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Seeley Genealogical Society
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Query Number: 0202-6

  • Query Date: February 1st, 2002
Requested By: Janet Lewellen
Unresolved - Needs More Research
Requested Information

Janet is looking for ancestors and descendants of John Brown Seeley b. 3 Jun 1835 in NY. He m. Sarah Elizabeth Miller, b. 23 Sep 1837 in Canada. Their children were George Avery Seeley b. 1862 in WI, Melissa Seeley b. 1866 in MI, and Susan Seeley b. 1868 in IL. George Avery Seeley is Janet’s Grandmother’s father.

Initial Response Information
Query Responder: SGS Query Editor

Neither a review of the 3 SGS Publications nor the SGS Database provided a link to John Brown Seeley. John Seely, SGS Database Coordinator, responded that he received a query from Lou Ann Moore in 1993 regarding John Brown Seeley and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Miller. John provided Janet Ms. Moore’s address. A somewhat remote theory the query submitter may want to pursue is as follows: John Brown Seeley may have been a descendant of either Jonas Seely, Jr. (SGS# 1736) or Peter Townsend Seely (SGS # 1742), or one of their brothers. Jonas and Peter both married sisters whose last names were Brown, i.e., Temperance Ann and Mary Caroline respectively. Jonas had 2 children with middle names of Brown. The second one, Joanna Brown Seely died when she was only 23 months old on 4 May 1837. Jonas named their next child, who was born on 8 May 1837 – just 4 days after Joanna Brown Seely’s death, Joanna Seely. Given the youngster’s untimely death, the propensity for giving middle names to honor mother’s maiden surnames, and the timeframes these brothers’ children were born, it’s possible a “missing” John Brown Seely could fit into one of these family groups.

Updates
Update // Update to Query # 0202-6 Re: John Brown Seeley

The submitter was Janet Lewellen, Email jadonlew@aol.com. The February 2002 Newsletter provided an interim response but we were unable to find a John Brown Seeley in our SGS database. In July, Janet discovered that John’s daughter, Melissa E. Seeley [Lissie Seeley Farr] was b. 1867 in Richfield Twp., Genessee County, MI. Genessee County, MI research yielded a couple of Seelyes. One was Abel Seelye. Janet now asks if anyone has info on Seelye’s who settled in Genessee County, MI between 1837-1867. She believes they may be the link to her John Brown Seeley who m. Sarah Elizabeth Miller from Canada abt 1857. Dan Seelye responded that he found, in the 1880 census for Prairie City, McDonough, IL, a 45 year old John B. Seeley, a 42 year old wife Sarah E. Seeley with two children: 18 year old George A. Seeley and a 14 year old daughter, Melissa E. Seeley. Meanwhile, Janet has been in contact with two cousins who have joined the search for John Brown Seeley’s parents; they are Lou Ann Moore and Darlene Seeley Baker.

Based on the census data Dan Seelye provided, Janet’s cousin Darlene developed a “hunch” that John Brown Seeley’s parents may be George Seeley and Henritta Taylor. George was b. abt 1797 in Norwalk, New London County, CT. No birth info on Henritta. Darlene asks if anyone has info on the children of George and Henritta. Darlene states George Seeley’s parents were Elisha Seeley [b. 5/16/1762 New Canaan, CT, d. 8/6/1816 Norwalk, CT] and Elizabeth Brown [b. 6/24/1769 Norwalk, CT, d. 3/19/1822]. Since the only son for George and Henritta that shows up is a George W. Seeley, Darlene [dbaker@ci.Glendale.ca.us]wonders if one of Elisha and Elizabeth’s other sons could be the father of John Brown Seeley. If anyone has info that would help identify the ancestry of John Brown Seeley, please contact SGS.

Query Update Responder: SGS Query Editor
Genealogy is an ongoing journey, full of unexpected discoveries. The information here reflects our best knowledge at the moment, but it may have gaps or the occasional error. And, it will change as we learn more.