Justus Wellington Seeley

Justus Wellington Seeley, son of Justus Azel Seely and Mehitable Bennett, was born January 30, 1815, Pickering, Canada. Came to Utah September, 1847, John Taylor company. Family home Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

Settled at Mt. Pleasant 1859. Justice of peace at Mt. Pleasant 20 years, member city council 1877-81 and 1883. Member ward bishopric 20 years. Farmer. Died April 28, 1894, at Mt. Pleasant.

Marriages and Children

1. Clarissa Jane Wilcox (daughter of Hazard Wilcox. Jr. and Sarah Seely of Charleston, Iowa, pioneers September 29, 1847, John Taylor company), married March 10, 1842, Charleston, Iowa. She was born October 1, 1821; came to Utah with husband in 1847. Their children:
   1. Orange born February 20, 1843, married Hannah Olsen;
   2. Sarah born April 10, 1844, married W. J. Tidwell;
   3. Don Carlos born January 4, 1846, married Hannah E. Reynolds
   4. Hyrum born March 29, 1848, married Mary E. Goldsbrough;
   5. Justus Wellington born June 25, 1850, married Annie E. Reynolds;
   6. William Hazard born October 25, 1852, married Charlotte Reynolds;
   7. John Henry born April 29, 1855, married Margaret Peel January 15, 1880;
   8. Mary Miranda born June 25, 1857, married Christian F. Peel;
   9. Joseph born March 30, 1862, married Sarah H. Allen;
   10. Stuart Randolph born February 16, 1865, married Millie Nielsen.
2. Sarah Jane McKinney (daughter of William McKinney and Sarah Wilcox) who was born December 23, 1837, in Lewis county, Missouri, married November 17, 1873. Salt Lake City. Only child:
   1. Eva Rebecca born December 6, 1874, married Jens Christian Christensen.

Sources

• Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah photographs, page 109
• Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, page 1152

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• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Mar 17 2016, 23:49:09 UTC

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Justus l,-lellington Seeley, son of Justus Azel and Hehitable Bennett Seeley, was the eigth child in a family of ten. He Has born in Pickering, HomeDistrict, Ontario (Upper: Canada t January 30. 1815. His par-errt s had gone to Canada prior to the viar of 1812 with their family of five small children. During the next few years five more children were born to themon Canada the Seeley's were members of John Taylor's congr-egatd.on (l1ethodist). This group sought ~arnestly for a church ~~ch could be likened to the church established by Jesus Chri st~uring his ministry on e"lrth. vJhen Parley P. Pratt came to Canada in 1836 preaching the restoration of Christ's Church, John Taylor and most of his congregation wer-e converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Justus Azel Seeley family, LncLud'ing Justus \tJel1ington Seeley Ivera baptized into 'ie Hormon Church February 15, 1837. Soon after this event. the Seeley Family moved from Canada to Far ilJest, Hissouri, a pl ac e designated as a gathering place for the saints. Justus ~'lellington and his younger brother'. David Seeley, came overland by wagons containing their householq goods and tools, but the rest of the family came by boat across Lake Hichigan to Chicago, then down the Illinois R.iver to Grafton, Illinois, then up the }assissippi and Hissouri Rivers to Far Hest. Ln August .1838 the Saints were mobbed and driven from Caldwell County. The Seeley family werrt to .Nashv LLl.e, Lee County, Iowa, just across the Hississippi River from Nauvoo and Carthage , Illinois. Here, young Justus 1;~el1ington met and later married C'l.arLssa Jane Wi1cox on }:arch 10, 1842. They lived at Nashville several years where Justus Wellington tv,3~? engaged in lighting and piloting the boats acros s the Keokuk Rapids. He worked also as a cooper, a trade he bad learned from his father in Canada. In NashvaLl.e, three children were born to this young couple, namely: Orange, Sarah, and Don Carlos.

