Kinfolks
by Evelyn Flood

While researching the Seabolt family, I noted that a
Malinda J SEABOLT, born ca 1817 in Wilson,Tennessee, had
married William Carroll HUDSON in 1836 in Carroll County, Arkansas
(in 1842 it became Newton County, Arkansas).
This couple are buried at Clarksville,Johnson County,
Arkansas. Malinda was the daughter of John and Martha Mahaly
Kelly Seabolt.

Found John and Martha SEABOLT on the 1850 Newton County, Arkansas
census in Jackson Township,visit 155, living near the
Stephen ROLAND family.
James M Seabolt and wife Malinda E, with children Mahaly and
Melissa K Seabolt, are living at visit 156.
William Riley SEABOLT and wife Sarah Rowland Seabolt are living
at visit 153.
At visit 150 is the John H and Lucinda Seabolt KILLGROVE
family
John H Killgrove, age 43, born North Carolina
(my notes state he came to Arkansas in 1838)
Lucinda, age 34, born Kentucky
Matilda I, age 16, born Tennessee
Mahaly G, age 12, born Arkansas
George M, age 9, born Arkansas
John F, age 6, born Arkansas
James, age 4, born Arkansas
Albert E, age 2, born Arkansas
Malinda E, age 1, born Arkansas

On the 1850 Newton County, Arkansas Census at visit 154 was
the Stephen ROLAND family
Stephen Roland, age 60, born 1790 in Pennsylvania.(came to Arkansas
in 1845 per my notes).
John Roland, age 13, born Tennessee.
(John Roland married Nancy Owens, daughter of Richard Owens).
Rebecca Roland, age 10, born Tennessee
Martha Roland, age 5, born Arkansas

Two of Stephen Roland's children married into Newton County
families. One, Mary Polly Rna Roland married John SMITH, son of
Jeremiah and Margaret Armstrong (Byrd?)Smith.

Found the William Riley Seabolts on the 1870 Newton County,
Arkansas census in White Township.

William Riley Seabolt, SR. had married Sarah Jane Roland
about 1849. Sarah was daughter of Stephen Roland.
Their children were:
William Riley Seabolt Jr.(1851-1874)
Thomas James Seabolt
Stephen Roland Seabolt
Mahaly Jane Seabolt
John D Seabolt
Ezkiel W Seabolt
George Raymond Seabolt; and
Sarah Isabell Seabolt.
("Ezkiel W Seabolt (the only record of Ezkiel was a piece of paper
among William Riley Sr's personal papers where he had written
the birth and death dates of his children. That original paper is
in my files today.")
This information on Ezkiel was sent to me by William Gorman

William Riley Seabolt,SR.served in Co.F,First Arkansas
Infantry( Union Army )during the Civil War and had been
Newton County Sheriff from 1864-1866 after his Civil War Service.
See Note from William Gorman below
William Riley Seabolt, Sr. and his family moved to Texas in
the early 1870s, settling in Ellis County, Texas.

Julia Elizabeth Holt had married William Riley Seabolt,Junior
on 3 March 1867 in Newton County, Arkansas. Married by Peter C
Campbell,the bride's uncle. They were very young: William 17 and
Julia was 14.
Julia was daughter of Asa Nathan Holt, Sr. and Elizabeth Campbell
Holt Lawson Carlton.
Later Julia married Francis Marion Armstrong in Newton County.
There are divorce records in the Newton County Court papers
between Julia and William Riley Seabolt,Junior.

After a short time in Texas, William "Riley" Seabolt Junior wanted
to go back to Arkansas to visit his family and friends.
In November 1874 he set out on his trip back to Arkansas,
wearing a new pair of boots and riding a fine white mare.
Sometime before reaching the Red River he met another traveler,
namely Daniel Evans.
Unknown to "Riley", this Daniel Evans had assisted Jim Reed
(the husband of Belle Starr) in the torture and robbery of an elderly
man named Matt Grayson in Oklahoma Territory two years earlier.
Evans had escaped capture at that time.

John F Simpson, U.S. Marshal in Eufaula, Creek Nation, received
word that an Indian had discovered the body of a young white man
at a campsite along the North Canadian River.
Simpson investigated and found the man to be wearing socks, but no
boots. This young man had been shot in the back of the head.
The young man carried a pocket book with the name "Seaboalt"inscribed
within.
Simpson discovered a pair of worn-out shoes nearby. The killer must
have killed this young man for his boots and for his horse and saddle.
Simpson tracked Evans to his brother's house near Eufaula and arrested
him.

Evans was bound over to Ft. Smith, Arkansas for trial .
Simpson was unable to determine the identity or location of this
murdered man's family,other than the name "Seaboalt"found in the slain
man's pocket book.

