Chesterfield County SC~Estate Folder #546 – Sarah Sellers

Each week, on Sunday, I will select an Estate Folder from the Estate files of Chesterfield County and discuss its contents. No known estates exist for the period before the Civil War. They were destroyed by the burning of the Courthouse. There are a few “Equity Records” in the State Archives. Do not overlook this valuable resource if you are looking for ancestors in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

Today we will be looking at the following Estate folder:

Sarah Sellers ¹
Probate Folder #546
Images 1275 to 1299

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-NHRH-N?i=1274&wc=MPPB-C68%3A190567401%2C190561002%2C190567402%2C191054401&cc=1911928

On 19 April 1880, A. J. Smith petitioned the Chesterfield  County Probate Court to grant him Letters of Administration on the Estate of Sarah Sellers stating in his petition that none of his kinfolk has done so and that she had died back in 1878 or about then. 

Transcription:
State of South Carolina}
County of Chesterfield}
To the Honorable W. J. Hanna Judge of Probate for Chesterfield County:
The petition of Andrew J. Smith by Hough & Kennedy his attorneys respectfully shows to this Court:
I. That Sarah Sellers of the County and State aforesaid died Intestate on or about the day of 1878.
II. That she died possessed of a Small personal estate in the County and State afore mentioned.
III. That there has been no application for Letters of Adminstartion upon her estate by any of the next of kin as your p or any other person as your petitioner is informed and believes though such application might have long since been made
Wherefore your petitioner prays that you do grant to him Letters of Administrations upon the Estate of Sarah Sellers deceased and for such other relief as made be necessary.

Hough + Kennedy

Petitioner’s Attorneys

The Court granted A. J. Smith his request and Letters of Administration and issued a Warrant of Appraisement for Administration on 1st day of July 1880. 
Appointed appraiser were:

• C. L. Vick
• D. M. Barentine
• T. P. Craig

I have noticed that when an estate was abandoned for a period of time (inactive, never initiated) that some of the more prominent men in the County would petition the Court to administered the estate.  In all cases they seem to give the kinfolk, of the deceased, ample time to initiate probate action. This seems to be a custom for that time period in Chesterfield County, South Carolina (1850-1900). During this time small personal estates even under $50 dollar were probated. I think the Courts must have set limits on the values of estates to be probated around the 1900’s.

I have not been able to identify who this Sarah Sellers is related too. None of her kin was mentioned in the estate. Andrew Jackson  (A. J.) Smith has no biological or ancillary connection to  Sarah Sellers that I can find.

There is a detail inventory list contained within the probate folder with a list of buyers and the price they paid for each item.

If you know who this Sarah Sellers is; please click on the E-mail link in the right column and send me a note. Otherwise, you could leave comments to this post.









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[1] "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-NHRH-N?cc=1911928&wc=MPPB-C68%3A190567401%2C190561002%2C190567402%2C191054401 : 21 May 2014), Chesterfield > Probate Court, Estate records > 1865-1927 > Cases 0470-0553A > image 1275 of 1550; county courthouses, South Carolina, and South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.