Abraham SEITZ

                   Blanche Pratt, 445 South 425 West, Tooele, UT  84074

More family information from Judy Keeler, RR #2 Box 177 Lot 20, Shelbyville,
IL  62565:
     "Man's historical greatness is sometimes not necessarily measured by the
accomplishments of that individual himself but more in terms of the
accomplishments of his children and his grandchildren.  All of us in some ways the sum total of our genes, our heritage and our training.  So we would
remember Jesse Tuck Seitz for his children and grandchildren and their
remarkable contributions to the history of our country.
     "Jesse Tuck Seitz was born April 12, 1809, in North Carolina.  His father,
so the family history relates, was a native of Germany who immigrated into
North Carolina before Jesse was born.  The westward migration of this family
would continue, for by 1830 we find the family in Overton County, Tennessee and by at least 1842 this family was in Carroll County, Arkansas.
     "It was in Overton County, Tennessee that the legacy of the Carroll County
Seitz family had its beginning with the marriage of Jesse Tuck Seitz and Jane
Smith.  Their union would result in the birth of ten children, with six of them being born after the migration into this county.
     "So it was Jesse Tuck Seitz, his wife Jane of 'Jennie' and their four
children, Abraham Augustine, Peter Brittan, Rebecca 'Becky', and Mary Ann who
moved into Section 11, of Township 17, Range 24 in the early 1840's.  After
this migratory move, six other children, Nancy, Jesse Tucker Steel, Lawson
Henry, Martha Jane 'Mattie', Daniel, and Susan Caroline Seitz would be born to this historic couple.
     "Some would no doubt record that Jesse Tuck Seitz was just a simple farmer, like many of his peers during the early history of Carroll County, and not worthy of mention as one of the giants of the first era our story.  But including the marriages of his children and the accomplishments of them and their children in the field of mercantilism, they would set a standard in our history that few have equalled.
     "The limits of space will not allow us to mention each of these children and grandchildren and the inter-family relationships that were created by their marriages, but we would mention many of the historic Carroll County families that became inter-related to the Seitz family.  These would include:  Sisco, Sugg, Walker, Hale, McCollough, Reeves, Wilson, Norris, Whiteley, Sneed, Hittson, Stamps, Boatright, Coxsey, Fletcher, Freeman, Allred, Webb, Boyd, Maxwell, Howard, Nelson, Holmquist, Buell, Stafford, Orrell, and on the list could go.  This list itself is almost a roll-call of honor of the historic families of the county.
     "It was two of Jesse Tuck Seitz' sons, Jesse Tucker Steel Seitz and Lawson
Henry Seitz, who would establish the family name as a synonym for successful
mercantile endeavors in Carroll County when they purchased the former general
store of William Sneed at Osage.  This business also established a pattern of
profession that would continue through at least three generations of the family in a future that was yet to unfold in Carroll County.  Frank Massie Seitz, a son of Jessie Tucker Steel Seitz, would carry this professional career into Green Forest when he founded Seitz's Dry Goods in a future era.  Frank Massie Seitz's children--Ruby Aileen, John Tuck and Joe Chauncey Seitz--would continue this established career pattern into our own generation.
     "'A little better grade of goods for the same money, or the same grade of
goods for less money,' became the hallmark slogan that the citizens of Carroll County would associate with the mercantile endeavors of the Seitz family.  But these words were destined to be more than just words on a sign; they became a code of honor that would be practiced for many, many years by the members of this historic family.
     "So by his personal contributions, training and guidance the children and
grandchildren of Jesse Tuck Seitz helped to create and foster a growing
commercial environment in Carroll County.  His was a classic American story of how the son of a German immigrant found success in the New World, but his is also a classic Carroll County history and we and those who went before us are richer because Jesse Tuck Seitz chose to pass our way.  He was another of the formative giants from the first era of our history."
                  

                   Weidner Book, Sep 28, 1837 Lincoln County, NC Deed Book 39:440, Witness Lawson H. Seitz