
------------------------------------
W.F. Seavers Shoots and Kills W.H. Saunders After Row in Wellington Street House
------------------------------------
William F. Seaver shot and killed William H. Saunders in a dark hallway at 33 Wellington Street, last night.
The slayer, who is locked up at the Dedham street police station, declared after his arrest that Saunders had been wildly and unjustly jealous of him for over a year, the woman in the case being Miss Della Tyler. That was the cause of the quarrel and fight which preceded the shooting.
There were no eyewitnesses to the affray, which occurred in the dark. Seaver, who is janitor of the house,m having a moment previously put out the lights, that being his object in visiting the place.
The inmates, who heard a row, could not distinguish any of the words used by the combatants. They declare that the argument was short, and was immediately followed by flying footsteps which led to the staircase. These ceased when the man was partly up the stairs and almost instantly afterward there was a revolver shot.
According to Seaver, he met Saunders in the hall on the lower floor. Saunders, who lives at the top of the building, lost no time in attacking him, declaring he would "fix" him.
A few words followed and Seaver declares that he ran to the stairs, having theirl ocation in hism ind and not being bothered by the darkness. As he reached the lower stairs he imagined he heard the click of a revolver as it was drawn from Saunders' pocket. He stopped, drew his own weapon and fired.
The falling body told him that he had hit, but he did not know that he had killed his man. He attempted to get away, but was met on the doorsteps by Patrolman William G. Hill, who placed him under arrest.
When the physician arrived, Saunders' dog, which had come with the other inmates of the building to the scene of the shooting, had taken its place beside the dead body and refused to allow police or doctor to approach. It was only after a battle that the dog was enticed away and locked up.
Seaver is a married man and lives with his wife and two daughters at 156 Warren avenue.
The source citation for this article is:
"Jealousy Leads to Death in Dark," Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Wednesday, 27 March 1907, page 2, column 1.
A second article appeared in the same newspaper the next day:
The article transcription is:
SEAVER HELD ON CHARGE OF MURDER
------------------------------
Killing of Saunders Due to the Latter's Jealousy of Mrs. Della Tyler.
------------------------------
Charged with the murder of William H. Saunders, William F. Seaver, janitor at 33 Wellington St., where the crime was committed, was yesterday morning held, in the municipal court, for the grand jury.
The shooting occurred in the lower hallway of the building, about midnight on Tuesday, and was the result of jealousy, on the part of Saunders of Mrs. Della Tyler, who lives at the Wellington street house.
Mrs. Tyler was in court yesterday, but was not placed on the stand. She declared that Saunders had been jealous of Seaver for a year, he having found the janitor in the kitchen with her one day. Beyond that, she declared, he had the occasion for jealousy, and in both these statements she bears out the claim of Seaver.
Seaver formerly lived at 156 Warren avenue with his wife and two daughters, but has been separated from his wife for some time. Mrs. Seaver and her children are in Somersworth, N.H.
The source citation for this article is:
"Seaver Held on Charge of Murder," Boston [Mass.] Herald newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Thursday, 28 March 1907, page 5, column 3.
Another article was published in the Boston Journal on 28 March 1907:
The transcription of this article is:
CLAIM OF SEAVER IS UPHELD BY WOMAN IN THE CASE
--------------------------------------
Mrs. Della Tyler Declares Saunders Threatened to Kill Seaver and Herself But Few Hours Before the Murder Took Place.
--------------------------------------
The claim of George F. Seaver, who on Tuesday night shot and instantly killed William H. Saunders in a house at 33 Wellington street, South End, that his own life was in imminent danger and that he shot only in self-defense, is upheld by Mrs. Della Tyler, the woman over whose affections the trouble occurred, according to statements which were made by her to a Journal representative yesterday.
That Saunders had repeatedly threatened to kill Seaver, as well as herself, and that he had declared his intention of carrying out his threat only a few hours before the murder took place, was one of the statements made by Mrs. Tyler yesterday.
"Saunders met me on Tremont street Tuesday evening and was apparently greatly agitated," said Mrs. Tyler. "He declared that he was 'going to do it tonight,' but his threats were so frequent that I thought nothing of it.
"I had been out all the evening, and returned home about 10 o'clock. Shortly afterward Saunders came in, white and pale and apparently worked up about something. He remained but a few minutes and then went out.
"That was the last I knew of his whereabouts until I heard the shooting and, running out, found him lying dying on the stairway."
Seaver was arraigned in the Municipal Court before Judge Ely yesterday morning charged with murder. He entered a plea of not guilty and was remanded to jail without bail to await the action of the grand jury. His wife has been visiting in Somersworth, N.H., for some time past, and although word had been sent to her she had not reached Boston at a late hour last night.
Mrs. Margaret Cowan, Saunders' widowed sister and his only known relative in Boston diud not learn of her brother's untimely death until she returned from her employment last evening and is prostrated. She lives at 23 Yarmouth street.
The source citation for this article is:
"Claim of Seaver is Upheld by Woman in the Case," Boston [Mass.] Journal newspaper, digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Thursday, 28 March 1907, page 2.
I found no other articles about this case on GenealogyBank.
The most notable discrepancy in these articles is the killer's name - was it William F. Seaver or George F. Seaver. I could not find a William F. Seaver in my RootsMagic database that fit the description of a man by that name with a wife and two daughters.
The most likely George F. Seaver in my database and in the 1900 United States census was George Freeman Seaver (1858-????, born in New Hampshire, a broker), who married Ella Waterhouse (1855-1919, born in Massachusetts) in 1882, and had two daughters, Ida Florence Seaver (born in 1885) and Ottie Delle Seaver (born in 1886). George's brother, John D. Seaver (1867-????, born in New Hampshire, a janitor), is enumerated just below George and Ella, and he was married in Somersworth, New Hampshire in 1895.
So now I wonder what happened in this case. I did not find George or Ella in the 1910 or 1920 United States census records. I know that Ella died in 1919 in Newton, Massachusetts from vital records.
I love mysteries like this. This was fun to find and research, but sad in a way. Another Seaver story in the news.
================================
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/10/seavers-in-news-mr-seaver-kills-man-in.html
Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver
Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver
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