Evans was given a trial at Ft.Smith and the jury could not agree on a
verdict. Evans was returned to his jail cell at Ft.Smith to await a new
trial.
Meanwhile, William Riley Senior learned of his son's death from a
story in the Dallas Morning News and wrote to Simpson in Eufaula,
Oklahoma on 22 January 1875 to inquire about his sons burial and to
regain possession of his son's horse and saddle.
The letter had been mislaid and was not read until March.

In April, Simpson wrote to William Riley Senior, informing him that
the saddle was at Eufaula. The horse was sent back to Texas.

Simpson stated that Evans' trial was set for early May with
Col. W H Clayton, U.S.District Attorney of Ft.Smith as prosecutor.

Evans was retried before Judge Isaac Parker at Ft.Smith on 10 May 1875.
At the trial, William Riley Senior testified that Evans ,sitting in
the defendant's chair, was still wearing the very pair of boots which
he had given his son.
He said that at the time he purchased the boots for his son, he had a
similar pair made for himself. Whereupon he raised his pants leg
revealing the boots he was wearing to be identical to those on the
defendant.
When challenged by the defense attorney to prove that Evans boots were
indeed the same pair of boots he had given to his son,
William Seabolt Sr. explained that shortly after receiving his son's
boots, a heel had come off of the left boot and he had used three
horseshoe nails to drive it back on.
When the bailiff asked the defendant Evans to remove his left boot,
the three horse shoe nails were revealed to the jury.

Daniel Evans was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged from the
gallows on September 3, 1875.

So on that date, Daniel Evans, William Whittington, James Moore,
Smoker Mankiller, Samuel Fooy and Edmund Campbell were hung, at the
Ft. Smith,Arkansas gallows, the "Famous Sextet"
The photo on this page of the gallows is a replica of the original
gallows, which could hang six men at once during Judge Parker's
days on the bench at Ft.Smith, Arkansas.

NOTE: William Gorman, a descendant of William Riley Seaboalt, Sr. wrote me
on 27 July 2003. Would like to include his E-mail to me regarding
the Seaboalt Family.
William wrote:
"Actually, Seaboalt is a later variant of the surname spelling.
The emigrant ancestor spelled his name Seyboldt and at least two
generations of his descendants spelled the name Sebolt or Seboldt.

John Seabolt and Martha Mahaly Kelly had another daughter named
Lucinda Calhoun Sebolt who married John Howell Killgrove in Henry
Co. TN in 1834 before moving to then Carroll Co.AR about 1836
following her parents family. John and Lucinda Killgrove can be
found about 3 houses from her brother William Riley Seabolt in the
1850 census of Jackson Twp, Newton County, AR. Lucinda is reported
by her descendants to have handwritten a personal history of her
family and she spelled her last name as Sebolt or Seboldt, depending
upon the source you read.
I have set up a Killgrove surname on the GenForum message board
.....not many Killgroves out there."

"Only during the past 100 years has the
spelling Seabolt actually been used by some of this family who
erroneously assumed that the original was Seabolt...since there
really is a German Seabolt family. The fact is, that to the best I
have determined, the German family surnamed Seabolt and the
Seyboldt/Sebolt/Seaboalt surname I descend from have no particular
genetic relationship".

More from William Gorman:
"the period of service (William Riley Sr.Seaboalt as Sheriff)must
not have coincided with the calender year.
WR could not have been Sheriff in 1864 since he
was not discharged from Union Army until middle of 1865. He was
still Sheriff in early 1867 because I have a receipt from the
Treasurer of the State of Arkansas dated in the spring of 1867 for
Newton County taxes he collected. I figure his term of office
started no earlier than Jan 1866".

"I have a 98 year old Seaboalt cousin who is still alive and active
today. Her grandfather was Thomas James Seaboalt, next younger
brother to William Riley Jr, who died about 1946. She claims that
she heard growing up that in the summer of 1874, Daniel Evans came
by the Seaboalt Ranch in Ellis County looking for work and actually
worked as a ranch hand for several months and that he and William
Riley Jr left together....Evans heading to Eufaula and the Seaboalt
lad to Arkansas.
Unknown to "Riley", this Daniel Evans had assisted Jim Reed (the
husband of Belle Starr) in the torture and robbery of an elderly
man named Matt Grayson in Oklahoma Territory two years earlier.
Evans had escaped capture at that time.
John Edgar Seabolt, about 76 years old, lives in New Orleans
today. He reports a story from his aunt Evie Seabolt that as a little
girl, she learned to ride on a horse foaled by William Riley Jr's
mare.
The story about the boots must be correct, as it appears in court
records from Ft. Smith. My grandmother told the story back in the
1950s that in fact, it was a pair of home knitted socks which
convicted Evans. These socks had been knitted by his mother and had
the initials knitted into them."(end quotes).
Thank you, Bill Gorman, for the additional information

Evelyn Flood
RKinfolks@aol.com
Copyright(c)March 2001
Printed in the Newton County, Arkansas Times Newspaper in
my "Kinfolks" column.
Write me:
Rkinfolks@aol.com

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