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 ”Roland Sellers (1794 - 1748)" was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 4 and is entitled:
Roland Sellers
1794 – March 9, 1848
Chesterfield County, South Carolina
Introduction
Roland Sellers was a South Carolina farmer who lived through some of the most turbulent and transformative decades in American history — from the early days of the young republic right through the era of westward expansion. He fought for his country in the War of 1812, raised a large family on the land his father had settled, and left behind a remarkable legacy of children who scattered across the Carolinas and beyond. Though he never achieved fame or fortune, Roland's life was deeply woven into the fabric of rural Southern life in the early nineteenth century.
He was a solidly built man — about five feet six inches tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a light complexion, as recorded in his military service papers. His neighbors knew him as a farmer and a family man, and those who knew him well remembered him as living in a fine two-story house across from Cross Roads Baptist Church in Chesterfield County. This biography draws on census records, deed books, military pension files, and family research to tell his story.
Parents and Early Life
Roland was born in 1794 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, the son of Philip Sellers Sr. (born 1774) and Mary (LNU, born 1774). He was one of Philip's younger sons, growing up in a farming family in the South Carolina backcountry. Little is known about his childhood, but it was almost certainly spent working alongside his father and brothers on their land — a common life for boys of his time and place.
Chesterfield County in the 1790s was still frontier territory by many standards. The American Revolution had ended just a decade before Roland's birth, and South Carolina had seen some of the war's fiercest fighting on its own soil. The state was rebuilding, and families like the Sellers were part of that effort — clearing land, planting crops, and putting down roots.
Philip Sellers Sr. died in 1835, and Roland's mother Mary passed in 1840. Roland had at least one brother, William Sellers, whose wife Gilly was the sister of Roland's own first wife, Margaret Eddins — a reminder of how tightly knit these frontier communities were.
Military Service: The War of 1812
When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, Roland Sellers answered the call. He enlisted on or about September 15–24, 1814, serving as a Private in Captain William Welch's Company of the South Carolina Militia (3rd Regiment, Alston's). His service took him through six months of active duty, and he was honorably discharged at Charleston, South Carolina, on March 12, 1815 — having been paid for five months and eighteen days of service, according to Treasury Department records.
The War of 1812 is sometimes called America's "Second War of Independence." By the time Roland enlisted in late 1814, the British had already burned Washington, D.C. (including the White House and Capitol), and tensions ran high throughout the coastal South. Charleston, where Roland was eventually discharged, was a major port city that had been a target of British naval operations. Roland's service was part of the broader militia mobilization to defend the Southern coast.
His military record later became important to his family in a different way: after his death, his widow Jane Baxter Sellers applied for a widow's pension based on his service, and those pension papers — filed in 1879 — preserved invaluable details about Roland, his two marriages, and his family. It is from that pension file that we know Roland's exact death date, his physical description, and the fact that he was just 21 years old when he enlisted.
First Marriage: Margaret Eddins
Around 1817, Roland married Margaret Eddins, the daughter of William Eddins (1757–1822) and his wife Nancy (died 1816). Margaret was born about 1798, also in Chesterfield County. The couple settled in Chesterfield County and built a life together over the next two decades, raising a large family on their farm.
Margaret died in 1841 at approximately 43 years of age. There is no marked grave for her, but family tradition and research place her burial at the Old Sellers Cemetery in Chesterfield County. Her death left Roland a widower with a houseful of children — including twin daughters who were just four years old at the time. It was a difficult situation for any man, let alone a farmer without a wife to help manage the household.
Children of Roland and Margaret Eddins Sellers
Roland and Margaret had nine sons and five daughters together — a family of fourteen children in all. Here are those who appear most prominently in the records:
Phillip A. Sellers — Born May 3, 1818, in Chesterfield County, SC. Phillip eventually moved to Anson County, North Carolina, where he farmed and later served as postmaster. He served in the Civil War with the North Carolina 3rd Light Artillery, Company I. He married Martha Ann Brooks (1830–1889) around 1844 and raised a large family of his own. He died July 2, 1902, in Anson County, at about age 84, and is buried at Shiloh United Methodist Church Cemetery. His obituary in The Charlotte Observer described him as a man "loved, honored and revered by every one who knew him."
