The “Aunts & Uncles” series of biographical sketches are Artificial Intelligence (AI) compiled narratives of selected individuals from my Genealogical database. The selected AI will used the RootsMagic Individual Summary from my Genealogical Software, Roots Magic. All genealogical data is my research material acquired over the past 46 years of research. Today's Biography of The Life of Mary R. (Sellers) (Gaddy) Burkley (1789-1884) was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 4 and is entitled:
The Life of
Mary R. Sellers
Gaddy · Burkley
circa 1789 – aft 1884
A Life Well Lived
Mary R. Sellers was born around 1789 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, into a family with deep roots in the Carolina backcountry. She would go on to outlive nearly everyone she knew — two husbands, most of her children, and an entire era of American history. By the time she passed away after February 1884, at the remarkable age of 89 plus, she had witnessed the birth of a new nation, the trauma of the Civil War, and the dawn of the Gilded Age. Her long life wove together the threads of colonial settlement, westward migration, frontier farming, and family resilience across South Carolina and Georgia.
The records that survive paint a picture of a determined and capable woman — one who owned property, sold land in her eighties, and kept close ties to the Sellers family name throughout her life, even after two marriages. She is remembered in family records under the names Mary Gaddy and Mary Burkley, but she signed her last known legal document simply as Mary R. Sellers, perhaps a quiet declaration of the identity she carried from birth.
Family Origins & Early Life
Her Parents
Mary's father, Hardy Sellers (1757–1835), was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War — a proud distinction that would have shaped the family's sense of identity and patriotism. Hardy was born around 1757, likely in North Carolina, and established himself as a farmer and landowner in the Cheraws District of South Carolina. He appears in the 1790 census in St. Thomas, Cheraws District, with a household that included his wife, several sons, and at least three daughters, including young Mary. He lived to age 77 or 78, dying on or about January 17, 1835.
Mary's mother was Mary Cook (1760–1820), who appears in household census records alongside Hardy through 1810. She passed away around 1820, roughly a decade before her husband. Together, Hardy and Mary Cook raised a large family of children from what appears to have been more than one marriage on Hardy's part.
Growing Up in the Carolinas
Mary grew up in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, a region of rolling pine forests, river-bottom farms, and scattered homesteads settled largely by Scots-Irish and English families in the decades following the Revolution. Life in this part of the South centered on subsistence farming, community church life, and close-knit extended families. The nearest town of note was Cheraw, a small but active trading center on the Pee Dee River.
As the country itself was just finding its footing — the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, the year before Mary's birth — Mary grew up in an era of profound national change. She would have been aware of the War of 1812, the rise of the cotton economy that transformed the South, and the steady westward push of American settlement.
Her Siblings
Mary was one of several children in the Sellers household. Based on census records and Hardy Sellers' probate proceedings, her known siblings included:
John Sellers (circa 1782–1844) — an older brother
Philip Sellers (circa 1774–1835) — an older brother
Abraham Sellers — a brother, present in early census records
Richard Sellers — a brother, mentioned in Hardy's will
Phoebe Sellers — a sister who predeceased her father Hardy; her children (Elijah, James, and Phoebe Gulledge) were named in his will
Jane Sellers — a sister who also predeceased Hardy; her son Iverson L. Briley was named in his will
Hardy Huntley Sellers (1829–1857) — a much younger half-sibling from Hardy's second marriage to Levinia
Zilphia Ann Sellers (1830–1913) — another younger half-sibling, also from Hardy's second marriage
The generational spread of these siblings — some much younger than Mary — reflects the reality of Hardy Sellers' having children across multiple marriages or relationships. Mary, as one of the older children from his first family, would have been well into adulthood by the time her youngest half-siblings were born.
First Marriage: Thomas Gaddy
The Gaddy Family
Around 1813, when she was about 24 years old, Mary married Thomas Gaddy (1789–1849). Thomas was born in the same year as Mary, and the two appear to have been a good match — both from the same region of South Carolina, both of farming stock. The marriage would last over three decades and produce at least seven children.
The 1810s and 1820s were a time of tremendous westward movement in America, as families from the Carolinas and Virginia pushed into Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and beyond. It appears that at some point — likely in the 1820s or early 1830s — Thomas and Mary made the decision to join this migration and head to Georgia, eventually settling in DeKalb County, in the area known as Shallowford, just northeast of the young city of Atlanta.
