Copy of a report written by Clay Patterson, FSA Scot, for his portfolio to the Board of Certification of Genealogists, August, 2006.

Other Reports available concerning the descendants of Richard Daniel

CG # 6:  Case Study:  Conflicting or Indirect Evidence

Supply a case study (or proof summary) drawn from your own research, that (a) demonstrates application of the Genealogical Proof Standard, and (b) resolves, in your opinion, a problem of relationship or identity that cannot be resolved from uncontested direct evidence. {Standards 35, 70} 

Introduction by Clay Patterson:  For a number of years I have been trying to find the father of Seaborn F. Daniel, 2^nd Great Grandfather of my wife, Shay Daniel Patterson.  Seaborn Daniel can be found on the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Census in Georgia and again on the 1900 census in Alabama.  He is clearly the father of John Burgess Daniel near whom he is buried in Marshall County, Alabama, as he and/or his wife were known by descendants still living and recently deceased.

            The difficulty has been in finding a reasonable family from whom Seaborn Daniel springs as he moved with some frequency.  He is found in Cobb Co., Ga. in 1850 as a newlywed with one child;  Fulton Co., Ga. in 1860 with a growing family; and in Marshall Co., Ala. as an elderly man.  I have been unable to find him between 1860 and 1900 on any other source.

            My narrative on how I finally found the most likely family to be that of Seaborn Daniel’s falls in the category of (a) assembling and correlating indirect evidence.

CG # 6:  Report on activities regarding assembling and correlating indirect evidence to determine the most likely family to be the parents of Seaborn Daniel of Georgia & Alabama.

            According to his tombstone[1], Seaborn F. Daniel was born 3 January 1829 and died 15 January 1905.  He lies in Brashers Chapel Methodist Cemetery about 2 miles north of Albertville, Marshall Co., Alabama.  Beside him lies his wife, Nancy, who was born 6 March 1832 and died 28 May 1912.  Nancy Daniel is known in the family to be Narcisa (Nancy) Clay born in Cobb Co., Georgia.  The couple’s son, John Burgess Daniel[2], lies nearby in the same cemetery.  He was born 22 July 1849 and died 10 December 1911.

            Family records indicate that Seaborn had several brothers and sisters but only Lige, Bill, Robert & Tom are remembered as having been known by older members of the family in Alabama.

            Seaborn F. Daniel is first found on the 1850 U.S. Census[3] in Marietta, Georgia. Seaborn is living with his wife, Narcisa, and son, John B., as well as Narcisa’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Clay and child.  While Narcisa is known to be the daughter of John Clay, a farmer and land owner, of Cobb County, nothing is known about the whereabouts of Seaborn’s family.  Research performed by this author on a visit to this county in January 2006 turned up considerable information on a large local family named Daniell (with two l’s) but no clues that would relate to a son of this age.

            While family records indicate that Seaborn and Narcisa (Nancy) were married in 1848 in Cobb County, all county records were burned by Federal troops early in 1864.  No records are known to survive according to the County Librarian and the County Clerk.  This information is verified by the librarian at the Georgia State Archives in Atlanta.

            However, according to the librarian at the archives, an interesting law of the era in Georgia required a marriage to be performed in the county of the residence of the bride.  However, no such requirement is made of the groom.  Another interesting fact is that this area, Cobb County, was the home of a large, rapidly growing industry named Roswell Factory.  Young men from miles around were able to find employment if they were mechanically inclined.  It is possible that this factory is what drew young Seaborn Daniel to the county.

            Seaborn Daniel is next found on the 1860 census[4] in Atlanta City, Fulton County, Georgia.  He is a brickmason, apparently working in the center of the booming industrial city of Atlanta.  His brother, Elijah (Lige), is living next door with his wife and children.

            An added note is that a single man, presumably  younger brother, Robert Daniel, is listed only a few pages away, also in Ward 1, as a 27 year old locomotive fireman.

            Many efforts to find Seaborn Daniel, both before 1850 and after 1860, have failed other than finding he and his wife in Marshall County, Alabama, living near their son, John Burgess Daniel, in 1900.  It became time to rely on indirect evidence to attempt to establish the parents of Seaborn Daniel.

            By this, I refer to an attempt to find other members of Seaborn’s family to see if I could place them in a location that would reveal a connection to Seaborn Daniel.

