| Notes |
- Seymour Woodford Orcutt was born December 10th, 1848, at "noon in theday" at Vanceburg, Lewis County, Kentucky, according to the family recordkept by his parents, Augustus C. and Mary Crull Orcutt. Mote, as Seymourwas called, had an older brother, Dolph. Mote and Dolph, unlike theyounger brothers yet born, were old enough to have had memories of livingin Kentucky, on the banks of the Ohio River, before the family began it'sseries of western movements beginning in 1857.
River travel on the Ohio was brisk and varied at this time. TheOrcutt brothers would no doubt have spent a lot of time at the waterwatching people in all manner of watercraft traveling the river. Perhapsthey were treated to "rides" on the riverboat piloted by their uncle,Thomas Collier. No doubt they spent hours at the water's edge fishing,investigating the banks, and being typical boys with a place to playand explore that would be the envy of any kid.
Dolph and Mote would have been expected to help out in the storeowned and ran by their father, and his partner, James Todd. Thisexperience in business without a question was impressed on their minds,for as the boys grew to be men they proved capable of making whateverventure they pursued payoff, be it farming, or operating a retailbusiness.
Although few facts are actually known about Mote's early years, knowingthe times and places he lived give insight into his life.
The years from the time of Mote's birth until moving from Kentuckywere turbulent because of the accelerating controversy over the StatesRights and slavery issue. The conflict was at it's worse on the "borderstates", naturally, because people of both views were living literallyside by side. Many friends and even relatives split over the issues fastcoming to a head. This must have been an exceedingly hard time forAugustus Orcutt, born, and with ties in the north, a member of the Whigand Republican political parties, and raised in the south. Some of thefamilies that were married into the Orcutt family at that time had strongties and loyalties with the people of the south.
In 1857, with the threat of succession and war becoming more and moreimminent, Augustus decided to move the family out of Kentucky. It was tobe more than 10 years before the family would finally locate for anylength of time in one place.
Seymour Woodford Orcutt married Martha Ann Yocham late in 1869, orvery early in 1870. The Orcutt family settled on the White River inMarion County, Arkansas on land bought from Martha's father, JacobYocham. The day of the land transaction, January 8 1870, was Martha's18th birthday. Martha had pale blonde hair and black eyes.
Mote and Mat, as Martha was known, lived for a while in MarionCounty. Their first son Adolphus De Lorraine was born at Orcutt Flat inJan 1872. Sometime after this, and before 14 Dec 1873,when the nextson, James Emery was born, they had moved to near Independence,Montgomery County, Kansas. Mote had obtained a farm in Sycamore Twp, andwas farming it by late 1872. Two more sons were born while the familywere living in Montgomery, They were Augustus Theodore, (Dode) born20 Oct 1875, and, Andrew Murray, born, Nov 1879. In late 1880, or early1881 Mote moved the family back to Orcutt Flat in Marion,, Arkansas.Mote had kept his farm in Arkansas while the family had been living inKansas.
The next event in the family was the birth of Seymour "Moat"Jr. inApril of 1882. The next son, Charles Lee, was born in Oct 1886. Theonly girl to survive infancy was Mary Louise, born Jan 1892.
Moat and Martha bought and sold land in Marion, many times in the nextten year period. On May 6, 1898 they signed a Mortgage With Power ofSale in favor of the Keet and Roundtree Dry Goods,, Springfield, Mo.,in the amount of $589.89 for stock to open a new dry goods store inOakland, as Orcutt Flat had come to be known.
In the Marion County newspaper, The Mountain Echo, October 27, 1898in the Oakland items ran a short paragraph saying that; "Mr. S.W. Orcutthas a new dry goods store just completed and is ready for business."
Dode Orcutt would later relate of experiences growing up on the WhiteRiver. One thing he and his brothers would do was to jump horses off froma cliff into the river. Dode and his brothers fished the White River,and enjoyed hunting the surrounding countryside.
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Old Dead Relatives
1848 - 1901 (52 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
