Introduction: The previous blog, Valentine Seeser – How to Trace One’s Travels, left Valentine Seeser in New York City, married, and a new life. This installment focuses on Valentine’s wife Emma, and her three sons whom Valentine left behind in Kansas City.
Ironically, Emma’s story, as it unfolds, supersedes Valentine’s. Her testimony is a tale of human endurance, personal strength, and fortitude, represented by a woman who survived by the force of her will. Remarkably, if she had not been present on the day the forces of urban renewal showed up to begin the facelift of a city, her story would have been lost in obscurity. If not for the curiosity of a reporter, chronicling the razing of a community, Emma’s tale would have disappeared into dust as the shacks along the West Bluffs in Kansas City were removed.
Researching the Seeser family’s story in Kansas City required reviewing a number of various records, creative detective work, and the use of certain techniques to construct the details of the whereabouts of Emma and her three sons. Helpful tips are provided describing the research process.
Valentine Seeser’s Legacy
Little is known of Emma Seeser, where she came from, her maiden name, her family of origin. Her paper trail is so sparse, she is almost completely hidden. Yet, enough information is found to reveal her extraordinary tale.
Locating Emma Seeser
When Valentine moved to New York sometime in 1899, his wife Emma and her sons remained on the West Bluffs in Kansas City. In 1898 and 1899, Emma rented the same hovel on 815 Lincoln Street where Valentine was living when he was summoned to court to answer for the deplorable condition of his home in 1893. [1]
The Kansas City directory of 1900 shows Emma had moved a few houses down on Lincoln Street renting at number 812. [2]
When searching the 1900 federal census records of Jackson County, Missouri, Emma Sesser cannot be found. However, the enumeration of the 812 Lincoln Street address where she is known to be living from 1900 – 1903, a forty-two year old female dress maker can be found going by the name of Mary Bedell. A study of the 1900 census and directory listings provide clues Mary Bedell was Emma Seeser. [3]
Directory Evidence for Emma Seeser
Kansas City directories from 1900 thru 1903, supports the hypothesis Emma Seeser and Mary Bedell were the same person. Mrs. Emma Seeser is shown renting at 812 Lincoln Street in 1900 – 1902. However, in 1902, two women are listed at the same address in the directories; Mrs. Emma Seaser and Mrs. Mary E. Bedell, living at 812 Lincoln. In 1903, only Mary E. Bedell, a seamstress, is listed at the address and Emma Seeser is missing all together from the directory. Subsequent directories do not list Mary or Emma until 1920, when Mary Seeser “widow of Valentine” is found living at 2309 Guinotte Avenue. [4]
The following chart presents the directory information:
Kansas City Missouri Directory Listings
Mrs. Emma Seeser Mary E. Bedell James W. Bedell Mary Morris
1898 815 Lincoln 912 E. 6th St 1924 Grand Ave [waiter, Thos. Bailey]
1899 815 Lincoln 812 Lincoln 8592 McGee [colored]
1900 812 Lincoln 812 Lincoln
1900 Census 812 Lincoln [dress maker]
1901 812 Lincoln
1902 812 Lincoln 812 Lincoln
1903 812 Lincoln [seamstress]
The 1900 directories listed James W. Bedell and Mary E. Bedell living at the 812 Lincoln Street address suggesting the two were married.
A Jackson County, Missouri marriage provides a clue. On 22 June 1898, James W. Bedell and Mrs. Mary Morris were granted a marriage license and certificate by the Jackson County Clerk’s office. The documents do not record the ages of the couple, only that they were over the age of 21, and no residence is recorded, except they were residing in Jackson County. [5]
The Kansas City Journal published notice of the couple’s license listing James age 52 [1846] and Mary, age 45 [1853]. [6]
1900 U.S. Federal Census
Scrutinizing the 1900 federal census for the 812 Lincoln Street address where Mary Bedell is numerated, she had been married for three years, circa 1897. The enumeration was completed on 7 and 8 of June. The marriage was performed by the justice of the peace on 22 June 1898, but was not officially filed in the county until 4 Oct. 1898, at least three months after the nuptials. There may be an explanation.
War With Spain
In the spring of 1898, patriotic fever was running rampant in Kansas City after war was declared against Spain and local plans to recruit volunteers for the Spanish-American War were underway.
