Findings on Fold3 Reveals an Unrecorded Family

During the past week I spent some time researching my Sellers line and posted about William Riley Sellers and his death during the Civil War. While on Fold3, I found information on a Elijah Sellers from Chesterfield County that wasn’t in my database. I was aware of an older Elijah Sellers born around 1795. He is said to have married Sarah Purvis; though the marriage has not been proven. 

The military records on Fold3 revealed that Elijah was age 27 when he enlisted on 26 December 1861; suggesting that he was born about 1834.¹

The military records also revealed that he was killed at the Battle of Hawes Shop, Virginia, on the 28th May 1864.

Next, it was off to Ancestry to take a look at the 1850 and 1860 Census. The 1850 and 1860 Census had no listing for Elijah Sellers, b. 1834 in Chesterfield County for those two years. The older Elijah Sellers born in 1795 is listed in the 1840 Census as a Male between the age 40 thru 49,

There were two other listing for Elijah Sellers, both of which were for Elijah Sellers born about 1834.²

• U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 about Elijah Sellers

• Web: South Carolina, Find A Grave Index, 1729-2012 about Elijah Sellers

These two posting on Ancestry are the full extent of data available for Elijah Sellers.

Elijah was born about 1834 and he was killed on 26 December 1864. At his death he was a mere 30 years old.

The Civil War information matched what I had already found on Fold3. The Find A Grave Memorial contained a major surprise. Elijah had married sometime before leaving in December 1861 for the military and had a deceased daughter. I had no knowledge of Elijah, his wife or his daughter before this week. A Military tombstone  marks his grave in the McNair Cemetery in Ruby, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.⁴
Little Sarah also has a tombstone with the inscription: “Dau. of Eliga and H. E. Sellers”. Sarah E. Sellers was born in February 1861 and I wrote about her yesterday. This suggests that Elijah and Harriett were married sometime before June 1860. The dates also reveals that Elijah was with his newborn daughter from her birth in February 1861 to his departure on 26 December 1861 for the War. It is not known if he was aware of her death in Oct 1862. His military records contains no information indicating that he was married and had a family back home.

Another surprise, was the absence of a military pension for Harriett Elizabeth Sellers. She lived until Jan 1923 yet I could find no evidence that she ever applied for a widows pension for Elijah’s service during the Civil War.⁵



Nowhere will you find any data showing Elijah and his family as a family unit; but, individual pieces of data clearly lead to this conclusion:

Elijah Sellers, b. 1834, Male, Father/Husband
Harriett E. McNair Sellers, b. 8 Oct 1833, Wife
Sarah E. Sellers, b. 24 Feb. 1861, Daughter

The minuscule data I found on this family is no surprise; it's very typical for this county. My big surprise is that Mrs. Harriet Elizabeth McNair Sellers never re-married after the loss of her husband and child.






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[1] Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 11 August 2013), entry for Elijah Sellers, Private; 4th SC Cavalry; Confederate.  [http://www.fold3.com/image/20/66896068/]./
2. http://www.ancestry.com
3. National Park Service, "Soldiers" database, Civil War Soldiers & Sailor System (http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm : accessed 13 August 2013), entry for Elijah Sellers, Private; 4 South Carolina Cavalry; Confederate.
4. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, digital image, (http://www.findagrave.com : Accessed on 13 August 2013); Headstone for Elijah Sellers; (1834- May 28, 1864); Records of the McNair Family Cemetery; Ruby, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
5. http://genealogytrails.com/scar/chesterfield/cw_pensioners.htm & http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/search.aspx
6. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Harriett E. McNair Sellers (8 August 1833–6 January 1928), Memorial # 44702715.
7. Harriett E Sellers, death certificate 000576 (6 January 1923), Vital Records, Department of Health and Environmental Control, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina.
8. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina;, Page: 127(stamped); Line 23, Dwelling 469, Family 468, Household of Neil McNAIR; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm M653-1217.
9. 1870 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 304A (stamped); Line 1, Dwelling 323, Family 323, Household of M. [Mary] McNAIR; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm M593_1491.
10. 1880 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, House, Chesterfield, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 005, Page: 312A(stamped); Line 45, Dwelling 46, Family 46, household of Mary A. McNAIR; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm T9-1225.
11. 1900 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0020, Page: 8A/80(stamped); Line 41, Dwelling 142, Family 142, Household of Neil C. McNAIR; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm  T623_1523.
12. 1910 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0036, Page: 14B/117(stamped); Line 79, Dwelling 242, Family 245, Household of Harriet SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm T624_1455.
13. 1920 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 39, Page 16A/141(stamped); Line 1, Dwelling 166, Family 174, Household of Charlie B. JONES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 13 August 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm T625_1690.
14. Harriett E Sellers, Chesterfield County, South Carolina death certificate 000576 (6 January 1923).
15. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Harriett E. McNair Sellers (8 August 1833–6 January 1928), Memorial # 44702715.
16. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Sarah E. Sellers (24 February 1861–8 October 1862), Memorial # 44702697.