Don Carlos Seely

• Son of Justus Wellington Seeley and Clarissa Jane Wilcox
• Birth: January 04, 1846 in Charleston, Lee County, Iowa, United States
• Death: July 14, 1913 (67) in Castle Dale, Emery County, Utah, United States
• Immigration: Oct 1 1847 - Utah, United States
• Immigration: 1858
• Immigration: 1858 - Utah, United States
• Residence: 1850 - Utah county, Utah, Utah Territory
• Residence: 1860 - Mt Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah, United States
• Residence: 1900 - ED 195 Castledale, Orangeville Precincts Castledale town, Emery, Utah, United States
• Residence: 1910 - Castle Dale, , Utah
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Mar 17 2016, 23:50:13 UTC

Married

• Married: Hannah Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Levi Burt Reynolds and Hannah Elizabeth Johnson, born in Pleasant Grove, Utah, 24 February 1855.

History of Don Carlos Seely & Husband of Hannah Elizabeth Reynolds

Don Carlos Seely was born 4 January 1846 at Nashville, lowa, a son of Justus Wellington
Seely Clarissa Jane Wilcox. His father had joined the Mormon Church in Pickering, Home District, Upper Canada in 1837, and had emigrated to Caldwell County, Missouri, in August 1838. Don Carlos came to Utah by ox team in com-pany with his parents and other family members when he was one and one-half years old, arriv-ing in Salt Lake on 30 September 1847. In March 1851, his parents and family traveled by ox team to San Bernardino, California, where they struggled for almost six years to pay for land, raised crops and livestock, build a fort and a home. December 1857, when Utah was threatened by Johnson's army and members of the LDS Church were called back to Utah, his parents returned to Pleasant Grove. After Grand-father Justus Azel's death, his family moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1859. On 20 March 1875, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, Don Carlos married Hannah Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Levi Burt Reynolds and Hannah Elizabeth Johnson, born in Pleasant Grove, Utah, 24 February 1855.

Four children were born to them in Mt. Pleasant:

• Don Seely, born 7 January 1876, died 23 February 1892 (16 years);
• Charlotte Sybil (Lottie) Seely, born 27 September 1877, married Joseph Jones, died 5 August 1957;
• James Burt Seely, born 28 September 1879, died 16 December 1901 (22 years);
• Marion Carlos Seely, born 23 October 1881, married Laura Hansen, died 6 May 1972.

After they moved to Castle Dale, three additional children were born:

• George Willard Seely, born 17 May 1884, married Olive Pursy Dickman, died 19 February 1961
• Levi Earl Seely, born 29 April 1887, married Wilmertha (Mertha) Moore, died 21 Ju-ly 1941
• Azel Ward Seely, born 28 August 1890, married Ivo Cecilia Rasmussen, died 10 March 1965.

Don Carlos and Hannah Elizabeth were endowed and sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake on 23 June 1881 by Daniel H. Wells. Don Carlos had sparkling black eyes and beautiful black hair, worn long as was the custom of the day, curled close to his head. He had three fingers partly cut off with an ax. The index finger grew sideways so it lapped over onto the second finger. Although Don Carlos was not a robust man, his main occupation was farming. He worked on the thresher until the season ended, and he herded cattle, usually in Thistle Valley, In the summer of 1863, the Mt. Pleasant dry stock and sheep were taken into Thistle Valley, It was rumored that the Indians intended to make a raid up there. One night, Don Carlos and three other young men rode horseback to the Thistle Camp. The herdsman, D. C. Rowe, later reported that, "If we had not received timely help, we might have been murdered." The Seelys, though never wealthy, always had plenty to eat, as they practiced the usual pioneer thriftiness. They built a family home of adobe in Castle Dale, located just a block south of the Coop Store and on the SE corner of the intersection. The legal description follows: "'Lot three (3) in Block eight (8)."' He also owned "Lot two (2) in Block five (5) and all of Block six (6) as platted in Castle Dale Townsite Survey located in SW Quarter of Section 34, Township 18 South, of range 8 east." (Emery County Courthouse, Deeds, Index #14060, p. 116.) The Seely home, still standing (1987), con-sisted of two large rooms on the ground floor (a kitchen-dining-workroom in back, a bedroom-living room in front), an attic and a small "lean-to." At one time, a foundation existed for other rooms, but these were never built. Surrounding the property was a log fence. The upstairs room contained beds with a space for quilting frames between them. Han-nah sent anyone who had spare time to work on the quilts.

The family always raised a large garden, with an orchard mostly apples, sharing place with currants, gooseberries, raspberries and vegetables. The kitchen and family center contained a south window where Hannah sun-cooked her raspberrycurrant jelly. She made butter in the cellar, molding, wrapping and storing it in crockery jars on the cellar floor, selling the extra butter for 15 to 20 cents per pound and extra eggs for 10 cents per dozen. Pork was either preserved in bottles or cured in brine, smoked with apple limbs or green willows, then placed in flour sacks, covered with flour paste and buried in the grain bin. Nothing ever went to waste in the Seely home. Windfall apples were peeled, sliced and dried; split heads of cabbage were made into sauerkraut. Hannah was an expert cook and pastry maker.

