Didjano...
Uncle Seeb?
I
was reading your articles about the Troy, Ohio vicinity..I love to read the
old stories - I think they are an 'ingredients list' of what or who we are
today.
The
family story goes something like this: "Uncle Seeb" (Clarence Seborn
Bradford 1872-1963) lived in a tar-paper shack in the city park in Troy, OH
for years. The city tried to remove him from the park and ended up in court -
apparently, he had 'squatter's rights' and was allowed to stay.
I
have had difficulty backing up this information. Most of it is just oral
history. I do know that his wife (Grace Nellie Orr Bradford) threw herself in
front of a train in September 1937 (Lima News) and that Clarence S. Bradford
died June 1963 at Hilltop Rest Home in Piqua, OH - having been there since
1959. His obit says he lived in Troy for 37 years before that and that he had
lived in Lima before then. He was born in Degraff, Ohio. (Lima News)
(By-The-Way
- There is ANOTHER Clarence Bradford - Clarence W. - called DAN - who lived on
Dewey Ave. in Lima - this is Clarence Sebron's nephew.)
Supposedly,
my uncle (b. 1938) and a cousin went to visit him in the park. My father (b.
1944) was too young to go.
From
what I can figure, he must have lived there, at least, in the late 1940s
through most of the 1950s. I do know that when his wife died (1937), the two
children who were still at home (both girls) were sent to live with relatives,
so Seborn seems to have not been involved with the family from the mid-1930s
on.
Another
story I've heard is that, sometime, my Grandfather or someone from his
generation went to see Seeb in his 'shack' (this would have been before 1937
when Grace died), and his wife had 'beat him up'. Again, this is all oral
history. I would love to know the facts. Sometimes
truth is stranger than fiction.
I'm
sure there are people alive who remember the old guy who lived in a shack in
the city park.
Talk about a
colorful past and entertaining as well!! Whew, That’s great!! Thanks Dejah.