Spanish American War Parade – Kansas City
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
A local resident, who was well known in the area, Colonel H. H. Craig had anticipated for weeks the outbreak of hostilities and had been actively engaged in creating a regiment of soldiers from the area. Craig gathered friends and acquaintances in secret meetings at the New York Life building to hatch a recruiting plan. The men who attended the secret meetings were the “prime movers in the new regiment” and described as the “pride of Kansas City” with previous military experience and well known professional men. The members of this group Craig determined to be his officers with Craig as their commander. Once a declaration of war was announced, the Colonel and his associates began their recruiting efforts in earnest with an office on the corner of Ninth and Central streets where the First Regiment of Missouri volunteers were to be enlisted. [6]
With a fife and drum corps furnishing “martial music” the recruiting office “filled with patriots, whose enthusiasm knew no bounds” began signing up young men for the cause. One of those who signed the enrollment book on that Friday, of 22 April 1898 was James W. Bedell. [7]
Even though James signed Craig’s enlistment book, it is certain he never had the opportunity to go and fight. The First Missouri Volunteer Regiment Craig worked so hard in forming was abruptly taken away from him by Missouri Governor Stephens who placed the volunteers under the Fifth Regiment under Brigadier General Milton Moore in command of the Missouri National Guard. The Fifth Regiment of the Missouri Volunteers never served.
After final preparations were made, the Fifth Regiment was sent to mobilize at the barracks in Jefferson City, Missouri on 18 May 1898. The men were then sent to Chickamauga, Georgia on the 27th for training. By the 12 August 1898, however, the war had officially ended.
At the end of August the regiment was reassigned to another army corps and then sent to Lexington, Kentucky arriving on 6 September. Finally on 8 September 1898, the group left Lexington for Kansas City, being furloughed for thirty days and then mustered out of service at Kansas City on 9 November 1898. [8]
Questions remain whether James was amongst the volunteers who left for Jefferson City on 18 May 1898, given he married Mary Morris in June of 1898 in Kansas City. He could have returned to Kansas City on a furlough to get married. All of this is speculation.
James was listed in the 1899 Kansas City directory at 815 Lincoln Street, suggesting he remained in Kansas City or returned after his unit was disbanded in the fall of 1898.
Yet by 1900 he is not living with Mary Bedell and his paper trail vanishes. In any event, Mary Bedell was left alone once again to fend for her three sons.
Mary Bedell’s Household on the West Bluffs
When the census taker recorded Mary’s information, the column noting the number of her children is marked as zero and seems reasonable as it would reference Mary’s marriage with James W. Bedell. The children listed as her sons would naturally come from a previous marriage. The Mary Bedell household at 812 Lincoln Street included the following members:
Mary Bedell, head, born Jan. 1857, age 42, married for three years [1897], no children, born in Sweden, both parents born in Sweden, dress maker, cannot read or write, own home with mortgage.
George Bedell, son, born Feb. 1875, age 25, single, born in Illinois, father born in Ohio, mother Sweden, day laborer.
Valentine Bedell, son, born Aug. 1882, single, age, born in Missouri, father born in Ohio, mother Sweden, shoemaker.
James C. Bedell, son, born Aug. 1891, age 8, single, born in Missouri, father born in Ohio, mother Sweden, at school. [9]
A study of the names and birth dates of Mary E. Bedell’s three sons, square closely with information known of Valentine and Emma Seeser’s three children namely, George, Valentine, and James. All three sons can be traced to the West Bottoms and bluff area where Valentine and Emma are found, all three residing and working within close proximity to these places.
The Seeser family maintains Valentine and Emma had three children, George Albert, Valentine, and James C. However, few records help to prove this conclusively. But, taking clues from the 1900 census of the Bedell family in Kansas City, along with newspaper articles, directories and military records, a case can be made in support of the Seeser family’s oral history. [10]
The Flood of 1903
After 1903, Emma cannot be found in any directories or census records, but remarkably she is found in newspaper articles related to two major events in Kansas City history, the flood of 1903 and the demolition of the West Bluff community.
A massive flood that inundated the entire West Bottoms area in the spring of 1903 misplaced hundreds of people living in the West Bottoms and West Bluff area.