She made most of the clothing her family wore, usually shearing, washing, carding, spin-ning, and knitting the wool from sheep the family had raised. She made most of the clothing by hand. She covered the wool in material and tied it for mattresses. In her later life, when she visited her children, she made clothing and knitted black, woolen stockings for them. According to Claire, a granddaughter, the knitted items were sometimes "hated with a vengeance," as they itched terribly. Granddaughter Ruth remembers one gray wool petticoat that she feared she would never grow out of, and it certainly wouldn't wear out. Hannah's house was meticulous, with everything in absolute order. Her most prized possession was a marvelous feather bed, which she seldom trusted anyone else to make; nor did she trust others in her garden, preferring to pick the food herself and then allow others to help process it. Sybil, a granddaughter, remembers being taught to patch, not just any way, but so that she wouldn't be ashamed to have others inspect her work. Sybil unpicked the work many times before it suited Grandmother Seely.

Hannah, "Lizzie" to her friends, was just as meticulous about her person as she was about her housekeeping. Immediately upon arising, she dressed, made her bed, washed her face and hands, then parted her black hair in the mid-die, braided and fastened it into a large "bun" on the back of her head, pulling wisps from each temple, twisting them and fixing them back into her bun. She wore high button shoes until she could no longer find any of them to buy, settling for high-laced ones as a last resort. She always wore a large coverall apron made of the same material as her dress (two per dress, so she would always have a clean 'spare' in case she needed to clean up hurriedly). Though always practical, Hannah had many other qualities that her children and grandchildren remember with pleasure. Lizzie often charmed Claire's little boys with her own version of "This Little Pig."
Ruth remembers how her grandmother liked to travel around to see family members, and that she was allowed to go with her Grandma on many occasions. On one trip with Uncle George and his family to Green River's Melon Days, the group stopped overnight at Woodside. During the evening, Ruth became angry enough with her cousin Louise to bite her. As punishment, Grandma Seely bit Ruth and took away a quarter she had given her earlier in the day. The quarter was returned later for "good behavior." In addition to farming, Don Carlos, like his father before him, became the town surgeon and dentist, while Hannah acted as midwife to most of Castle Dale's early residents. More than one person remembers having his tonsils removed while lying on Seelys' kitchen table.
One son, Marion, was accidentally shot in the head by a cousin. Though probably saved by the Elders' administration and the fact that his old hat was doubled under, Marion also received ample portions of his mother's "buck salve" (a homemade salve of goldenseal, pinegum, mutton tallow and other ingredients) - "just in.

Don Carlos was particularly good at setting bones. One story is told of a man having broken his arm and leg at the race track in Castle Dale. On the spot, Don assisted his brother Orange to set the broken bones. Although he was strict with his children, Don Carlos seemed to understand and love them. Azel, a son, recalled getting only one whipping from his father. "I was about ten and we were trying to get some pigs into a pen. Because I wasn't paying any attention, father switched me with a long willow. Needless to say, I got busy at the job." Grandson Milton Jones remembers a set of tools his grandfather gave him. These were exceptionally well-made for toys, and Milton was proud of them. One quiet afternoon, Milton retired to the shed and began sawing away happily. Fortunately for the shed, a clap of thunder sent him scurrying for protection into the house. He had nearly sawed through all the supporting timbers.

Don Carlos served in the Black Hawk War and had a skirmish or two with the Indians. There is a marker on his grave in Castle Dale, Utah, in honor of his Indian war service. His son Azel told of his father making a trip by ox team to the midwest to bring back immigrants to Utah in pioneer days. In Castle Dale he served as Deputy Sheriff three years, and as Jailor six years. Don Carlos was an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he was not very active or what one might consider a "religious" person, although he lived a good, honest, Christian life. On one occasion, a Bishop Olsen approached him, asked for part of his seed grain, and promised that, if he would give the seed to the Church, he would raise a better crop than he ever had before. When Bishop Olsen's promise became a reality, Don Carlos was so impressed that he frequently told the incident to others.
On the morning of 14 July 1913, after having been to the pasture, Don Carlos returned to the house and changed his clothes to go to Price Suddenly a severe pain, probably a heart attack gripped his chest. Hannah fixed him a "toddy thinking that it would help. He went to the kitchen to lie down on a couch and died a short time later.

After her husband's death, Hannah lived in Castle Dale for another fourteen years, then moving to Price to live near her daughter Lot for the remaining four years of her life. A prominent feature of her new home was a hand loomed carpet she had made herself. Although she took her meals with Lottie's family, she maintained her independence until her death on 1 July 1931. She had gone to Castle Dale for a family celebration for the Fourth of July. After a few days at Joe's Valley, the group returned to town. Seeing a blanket some of the children had placed in the shade of a tree, Hannah la down, intending only to rest for a minute. She fell asleep instead. The morning after she returned to Price, she reported that she was not feeling well when Lottie's family called her to breakfast. The doctor was called, and he diagnosed double pneumonia. She died from the effects of pneumonia several days later. Although Don Carlos and Hannah could never be considered wealthy, nor successful by world standards, they reared six sons and a daughte and earned the respect of all who knew them-no small accomplishment in those times of strug gle and privation. They are respected and revered by hundreds of descendants today Their memory is perpetuated, and they are honored by an annual "reunion" of their posterity which has been held regularly since 1952.

Compiled from family sources by: Maxine Seeley McKee, Zada Thursby Seeley, and Joyce