Life in Georgia
Georgia in this era was frontier country being rapidly transformed. DeKalb County was established in 1822, carved from land that had only recently been ceded by the Creek Nation. Families like the Gaddys arrived to clear land, plant crops, and build communities from scratch. It was hard, physical work, but the promise of fertile land and fresh opportunity drew thousands of families southward and westward.
Thomas Gaddy appears in the 1850 Georgia Property Tax Digests for DeKalb County (Militia District No. 69), and Mary is listed in the 1850 Agriculture Census — suggesting the family operated a farm of some size. Tragically, Thomas died in October 1849, his death recorded in the 1850 Mortality Schedule. He was about 60 years old.
Their Children
Thomas and Mary raised a large family together. Their known children were:
Hardy Sellers Gaddy (1815–1895) — their eldest son, named in honor of Mary's father
Anne Gaddy (born circa 1819) — daughter; she later married into the Steen family
Phillip Samuel Gaddy (1825–1902) — son; he married Anne Steen, sister of John J. Steen
Henrietta Gaddy (1827–1870) — daughter
George Washington Gaddy (1827–1862) — son; born the same year as Henrietta, likely twins; he died during the Civil War era
Phebe A. Gaddy (born circa 1830) — daughter
Mary Malissa Gaddy (1834–1899) — their youngest known child
The 1850 census for Shallowford, DeKalb County captures a poignant family moment: the recently widowed Mary Gaddy, age 61, is living in the household of John J. Steen — who was the brother of Anne Steen, wife of Mary's son Phillip. So after Thomas's death, Mary was essentially sheltering with her in-law extended family, surrounded by her adult children who were also listed in the household: Hardy, Anne, Henrietta, Philip, Phebe, and Mary Malissa.
Second Marriage: William M. Burkley
At some point after Thomas Gaddy's death in 1849, Mary made the remarkable decision to marry again — and to return to her home state. She wed William M. Burkley (also spelled Berkley or Brinkley in various records), who was born around 1790 in Georgia. He was approximately the same age as Mary, and the two appear together in the 1860 Chesterfield County, South Carolina census, listed as William M. Berkley (age 61, farmer) and Mary Berkley (age 70).
It is worth noting that some family researchers have suggested that William Burkley's wife may have been a different Mary — specifically a Mary Rivers, daughter of Isaac Rivers and Nancy Parker. However, genealogist Marie Wiggins's records identify her as Mary Sellers, and the broader documentary evidence strongly supports this identification. The couple appear together in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 Chesterfield County censuses, and Mary's continued use of the surname Sellers in her 1884 property deed further connects her to that family line.
William M. Burkley died sometime between the 1870 and 1880 censuses — he is present in 1870 (listed as head of household, age 80) but absent in 1880, when Mary is listed as the head of household at age 92, with a young woman named Queen Sellars serving as her nurse.
The Burkleys are believed to be buried on their farm, near the Old Sellers Graveyard in Chesterfield County — a fitting resting place, returning Mary to the landscape of her childhood.
Later Life & Independence
Mary's later years are a testament to her extraordinary longevity and continued independence. By 1870, she was approximately 81 years old and living with her husband William in Chesterfield. By 1880, widowed once again, she was 92 and heading her own household, cared for by a nurse.
What makes the later records particularly striking is a legal deed from February 8, 1884. At approximately 95 years of age, Mary R. Sellers — as she signed herself — sold a 200-acre tract of land in Chesterfield County to Elizabeth Sellers for fifty dollars. The land, situated on the north side of Golphurs Branch on the waters of Deep Creek, had formerly belonged to a Sarah Hancock. The deed was witnessed by Hardy J. Allen and Robert H. M. Hancock, and officially recorded on February 12, 1884. That a woman in her mid-nineties was independently transacting property in a formal legal proceeding speaks volumes about her mental sharpness and sense of agency.
Mary R. Sellers Gaddy Burkley died sometime after February 1884, in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. She was approximately 95 years old. Her Find A Grave memorial (No. 46153898) records her burial location as the Berkley Family Cemetery, though family tradition suggests she rests near the Old Sellers Graveyard on the family farm.