1903 Flood – West Bottoms
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
Continuous rains in late May caused the Missouri and Kaw rivers to overflow and inundate the entire West Bottoms. Beginning on the May 30 extending to June 1, between five and thirteen feet of water filled the area. The flooding began on Sunday morning, eventually removing bridges, homes, freight cars, and leaving wreckage strewn about blocking the flow of the water allowing the rivers to rise even higher. [11]
Kansas City was “awakened by an awful calamity” breaking the city’s “dream of security” and “intoxication of prosperity” in early June. As the rain descended, the flood waters of the Missouri and Kaw rivers came reaching “a mark above anything on record.” The West Bottoms was described as a “scene of wild desolation” throughout. Contemporary photographs show locomotives, rail cars, and buildings thrown about like match sticks testifying to the violent rage of the flood waters. [12]
1903 Flood West Bottoms
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missoui.
People who were left homeless were sheltered, fed and clothed at Convention Hall in downtown Kansas City where nurses and physicians looked after the afflicted. The Kansas City Star published a list of those finding refuge at the hall. “Mrs. Mary Bedel” and one child, of 812 Lincoln Street, were among those seeking help from the flood. [13]
Just prior to the flooding, Mary, along with many others were pressured to leave the West Bluffs as the city was ready to transform the bluffs into a park. Mary relocated to the Armourdale area on the Kansas side which lay within the Kaw River floodplain, and directly in the path of high water . When the floods arrived, Mary lost everything, and traumatized, she went back to the most comforting place she was familiar with, her old home on 815 Lincoln Street in the West Bluffs. [14]
Genealogy Tips
Simply searching for Emma Seeser in the 1900 census you would never find her. I tried. Even though she was listed in the directories she is missing from the census. But, using the address you can find the enumeration district where the address is located, then you can find which page the address is found in the census record. Using this method, I was able to determine Emma’s name change and find her three sons living with her but with different surnames. Without finding Mary Bedell, Emma’s full story would not have been discovered.
.
Genealogy Tips
Creating timelines of individuals or family members is a helpful tool to organize information, dates, and events. A simple spreadsheet constructed chronologically keeps you organized and a convenient visual of the data collected. Details such as type of record, specific information, location, names, and other categories can be used in your overall organization.
A timeline can also be used as an ongoing research log where you record your findings, notes, and further areas of investigation. Producing an ongoing timeline of the Seeser family assisted in unraveling a rather complicated family story.
Genealogy Tips
The details of the historical setting can aid in constructing the biographical details of an individual. People and communities do not exist in vacums, rather historical events many times influence the decisions and choices people made. Current events places you directly into the time and place an ancestor lived. A natural disaster and political processes greatly influenced Emma Seeser’s story and her life circumstances. Newspapers, diaries, and letters are prime source materials in placing a person in a particular context.
Genealogy Tips
Ultimately genealogical research is determining family relationships based on evidence supported with primary source materials or documents. At least this is the intention behind “good” genealogical work, providing credible evidence to support your conclusions.
A good guide is to question your hypotheses and find evidence that does not support your ideas. It will help you keep honest and prevent a one-sided research approach to prove you are right!
My hypothesis that Emma Seeser and Mary Bedell are the same person certainly makes for a good story, but I had to continually question if my reasonings were well grounded. My research focused on trying to provide negative evidence Emma and Mary were two different people. The presentation of conflicting facts should always be considered.
However, much circumstantial evidence exists to support the idea Mary and Emma are the same person. Unfortunately, this conclusion is based on second hand information and the lack of primary source materials leaves certain amount of doubt. But for now, until more evidence might be discovered, this seems like the most logical conclusion.
Day of Reckoning – Demolition of the West Bluffs
On 22 August 1904, W. H. Dunn, superintendent of parks, with a force of twenty men and eight teams at his disposal, began the work of demolishing homes or removing “any object not a part of the bluff itself.” The efforts to sanitize the bluffs and make preparations for a new park began. Even though all the structures had been sold and repeated warnings given to those still inhabiting the area to leave or “camp on the bluff with nothing but the sky for shelter” a few souls still clung onto their homes. One of those remaining was Mary Bedell. [15]
Dunn had his men mount the roofs of occupied shanties and begin tearing away the shingles to show the park board had “meant business” in razing all the structures. Acknowledging the park superintendent’s seriousness, people began to remove their belongings out into the streets. A reporter was on the scene following Dunn as he supervised the work.
At one point Dunn came across an old woman in tears down near the edge of the bluff. Her home had been “one of the oldest and most tumbledown of all the shanties.” The old woman was “Mrs. Mary Bedell.” She explained to Dunn how she had lived in the shanty for twenty-two years managing to “make that poor place her home.”
