Eliza (Sornberger) Pierce Sanford and Her Descendants - Part 7
Merritt and Lizzie's Children
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| Figure 10. Isaac Seeley Photograph from Colorado State Penitentiary [105] |
By mid-1892, Isaac, Sophie and their son George were living in Colorado, when the family fortunes took a dark turn. [106] On 20 June 1893, while Issac was working as a foreman at Gardens Ranch in El Paso County, he was arrested and charged with forgery and larceny. He was accused of forging checks and using the proceeds to gamble. [107]
Isaac
was sentenced to three years in the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City,
Fremont County on 16 September 1893. He arrived at the prison the following day
as inmate number 3292.
At the time of his imprisonment, Isaac was twenty-eight
years old, five feet six inches tall, had a medium complexion with hazel eyes
and dark brown hair. He was a bookkeeper by profession. His wife Sophie Seeley
was living at 1129 29th St. in Denver. He was born in New Haven, CT, and both
his parents were deceased. This was Isaac’s first time in prison. He could read
and write, was temperate (did not drink alcohol) and used tobacco. He had
several distinguishing marks, including a false upper front tooth, two moles
between his shoulder blades, a scar on the tip of his left fore finger, and
scars on both knees and his right hip. [108]
In the 1890’s, conditions at the Colorado State Penitentiary were harsh. The focus was on punishment, not rehabilitation. “The traditional picture of men in stripes, under heavy guard, on the proverbial rock pile was not an exaggeration. The ball and chain, bread and water diets and solitary dungeon treatment, though seldom effective, were in common use.” [110]
By the time Isaac arrived at the prison, there were two
large buildings with cells for prisoners. Inmate labor was used for everything
from quarrying and cutting the stones used to build the prison walls and
towers, to working on nearby farms. There were also shops for making leather
goods, straw mattresses, and soap. [112]
Isaac worked as a bookkeeper for the prison steward and as an
assistant in the prison school. [113] One of his fellow inmates, and possibly a student in the school, was Anton
Woode, an eleven-year-old boy, convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced
to twenty-five years in prison in April 1893, a few months before Isaac was
convicted. [114]
A few weeks after Isaac’s conviction, on 3 October 1893, Sophie C. Seeley filed a complaint seeking a divorce from her husband Isaac Seeley in the County Court in El Paso County, Colorado. In her complaint, Sophie stated that she had resided in Colorado for at least one year prior to filing the complaint. She sought the divorce on the grounds that “the defendant was duly convicted under his plea of guilty, of the following, to-wit, the crime of forgery and duly sentenced by said Court to confinement in the State’s prison of said State for the period of three years and in pursuance of said sentence, the said defendant is now confined in said State’s prison,” [116] She also sought custody of their son George, age six. [117]
Isaac Seeley filed a Demurrer with the court stating that
the facts presented were not sufficient grounds for divorce, and that he denied
the allegations presented.[118] At the time, Colorado law provided “Where
either party has been convicted of a felony, it shall be lawful for the injured
party to obtain a divorce and dissolution of such marriage contract.” [119]
The case was tried on 6 January 1894 in Colorado Springs
before a three man jury that found “the
issues herein joined in favor of the plaintiff, Sophia Seeley, and we find the
defendant, Isaac Seeley, has heretofore been convicted of a felony, and we
further award plaintiff the custody of the minor child, George Seeley.” [120] Interestingly, the
same day Sophie was granted her divorce, eleven women registered to vote at the
county clerk's office in Colorado Springs. Colorado had enacted Women's
Suffrage by referendum the previous year. [121]
In general, divorces were not particularly common in the
late nineteenth century. Nationwide, the divorce rate was 2.1 per 1,000 people
in 1890, and 1.5 in 1900.[122] Rates in Colorado were much higher - 12.3 per 1,000 people in 1890 and 7.8 in
1900.[123] Of all the divorces
granted nationwide between 1887 and 1906, conviction of a crime was given as
the legal grounds in less than one percent of cases.[124] Sophie was one of a
very small number of women who were granted a divorce due to the incarceration
of their spouse.
Following the divorce, Sophie, and presumably her son
George, lived in Denver.[125] She supported them by working as a clerk. In 1898, she worked at A. T. Lewis
and Son, a wholesale and retail dry goods store.[126] She married Vincent
Gilpin likely on 21 January 1899 in Denver.[127] Within a year, Vincent,
Sophie and George were living in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, where
George was enumerated under his stepfather’s last name.[128]
Meanwhile, Isaac was serving his sentence at the Colorado
State Penitentiary. On 7 June 1895, he was recommended for pardon by the State
Board of Pardons. At the pardon hearing, Isaac blamed alcohol for some of the
problems that led him to commit his crimes.[129] Isaac did receive a
pardon from Governor A.W. McGuire and was released from prison on 12 June 1895. [130]
After his release from prison, Isaac seems to have lived in
several places before dying in Great Barrington in 1905. In 1897, he was living
in Carson City, Nevada.[131] At some point prior to 1905, he worked in Arkansas County, Arkansas as a
superintendent of a cotton plantation. He died of tuberculosis after an illness
of several months at his Aunt Julia Seeley’s home in Great Barrington on 16
September 1905.[132] It is unknown how much,
if any, contact Isaac had with his son George after his release from prison.
103. Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Great
Barrington, Town Records, Marriages, Volume 2., 1843-1899, page 93, number 27,
8 May 1862, Isaac Seeley and Sophia Curtis van Schaack; FamilySearch.org, DGS 007009244, image 348 of 492.
104. New
York, New York, New York, Birth Return, number 503459, 12 October 1887, George
Slingerland Seeley; Historical Vital Records (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/),
image B-M-1887-0503459.
