Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Seavers in the News - Mrs. D.H. Seaver Drowns

An article in the Seattle Daily Times newspaper, dated 27 March 1898, describes a tragic event in the life of Mrs. D.H. Seaver:


The transcription of this article is:

A Brave Mother Drowned

SPOKANE, March 26. -- A Sprague special to The Spokesman-Review says:

"Mrs. D.H. Seaver was drowned here last evening while rescuing her child.  The boy, aged 6, fell into a little stream swollen by high water.  The mother dashed into the stream and caught the child, but was swept down by the strong current and carried beneath a bridge.  Mr. Seaver ran to the creek and dragged his wife from the water.  The child was tightly clasped in her arms and was quickly revived, but Mrs. Seaver never recovered consciousness."

A source citation for this record is:

"A Brave Mother Drowned" Seattle [Wash.] Daily Times, online index and digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com), Sunday, 27 March 1899, page 10, column 4, Mrs. D.H. Seaver death article.

Do I have D.H. Seaver in my RootsMagic database?  What was Mrs. Seaver's name?  Also, which child was swept away?

I looked through the Seaver folks in my database with D given names, quickly found Daniel Horace Seaver (1848-1924), whose wife was Mary Ellen Snyder (1867-1898).  I had a death date for Mary Ellen Snyder Seaver from Find A Grave as 24 March 1898.  So that is probably her.

Daniel and Mary (Snyder) Seaver had 7 children between 1887 and 1896.  The boy who was nearest age 6 was George Lyman Seaver (1893-1963).

There are thousands of stories in the historical newspapers about Seaver persons.  This has been one of them.  A family tragedy to be sure - seven young children left motherless by a careless step, a  brave who mother jumped in the water to save her child, and lost her life, in the blink of an eye almost.  The child was old enough to remember this episode in his life.  Sad.


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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1 comment:

Charles said...

The Washington State Digital Archives has a cemetery listing for her:


Record Series: Cemetery Records
Collection: Sprague Catholic Cemetery (Mary Queen of Heaven Cemetery)
County: Lincoln

County: Lincoln
Cemetery: Sprague Catholic or Mary Queen of Heaven
Reference Number: cem-lcn-sprague-cath-mary-queen-of-heaven-256
Name: Mary Seaver
Middle Name Or Initial: Ellen
Information: b. 1867 d. 1898 nee Snyder
Additional Name1:
Additional Name2:
Source: http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record