By 1800 there is no more evidence of Joshua doing business in Fairfield County, SC. His activities seemed to be limited to Anson County, NC and to raising a family (which is a full time job!).
You’ll remember they already have a young son, Lewis, who was born in 1798. In 1800 they added a little girl named Lydia to their family.1 Joshua was 25, Ellender was 19. Sounds like a good time to stop, right? A vivacious family of four in North Carolina? Not for the Seales!
In 1803 a new daughter named Martha came into the family.2 Martha was followed by a bouncing baby boy named Alexander in 1804. In 1805 the Seales had another girl who they named Ellender, after her mother.3 Then along came another boy, my 2nd great grandfather Daniel in 1807.4 A couple of years after Daniel, came his brother James, born in 1809.5 Amazingly, Ellender Seale had 7 children in 11 years. Just thinking about it makes me tired!
You may have noticed that there is no footnote behind Alexander’s name. That is because I don’t have any proof that a boy named Alexander ever existed. Well, almost none.
If you look at online Family Trees for Joshua Seale, most give him a son named Alexander that was born on January 23, 1804. However, none of them list any evidence supporting that assertion. There are a couple of Seale anthologies that I have consulted, and the same thing.6 They list Alexander and his date of birth, but no further information and no evidence. Was Alexander real?
While I have no direct evidence to support Alexander’s existence, but I do have a couple of clues to tell you about….next time!
- Lydia Frost is listed as Joshua Seale’s heir in his probate documents; Jasper County, Texas, “Final Account of Administration, Book D,” 372-373, estate of Joshua Seale, 1864; County Clerk, Jasper County, Texas; Lydia Frost’s age is confirmed by the 1850 census; 1850 U.S. Census, Clarke County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat #3, p. 347, dwelling 339, family 341, Lydia Frost, Jasper and Newton Phillips; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 20 July 2016); citing NARA microfilm Series M432, roll 370. ↵
- Jasper County, Texas, “Final Account of Administration, Book D,” 372-373, estate of Joshua Seale, 1864; County Clerk, Jasper County, Texas; Find a Grave, database with images, (http://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 20 August 2016), memorial 9605783, Martha Jane Seal Warren (1803-1849), Warren Cemetery, Marion County, Mississippi, gravestone photograph by Janine McQuiston. ↵
- Find a Grave, database with images, (http://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 20 August 2016), memorial 19842510, Ellender Seal Davis (1805-1845), Hosea Davis Cemetery, Marion County, Mississippi; gravestone photographed by Gwen Pitman. ↵
- 1850 U.S. Census, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Western District, p. 252, dwelling 92, family 92, Daniel B Seale and family; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 20 July 2016); citing NARA microfilm Series M432, roll 230. ↵
- Find a Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 August 2016), memorial 13969088, J M Seale (1809-1894), Rogers Cemetery, Bell County, TX; gravestone photographed by Karen Morey. ↵
- Nancy Kuehl, A Seale Anthology, (Twin City Publishing, 1985), page 317; Ida C Seale, Seale and Allied Families (Houston: 1944), 87. ↵
