Dale Taylor Seymour 1881 - 1963

In 1792, a young man by the name of John Granderson Seymour set foot in the young nation of the United States of America. It is unclear exactly where he landed, but it is likely the port of Norfolk because he settled in nearby Person County, North Carolina. He also married into an established Virginia family, the Pulliams. John and Agnes Seymour lives in North Carolina until the early 1830s, then emigrated with their adult children to the newly opened territory of Illinois. They settled in Morgan County and many people across the United States claim kinship to the large Seymour clan. But this post is not about John or Agnes, or even any of their children or grandchildren. This post is about their great-grandson, Dale Taylor Seymour.

Dale was born on 27 August 1881 in Morgan County, Ill. He was the youngest of six sons of William “Gid” (born  26 March 1838) and Lucy Ann Seymour (born 18 Feb 1843 in Morgan County) (Note: these two were the other pair of cousins I was referring to in the previous post, although they were first cousins, once removed). He married Ollie Anne Miner (born 22 Jan 1882) on 30 August 1905 in Morgan County, probably at the home of the bride. (Note: a previous post discussed Ollie and her famous baking).

Sometime shortly after they were married they moved to Colorado. They settled in Englewood and Dale worked as a conductor on a Denver streetcar line.

Their daughter (and my paternal grandmother) Glenna was born in Englewood on 20 November 1906. They moved back to Illinois sometime before 1913 when their next child, Taylor, was born on 12 November 1913. Almost three years later, George Nelson, was born on 19 May 1916.

 Between farming, construction work, and railroad work Dale and Ollie raised their sons. Sadly, Ollie died fairly young at the age of 55. He had a second female "friend" later in life, but he never did remarry.

            

                                               

Dale was a strong influence on my father, Burt Whitlock. Although I was too young to remember when he died (I had not turned two), my sister said that the only time she ever saw Dad cry was when he learned the "Papa" Dale had died. I truly wish I had learned more about him before all the storytellers of the family had passed away (Grandma Glenna and her cousin Evelyn Seymour). Hopefully some family members can recall some stories and post them in the comments. At least I know that I was able to be held by him for a while as the photo below shows.