Reverend James Matthew Seay, Sr.

Dna testing has shown he is NOT the son of Mathew See or the brother of Isaac Seay of King William. His Haplogroup is I-M253 which is a strong indication of Norman descent.

James Seay

James Seay was the brother of Jacob Seay and Abraham Seay II. and was an adult in the 1730's25 when
he was active in Amelia County and he was alive as late as 1748 26when he sold land to three of
his sons. He must have been born between 1690 and 1700. The children of James Seay were the following ones: 27

• Jesse Seay b. est. 1717
• James Seay, Jr. b. est. 1718
• Gideon Seay b. est 1720
• Phoebe Seay b. est 1721
• Mary Ann Seay28 b. est 1724

Interestingly, James Seay, Jr., had a son born in 1763 whom he named Matthew. James, Jr. had another son named James who also named a son Matthew as did James' son Reuben. James' daughter Mary Ann married Col Benjamin Wilson and they also had a son named Matthew. This is a bit confusing but it makes for four Matthews in two generations for this family -- one son and three grandsons. Many of James Seay's descendants eventually migrated to South Carolina and Tennessee.

25 Various Amelia County records including Court Order books, Deed books and Will books document James Seay's presence in Amelia County from 1737 onward.

26 Virginia Colonial Abstracts, p. 460.
27 Utah Genealogical Services, Salt Lake City, Utah, Research Report October 18, 1992. List of children taken from estate settlements and wills. "By adding the dates of known events from records such as marriage records and events where the person must have legally been an adult (such as when they sold land), we can prove that all the Seays belonging to these families...have been accounted for".
28 Mary Ann Seay married Col. Benjamin Wilson in 1754 and became Mary Wilson. Interestingly, the legend of Abraham de Saye declares that his wife was named Mary Wilson. Is this the source of the de Saye legend in so far as the name of Mary Wilson is concerned?
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James Seay, Sr., is presumed to be a brother of Jacob Seay based upon DNA testing of known descendants, the fact they owned land in Amelia County, VA and the proximity of their births, estimated.

Will of James Seay (Sr) of King William County, VA, dated February 15, 1752, found as part of the old Chancery Court records of Amelia County, VA in the 1758-001 case of Samuel and Phebe Ridgeway v. Hubbard, Seay et al. It turns out that Phebe, the daughter of James Seay, Sr. believed her brother James Seay, Jr. was not accounting for all of the estate of old James. She brought suit to force her brother, who was serving as one of the Executors, to render an accounting to the court. The problem was that the Sheriff was unable to serve young James and returned the summons remarking that James Seay Jr. was not an inhabitant of Amelia County, nor apparently were any of the other Executors. So the case came to a sudden halt.

In his will, James makes provisions to the following named children in order as follows: Gideon Seay, John Seay, James Seay (Jr.), Jesse Seay, Phebe Ridgeway, _erviah Breedlove and Anna Seay.

In his will, James also discusses his wife and the property she inherited under the will of her former husband, Nathan Breedlove, deceased. So we can say that James married the widow of Nathan Breedlove and prior to the marriage, they entered into a prenuptial agreement dated January 5, 1746 to protect the property which she had inherited through her former husband, Nathan Breedlove. Based on the reference to the prenuptial agreement, one may assume (1) that James and the widow of Nathan Breedlove married in the year 1746; (2) those children born to James prior to 1746 must have been children of James and a prior wife whose name we have not yet discovered; and (3) Jerviah Breedlove was most probably a child of the widow Breedlove and Nathan, who came into her second marriage to James Seay--with Jerviah.

The will is available to read online at the Virginia Memory website through the Library of Virginia. A readable copy is posted here in the sources.

One other interesting case of record: Benjamin Hubbard and James Seay, Jr., as Executors under the will of James Seay, Sr. brought a legal action in Amelia County, dated August 1757, against Jesse Seay demanding Jesse, who was James Seay, Jr.'s own brother, return a slave belonging to the estate of their father, James Seay, Sr. See Order Book 5, 1747-1760 13 34-35, abstracted in the book Cavaliers & Pioneers by Nugent.

James Sr apparently lived his life for the most part in King William County, VA, but he had acquired land in Amelia County as well, where his sons, Gideon, Jesse and James Jr. had migrated. James Sr deeded each of them land where they lived in Raleigh Parish, Amelia County, VA: Three deeds, all the same date, July 14, 1748 and recorded in order in the Amelia County Registry: Gideon received 193 acres where he lived, Jesse received 200 acres where he lived and James Jr. received 193 acres where he lived. See deed recorded in Book 3, Pages 96, 98 and 99 respectively. See Virginia Colonial Abstracts King and Queen County: Records Concerning 18th Century Persons, Page 460. Thank you goes out to Seay researcher, Vi McAllister for compiling a list of interesting Seay family documents.

From genealogy.com: (This was post probably prior to DNA confirmation showing James and Jacob are NOT related to Matthew and his son Isaac Seay).

"James Seay is one of 3 persons by this surname in King Wiliam County and later, in the 1730's, in neighboing Amelia County to the South -- Isaac, James and Jacob Seay.

James had a brother named Jacob --not much doubt about that as there are a variety of Amelia County records that connect the two of them.

Some take the position that James and Jacob were brothers of Isaac Seay, while others dispute this position.There is no concrete evidence either way. On the one hand, they were all in the same general neck of the woods, they all have the same surname and they are all of the same generation. On the other hand, there is no documentary evidence linking Isaac with James and Jacob.

The father of Isaac Seay was Mathew See/Seay, the Irish immigrant. No doubt about this as there are documents that support this. "