            My first attempt was to locate Seaborn’s brother, Elijah, in 1850.  Several attempts to locate an Elijah Daniel on Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com and HeritageQuestonline.com failed to bring up a match.  Further searching by initials only brought a possible match[5] in the persons of E. Daniel and wife, S.J. Daniel.  While the 1860 census had listed Elijah’s wife as being named Silvey, simply finding the right initials doesn’t fall in the range of ‘proof’.

            It was interesting that the young Daniel couple is found in Henry County, Georgia in 1850 as that is on the far Southeastern edge of modern day Atlanta.  Seaborn had been found in Cobb County, at the same time, about 40 miles North of Atlanta.  While Atlanta hardly existed as a city in 1850, it had not occurred to me that young Seaborn Daniel would have completely bypassed the city to go North to Marrieta, Georgia for work.

            Nevertheless, it became prudent to seek information in Henry county for the Daniel family.  Not insignificant in the above noted 1850 census, is that the couple is living next door to J. McCown and his wife, S. McCown.  It will be noted, in subsequent paragraphs, that Silvey J. Daniel’s maiden name was McCown.  It is possible that this couple next door is her parents however, considering their ages of 73 & 70 respectively, they are more than likely her grandparents.  They were also born in South Carolina.  A young female, S. McCown, age 20 is listed as living with the elder couple and is perhaps another child or grandchild.

            While there were other Daniel families in Henry Co. in 1850, none were of the familiar names I was looking for.  However, I did find a Burgess Daniel[6] just across the county line to the North in DeKalb county.  A 46 year old male, this man would be the right age to be the father of Seaborn, 21, and Elijah, 20.  The interesting aspect though, is his first name, Burgess.  Seaborn & Nancy Daniel named their first child John Burgess Daniel.  As Nancy Daniel’s father’s name was John Clay, it would seem a natural to name their son after both of their fathers.

            Also, of some significance, is that one of Burgess’ sons, living with him, is named Jesse, a name that repeats in every generation up to current times.  To add to this possible coincidence is that another Daniel, John M., age 33, is living next door to Burgess and also has a son named Jesse.  John M. Daniel is very likely Burgess Daniel’s younger brother.

            Encouraged to search for Burgess Daniel in 1840 to see if he had children of the right age so as to be the father of Seaborn and Elijah, I found him (30-39) living in Henry county[7], GA. alongside a possible brother in William Daniel (20-29).  Living next to William is the likely patriarch of the family, Richard Daniel (70-79) and his wife (50-59).  All three are living in Georgia Militia District 888, the same area of the county that was in District 42 in which E. & S.J. Daniel were found in 1850.

            Before getting too far away from the concern over whether E. & S.J. Daniel were indeed, Elijah and Silvey J. McCown Daniel, I’ll digress to note that I had the above information, and more to follow, when I made my aforementioned trip to Georgia in January 2006.  After finding the Cobb County records having been burned in 1864, I headed straight for Henry County to see if local searching would turn up any more information.  A key find was the marriage license and certificate[8] for Elijah Daniel and Silvy Jane McKown (McCown).

            Thus having linked the known brother of Seaborn Daniel to Henry Co., GA, and having established the likelihood that their father was Burgess Daniel, and further, that Burgess Daniel was likely living adjacent to his own brothers and possible father, it necessitated following the family trail further back to assure that these people didn’t just coincidentally land in the same area with no prior relationship.

            However, first it is necessary to explain that Henry County, Georgia is called the “Mother of Georgia Counties” because most of the current counties of Georgia in the Atlanta metropolitan area were once all part of Henry County.  Fayette, Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and several other counties were formed from within Henry County during the time frame of this report.

            On the U.S. Census of 1830[9], Burgess Daniel is found in Fayette Co., immediately South of Fulton Co. (Atlanta) and adjacent to the modern day Henry Co.  The point here is that the location of the Daniel families in 1830 is very close to their location in Henry Co. in 1840 & DeKalb Co. in 1850.  These areas are all suburbs of Atlanta today.

            Burgess and Catherine have three sons in their household.  Of the two boys listed as 0-4, one would be Seaborn (born in 1829) & the other is possibly Elijah as he was born in 1830.  The older boy, 5-9, is unidentified at this time.