Mary's World: A Century of American History
Mary R. Sellers was born the year the United States government first went into operation under President George Washington. She died just three years before the close of the nineteenth century. The span of her life encompassed almost the entire history of the young republic:
1789 — The year of Mary's birth; George Washington inaugurated as first President
1812–1815 — The War of 1812; Mary was a young married woman
1830s — Indian Removal Act (1830) cleared DeKalb County, Georgia, where Mary's family would later settle
1835 — Death of her father, Hardy Sellers; probate proceedings involve Mary and her siblings
1849 — Death of her first husband, Thomas Gaddy, in Georgia
1861–1865 — The Civil War; Mary was in her 70s; her son George Washington Gaddy died in 1862
1865 — Emancipation and Reconstruction; Mary living in Chesterfield, SC
1884 — Mary, at approximately 95, signs a legal land deed in her own name
Aft 1884 — Mary's death, aged approximately 95
The Civil War would have been a particularly painful chapter for Mary. Living in Chesterfield County, South Carolina — one of the Confederate states — she would have experienced the war's hardships firsthand. Her son George Washington Gaddy died in 1862, likely a casualty of the conflict. Sherman's army marched through the Carolinas in early 1865, and communities like Chesterfield suffered significant destruction. Mary endured all of it.
Family Legacy
Mary R. Sellers spent her life at the intersection of two prominent Upcountry South Carolina families — the Sellers and the Gaddys — and left descendants scattered across South Carolina and Georgia. Her seven children with Thomas Gaddy carried the family name westward and back again, and her connection to the Sellers family never truly faded, as evidenced by her lifelong use of that surname in formal contexts.
Her father Hardy Sellers' status as a Revolutionary War patriot would have been a point of family pride passed down through generations. Mary herself was living proof of that founding generation's legacy — born in the infancy of the republic, she outlived nearly the entire nineteenth century.
Mary R. (Sellers) (Gaddy) Burkley is my 4th Great GrandAunt.
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Sources & Notes
1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed ); Memorial page for Mary Berkley; (1790–12 October 1879); Find a Grave memorial # 46153898, Citing Berkley Family Cemete; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
2. 1790 U. S. Census, Cheraw District, South Carolina, population schedule, St Thomas, Cheraws District, South Carolina, Page: 373; Line 939, Household of Hardy SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 11 January 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm M637_11.
3. 1800 U S Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 106; Line 16, Household of Hardy SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 11 January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication M32, Roll 47.
4. 1810 U S Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 578; Line 23, Household of Hardy SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 11 January 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm M252_60.
5. Hardy Sellers Equity Notice, The Cheraw Gazette, Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina, 30 August 1836, page 167, Image 3, column 2.
6. 1850 U. S. Census, DeKalb County, Georgia, population schedule, Shallowford, DeKalb County, Georgia, Page: 117A(stamped); Line 25, Dwelling 26, Family 26, Household of John STEEN; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 9 February 2014); citing NARA publication Roll: M432_67.
7. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page: 131A(Stamped); Line:#5, Dwelling:#500; Family:#500, Household of William M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online August 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
8. 1850 U. S. Census, DeKalb County, Georgia, agriculture schedule, Shallowford, DeKalb, Georgia, USA, enumeration district (ED) 21 Aug 1850, Page:# 63; Line:#21, Mary Gaddy; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed ); citing NARA publication Roll: T1137:2.
9. Thomas Gaddy, District 69, Kees, Image 88 of 124, , 1850; , Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893; Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.
10. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 144B(Stamped); Line:#26, Dwelling:#715; Family:#713, Household of Wm. M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online August 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
11. 1870 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page:#292 (Stamped), Line:#8,, Dwelling:#89, Family:#89, Household of W. M. BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online August 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm M593_1491.
12. 1880 U. S. Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 005, Page: 312B(stamped); Line 14, Dwelling 49, Family 49, Household of Mary BURKLEY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 10 June 2017); citing National Archives Microfilm T9-1225.
13. Land Deed - Mary Sellers to Elizabeth Sellers Deed; 8 February 1884; Deed Book #7; Page(s) 566 & 567; Register of Deeds; Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; July 2024.
14. Lee G. Barrow, Cheraw District, South Carolina, Court of Equity: Volume 1: Minutes, 1801-1823S (Gainesville, Georgia: Bargraphica, 2012), 118.
15. Hardy Sellers Equity Notice, The Cheraw Gazette, 30 August 1836.
16. 1850 U. S. Census, Dekalb County, Georgia, mortality schedule, DeKalb County, Georgia, Page: 165, THOMAS GADDY; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 2 November 2014); citing National Archives Microfilm T655-07.
This biography was compiled from U.S. Federal Census records (1790–1880), Georgia and South Carolina property and tax records, Find A Grave memorial #6153898, the Chesterfield District Court of Common Pleas equity records (1851), the Cheraw Gazette (1836), and family research notes by Marie Wiggins and others. All genealogical details are drawn directly from primary and secondary sources; no details have been added or embellished beyond historical context.
