Biography of James Hayden Seale, second sheriff of Union Parish Louisiana Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by T. D. Hudson, 9/2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================= Biography of James Hayden Seale, second sheriff of Union Parish Louisiana Researched and written by Timothy D. Hudson ================================================================================== James Hayden Seale was born on 18 March 1814 in Fairfield District South Carolina, the son of James Seale and his first wife, Rachel. James H. Seale moved with his family to Butler County Alabama during the winter of 1820 - 1821, settling about one mile west/northwest of the present-day City of Greenville. James H. Seale moved with his siblings a few miles northwest into Lowndes County Alabama in the early 1830s; he purchased his own plantation there from the government in 1835 at the age of twenty-one years. During the 1836 Creek War between the United States and the Creek Nation, James H. Seale served as a private in Elmore's Company, 1st Battalion Alabama Militia Infantry. James' older brother Ransom Seale also served in the military during this minor conflict. In late 1835, Colonel Matthew Wood, a tavern owner at Fort Dale (near Greenville in northern Butler County Alabama), left Alabama and made his way west to northern Ouachita Parish Louisiana. He purchased government land in Monroe in January, and apparently spent the year there. He was apparently on a scouting trip, investigating the suitability of making a permanent move to north Louisiana. On 13 December 1836, Colonel Wood purchased additional land in north Louisiana, and then made a quick trip back to Lowndes County Alabama. In preparation for returning to Louisiana with Colonel Wood, on 6 January 1837, James H. Seale sold his 160-acre farm in southern Lowndes County to his father James Seale of Autauga County. James H. Seale's brother-in-law, William Ham, had disposed of his own plantation in December, and Seale's sister Cynthia and her husband, David Ward, sold their Alabama farm on January 13. Colonel Matthew Wood sold his own Alabama plantation on January 14th, and the group soon left for the return trip to Louisiana. Colonel Wood's group made good time, for William Ham and David Ward both appeared at the Ouachita Land Office on 14 February 1837 and purchased government land. Wood's group settled in what was then northwestern Ouachita Parish, between Bayous D'Loutre and D'Arbonne. This region was put into Union Parish in March 1839. That winter, James H. Seale joined his brother-in-law David Ward at the Ouachita Land Office and bought an 80-acre farm that adjoined the plantations of Ward and Ham. Seale already had two sisters living near him in Louisiana, Cynthia Ward and Clarinda Ham. Sometime in 1838 or early 1839, several more of their siblings arrived from Alabama: the eldest and youngest of the Seale brothers, Ransom and Thomas Jefferson, and the youngest sister, Elvira Seale Cooper and her husband Adam Bynum Cooper. Seale came to Louisiana a single man, but on 30 November 1842, he married in Ouachita Parish to Miss Sarah Jane Mobley, the daughter of Elijah Mobley, a native of England. Following the creation of the new Parish of Union, the governing body of the parish, the Police Jury, moved to create a seat of government. They named the new town "Farmerville" after influential early resident Mills Farmer. James H. Seale and his relatives became very active in the affairs of the new parish. At the very first meeting of the police jury in May 1839, Thomas J. Seale was named the constable. James, Thomas, Ransom, and David Ward purchased the first town lots offered for sale in July 1839. After the town was established in 1840, James H. Seale was appointed to work the streets of Farmerville, as tax assessor for 1841 and 1842, and as the "Captain of Patrol" for Farmerville and the surrounding area in 1841. On 2 May 1840, James H. Seale was appointed the first postmaster of Farmerville. In 1841 the police jury paid Seale $100 for digging up 84 stumps, "rolling, piling, and burning logs", and for filling up a large hold on the public square. In June 1843, Seale was given a one-year appointment "to Keep good ORder and attend on the Police Jury". In 1842 or 1843, the Union Parish citizens elected Seale as the second sheriff of the parish. He