105. Photograph, Number 3292, Isaac Seeley; PDF
received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 1 March 2024.
106. “Complaint,” Colorado, El Paso County,
County Court, Sophie C Seeley V Isaac Seeley, 3 October 1893; images, PDF
received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 5 March 2024, pages 1-2.
107. “Forgery and Larceny,” The Rocky Mountain News (Denver,
Colorado), 21 July 1893, page 2, column 3..
108. “Record of Convicts When Received in
the Colorado State Penitentiary,” page 52, number 3292, 16 Sept 1893, Isaac
Seeley; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 1 March
2024.
109. Fricke
& Company, Colorado State
Penitentiary Canon City, 1893-1894,
photograph Denver Public Libraries
Digital Collections (https://digital.denverlibrary.org).
110. “A Short History of the Colorado State
Penitentiary,” Colorado Genealogy
(https://coloradogenealogy.com/).
111. Inside Prison Looking North,
1885-1895, photograph; image, Denver
Public Libraries Digital Collections (https://digital.denverlibrary.org).
112. Brooke
Johnson, “Back in Time: History
of the Colorado Territorial Penitentiary,” Canon City Daily Record (Colorado), 5 January 2020; CanonCityDailyRecord.com. “A Short History of the Colorado State Penitentiary,” Colorado Genealogy. See note 110.
113. “No Hope For Abe Taylor,” Rocky Mountain News, (Denver, Colorado),
8 June 1895, page 8, column 1, Others Pardoned.
114. Lauren
Scharf and Sarah Hempelmann, “We
Are Canon City: Unlocking the past of Colorado Prisons,” 4 May 2022, Fox21News.com.
115. Convicts In Line, 1900,
photograph; image, Denver Public
Libraries Digital Collections (https://digital.denverlibrary.org).
116. “Complaint,” Colorado, El Paso County,
County Court, Sophie C Seeley V Isaac Seeley, 3 October 1893; PDF received from
Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 5 March 2024, page 1.
118. “Demurrer,” Colorado, El Paso County,
County Court, Sophie C Seeley V Isaac
Seeley, 6 January 1894; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver
Colorado, 5 March 2024, pages 5-6. Colorado, El Paso County, County
Court, Sophie C Seeley V Isaac Seeley, 6
January 1894; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 5
March 2024, pages 7-8.
119. “Instructions,” Colorado, El Paso
County, County Court, Sophie C Seeley V
Isaac Seeley, undated; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver
Colorado, 5 March 2024, pages 9-10.
120. “Decree of Divorce”, Colorado, El Paso County, County Court, 6 Jan 1894, Sophie C Seeley vs Isaac Seeley; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 5 March 2024, page 17.
121. Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado), 7
January 1894, page 4, column 1, Sophie Seeley vs Isaac Seeley.
122. U.S.
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 100 Years of Marriage and Divorce Statistics, United States, 1867-1967 (Rockville,
Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics, December 1973), page 34.
125. For 1894, see Denver (Colorado) City Directory, 1894, (Denver:
Ballenger & Richards, 1894), page 891, Sophie C Seeley; Ancestry.com, image 472 of 692.
For 1897, see Denver (Colorado)
City Directory, 1897, (Denver: Ballenger & Richards, 1897), page. 966, Sophia C Seeley; Ancestry.com, image 496 of
715.
126. For occupation, see Denver (Colorado) City Directory, 1898,
(Denver: Ballenger & Richards, 1898), page 995, Sophia C Seeley; Ancestry.com, image 530 of
765. For A T Lewis & Son, see Denver (Colorado) City Directory, 1898, (Denver:
Ballenger & Richards, 1898), page. 687, Lewis A T & Son; Ancestry.com, image 530 of 765.
127. "Marriage Licenses,” The Denver Sunday Post (Colorado), 22
January 1899, page 19, column 7, Vincent Gilpin and Sophie C. Seeley. Newspaper says license issued. “Colorado, U.S., Compiled Marriages
from Mesa, Arapahoe and Boulder Counties, 1859-1900,” Arapahoe County, 21 Jan
1899, Sophie C. Seeley and Vincent Gilpin; database, Ancestry.com. Compiled
marriages says 21 January in Arapahoe County. State of Colorado,
Division of Vital Statistics, Marriage Record Report, Denver County, Number
23358, 21 July 1899, Vincent Gilpin and Sophie C. Seeley; Ancestry.com, image 8 of
4343. Marriage record
report says 21 July in Denver.
128. 1900
U.S. Census, Missouri, Buchanan, St. Joseph, Ward 5, Enumeration District 61,
page 17, line 33-38, Vincent Gilpin Household; Ancestry.com, image 33 of 64.
130. “Record of Convicts When Received in
the Colorado State Penitentiary,” page 52, number 3292, 16 Sept 1893, Isaac
Seeley; PDF received from Colorado State Archives, Denver Colorado, 1 March
2024.
131. Massachusetts,
Berkshire County, Probate Records, Probate Estate Files, no. 19501 Murtha,
William - no. 19567 Flynn, Margaret, File 19546, Probate of Will, 6 April 1897,
Merret Seeley; FamilySearch.org, DGS
103334486, images 934-937 of 1272.
132. “Isaac Seeley Dead,” Berkshire Evening Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), 16 September 1905, page
2, column 2. Massachusetts, State
Vital Records, Deaths Register, 1905, Grafton to Halifax, Volume 26, Great Barrington, page 188, 16 September
1905, Isaac Seeley; FamilySearch.org, DGS 004292357, image 696 of 1846.
April 2024
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