            Living only six households away is Richard Daniel, 50-59, and his wife 40-49, both ages relatively consistent with the Richard Daniel household of 1840.  Living next door to Richard is Jesse Daniel, 20-29, likely Burgess’ brother and progenitor of the string of Jesse Daniels found in later generations.  It would be interesting to note at this point that the first born son of John Burgess Daniel (Richard, Burgess, Seaborn, John Burgess) was given the name of Jesse Richard Daniel.

            Several other records found in Fayette Co., GA during this time frame serve to link several of the aforementioned people together.  They are:

7 Feb 1826 – Burgess Daniel married Katherine Nellson in Fayette Co., GA.  Record found in Georgia State Archives.  (No copy obtained)

1 Mar 1833 – Sale of Personal Property of Joshua Norman, decd,  13 Nov 1832.  Purchasers included Richard Daniel & Burge Daniel[10].

19 April 1836 – Mortgage of a slave boy by Burgess Daniel to Lemuel W. Daniel as security for the sum of $100.[11]

16 Jul 1838 – Sale of Personal Property, including Land Lot 55 in Fayette Co., Land Lot 48 in Henry Co., and Land Lot 113 in Fayette Co.[12]  Purchasers include Burgess Daniel, James Daniel and a man named Seaborn Camp (could this man have been the source of the name Seaborn for Burgess Daniel to name his son?)

On the U.S. Census of 1820[13], Richard Dannel (a common pronunciation of Daniel in the South) is found in Walton Co., GA, two counties to the East of modern day Henry Co. GA.  He is over 45 and has up to six sons under the age of 26, accounting for the possibilities of Burgess, Jesse, James, William and others.

It would appear that Richard Daniel likely died prior to 1850 as he is not found on the census.  According to his census records in 1820-1840, he was probably born around 1765 so would have been 75 by 1840.

It was about this time, roughly 1850-1855 that the family seems to have dispersed and the death of it’s patriarch would possibly be the reason.  Seaborn has gone to Cobb Co., north of Atlanta by 1850.  Both Seaborn and Elijah are found in Fulton Co (Atlanta City) in 1860 just before the start of the Civil War.  Their likely father, Burgess, has moved further west and is found near Van Wert in Polk County, GA in 1860[14], a scant 12 miles from where his grandson, John Burgess Daniel will be found in 1880[15].

In summation, with application of the Genealogical Proof Standard, the following brief statements, or conclusions can be made:

1. Seaborn Daniel is the father of John Burgess Daniel
2. Seaborn Daniel is known to be the brother of Elijah Daniel.
3. Seaborn and Elijah Daniel are shown living next door to each other on the 1860 census.
4. Elijah Daniel married Silvey J. McCown in Henry Co., GA. in 1850.
5. Elijah and Silvey are most likely the same E. & S.J. Daniel on the 1850 census.
6. Seaborn Daniel named his first son, John Burgess Daniel.
7. Elijah and Seaborn Daniel are likely the sons of Burgess & Catherine Daniel.
8. John Burgess Daniel & his presumed grandfather, Burgess Daniel live within 12 miles between 1860-1880 in western Georgia.
9. Richard Daniel, Burgess Daniel and William Daniel are living adjacent to one another in 1840.
10. Richard Daniel and Burgess Daniel are living nearby each other in 1830.
11. Richard Daniel and Burgess Daniel are found at the same estate auction in 1833.
12. Each of the relationships noted above are feasible concerning proximal locations and ages.
13. Proximal locations of various father/son, brother/brother relationships are repetitive from 1830 in Fayette Co., GA throughout the decades until 1910 when John B. Daniel lives near his widowed mother, Narcissa (Nancy) Daniel.  They were buried in 1911 & 1912 respectively nearby Nancy’s husband (& John’s father) Seaborn Daniel in Albertville, Marshall Co., Alabama.

Within the realm of utilization of indirect evidence, it is probably accurate to presume the following ancestral relationship of fathers and sons: 

1. Richard Daniel, born abt. 1765 in North Carolina, died bef. 1850 in Henry Co., GA.
2. Burgess Daniel, born abt. 1804 in Georgia, died after 1860, probably in Polk Co., GA
3. Seaborn Daniel, born 3 Jan 1829 in Fayette Co., GA, died 15 Jan 1905, Albertville, AL
4. John Burgess Daniel, born 22 Jul 1849 in Cobb Co., GA, died 10 Dec 1911, Albertville, AL

 Seaborn Daniel