Looking for info on Matilda A. Seely b. 1832 d. 1868 Mother Sarah, Sister, Lydia, Brother, Charles Seely. She Married Creighton W. Larmore. Thanks......Bob

Hi Bob,

I think we are cousins! I've been looking for info on this family for years and never heard of Matilda until tonight. A fellow searcher (and another new-found cousin) sent me the following from the 1850 Franklin Co, IN census:

Sarah Seely 37 $1800 IN
Tabitha 17 IN
Charles 13 IN
Lydia 3 IN

Sarah's full maiden name was Sarah Ann Finley. We have been unable to find any background on her. We did know that her first husband's name was Seely. He and two of their children became sick with cholera. Sarah Ann nursed them until they died. Then she went to a shed in back of their house where neighbors had provided a change of clothes. She bathed, changed clothes, and walked away from her home forever. Designated people from the community came in and buried the bodies, then burned the house. We knew that there was a son, Charlie, who was not at home at the time, or perhaps had been sent away at the first signs of the illness. I think Sarah was pregnant with Lydia when all this happened.

Later, Sarah remarried to Andrew Jackson Sholts. Their daughter, Susan Sholts, was my great-grandmother.

I would love to exchange information with you. I see that your Tabitha died in 1868. Pretty young. Did she stay in IN? Sarah Ann and Jackson migrated to White County, IL during the Civil War. Lydia went with them. Do you know anything about Charlie?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jayne

Matilda Seely born 1832 d 1868 married Creighton W. Larmore.
I actually was researching the Gold family tree, Sarah Gold married Frederick Sholts, parents of Andrew Jackson Sholts that married Sarah Ann Finley

I would love to see what you have found on the Gold family. What I have has all come from the internet, and I'm not sure of the accuracy.

Frederick Sholts was an interesting man; do you have any ties to him?

I got some of my info from the net and some from records. Contact me at ddiefenbachhines@aol.com

The Franklin County Indiana web site( http://www.ingenweb.org/infranklin/pages/cemeteries/burials_... ) lists shows both William Seely and Sarah as being buried in the Seely Cemetery in Franklin County, Indiana with their death to being June 18, 1849. This would suggest that both William and Sarah Seely died in the same cholera epidemic in the area at the time.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to this descrepancy with Sarah's 2nd marriage being to 'Andrew Jackson SHOLTS? Is there an error somewhere or perhaps another Sarah??

We are very curious about this,
Lowell

Lowell, Bear with me on this. There were a lot of William and Sarah Seelys. The way I see it could be this. The Seely's who died in the cabin are John Seely 59 years old, William Seely 32, Sarah Seely 29 and their children William H. almost 5 and Oliver 7. I believe there are two sets of Williams and Sarahs that we are speaking about or Sarah didn't die in the cabin. Sarah Ann Finley was born 12-02-1814 in Franklin Co. Ind.(That would make her 37 not 29 when she supposedly died) She married William Seely 1-03-1833, their known children are Matilda b. 1834, Charles b. 1837 and Lydia b. 1847. I believe John Seely (who died in cabin) is Sarah Ann Finley Seelys childrens grandfather and her husband William ( who died elsewhere of something else)is his son. The William who died in the cabin is Johns brother and the Sarah who died in the cabin is Johns sister-in-law. In Johns probate record Dec. term 1850
the following amounts were paid out; $30.00 for the use of Jonas and George Seely minor children of deceased $1.83 1/2 each, $1.83 1/2 for the heirs of Nelson Seely 4 in number Mary E., Eliza Jane, Wm. and ? Seely. $1.83 1/2 for 3 heirs of William Seely deceased Matilda(my GGGrandmother and Sarah Ann Finly's daughter), Charles and Lydia Ann, $1.83 1/2 for the heirs of Jesse Seely, Ellen and Rhoda.(Money to all his grandchildren) In Johns Inventory of goods it says at the end, Sarah Ann Seely note in hand to the amount of $5.00 due the 16th day of May 1850. Now also, in 1850 Nelson Seely died (remember Nelson Seelys children mentioned in the probate, it doesn't say Nelson Seely deceased so Nelson must have still be alive) and in his Inventory of goods it mentions ammount of propery destroyed by fire was given in by the widow herself to the appraisers. Could it be that Nelson Seely was killed a year later in a fire and his brother William Seely(married to my Sarah Ann Finly) who was already deceased died from cholera or could be anything ie. appendicitis a fall or what? you can use your imagination. Sarah then married Andrew Sholts later.........Bob Smith

Hi Jayne,
I hope that you might still be following this thread.
I believe we may share some ancestors. My calculator says we may be 5th cousins. Sarah (GOLD) SHOLTS was a ggg-aunt of mine.
I am curious about your explanation here relating that Sarah Ann Finley survived the cholera epidemic of her children and husband at the time in Franklin County, Indiana. How did you arrive at this explantion? Do you have any resources for this explanation? Did your Mother, Grandmother or G-grandmother relate the story to you?

Lowell Gold

Hello Lowell.

I saw your previous post a few days ago but had not had time to reply 'til now. No doubt there is a family connection. I would be happy to share what information I have.

First, I have a question. You mentioned Sarah Gold Sholts. My Sarah Ann's maiden name was Finley. She married 1st William Seely and 2nd Andrew Jackson Sholts. I believe that the Sarah Gold Sholts you referred to might have been the mother of Andrew Jackson Sholts. She was married to Frederick R. Sholts. Does this seem right to you? All of the information I have gleaned about the earlier Sholtses (including Golds) - prior to my g-g-grandparents, Sarah Ann and AJ - I have gotten off the internet. If you have anything about this branch of the family that you could share, I would really appreciate it.

Now, to your question about Sarah Ann and cholera. I do know that she nursed her first husband and two of her children until they died of cholera. After their deaths, she walked away from her former life. She would later marry AJ Sholts. They eventually left Indiana and moved to White County, Illinois. That is the story that has been told in our family for as long as I can remember. I recall my great aunts Sade (Sarah) Sefried and Myrtle Sefried talking about it. They were Sarah Ann and AJ's granddaughters. Aunt Sade was named after Sarah Ann.

Frederick R. Sholts seems to have been an interesting man and led an interesting life. I read an account about him on the internet. Apparently, he bought some land and established a town, Hindustan, in Martin County. Later, a cholera epidemic wiped out much of the population including several family members. The town never recovered. That land is now an Indiana State Park. I would love to visit there some day. Let me know if you have further details on this.

So, there were actually two separate outbreaks of cholera that had devastating effects on two different generations/branches of this family.

Please let me know what you think. Are we talking about two different Sarah Sholtses? I have more information about Sarah Ann and AJ if they are of your family.

Jayne Vosloh

Hi Jayne,
You are correct regarding the Sarah (GOLD) SHOLTS mentioned in my previous message. She was married to AJ SHOLTS as you say. Sorry for the confusion, I only mentioned her so that you might understand my relationship in the GOLD line.

Thank you very much for the explanation of the Sarah Ann FINLEY story and how she survived the cholera epidemic which apparently took the lives of her husband, William and a couple of her children. You may or may not have run into the 'reported burials' on the Franklin County web page indicating that she too died in the 1849 cholera epidemic. This has been the source of some confusion in the matter. Unfortunately, the absolute truth with primary or 'first hand' documentaion is frequently difficult to procure in situations like these.

The data which I have for the GOLD's has been posted at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jgold-dec. Unfortunately, also the James GOLD (b.1750 and Father of Sarah GOLD does not extend back any further. If you have additional data, comments, or questions please feel free to contact me directly at Gold.Lowell@sbcglobal.net.

Lowell