Roland R. Sellers — Born 1821 in Chesterfield County, SC. He followed his brother Phillip to Anson County, NC, where he farmed and served as postmaster at Morven beginning in 1854. He married Sarah Pratt (1808–1871) on Christmas Day, 1844. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in Company K, 26th NC Regiment in July 1861, and later transferred to the 40th Regiment (3rd Artillery) in August 1863. His military papers show he was 42 years old at that time. He was wounded near Savannah, Georgia, on December 10, 1864, and died on December 13, 1864. He is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery (North) in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia.
James David Sellers — Born about 1822 in Chesterfield County, SC. He remained in Chesterfield County as an adult. He married Sarah Ann Gaskins (1826–1863) in 1845 and had several children. He enlisted in Co. B, 8th SC Infantry during the Civil War and died October 15, 1861, in Richmond, Virginia — one of the earliest family casualties of that conflict.
William Riley Sellers — Born about 1823 in Chesterfield County, SC. William also enlisted in Co. B, 8th SC Infantry and died May 11, 1862, in Richmond City, Virginia. He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Richard Calvin "Dick" Sellers Sr. — Born August 16, 1824, in Chesterfield County, SC. Richard remained in Chesterfield County throughout his life. He married Sarah Ann Jordan (1831–1919). He died June 28, 1894, in Chesterfield County.
John M. Sellers — Born about 1825 in Chesterfield County, SC. He relocated to Anson County, NC, where he married Mary Brooks (born 1830) in April 1850. He served in Co. B, 31st Regiment during the Civil War and was killed in battle at or near Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, on or about May 14, 1864.
Lucy Jane Sellers — Born about 1826 in Chesterfield County, SC. She appears to have remained in Chesterfield County and never married. She died June 15, 1928, in Chesterfield County.
William Braddock "Dock" Sellers — Born December 30, 1828, in Chesterfield County, SC. He married Mary Elizabeth Gaskins (1828–1914) around 1847. During the Civil War he served as a Corporal in the 6th South Carolina Cavalry, was captured at Armstrong Mills, Virginia, on December 10, 1864, and was held as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland, until he was released June 19, 1865. According to his Find A Grave memorial, he walked home to South Carolina after his release. He died in 1906 in Chesterfield County.
Mahala A. Sellers — Born about 1830 in Chesterfield County, SC. She appears in the 1850 census in the household of Roland's second wife, Jane Baxter. Further records have not been found.
Mary A. Sellers — Born about 1830 in Chesterfield County, SC. She married John L. Davidson (1805–1887) and died in 1872 in Crenshaw County, Alabama.
Stephen D. Sellers — Born January 17, 1834, in Chesterfield County, SC. Stephen never married and lived out his days in Chesterfield County. He served in the Civil War as a Private in Capt. James I. Kelley's Company, Light Artillery, SC. He made his will on May 3, 1907, leaving his estate to his sisters Susanna and Lucy. He died March 13, 1909, and is buried at Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery.
Alfred Franklin Sellers — Born about 1835 in Chesterfield County, SC. He married Mary Oliver and appears in census records through 1880.
Sarah A. Sellers — Born February 1837 in Chesterfield County, SC. She had a twin sister, Susanna. Sarah married Hugh Moore Smith (1829–1889) around 1854 and died December 1859 in Chesterfield County.
Susanna Sellers — Born February 1837 in Chesterfield County, SC, twin of Sarah. Susanna never married and spent much of her later life in the household of her brother Stephen and her mother Jane Baxter. She died February 12, 1919, at Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, and is buried at Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery. Her gravestone bears the inscription: "I am gone home and my loved one left behind."
Second Marriage: Jane Baxter
On December 28, 1842, Roland married his second wife, Jane Baxter (born about 1810), in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The ceremony was performed by Reverend William Moore, a Minister of the Gospel. Jane was a widow who brought her own resilience and strength to a household that already included Roland's children from his first marriage.
Together, Roland and Jane had two children:
Flora D. Sellers — Born about 1844 in Chesterfield, South Carolina. Flora never married and remained a spinster her entire life. She continued living with her mother Jane after Roland's death and appears in the 1880 census in Jane's household. She died sometime after 1880.
