Thriller Thursday~Mrs. Todd Sellers Shot and Killed

Fatal Accident in Anson

Mrs. Todd Sellers Shot and Killed by Gun Which Fell From a Rack

--A Most Excellent Woman

Wadesboro Ansonian.

 Mrs. Todd Sellers of Gum Springs was shot and fatally wounded yesterday morning at her home. She was removing a coat from a rack which held a shot gun when the weapon fell to the floor and was discharged. The entire load of shot entered her left leg just below the knee, making an ugly wound. Dr. Wyatt of Lilesville was hastily called and decided that it would be necessary to remove the limb. He called Dr. Covington of Wadesboro and the two had plan to perform the operation yesterday afternoon. Soon after dinner, however, Mrs. Sellers had a hemorrhage and bled to death before medical attention could reach her.

Mrs. Sellers was about 55 years old and is survived by her husband, one daughter, Mrs. Thomas Adams of Pageland, S.C., and two sons,Messrs. John and Phillip Sellers. She was a member of the Gum Springs Baptist church and was a most excellent Christian woman. She had a most cheerful disposition and was a faithful wife and mother.

Mrs. Todd Sellers was Rosa Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ratliff, daughter of Eli Ratliff and Margaret Knotts; wife of William R. Sellers. The 1900 Census for Anson County shows her birth as December 1862. Lizzie and Todd had three children; a daughter, Aggie, two sons, John Henry and Phillip. 

Another aricle in the local newspaper states that the gun was a pistol and a single shot enter the left leg just below the knee. 

Tuesday morning Mrs. W. R. Sellers, of Lilesville Township, was accidently shot and fatally injured by a pistol bullet. Mrs. Sellers was cleaning the clothes of her son preparatory to putting them away when the pistol dropped out of a trouser pocket, and was discharged upon falling to the floor. 

Todd Sellers is my 1st Cousin 4 times removed. 

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[1] Special thanks to Julie Hampton for her help in locating a copy of this news article. 

[2] Mrs. Todd Sellers Shot and Killed by Gun Which Fell From a Rack, The Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, United States, 10 April 1913.