Thursday, November 14, 2019

Seavers in the News -- Mrs. Joel Seaver Dies in New York in 1907

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 Burlington [Vt.] Free Press newspaper dated 25 December 1907:

The transcription of the article is:

"DEATH OF MRS. JOEL SEAVER.
(special to the Free Press)

"Malone, N.Y., Dec. 24 -- Mrs. Joel J. Seaver, wife of the late Colonel Seaver, died at her home of her son this afternoon after a brief illness, aged 62 years.  Mrs. Seaver has one son, Herbert H., assistant cashier of the People's National bank of Malone; and two stepsons, Frederick J. Seaver, private secretary to State Bank Superintendent Clark Williams at Albany, and Albert Seaver, who is in the employ of the Japanese government.  Her husband was for many years a close personal friend of the late Vice-President William A. Wheeler, and one of the original founders and owners of the Malone Palladium."

The source citation is:

"Death of Mrs. Joel Seaver,The Burlington [Vt.] Free Press newspaper, obituary, Wednesday, 25 December 1907, page 2, column 1, Mrs. Joel Seaver obituaryNewspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 14 November 2019).

This is another obituary where the subject's first name and maiden name are not mentioned.  The death date is 24 December 1907 in Malone, New York, and she is 62 years old, so she was probably born in 1845.  The obituary does provide her son's name and occupation, and her two step-sons names and occupations.

Her husband's name is prominently given, and he is called "Colonel" so was probably an officer in the Civil War.  He was also a friend of a former Vice-President of the United States.  

Joel Joshua Seaver (1822-1899) was born in Salisbury, Vermont, the son of Joshua and Betsey (Bigelow) Seaver.  He married (1) Ann Eliza Brown (1824-1869) in Malone in 1849, and they had two sons, Frederick and Albert.  Joel Seaver married (2) Mary Elizabeth Hadley (1845-1907), and they had one son, Herbert. 

The subject of this obituary is the second wife, Mary Elizabeth (Hadley) Seaver. 

Joel Joshua Seaver is my 2nd cousin 5 times removed, and his three sons are my 3rd cousins 4 times removed.  I wonder if there is an obituary for him, since he seems to have led an eventful life.  YES!! There is one in the New York Times in 1899.

There are over 8,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - this was one of them.   Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes the life of a person is memorialized in an obituary without her given forename or maiden surname.  I am glad I can honor Mary Elizabeth (Hadley) Seaver today.

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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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3 comments:

Janet Kachur Geronime said...

Randy, I'm having a hard time understanding your cousin relationship with Joel Seaver and his sons. If Joel is your 2nd cousin five times removed, why aren't his sons your 2nd cousin six times removed? You are only moving down one generation, shouldn't you just add to the number of times removed?
Janet Kachur Geronime

Randy Seaver said...

Hi Janet,

The simple answer is "because RootsMagic told me so." But that's not very satisfying.

Joel Joshua Seaver (1822-1899) and I share common ancestors of great-grandparents Robert Seaver and Eunice Rayment. So Joel is 3 generations down from Robert/Eunice and I am 7 generations down from robet/Eunice. Therefore, we are 2nd cousins 5 times removed.

Joel's sons are 4 generations down from Robert/Eunice and I am 7 generations down from Robert/Eunice. Therefore, we are 3rd cousins 4 times removed.

Joel's 3rd great-grandchildren would be 7 generations down from Robert/Eunice, and so we are 7th cousins.


Janet Kachur Geronime said...

Thanks for the explanation Randy. I understand it now.
Janet