When the first edict to vacate the area was announced by the park board earlier in the summer, Mary described how she obeyed the demand, taking all her belongings with her and moved to Armourdale.
When the flood came, she told Dunn “it robbed her of the few things she had” including her chickens and furniture.
After the flood, Mary decided to move back to her former home on the bluff. Having “absolutely nothing in the way of furniture” she had been sleeping on the bare floor. Even though the house was a tumble down wreck, “it was still her home and she cried bitterly when she had to give it up.” Mr. Dunn’s heart was so touched, “He told her she could remain there until she found some other place to go.”
This seemed to comfort her “somewhat” as she started out immediately looking for a new home. In tow with her was her son, James, who would turn twelve the next day on August 22.
West Terrace Park
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Library, Kansas City, Missouri
A week later, The Kansas City Times reported, the West Bluffs were “very dark and forbidding last night” with no houses left standing to shine any light on the now bare ground. [16]
Whereabouts of Mary Bedell [Mary/Emma Seeser]
What happened to Mary or her whereabouts is unknown until 1918. Emma Seeser was listed as the closest relative on her son’s WWI draft registration card, her residence listed as Kansas City, Missouri. In 1920 she is found in the city directory living near the railroad tracks in the Northeast part of Kansas City as Mary Seeser, “wife of Valentine.” Then once again her paper trail vanishes. [17]
Proof Mary E Bedell is Emma Seeser
Indirectly, city directories, newspaper articles, and the 1900 census helps to formulate a fairly solid hypothesis the identity of Mary E. Bedell as Emma Seeser.
1. Mary, in her story to the park superintendent, said she had lived in her shanty for twenty-one years [1883]. Valentine Seeser was living in Kansas City in 1881 and it is certain he was living in the bluff area by 1886.
2. When Valentine Seeser appeared in police court on 1893, his address was 815 Lincoln Street, the same address Mary Seeser and Mary Bedell had been living. The condition of the residence matches the description given in the 1904 newspaper article.
3. The 1900 census lists three sons of Mary Bedell whose ages and birth dates correspond with other records and the family oral tradition these were the sons of Emma Seeser.
4. Mary Bedell does not appear in any Kansas City directories until 1898. This is the same year Valentine Seeser received his inheritance from his father in Cincinnati, Ohio and presumably abandoned his family in Kansas City. This is the same year Mary Morris and James W. Bedell were married in Jackson County, Missouri. Mary may have been purposely trying to protect her reputation as an abandoned wife by reverting back to her maiden name of Morris.
5. Analysis of directories show Emma Seeser, Mary Bedell, and James W. Bedell at the same address in 1900.
However one cannot rule out Mary E. Bedell and Emma Seeser were two different people, but were living at the same address. In 1898, Emma Seeser is listed at 815 Lincoln and at the same time, Mary E. Bedell was listed at 912 E. 6th Street and possible is the Mary Morris who married James W. Bedell.
Mary Morris
Searches for a Mary Morris in Kansas City directories for 1897 and 1898, resulted in only two women; one an African American in 1897, the another a waiter, rooming at 1924 Grand Ave in 1898. This possibly could be the Mary Morris who married James Bedell, but nothing else is known of this person.
Searches for a Mary Morris or Morris family born in Sweden and living in Jackson County provided negative results.
Mary Morris in Cincinnati
However, in 1880, Valentine Seeser was enumerated with his parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hamilton County, his marital status unmarked, but presumably he was single. This presents a problem, as his eldest son George, was born prior to 1880, most likely between 1877 – 1878, suggesting George was not his biological son. A possible solution to this conundrum is found in the 1880 census of Cincinnati, Ohio. One Mary Morris is found enumerated living as a servant in the household of Isaac Simon, with her young son George Morris:
Mary Morris, age 23 [1857], white, servant, widowed, born in Kentucky both parents born in Kentucky.
George Morris, age 6/12, Nov. [1879], servant’s son, born in Cincinnati Ohio, mother born in Paris KY, father born in Kentucky. [18]
The birthdate of 1857 matches the birth date given by Mary Bedell in the 1900 census. The only other birth year for Mary Bedell is the newspaper announcement of her marriage to James Bedell in 1898, where her age was given as forty-five, born ca. 1853. Given Mary Bedell, in the 1900 census indicated she was born in Sweden and parents each born in Sweden, does not match the place of origin described for Mary Morris in 1880. With so little information available, it is uncertain if Mary Morris was the same woman in the 1880 Cincinnati, Ohio enumeration as the Mary Morris who married James Bedell in Kansas City, Missouri.
