Life History

Notes

• In 1850, Seatha was living in her widowed father's household, the oldest of three children.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Floyd County, Kentucky, 10 August, My District, page 432B, Hse/Fam #305
  Isom Slone 56 M Farmer $1800 Real Estate b Virginia
  Seatha Slone 18 F b Kentucky
  Mary Slone 16 F b Kentucky
  Pleasant Slone 14 M b Kentucky
  
  Seatha married Isom Terry about 1858.  In the 1860 census, they were living in Madison County, Arkansas.  The birth states of the children in the 1860 census indicates that Isom and first wife (named Hughes, as reported in Mary's Find a Grave memorial) moved to Arkansas in about 1854, before the birth of William.  They were living in Madison County, Arkansas, at the time of the 1860 census.  They later lived in Johnson County.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Madison County, Arkansas, 3 July, PO St Paul, Hilburn Township, page 50, Hse/Fam #326
  Isham Terry 26 M Farmer $0 Real Estate $15 Personal born KY Cannot read or write [b abt 1834]
  Ceatta Terry 29 F born KY Cannot read or write [b abt 1831]
  Rachel Terry 7 F born KY
  William Terry 5 M born AR
  Mary Terry 5mos F born AR
  Caroline Terry 1 F born AR
  Polly Terry 60 F Midwife born KY Cannot read or write
  
  Several genealogies try very hard to connect Seatta/Ceatta Justice to Isom Terry.  But the best they have done is wedge her in where the facts do not support her presence.  None of these genealogies provide any documentation for the marriage of Ceatta (or Seatta) Justice to Isom Terry.  Several seem to copy each other to report that Isom Terry married Ceatta Justice August 1850 in My District, Floyd County, Kentucky.  But no record or explanation is presented.
  
  I have found no genealogy that accounts for the name Ceatta as a different wife for Isom Terry from his later wife Celia.  Some have this as another name for Celia, but then link to a Ceatta Justice.  In the 1850 census, Ceatta Justice was enumerated with her parents and siblings in My District, Floyd County, Kentucky.  As we see above, this is the same district where Seatha Slone and her family lived in 1850. Her family was living among the Terry households in that district.
  
  Marriage records of Floyd County, Kentucky, also report the marriage or Seatta Justice to Rhoades Mead in September 1850.  They are still married in the 1860 census, when Isom is also married to his Ceatta.  This alone seems to definitively disprove the possibility of Ceatta Justice being the wife of Isom Terry.
  
  Family Data Collection - Individual Records
  Rhodes Mead
  Spouse Seatta Justice
  Parents Thomas Mead, Mary Polly Hall
  Birth 1830 Floyd Co, KY
  Marriage 30 Sep 1850 Floyd Co, KY
  
  But the two women are not the same age either.  In the 1850 census, Ceatta Justice is reported as only 15 years old, just before she married Rhoades Mead.  In the 1850 census, as Rhoades' wife, Ceatta is reported as age 24, consistent with her young age in the 1850 census just before their marriage.
  
  Meanwhile, in the 1860 census, Ceatta Terry is reported as 29 years old, about 5 years older than Ceatta Justice Rhoades.  This means she was about 19 years old in 1850, in line with the 1850 census of the Slone family above.  So when Seatha/Ceatta Slone and Isom Terry married before Ceatta Justice married Rhoades Mead.  These details must be accounted for in a genealogy.
  
  When we were working on this naming and identification problem for Isom Terry's wives in 2013, one researcher sent her musings to me from her research up to that point.
  ----------------------
  I have started wondering if Isom was married to Seatha Slone.  They live very near each other in the 1850 Floyd County census, but of more interest to me is an old letter written by a grandson of Isom, stating he was married four or five times, once to a Sloan and once to a Hughes.  Since his spelling was pretty bad, I could easily exchange Sloan for Slone.  [These were both common spellings of the same family line. -- OBJ]
  
  According to all the family stories, this Ceatta died during the war, probably around 1863, as the story is that Isom came home from the war and found her dead due to starvation, and the children almost dead.  1863 corresponds to the time he is shown to have deserted.  Shortly after this they move to Johnson County and live under a cliff.  I can’t find them in the 1870 census, but have seen where they lived, so it is very possible the census taker missed them.
  
  It is pretty certain that Isom was married to (or just having a child with) someone named Margaret.  Their child is Jackson Terry and I can trace him living with his mother.  They would most likely have been married either in Madison or Johnson Counties.
  --  Barbara Nelson, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 2 June 2013
  ----------------------
  
  If Ceatta/Seatha Slone did die in 1863, that would match the marriage of Isom during the balance of the war with his other reported wife Margaret.  Margaret bore Isom a son named Jackson born in 1864.  But they later divorced.  After Margaret's death Isom married Celia Davis, who appears to be a widow with previous married name of Hanley, in 1874.
  
  A descendant contributed some strong family information to support the identity of Ceatta Terry.  Their Terry family oral history also claims that her name was Ceatta Slone.
  
  "... in regard to Isom's first wife, Ceatta.  My great grand Aunt Lee (Rachel's child) always told my Dad she thought her grandma was Seatty Slone.  All my life (almost 50 years) I grew up thinking my direct ancestor was Slone.  Only in the last 20 or so years did I entertain the notion and try to make Ceatta Justice fit.  Just last night I asked my father again about Isom's first wife's last name and he again relayed the name Seatty Slone.  I understand this is not proof but it is a valid recollection.  My dad has been talking to "old timers" for about 50 years."
  --  Jami Sue Yarger Brandt, Geneanet Messaging communication to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 27 April 2015
  
  Isom married Celia Davis Hanley in 1874.  This seems to mean that Celia Davis, whom genealogies identify as the wife of Isom Terry, was first married to someone named Hanley,  I have found no marriage record or any record of Celia with the surname Hanley other than this marriage record.  Celia would be the second wife, Ceatta being the first, whose family identity has not been determined.
  
  After Seatha died in 1863 or so, Isom Terry married Celia Davis.  Celia Davis-Terry's birth date based on census reports is about 1843 or 1844, while Ceatta/Seatha (Slone) Isom's birth is about 1831.
  
  "Isom Terry's brother William was married to Seatha Slone's sister Anna. So far my only evidence to support this is William & Anna's census records and a birth record of their son Thomas."
  --  Jami Sue Sapulpa, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 26 June 2016

Sources

• 1. 1860 Federal Census, Madison County, Arkansas
  • 3 July, PO St Paul, Hilburn Township, page 50, Hse/Fam #326
• 2. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • Memorial #112245708
• 3. 1850 Federal Census, Floyd County, Kentucky
  • 10 August, My District, page 432B, Hse/Fam #305
• 4. 1900 Federal Census, Franklin County, Arkansas
  • 9 June, Boston Township, District 187, page 5A,  Hse #74, am #76
• 5. GeneaNet
• 6. Ancestry Messaging
• 7. Gravestone of Presley and Caroline Bowman, Cemetery, Clarksville, Johnson County, Arkansas
• 8. 1910 Federal Census, Johnson County, Arkansas
  • 7 May, Pilot Point Township, District 63, page 9B, Hogansville & Ft Douglas Rd, Hse #154, Fam #160
• 9. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
• 10. 1880 Federal Census, Johnson County, Arkansas
  • 5 June, Pilot Rock Township, District 88, page 6A (scan 260A), Hse #44, Fam #52