Mary Curran (Seddon) [DS.9]
Born in Chicago in January 1857.
Died in Missouri in 1923.
Burial in "The Pickers" (now called Gateway Gardens) in St. Louis in 1923.

Marriage Record16

STATE OF MISSOURI
City of St. Louis		 [Stamped] 553
No.9182

                           THIS LICENSE authorizes any Judge, Justice of the Peace, Licensed or Ordained Preacher of the Gospel, or other person authorized under the Laws of the State, to solemnize marriage between Harry Seddon of the City of St. Louis and State of Missouri who is over the age of twenty-one years, and Miss Mary Curran of the City of St. Louis and State of Missouri who is over the age of eighteen years.

WITNESS my hand as Recorder, with the seal of
office hereto affixed, at my office in the
City of St. Louis, the 1st day of November 1883
           Thos F. Farrelly Recorder
                B. Kinney dy

STATE OF MISSOURI
City of St. Louis

                                                This is to Certify that the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace did , in said city and State, on the First day of November A. D. 1883, unite in marriage the above-named persons.

  James McCaffery
622 Olive St.

Filed for Record this 5th day of November 1883

  Thos F. Farrelly Recorder.

 

Census Data
1 June 1860: Ward 10, Chicago IL (Census Roll 168, page 518, line 24: "Mary Curan", Age 3, Female, Born in Chicago. Page 519, line 5, "Mary Curran", Age 4, Female, Born in Chicago.)
1 June 1870: E Division, Ward 6, St. Louis, MO (Census Roll 816, Page 249, Dwelling No. 1643, Family No. 1895, Line 29, "Curran, Mary", age 15, Female, White, Occupation: Domestic, born in Missouri)
1 June 1880: 1417 Broadway, St. Louis MO (Census Roll 727, E.D. 77, page 5, line 1, age 20, single, Seamstress, born in Illinois, "Mary Curran".)

 

1 June 1900 Census: Roll 892, , E.D. 141, sheet 14A.
Enumerated 11 June 1900. Family No. 295
2830 Jefferson Avenue, Ward 9, St. Louis MO

Line
 Person   Date of
Birth		 Age Mar.
Stat		 Yrs
Marr		 Child
Tot/
Live		 Birth Place
Pers/Fath/
Moth

Job

46
 Seddon Harry G. Head Jan 1851 49 M 16   Eng/Eng/Eng

Pipe Fitter

47
 ___ Mary Wife Jan 1857 43 M 16 4/4 IL/Ire/Ire  

48
 __ Louisa Dau. Jan 1888 12 S     MO/Eng/Ire

At School

49
 ___ Harry Son Nov 1893 6 S     MO/Eng/Ire  

50
 _ Thomas Son Dec 1895 4 S     MO/Eng/Ire  

51
 Seddon Richard Son Jan 1899 1 S     MO/Eng/Ire  

 

Mary [DS.9] was about 4 years old when the Civil War started. She was about 8 when it ended. Her childhood must have been made difficult by the fact that her sister Sarah [DS.2] was a nurse in the Confederate Army of Missouri while her brother George [DS.1] was a soldier in the Union Army. She no doubt worried about both of them.

At the time of the census of 1 June 1870, Mary [DS.9] was employed as a domestic servant in the same household as her sister Sarah [DS.2]. Apparently, Mary developed her sewing skills in that job and was working as a "seamstress" at the time of the census in June 1880.

On 1 November 1883, Mary Curran married Harry G. Seddon [DS.9S] (a pipefitter born in England in Jan 1851). The Census of 1900 recorded that he had immigrated in 1855 and was a naturalized citizen. Both parents were born in England. The oral history among the Currans in St. Louis said that Harry [DS.9S] had been an officer in the Confederate Army.1 That could not have been so since Harry [DS.9S] was apparently only 10 years old when the war started. On the other hand, it was not unusual to have a person's age misstated in the census records.

Although I do not see a wedding ring, this photo of Mary has a note on the back which says "compliments of Mary Seddon to her brother".  Since I would expect Mary (a seamstress) to wear the latest fashion in hats for this formal photo, my guess is that the photo was taken shortly after her marriage in 1883.

I note that Mary has unusually long fingers.  I wonder whether this characteristic has been inherited by any of her descendants.

I have been told that the Seddon family has roots in several towns in Lancashire, England, including Wigan, St. Helens, and Prescot.

I have not yet been able to find Harry [DS.9S] in the census of 1860 but I noticed numerous Seddon families in Salt Lake City. I presume that they were all Mormons although there were probably very few Mormons in England at that time.

There was little North-South conflict in Saint Louis in 1883 except politically.1 The Confederate Sympathizers (mostly Democrats) were for states rights. The Union sympathizers (mostly Republicans) were for a strong federal government "which, as we are living to learn, is mighty expensive1." (Of course, the positions of the two parties were reversed by the end of the twentieth century.)

 

Mary [DS.9] and Harry G. Seddon [DS.9S] settled in St. Louis and had four children, first a daughter and then three sons who were remembered as "Tom, Dick, and Harry"1:
DS.9.1 Louise Seddon [DS.9.1] (b. Jan 1888) married a brewery worker and had two sons.
DS.9.2 Harry R. Seddon [DS.9.2] (b. Nov 1893) never married. He was already deceased when I visited Saint Louis in 1980.
DS.9.3 Thomas  Seddon [DS.9.3] (b. 25 Dec 1895) was a "milk driver" who delivered milk to individual homes. circa 1915, Tom [DS.9.3] married Ida Murphy [DS.9.3S] (b. 1892) and had four children:
  DS.9.3.1 Thomas H. Seddon, Jr. (9 Oct 1916—4 Jan 2002)

Tom Seddon [DS.9.3.1] married but had no children. He served in the U. S. Navy during World II.
  DS.9.3.2 Laverne Alice Seddon (b. circa 1918, d. of a heart attack circa 1974) married a Mr. Azzanni and had at least one child:
[DS.9.3.2.?] George Angelo Seddon Azzanni who married Sandy.
  DS.9.3.3 Mary Louise Seddon (18 Aug 1927—30 Jul 1955) who married Patrick Joseph Sweeney (12 Oct 1925—8 Jan 1989) on 21 Jun 1947.  They had three children: Patrick, Timothy, and Sharon.
  DS.9.3.4 Harold Richard "Harry" Seddon (5 Aug 1925—18 Dec 1957)
DS.9.4 Richard B. Seddon (30 Jan 1899—21 Feb 1988)
Soc. Sec. No. 500-46-746019

Dick Seddon [DS.9.4] was employed as a guard in a jail. Sometime after 1920, Dick [DS.9.4] married Clara but had no children. Clara was still living in April 1980.

 

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