Lucy E. Sellers — Born about 1846 (or possibly 1850, per the 1900 census) in Chesterfield, South Carolina. Like her sister Flora, Lucy never married. She lived with her mother and siblings and later with her brother Stephen and sister Susanna. She died June 15, 1925, in Chesterfield County, at approximately age 79.
Life on the Land: Property and Community
Roland was a farmer, as his father had been before him. He owned land in Chesterfield County — the deed records suggest a meaningful tract that had been conveyed to him by his father Philip via a deed dated March 8, 1821. In his will (which has not survived, but is referenced in a deed), Roland left this land to his sons, and in 1850 — after his death — Phillip A. Sellers and Roland R. Sellers sold their shares in the property to their brother William R. Sellers for $230.
Mrs. Teen Oliver, a neighbor, remembered that Roland had a fine two-story house across from Cross Roads Baptist Church, and that she had been inside it herself. It is a small but vivid detail that brings Roland's life a little closer — a man of substance in his community, with a proper house and a working farm.
Roland also had legal dealings recorded in Chesterfield County court records. One record notes that Roland and his brother Hardy Sellers were jointly seized of a tract of land that had previously belonged to their brother John Sellers. When Hardy died, he left his one-third share of that land to Hardy Davidson, the son of John L. Davidson.
Historical note: The 1820s through 1840s in South Carolina were years of dramatic political and social change. The Nullification Crisis of 1832–33 — in which South Carolina attempted to nullify federal tariff laws — had residents passionately debating states' rights. The cotton economy was booming, driving both prosperity and the brutal expansion of slavery across the Deep South. For a farmer in Chesterfield County, life revolved around the agricultural calendar, the church, and the local courthouse community.
Death and Legacy
Roland Sellers died on March 9, 1848, in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. He was approximately 54 years old. The exact cause of his death is not recorded. He left behind his wife Jane and a large family spanning two marriages. There is no marked grave for Roland; family research places his burial at the Old Sellers Cemetery in Chesterfield County, and there is also a notation referencing Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery — though no stone for him exists there.
His widow Jane filed for a pension based on his War of 1812 service in 1879 — more than thirty years after his death. Her sworn affidavit in that pension file, dated April 4, 1879, is one of the richest genealogical sources we have for Roland's life. Jane continued to appear on pension rolls through January 1883. A specific death date for Jane has not been found.
Roland's legacy is most visible in his children and their descendants. His sons fought — and many died — in the Civil War. His daughters made their own lives across the Carolinas and Alabama. His son Phillip lived to 84 and was remembered as one of Anson County's most beloved citizens. Stephen and Susanna kept the family name alive in Chesterfield County well into the twentieth century.
Roland Sellers was the kind of man history often overlooks — not a politician or a general, not wealthy or famous, but a hardworking farmer, a veteran, a husband and father, who helped build a community in the South Carolina backcountry and raised children who carried his name and story forward for generations.
Quick Reference: Family Summary
Father: Roland Sellers (born 1794, Chesterfield County, SC — died March 9, 1848, Chesterfield County, SC)
Parents: Philip Sellers Sr. (1774–1835) and Mary LNU (1774–1840)
First Wife: Margaret Eddins (born about 1798 — died 1841), married about 1817
Second Wife: Jane Baxter (born about 1810 — died after January 1883), married December 28, 1842
Children (14 total):
1. Phillip A. Sellers (May 3, 1818 – July 2, 1902) — Chesterfield County, SC / Anson County, NC
2. Roland R. Sellers (1821 – December 13, 1864) — Chesterfield County, SC / Anson County, NC
3. James David Sellers (about 1822 – October 15, 1861) — Chesterfield County, SC
4. William Riley Sellers (about 1823 – May 11, 1862) — Chesterfield County, SC
5. Richard Calvin "Dick" Sellers Sr. (August 16, 1824 – June 28, 1894) — Chesterfield County, SC
6. John M. Sellers (about 1825 – May 14, 1864) — Chesterfield County, SC / Anson County, NC
7. Lucy Jane Sellers (about 1826 – June 15, 1928) — Chesterfield County, SC
8. William Braddock "Dock" Sellers (December 30, 1828 – 1906) — Chesterfield County, SC
9. Mahala A. Sellers (about 1830 – unknown) — Chesterfield County, SC
10. Mary A. Sellers (about 1830 – 1872) — Chesterfield County, SC / Crenshaw County, AL
11. Stephen D. Sellers (January 17, 1834 – March 13, 1909) — Chesterfield County, SC
12. Alfred Franklin Sellers (about 1835 – unknown) — Chesterfield County, SC
13. Sarah A. Sellers (February 1837 – December 1859) — Chesterfield County, SC
14. Susanna Sellers (February 1837 – February 12, 1919) — Chesterfield County, SC
(Plus two children with Jane Baxter: Flora D. Sellers, born about 1844; Lucy E. Sellers, born about 1846/1850)
Roland Sellers is my 3rd Great GrandUncle.
