The students of the Radical University: John H. Seay

John H. Seay
From FindAGrave

John Henry Seay (b. February 9, 1851, d. July 5, 1887)
South Carolina.  White.
Occupation: farm laborer, physician.
Father's occupation: farmer.

John H. Seay was born in South Carolina to H. Harley Seay and Harriet Rawl Seay.  Harley was a farmer living in Lexington County, South Carolina.  In 1860, he owned 7 slaves (1 adult woman, 2 adult men, 3 female children, and 1 male child) and possessed property worth an estimated $3,700 (roughly $115,000 in 2020).

John was 10 years old when the Civil War broke out.  His father Harley enlisted in the Confederate army in April 1861, shortly after Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter.  He served in the army for almost the entire duration of the war.  He served in Saluda Guards, the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, the Lexington Volunteer Rifle Company, the 2nd South Carolina State Troop Regiment, 15th Regiment of Infantry, and the South Carolina Militia, the 20th South Carolina Volunteer Regiment.  He achieved the rank of First Lieutenant.

In February 1865, while serving in Company B of the 15th South Carolina Infantry, he was captured by Union forces during Sherman's Carolinas Campaign.  He was taken to New Bern, North Carolina.  While imprisoned there, he contacted dysentery.  On April 29, 1865, a few weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender, he died.

John was too young to serve in the military during the Civil War, and in 1870, he was working on the family farm in Lexington, about 15 miles from the University of South Carolina.  On April 1, 1874, he registered at the university. He enrolled as a college student and had left the university by January 1876.

In 1880, John was living on the family farm and working as a physician.  Tragically, he was found dead by the road near Lexington on July 5, 1887.  His death was believed to have due to a cerebral hemorrhage  ("apoplexy") caused by a fall from his buggy.

John is buried in Saint Johns Lutheran Church Cemetery in Lexington.  His tombstone is inscribed with the text:

It's hard to break the tender cord
When love has bound the heart
Tis hard so hard to speak the words
We must forever part.
Dearest brother, we must lay thee
In the peaceful grounds embrace
But thy memory shall be cherished
Til we see thy heavenly face.

Grave of John Seay, front view
Courtesy of author 

Grave of John Seay, rear view
Courtesy of author

Sources
1). "Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations, 1903 - 1927."  National Archives Identifier: 58695.  Publication Number: M267.  Record Group 109. Roll 0316.

2). 1860; Census Place: Lexington, Lexington, South Carolina; Page: 389

3). 1870; Census Place: Hollow Creek, Lexington, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1502; Page: 351B

4). 1880; Census Place: Hollow Creek, Lexington, South Carolina; Roll: 1234; Page: 441B

5). "Deaths."  The Abbeville press and banner, July 20, 1887, p. 12.