For years, those of us researching Dawson Seals and his family have been trying to find Dawson's wife Elizabeth's surname and family. It has been a mystery. Cousin Jay Seals had told me years ago that Elizabeth was a Brewer, but I hadn't found anything that proved this.
Recently, I did a Google search on "Dawson Seals" and one of the links that came up was to a page on the Ontario Vital Records Project:
5803-86 Charles Brady SEALS, 40, widower, Baptist minister, Tennessee US, Indianapolis, s/o Dawson SEALS & Elizabeth BREWER, married Frances MATTHEW, 21, Clinton twp, Indianapolis, d/o James MATTHEW & Amelia GATES, witn: Mr. & Mrs. David WADDELL of Plympton twp., 3 Sept 1886 at Chapman House, Sarnia.
Ontario is the last place I had expected to find Elizabeth's identity, but here it was! A second marriage for Charles Brady Seals stating that his mother was a Brewer.
I posted about this find online and Vinita Lynch Shaw wrote back, sending the transcription of a court case in 1861 in Hawkins County, Tennessee:
Tuesday October 8th 1861 Nancy Elrod & Susan Brewer Petition of land vs Inter county order Frederick Brewer This cause coming on to be heard this 8th day of October 1861 before the Worshipful County Court of Hawkins County upon the Petition and answer of the parties and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the Petitioners and Defendant are three out of nine heirs of Frederick Brewer, Sr. Dec'd and his wife Lydia Brewer, Sr. Dec'd and that Frederick Brewer, Sr. seized and possessed of a certain track of land lying in the County of Hawkins on the North side of Clinch Mountain in District No 2 being the same on which the Defendant Frederick Brewer now lives and it further appearing that Lydia Brewer, Sr Dec'd seized and possessed of a certain track of land containing one hundred acres and adjoining the first named tract and that said Lydia Brewer, Sr after the death of her husband purchased of her children Ambrose Brewer and Elizabeth Seals their undivided shares of the first named track and that afterwards the defendant Frederick Brewer, Jr bought up all the shares of the other heirs in their Fathers and Mothers estates respectively except those of Petitioners that there has been no partition as yet between the parties before the Court.It is therefore ordered by the Court that John Ball, Rial Johns and Thomas Browning be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to go upon said tracts of land and partition them as follows. To each of the Petitioners Nancy Elrod and Susan Brewer they are to lay off and assign each one ninth of the tract owned by Frederick Brewer, Sr Dec'd and one ninth of the tract owned by their Mother Lydia Brewer, Sr Dec'd
together a ninth each of the two shares purchased by said Lydia Brewer, Sr Dec'd
and the balance they are to set apart to the Defendant Frederick Brewer, Jr. It is further ordered that the commissioners to divide said tracts of land if practicable so as to form each individuals shares in a tract to itself and further ordered that the Commissioners in their Report set the boundaries with Plat of said land and make their Report to January Term 1862 of this Court.
This document names Elizabeth as one of nine children of Frederick Brewer and Lydia Edwards.
But, reading it over again now, it brings up the question of whether John Seals' first wife was really Susan Brewer, as stated in Alton Lee Greene's book Seale Family Tree, or not. John's first wife, Susan, was supposed to have died in the 1840s, and later John married Dorcas Brewer, so she couldn't be the Susan Brewer of this court document, since she was obviously alive in 1861.
More mysteries . . .
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