About 1850 many pioneers were pushing westward. Gold had been discovered in California and the people there were talking about pulling out of the Union unless they could have better travel and communications with the states on the eastern side of the United States. Kansas City and St. Louis became important transportation centers. The great fur trade became less important because the pioneers were starting to farm the land to a greater degree. Inland towns and villages were being built. Into the central part of this historic state, the 1830's, came an adventurous businessman by the name of William Tipton Seely. During the last 20 years our community has been trying to uncover some of the history of this man and a recent letter from his great niece, Mrs. Marie Lagarde Arabie of Thibedaux, Louisiana, gives the most reliable and detailed account of his life that we have found. Here is her letter in part:

"William Tipton Seely left only a small trail, yet from a paper here and a letter there, his life dimly unfolds. Our family has no pictures of him or his store but all the Seelys have definite characteristics. They were medium in height, slender to a point of thinness, and probably blonde, for they came from the Nottingham section of England. All Seelys are very shy and many take it for a reserveness. He couldn't have been a Seely if he hadn't been generous.

"Time and carelessness have destroyed many of his valuable papers but fortunately I have enough papers to piece this information together. Wm. Tipton Seely and John Little Seely, brothers, came from England in about 1793 to Louisiana. Everything seems to indicate that they came from a wealthy and influential family and they could both read and write in English and French. For them to be educated in both languages at a time in history when education wasn't considered important, and something only the wealthy could afford, speaks for itself. They must have come here highly recommended because, within a short time, John Little Seely was accepted to the degree that he married a daughter of a wealthy southern plantation owner.

Only a few could infiltrate the exclusive social system of the southern aristocrats of that day and name counted more than money. These barriers still hold in some of the old southern families yet today.

"For William Tipton Seely, the years between their arrival in Louisiana and the War of 1812 are blank. When the war started he joined the Virginia Volunteers. I do not know how long he served in the army but I do know that in 1817 Congress passed a Pension Act in which a grant of land would be given to those who served in the army because the country did not have the money to pay them in cash. Among the numerous "grants" of land sent to Mrs. Martha Shortridge (in 1957) for the City of Tipton were three in William Tipton

Seely's name. One dated in 1845, signed by Franklin Pierce, and two in 1848, signed by James K. Polk. I'm not familiar with how those grants were issued--term of service or amount of pay.

"So many years of William Tipton Seely's life are blank. What happened in the years between his discharge from service and when the land grants were issued? What did he do? How and where did he live? Those years must have been profitable. One does not buy enough merchandise to open a trading post in the wilderness; nor does one get enough oxen and mules and wagons in which to carry it there without money."

Previous information which we had indicated that William Tipton Seely served under Andrew Jackson and that the Virginia Volunteers were part of the Louisiana militia. We do not know what kind of duty he had but can surmise that he might have had duty in the Missouri Territory. One of the British tactics in this war was to give guns to the Indians and encourage them to attack the pioneer settlers in Missouri. We know that in some way he became interested in central Missouri. We know that he saw future business possibilities here because he came here to make his home and establish a trading post.

He built a general store on the rolling plains about three miles north of the present site of Tipton, Missouri. He named his settlement Round Hill. He probably chose this location because it was an area of good soil and because it was on the stage coach line between Jefferson City and Topeka. At the time he settled at Round Hill there was no north-and-south road close to this community. He had to help promote the building of a road north to Boonville so that the merchandise for his store could be brought in by wagons from the river port there. At Round Hill he built a general store that was stocked with all kinds of staples, farm equipment, tools, and supplies that were needed by pioneer families. Much of the goods in his store were dispensed with the barter system. Customers would bring in furs, hides, mutton tallow, beeswax or farm produce to trade for supplies from his store. In addition there was a blacksmith shop and, later, several homes and a schoolhouse were built.

William Tipton Seely was a bachelor and devoted all of his time to business interests. He continued to increase his holdings of land over the years. Some of the grants which he purchased he got from soldiers who wished to sell their bonuses. The soldiers who did not wish to settle here would offer their grants for sale and Mr. Seely was always anxious to buy more land.

Although he was not the official banker, the records show that he loaned money to many people. The old notes show that he loaned money for 8 to 10% interest. Since he had no safe place to store his money, it was rumored that he buried his money under rocks for safe keeping. Some of his old records show that at one time he owned 1,191 acres in Cooper County, 58 acres in Henry County and 320 acres in Morgan County. Since so many of his old records were destroyed, his holding may have been larger than this.