The next blog post will explore the history of Emma’s three sons, George Albert, Valentine Jr., and James W. Valentine Seeser – What Happened to His Children Part 1
Endnotes:
1. Hoyes compiler, Hoye’s Kansas City Directory (Hoye Directory Co. : 1898) 667; 1899, 751; entry for Mrs. Emma Seaser; “U.S. City Directories, 1822 – 1995,” Ancestry.com ( https://www.ancestry.com, accessed on 16 Aug. 2018).
2. Hoyes compiler, Hoye’s Kansas City Directory (Hoye Directory Co. : 1899) 751, 1900, pg. 812, 1901, pg. 965, 1902, pg. 1050, “U.S. City Directories, 1822 – 1995,” Ancestry.com ( https://www.ancestry.com, accessed on 16 Aug. 2018).
3. Hoye’s, compiler, Hoye’s Kansas City Directory (Hoye City Directory Company, Kansas City., 1899) 751, digital image, “U.S. City Directories, 1822 – 1995,” Ancestry.com ( accessed on 13 Apr. 2018).
4. Hoye’s Kansas City Directory, Mrs. Emma Seaser (Seeser), 1900, pg.882, 1901, pg. 965; 1902, pg. 1050, Mrs. Mary E. Bedell, 1902, pg. 100; 1903, pg. 136; 1920 Kansas City Directory and Business Catalog, (Gate City Directory Co., Kansas City, Missouri : 1920) pg. 1869.
5. Marriage license, James W. Bedell – Mrs. Mary Morris, 22 June 1898, #16423, “Missouri, Jackson County Marriage License, 1840-1985,” digital image, 236744/695672, Ancestry.com ( https://www.ancestry.com, accessed on 22 Aug. 2018); citing Marriage Records, Jackson County Clerk, Kansas City, Missouri.
6. “Marriage Licenses Issued Yesterday,” Kansas City Journal, 23 June 1898, pg. 5, col. 6.
7. “The First Volunteers” & ”In Craig’s Regiment,” The Kansas City Star, 20 April 1898, pg. 10 and 23 April 1898, pg 2. col. 3.
8. “Craig’s Command Increases,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 23 April 1898, pg. 8, col.5.
9. ”Moore at its Head The Popular Brigadier General to Have Charge of Missouri’s Volunteer Army Now Forming,” The Kansas City Star, 26 April 1898, pg. 2. Correspondence Relating to The War With Spain Including the Insurrection in the Philippine Islands and China Relief Expedition, April 15, 1898 to July 30, 1902, Vol. 1, (Center of Military History United States Army, Washington D.C. : 1993), reprint of the same title 1902. “History of Volunteer Organizations” – Missouri – Fifth Regiment, pg. 602, digital images, History.army.mil (https://history.army.mil/html/books/070/70-28/CMH_Pub_70-28_Vol1.pdf : accessed on 27 Aug. 2018).
10. Hoye’s Kansas City Directory, James W. Bedell, 1899, pg. 97; 1900, pg.106.
11. See subsequent case studies for George, Valentine, and James Seeser.
12. “Negligence and Compensation Cases Annotated,” Vol. XI (Callaghan & Company, Chicago: 1916), “Kansas City Flood, 1903,” pg. 8, GoogleBooks (https://books.google.com : accessed on 21 Aug. 2018).
13. “Kansas City’s Calamity,” Word and Way (Kansas City, Missouri), 11 Jun. 1903, pg. 1.
14. “At Convention Hall Over 1,000 Men, Women and Children Were Harbored There Last Night,” The Kansas City Star, 2 June 1903, pg. 3, col. 2.
15. “Is Now A New West Bluff,” The Kansas City Times, 23 Aug. 1904, pg. 6
16. Ibid
17. “West Bluff is Dark Now,” The Kansas City Times, 29 Aug. 1904, pg. col. 3.
18. “U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed on 12 Apr. 2018); card for Valentine Suser, serial no. 272, Local Draft Board 6, Jackson County, Kansas City, Missouri; citing NARA, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, M1509, roll 1683380. Gate compiler, Gate City Kansas City, Missouri Directory, (Gate City Directory Co. : 1920) 1869, digital image, “U.S. City Directories, 1822 – 1995,” Ancestry.com ( https://www.ancestry.com, accessed on 16 Aug. 2018).
