Seavers in the News - Post 4: Finding James T. Seaver in the U.S. Census

While searching for interesting tidbits in Mocavo.com databases about Seaver persons, I ran across an article concerning James T. Seaver, Acting Master of the U.S. Steamer Philippi in the Civil War.  There were two reports - the first is the letter to the Secretary of War by Rear Admiral D.G. Farragut, which is transcribed in Seavers in the News - James T. Seaver, Master of a Civil War Vessel - Post 1, and the second was the report of James T. Seaver about this incident, shown in Post 2.  

I found an article in a book about the court-\martial of James and wrote about it in Seavers in the News -- James T. Seaver, Master of a Civil War Vessel - Post 3.

The court-martial apparently ended the Naval career of James T. Seaver.  Now I wondered if he had a family, and who his parents were.  The answers first came in the U.S. Census.  I found the 1870 U.S. Census for a James T. Seaver in Gloucester, Massachusetts that I am fairly sure is the right man:

For some reason, this record summary on Ancestry provided only the ages of the household members!  I clicked on the "View original image" to see:

The extracted information from the 1870 Census entry for the family in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, is:

*  James T. Seaver - age 38, male, white, a clerk in steam boat, has $1800 in real property, born Massachusetts.
*  Elizabeth D. Seaver - age 40, female, white, keeping house, born Massachusetts.
*  James H. Seaver - age 11, male, white, at school, born Massachusetts.
*  Elizabeth D. Smith - age 67, female, white, at home, born Massachusetts.

On the 1870 Record Summary page (first image above), there are two "Suggested Records."  One is the 1880 U.S. Census, so I clicked on that and saw:

The extracted information for the family residing at 23 Mason Street in Gloucester, Massachusetts is:

*  James T. Seaver - white, male, age 48, married, clerk in store, born Mass., father born Mass., mother born Mass.
*  Elizabeth D. Seaver - white, female, age 51, wife, married, keeping house, born Mass., father born Mass., mother born Mass.
*  Jennie Faulk - white, female, age 25, single, a servant, born, Newfoundland, father born England, mother born England.

I backtracked and looked for James and Elizabeth in the 1860 U.S. Census, and found him residing in Chelsea, Massachusetts:

The extracted information for the family in the 1860 U.S. Census is (indexed as James S. Seaver):

*  James T. Seaver - age 30, male, a mariner, $3,500 in personal property, born Mass.
*  Elizabeth D. Seaver - age 30, female, born Mass.
*  James H. Seaver - age 1, male, born Mass.
*  Elizabeth D. Smith - age 55, female, $300 in real property, $300 in personal property, born in Mass.  

I found no entries for James T. Seaver, born about 1830-1834 in Massachusetts, in the 1850 U.S. Census, nor the 1910 to 1930 U.S. Census.  

Now my question is - what happened to James T. and Elizabeth D. Seaver - did they die in Massachusetts?  And what about their only child, James H. Seaver?  When and where was he born, did he marry, and what happened to him?  Then - who were his parents, and what happened to them?  Where did they die, and who are their parents?  

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Copyright (c) 2014,  Randall J. Seaver