One month after the birth of Don Carlos, Justus t'Jellingtonand Clarissa Jane Seeley attended the Nauvoo Temple and there received their sacred endm-rments February 3, 1846. However , bef'o r e the sealing could be performed, they were driven out by the angry mobs. In the early spring of 1846, this young family along ,dth other homeless saints left their hornes and land and crossed the state of Iowa with ox teams to the His50uri River. a distance of 500 miles. Here they wintered at Pigeon Grqve above Council Bluff, Lowa, Th:::.t l'\linter the people lived in log cabins, wagon boxes or dugouts. whatever shelter they could provide for themselves. Hany died of cold. hunger and dise~<se. 'I'he following summer, Justus ~"ellington Seeley and "life Clarissa Jane and their three small children. his c,ru'ents» Justus Aze1 and Heh.i.tabLe ,sennett Seeley, and others of the Seeley Family, begai thei~ journey across the plains in John Taylor's Company of Hormon pioneers. After experiencing all the trials and hardships incident to that hard and wearisome journey they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 29 September 1847.

The vri.nter' of 1847-48 was spent in the old South Fort Hhich had been built to protect the pioneers from the gerils of Indians and wild animals. The following spring, a son, Hyrum was oor n, Later they moved into a little log house in the Fourteenth vlard. The first f~od they ate whi.ch \v8C3 grown in the Va1ley was turnips arid milk. The See1eys Here living in the Valley when the locusts came to destrOy the crops of the settlers 0 They \vitnessed the miracle of the Seagillls who came in answer to prayers, 3nd devoured the destructive insects.

Late in the Fall (Nov. 2, 1849) Justus Hellington, his brother, David, and Ed'Volin Pet tit started for California to dig gold. They went as far as the ~!ruddy, now called

~oapp2, Nevada, as teamsters f'or a merchant by the name of Pumroy (Pomroy?) who had fitted

out a large freiGht train r)f ox teams at Omahe and loaded them with merchandise to be hauled C:lcross the plains to California. Being too late in the season to cross the mountains of the North Route, he turned South, but when he arrived at the Hud:ly, on account of losing so many of his oxen he unloaded a great part of the merchandise T.oThichhe destroyed. Everything thee] t would sink, axes, hammers, etc , , Has bhr oun into the pool on the east side of the old }~ormoncrossing. At this place Justus T,vellint;ton, David and Edtvin, purchased a yoke ~)f oxen from Pumr-oy, rigged up a cart. placed their blankets, provisions and cooking gear in it and cont inued on their way to California. They reached San Pedro I·'I1 rbor some four hundred miles from the Huddy shere they sold their belongings ahd boarded a. ship bound for San Francisco. After t"elve days travel they arrived in San Francisco and t,orl<:ed in thE streetsj each receiving ten dollars a day. After earning sufficient money for fare, they took a steamboat to S;:.cre.mento, the heart of the gold rush. and wor-ked at digging gold until Jate in the f'a.Ll, of 1650. Then all three returned to Salt Lake City 1.dth Char-Les C. Rich. Amasa Lyman and others.

Upon arrival horne, Justus Wellington found that ano'the r little son, Justus T,vellington Seeley II. had been born into the f'anu.Ly 25 June 1850~ Early in the year 1851 the Church conceived the idea of manufacturing wine for sacr-arnen taL purposes and olive oil for use in ordinance work, so the General Authorities made a call for a company of one hundred men to go to Southern California for the purpose of p1.:.u1ting grape vines and olive trees. Justus ',,'lell.ington Seeley, David Seeley and their families. as well us many other's, left for Californi2 "'>'1 Hareh 1), 18.51. They arroved at Sycamore Grove, at the mouth of Cajon Pass June 11, 18.51and settled in San Bernardino th",t same year. The Church purchased the San Bernardino Ranch and the Seeley family moved there and assisted in building a fort, as vlell as a home for themselves inside the fort.

Other Marriages Justus Wellington Seely was also married: (2) Sarah Wilcox McKinney (KWJB-Q59) 11 October 1869, Salt Lake City, Utah, (mother of Sarah Jane McKinney). No children were born to this couple. Several family trees on ancestry.com indicate that he was sealed to Sarah's mother and her two aunts. His and Sarah's marital situation is unclear and probably was for a short time only. A story on Sarah's Family Search page says that had a temple divorce prior to 1880 when she was back with her first husband and they had a child. In the 1880 census Sarah Jane McKinney is back with her first husband Henry Hampton Hutchison with her daughter with Mr. Seely (Eva Rebecca Seely born 1874 and died 1939 - indexed as "step daughter in 1880 census). Sarah's mother (Sarah Seeley Wilcox) is also in the Hutchison home in both the 1870 census and the 1880 census. (3) Eunice Seeley Wilcox (KWVC-7R3) whom he married 10 Oct 1973 somewhere in Utah.