While all of the hustle and bustle was going on with the United States not to far from Joshua and Ellender’s home, and Joshua busying himself with building a new life and making a living, Ellender might have the most important job, raising their family.

When they arrived in Marion County, Mississippi, the couple had 6 or 7 children.  We are not sure at what age young Alexander died.  Lewis, age 14, Lydia, age 12, Martha age 9, Alexander age 8, Ellender jr age 7, Daniel age 5 and James age 3 would have made a rambunctious group as the Seale family settled in their new home in Marion County.

But the family was not quite big enough for Ellender.  Elizabeth was born in 1813, Susanna in 1816, Joseph in 1819 and Mary Ann in 1821.  In all, a family of 12, including Mom and Dad!¹ ​

You might notice that there is nine years difference between Lewis, and his next surviving brother Daniel.  When the family arrived in Mississippi, Lewis was reaching the age when he was able to be a real help to his father.  We will see as we continue our story that this created a bond that lasted a lifetime.  Joshua and Lewis lived near each other until Joshua died in 1864, and out of all of the boys, Lewis seemed to have his father’s knack for business.

The Seales lived in Marion County until 1827.  During the 15 years they were there, the children grew up and the older kids married.  Obviously, they overcame the distance between homes and found time apart from the busyness of surviving to notice the opposite sex.  Those hormones are powerful little critters!

The first marriage was on New Years Day, 1818, when Lydia married Thompson Phillips.²  Next came older brother Lewis who married Susanna Phillips, Thompson’s younger sister, a month later on February 5th, 1818.³  Martha married Daniel Warren on December 23, 1820, and Ellender married Hosea Davis on May 8th, 1822.⁴

With all of these weddings, you might think the Seale family was getting smaller.  However, the opposite was true.  Although they had their own property, Joshua and Ellender’s sons and son-in-laws stayed with the family.  A search of the Marion County Tax Records shows that Thompson Phillips, Hosea Davis, and Daniel Warren all stayed in Marion County for several years, and several of the extended family would make the move to Hinds County…but more on that to come!

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