Eventually parts of the land Seely needed for his project was leased by the state elsewhere, which eliminated the chance for a canal, even though the Ohio Supreme Court later ruled against the Cooper estate.
"[5][6] Eventually Seely's work on the ditch led to his financial demise, filing bankruptcy in 1842.
[9] In 1838, Seely joined others as they attempted to shift the path of the first interstate highway, "National Road" (US-40 today), through Dayton instead of directly west to Indiana from Springfield.
By many accounts, he is believed to be buried in single grave purchased by his son, William Morris Seely, across from his wife Catherine, who died two years earlier.
Allegedly this is because Seely's failures did not gain him approval with his in-laws, Dayton's prestigious Huffman family, and they would not allow them to be buried together.