served in this capacity for one term. He also presided over the first documented execution in Union Parish. On 22 July 1844, the police jury allowed Seale the payment of "...five dollars for erecting gallows for executing to [sic] criminals..." In 1839, James H. Seale purchased property in what was then southwestern Union Parish, today located near the Village of Vienna in Lincoln Parish. It appears that Seale moved his primary farming operation there, some distance from Farmerville and his sisters who lived east of Farmerville. In 1845 when the Louisiana Legislature took the southwestern portion of Union and put it into Jackson Parish, James H. Seale now found himself a resident of Jackson. This perhaps explains why he did not serve a full four-year term as sheriff; by 7 November 1846, Avery Breed had replaced Seale as the Union Parish sheriff. In either Alabama or after he moved to Louisiana, James H. Seale studied law and was admitted to the bar. After stepping down as sheriff, he moved back and forth between Jackson Parish and New Orleans, reportedly working for various firms in the Crescent City. By 1850, he had returned to Jackson Parish, for the citizens there had elected him as their Clerk of Court. With the onslaught of the War Between the States, Seale helped to raise a company of men from Jackson Parish for the Confederate war effort; the unit gave themselves the moniker "Jackson Sharpshooters". The unit left Jackson Parish and went south to Camp Moore for training and to officially enter the Confederate Army. The men officially elected Seale as their captain on 13 Auguat 1861. The Jackson Sharpshooters became Company H, 12th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, the only Louisiana infantry regiment with twelve companies. They regiment initially went to Kentucky and became part of the garrison at Columbus They crossed the Mississippi River and to participate in the Battle of Belmont, but they arrived too late to see any action. With the Confederate evacuation of Columbus, the 12th Regiment when to New Madrid and Island No. 10. They helped repulse several Yankee naval attacks in early March before moving to Fort Pillow on March 17. The men withstood a nearly six-week bombardment by Yankee gunboats at Fort Pillow. After the Confederates evacuated it, the 12th Regiment went to Grenada, Mississippi. Captain James H. Seale resigned from the Confederate Army on 22 April 1862. Reportedly, he resigned due to poor health. A biography written and published by Alcie Fortier states that Seale suffered from exposure during the war. This may have contributed to his death between 1865 and 1870. According to the Fortier biography, James Hayden Seale and Sarah Jane Mobley had only two daughters, Mattie Mae Seale, who died at three years of age, and Amanda E. Seale, born about 1845. She married in the latter 1860s to W. T. Theobalds of Monroe. Amanda E. Seale Theobalds did not have any children of her own who survived to adulthood. She adopted Sarah Theobalds (9 June 1873 - 7 June 1935) who married Stephen Lee Fuller (10 Dec 1872 - 13 Mar 1951). James H. Seale left his widow in fairly good financial standing, despite the economic impact of the War Between the States. At her death in May 1914, Sarah Jane Mobley Seale owned Hamilton Plantation on Island DeSiard near Monroe and several other plantations on Bayou DeSiard. ================= REFERENCES: 1) United States Censuses of 1820 - 1910 2) Butler county Alabama Will Book 1, pp. 143 - 146. Also Probate Book 4, pp. 105 – 107, 165 – 166, 574 – 575, and Probate Book 5, pp. 131 – 134, 305 – 307. 3) Cahaba, Alabama Land Office Cash Entry #22900, 22937 for land sold to James H. Seale 4) Lowndes Co AL Deed Book 2, p. 600, James H. Seale to James Seale 5) Union Parish Police Jury Minutes, Book One, 1839 - 1843. 6) United States Postal Commission Records for Union Parish Louisiana, National Archives. 7) Biographies by Alcie Fortier 8) Tombstones from the Monroe City Cemetery 9) Ouachita Parish LA Probate Docket #1360 and also Succession Book 33, p. 431 and Book 36, p. 643. 10) Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units 1861 – 1865, by Dr. Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr., Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1989. 11) Compiled Military Service Records, National Archives. #################################################