NOTE: Click on the documents to see a larger version.
Letters of Richard Seaver(s) of Skerries
Richard Seaver, son of Michael Seaver and Rose McCann, of Church Street, Skerries, emigrated to America in 1859 or 1860, with his cousins, Michael and Stephen Owens (brothers of Anne Owens, who married Thomas Seaver in 1841 - see Family Tree section). They found work in a tannery the State of Massachusetts. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and conscription was introduced, the Owens brothers returned to Ireland. Richard, however, remained on and was soon drafted into the 2nd Massachusetts regiment of the Union army.
While he was in America, he wrote several letters home to his parents in Skerries. They are a chronicle of his experiences as an emigrant worker and as a soldier, over a very important 4-year period in American history. Sadly, he was killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 and is buried in the military cemetery adjacent to the site of the battle. His name also appears on two of the headstones of the Seaver families in Lusk cemetery.
Thanks to the painstaking research of Fr. Paul Seaver O.P., of Providence College - himself a descendant of the Balbriggan Seavers - six of these letters have been found in the American Military Archives. Copies of the originals, written in Richard Seaver's own handwriting, are shown here. An annotated edition of the letters, under the title "To Hell or Gettysburg", has been produced privately by Bill Teague in America.
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Speech of Peter Seaver to the 2007 Seaver Family Reunion
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PDF Documents
| “Jonathan
Seaver” Written by Beebe Barnett 1997 |
“Dear Douglas” Autobiographical letter by Minnie Seaver Stockdale 1887-1970 |
“Minnie
Stockdale her story” Mexico 1968 |
