The “52 Cousins” 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 Phillip A. Sellers (1832-1862) was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 4 and is entitled:
"Gone Too Soon: Phillip A. Sellers of Anson County, NC"
Early Life and Family Background
Phillip A. Sellers was born around 1832 in Anson County, North Carolina, though military records note he was actually born in Chesterfield District, South Carolina. He was the son of Philip Sellers Jr. (1806-1850) and Mary E. Gulledge (1790-1875). Phillip grew up during a time when North Carolina was still largely agricultural, and farming would become his lifelong occupation.
By 1860, Phillip was living in the Gulledge area of Anson County with his mother Mary, who was then 65 years old. The census from that year shows the household included Phillip, age 28, and his young wife Viney, age 20.
Marriage and Family
On March 8, 1860, Phillip married Viny Phillips, daughter of Captain John Phillips, in Anson County. The marriage was performed by John P. Ratliff, Esquire, and was announced in the March 15, 1860 issue of The Argus newspaper. Viny (also spelled Viney or Vina) was born in September 1838 in North Carolina.
The young couple began their married life together as farmers in Anson County, settling on a tract of land consisting of about ninety acres adjoining Thomas Gulledge's property.
The Civil War Years
Enlistment
As tensions between North and South escalated into war, Phillip answered the call to serve the Confederacy. On February 25, 1862, at age 33, he enlisted in Anson County as a private in Company "I" of the 43rd Regiment North Carolina Troops. His military records describe him as a farmer from Anson County who was present and accounted for with his unit.
Death in Service
Tragically, Phillip's military service was cut short just months after he enlisted. In August 1862, while his unit was stationed near Petersburg, Virginia, Phillip fell ill with typhoid fever. He died in a hospital at Petersburg between August 9-12, 1862, and was laid to rest at Blandford Church Cemetery in Petersburg. He was only about 30 years old and had been married for barely two years.
Historical Context
Phillip lived during a pivotal period in American history. His lifetime spanned the antebellum South of the 1830s-1850s, when cotton was king and agriculture dominated the economy of North Carolina. The 1850s saw increasing sectional tensions over slavery and states' rights, which ultimately erupted into the Civil War in 1861.
The 43rd North Carolina Regiment, in which Phillip served, was organized in March 1862, just weeks after his enlistment. Like many Confederate soldiers, Phillip faced not just the dangers of battle but also the devastating impact of disease. Typhoid fever, spread through contaminated water and food, was a major killer during the Civil War—claiming more soldiers' lives than combat itself.
After Phillip's Death
Following Phillip's death, his widow Viney was left with their property. On April 19, 1870, the Superior Court of Anson County ordered the sale of Phillip's estate—the ninety-acre farm—to pay remaining debts. John P. Ratliff, the same man who had married Phillip and Viney ten years earlier, served as administrator of the estate.
The land was sold at auction on November 15, 1870, with John H. Gaddy making the highest bid of $350. He subsequently assigned his bid to James T. Moore. Viney retained her dower rights (a widow's legal claim to one-third of her late husband's property for her lifetime), for which she received an additional $250 when she relinquished those rights on January 7, 1871.
Viney eventually remarried John H. Gaddy, and they appear together in the 1880 census living in the Gulledges area of Anson County with Gaddy's daughter Martha. By 1900, Viney was living as a boarder in the household of Alfred Gaddy and his wife Eliza in Wadesboro. She lived until at least 1900, surviving her first husband by nearly four decades.
Phillip A. Sellers' brief life exemplifies the experience of countless young Southern men whose lives were cut short by the Civil War, leaving behind widows and unfinished dreams of building farms and families in rural North Carolina.
Phillip A. Sellers is my 1st Cousin 4X Removed.
.png){kind=small}
No comments:
Post a Comment