Did Sarah Giberson Marry Two Seaver Men? - Part III

In Part I of this series, I sorted through census records concerning the family of Sarah Giberson (1837-1902) who, apparently, married (1) John Seaver in about 1856 and (2) Samuel C. Seaver in about 1870 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In Part II, I found church and vital record information for Sarah, her apparent two husbands, and their children.  I also found a birth record for the son, John Ellsworth Seaver (1861-1926) that named his mother as "Sarah" and the father as "John Seaver."

1)  The last part of this puzzle is the relationship between her two husbands, John C. Seaver (1834-1866) and Samuel C. Seaver (1832-1895).  And who was Clayton Seaver (1832-1915) who appeared in the church records in Philadelphia with two (?) wives and a number of children?  Also, Samuel C. Seaver and his son George W. Seaver appeared in Clayton's household in 1870.

My working hypothesis was that Clayton, John and Samuel were brothers, because they were in the same place (census and church records) in the same time frame (1860-1900) and had the same occupation (shovel maker) in the census records.

2)  I found an 1850 U.S. Census record for the Clayton Seaver household in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (indexed as "Levers"):

This household includes:

*  Clayton Severs - age 48, male, a baker, born in N.J.
*  Phebae Severs - age 48, female, born PA
*  Clayton Severs - age 19, male, shovel maker, born PA
*  John Severs - age 17, male, shovel maker, born PA
*  Samuel Severs - 16, male, no occupation, born PA
*  Anna M. Severs - age 13, female, born PA
*  George Severs - age 7, male, born PA, attends school

3)  This Clayton Seaver/Severs appears in the 1860 U.S. Census in Philadelphia:

This household includes:

*  Clayton Seavers - age 55, male, shovel maker, born New Jersey
*  Margaret Severs - age 63, female, born Pennsylvania

4)  Clayton Severs also appears in the 1870 U.S. Census in Philadelphia:

This household includes:

*  Clayton Severs - age 70, male, white, born Penn, father of foreign birth, mother of foreign birth, a male citizen over 21 years
*  Marg't Severs - age 73, female, white, keeps house, born Penn, father of foreign birth, mother of foreign birth

5)  I have found no birth, marriage, death, probate or church records for the elder Clayton Seaver/Severs or Phoebe (--?--) Seaver/Severs (who may have died before 1860), or for Margaret Seaver/Severs (who is probably the second wife of the elder Clayton).  

6)  If all of the information on the census records and the church records are correct, then:

*   Clayton Seaver/Severs (born about 1802 in New Jersey) had parents who migrated to the USA, and died before 1880.
*  Phoebe (--?--) Seaver/Severs (born about 1802 in Pennsylvania) married Clayton Seaver in about 1829 and was the mother of the five children listed (and perhaps others), and died before 1860.
*  Margaret (--?--) Seaver/Severs (born about 1799 in Pennsylvania) married Clayton Seaver/Severs before 1860 and died before 1880.

These records spell the surnames Seaver, Seavers, Sever, or Severs (or Leaver or Levers in indexes) almost interchangeably, and that is very common in census records from the 1800s.  The church and vital records are more consistent in surname spelling.

7)  So the answer to the main question on this blog series is YES - Sarah A. Giberson married brothers John C. Seaver (1832-1866) and Samuel C. Seaver (1834-1895), and had children by both husbands.

One final thought - the John Ellsworth Seaver (1861-1926) death certificate says his parents names are John Seaver and Phoebe Faunce.  Did the informant mix up the mother's name, and gave John Ellsworth Seaver's grandmother's maiden name - Phoebe --?--?  If so, then Phoebe --?--'s maiden name may be Faunce.

8)  Note:  In these blog posts, I have tried to find relationships that match all of the information in the records.  I know that some of the mother's names for children of John and Sarah (Giberson) Seaver are wrong - it says Mary, not Sarah.  Everything else, to my knowledge, reflects the found church, census and death records.

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