George Washington SEYMOUR & Sarah VITTETOE
Father: George Washington SEYMOUR, (son of James SEYMOUR), b. 25 Feb 1813, Rutledge Grainger Co TN, d. 17 Aug 1895, Leavenworth KS, bur. Little Stranger Cemetery
When I first began this genealogy there were two schools of thought on George Washington Seymour's parentage because he was born so far in advance of the marriage of Margaret Hamilton and James Seymour, one that was that Margaret Hamilton was not his mother, as his mother died. Second that he was not a child of this couple at all. However , eveything points to this as being the oldest biological child of James Seymour if not Margaret Hamilton. If she was not his biological mother surely he thought of her as his mother and was devoted enough to her to take care of her when she was widowed as she is buried beside he and his second wife Susan Gann in Little Stranager Cemetery. There has never been a marriage found for James Seymour with a first wife. Margaret Hamilton would have been barely sixteen at his birth if she was his mother and perhaps her father did not think she was old enough to marry or did not like James Seymour. This brother of Coleman Seymour was pro union as Coleman was.My father said most of the other Seymours were confederate but that Coleman and a brother were pro union, The other brother must have been George Washington Seymour who was staunchly pro Union. See notes by Darrell Dunlop from World Connect as follows on the life of George Washington Seymour…“Most sources give his birth place as Grainger Co., TN, although the 1880 census of Leavenworth Co., KS and 1860 census of Wiliamson Co., TX gives his birthplace as VA. He visited Ft. Leavenworth, KS in 1838, but apparently returned to Grainger Co., TN for a time. He was in Grainger Co. on the 1840 census, Buchanan Co., MO in 1850, and Williamson Co., TX in 1860, having moved from MO to TX in 1853, settling just west of Georgetown. When the Civil War started, being a strong Union man, he was orderd out of Texas. He left for Leavenworth Co. KS in 1861. His son Aaron and step-son Frank stayed behind and joined the Confederate Army. He opened the first store in Boling, Leavenworth Co. He served as Postmaster there for about 20 years, Justice of the Peace for 18 years, Constable for 10 years, and Clerk for 8 years. He was a long-time member of the Masonic Order and a prominent member of the Christian Church. He is buried in the Little Stranger Christian Church cemetery between his second wife, Susan, and “Margaret, wife of James Seymour,” who is believed to be his mother. In 1880, his family included an adopted daughter, Lucy Bell Seymour, age 12, born in KS. In an article in the July 3, 1988 Leavenworth Times (information from Robert Seymour): The senior Seymour (George Washington Seymour) lost a leg as a result of a gun accident. A six shooter accidentally discharged, striking him in the leg. It took two amputations to remove the leg, “and those were the days before they had anything for the pain. Dad was just five years old, but he remembered his dad just kept smoking his pipe the whole time the doctor was working on him.” The loss of a leg didn't stop him from driving a team of oxen to Texas or a covered wagon to New Mexico. During one of those trips, twins were born to the couple and one died. Seymour says the family never knew where the infant was buried.” Info came from World Connect file of Darrell Dunlop
Mother: Sarah VITTETOE, b. ABT 1812, Kentucky or Tennesee
Married 20 Jan 1833, Grainger County Tennessee
Children:
- Amanda V SEYMOUR, b. Dec 1833, Grainger County Tennessee
- John Stokely "Stoke" SEYMOUR, b. 1836, Grainger County Tennessee
- Thomas Madison SEYMOUR, b. Dec 1837, Grainger County Tennessee
- Aaron S SEYMOUR, b. 29 Aug 1839
- Infant SEYMOUR, b. ABT 1843
- Infant SEYMOUR, b. ABT 1843