Julia Jane Seaman - my G-G Grandmother

Julia Jane Seaman is my paternal G-G grandmother. She is the daughter of William Christopher Seaman (1796-1844), though we are unsure who her birth mother was. We do know her step mother was Catherine Sheffield. Julia was born in Mississippi and is thought to be the oldest of William Seaman’s nine children.  Little else is known about her personal life other than she was the wife of Alfred Burnett and together they had 10 children.

One interesting fact is that in 1849, Julia purchased, in her own name, 2 forty acre tracts of land near D’Iberville, Mississippi. [1]  These 80 acres of land and another 80 acres owned by husband Alfred, were sold in 1855 for $300.  The 160 acres of land are located near I-10 and Hwy 67 and today would be worth a large sum of money.

Her father, William C. Seaman, had a sister named Julia Jane Ritter Seaman, which is likely the source of her name.

This spring, while researching at the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library, I found Julia listed in their obituary index.

Obituary File

This obituary index card referenced an article from the Lake Charles Echo Newspaper. [2] 

Newspaper Obituary

From the obituary we can determine that Julia was born 17-Aug-1820 and died 07-Dec-1880. She died at the home of John R. Morrogh, her son-in-law.  John was married to her daughter Dorinda.  The 1880 US Census shows John Morrogh and family residing in the third ward of Calcasieu Parish, LA, which included the town of Lake Charles.

We have not located a tombstone or cemetery record showing where she is buried.   There are some that suggest Julia is buried in Bilbo cemetery in Lake Charles.  Others feel she could be buried next to her husband in the Lindsey Cemetery in Dry Creek.  When she died in 1880 there were no paved roads or automobiles.  Lindsey Cemetery is over 30 miles as the crow flies from Lake Charles.   Burying her in the same cemetery as Alfred would have meant a several days journey with a dead body. My thoughts are she is buried somewhere in the vicinity of Lake Charles.

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[1] U.S. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office, Patent MS Vol 77 Pg 338, MS Vol77 Pg 384.

[2] “Died”, Lake Charles Echo, 11-Dec-1880, Page 3, from microfilm at Southwest Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library.