Thursday, September 12, 2019

Seavers in the News - Mary J. (Seaver) Bailey Dies in 1899

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the St. Johnsbury [Vt.] Republican newspaper dated 27 September 1899:

The transcription of the article is:

"Mrs. A.P. Bailey

"Mary J. Seaver, wife of A.P. Bailey, died at her home in South Woodbury Monday, September 18, after a very short illness.  She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Seaver of this village and leaves a husband and two small children.  She was born in  Bristol, N.H., June 5, 1875.  Since her marriage in 1893 she had resided in South Woodbury.  Prayers were said at the house Wednesday and the funeral held at the Congregational church under the auspices of the Good Templars.  Rev. Mr. McPherson of South Woodbury preached the sermon and the remains were interred in the cemetery in that village.  Mrs. Bailey was very popular among her neighbors and her loss is mourned not only in that place but by her friends elsewhere.  Her husband and relatives have the sympathy of all who know them."

The source citation for the article is:

"Mrs. A.P. BaileySt. Johnsbury [Vt.] Republican newspaper, obituary, Wednesday, 27 September  1899, page 1, column 2, Mary J. (Seaver) Bailey obituary;   Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 September 2019).

What a sad obituary.  Here is a 24 year old woman in the prime of life, with a husband and two small children, and she dies after a "short illness."

This was an excellent obituary for my Seaver collection, since it provides her husband's name, father's name, her birth date and place, and her death date and place.  I had the parents and husband already, but had only the years of birth and death.

Mary J. Seaver (1875-1899) was the daughter of Loren Boyd and Aranna (Sanborn) Seaver.  She married Alverne Porter Bailey (1769-1940) on 29 November 1893 in Woodbury, Vermont.  They had two children:

*  Bessie Maude Bailey (1895-1964), who married Clinton Fayette Thurston (1883-1958) in 1914.
*  Elsie Madge Bailey (1897-1903).

Alverne Bailey married soon after the death of Mary to Jennie M. Naylor (1877-1915) and they appear with the two Bailey daughters in the 1900 U.S. Census.  After Jennie's death, Alverne married, thirdly, to Elizabeth Fracy (1882-1946) in 1916 in New Hampshire.

Mary J. (Seaver) Bailey is my 5th cousin 3 time removed, with common ancestors of Joseph Seaver (1672-1754) and Mary Read (1680-????).

There are over 8,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - this was one of them.  Mary J. (Seaver) Bailey had a relatively short life, and touched the lives of many others. Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes it is short and sad.

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Disclosure:  I have a paid subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.




Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

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