Jeduthan Seely
Personal
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 1778
Date of Death: 1832
Birth Place: Washington County, NY
Death Place: Illinois
Jeduthan Seely came from Genesee County in 1823, and located on lot 45. He died in Illinois in 1832. Mr. Seely had five sons, who came to this town with him. Their names were, Ebenezer, Jeduthan, Alexander, Horace, and Norman. They were all expert hunters, and gave much time to the chase. Once upon the track of deer, bear, or wolf, there seldom was an escape for the animal. In 1833, having driven two wolves into a piece of swampy woods, they rallied as many of the neighbors as possible to surround the swamp; but the wolves made their escape, and were pursued by Horace and Norman Seely, who followed them nine days, passing through several towns of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties. One of the wolves finally took shelter in a small low cave in the town of Napoli, at a point called Cat Rock, from its having been the harbor for wild-cats. The question now arose, “Who is to imitate the example of General Putnam, and follow the wolf into the cave?” Horace claimed this right. A strong hook was accordingly attached to the end of a pole of sufficient length to reach from the bottom of the cave to where the wolf was. Mr. Seely then firmly fastened the hook to the wolf, and those at the mouth of the cave drew the animal out over the body of the adventurous hunter, as he lay flat upon his face. The five brothers moved to Whiteside Co., Ill., and have never since returned to the scenes of their hunting exploits.
Page 477, “History of Cattaraugus Co., New York”, L.H. Everts, Press of J.B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1879.
[Jeduthan is SGS # 975 – Jeduthan/Juduthen; Ebenezer, David; John; Benjamin; Nathaniel; Robert]