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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed March 2024); Memorial page for Roland Sellers; (1794–9 March 1848); Find a Grave memorial # 57564636, Citing Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery.; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
2. Ancestry, "War of 1812 Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed March 2024), entry for Roland Sellers, Pvt; 3rd Reg't (Alston) South Carolina Service Records, database entry for Rolen Sellers, Private; Capt. William Welch Company; United States.Militia
3. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Deed Book 6: pages 112 & 113, Rolin R. Sellers and Phillip A. Sellers to William R. Sellers Deed; 7 October 1850, Register of Deeds, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
4. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Roland Sellers (1794–9 March 1848), Memorial # 57564636.
5. James C. Pigg, Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865 &: Abstracts from the Court of Common Pleas 1823-1869 (Tega Cay, South Carolina: self-Published, 1995), 122.
6. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 143B (stamped); Line 1, Dwelling 692, Family 692, Household of Jane SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 23 September 2015); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
7. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Deed Book 6: pages 112 & 113.
8. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page: 147 (stamped); Line 9, Dwelling 748, Family 746, Household of J. D. SELLARS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 25 November 2016); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
8. Randolph W. Kirkland Jr., Broken Fortunes: South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Citizens Who Died in the Service of Their Country and State in the War for Southern Independence, 1861-1865 (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1997), W. R. Sellers, page 312.
10. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, William R Sellers (Unk-11 May 1862), Memorial # 93886626.
11. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Stephen D. Sellers (17 January 1834–13 March 1909), Memorial # 32239043.
12. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (https://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 20 September 2015), entry for Stephen D. SELLERS, Private; Capt. James I. Kelley's Company Light Artillery SC V; Confederate.
13. 1880 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 007, Page: 353A(stamped); Line 20, Dwelling 6, Family 6, Household of Jane SELLERS; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 23 September 2015); citing National Archive Microfilm T9, Roll 1225.
14. 1900 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0025, Page: 12A/159 (stamped); Line 44, Dwelling 214, Family 219, Household if Steven D. SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 20 September 2015); citing National Archives Microfilm T623_1523.
15. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Probate Files & Loose papers, Stephen D. Sellers; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: Viewed 3 June 2014); Probate Folder #1007.
16. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Stephen D. Sellers, Probate Folder #1007.
17. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Susana Sellers (1837–12 February 1919), Memorial # 32239104.
18. 1910 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mt. Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0041, : 0041; FHL microfilm: 1375468; Page: 17B/217 (stamped); Line 85, Dwelling 310, Family 310, Household of Susannah SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 28 January 2020); citing National Archives Microfilm T624_1455.
19. 1870 U. S. Census, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Population Schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina, Page: 325A(stamped); Line 2, Dwelling 18, Family 18, Household of J. [Jane] SELLERS.
20. 1910 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mt. Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina, ED 0041, : 0041; FHL microfilm: 1375468; Page: 17B/217 (stamped); Line 85, Dwelling 310, Family 310, Household of Susannah SELLERS.
21. 1920 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 44, Page: 1B/250 (stamped); Line 85, Dwelling 16; Family 16, Household of Lucy E SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 20 January 2020); citing National Archives Microfilm T625_1690.
22. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1961, Images. Ancestry, (https://www.ancestry.com: 20 January 2020), South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1961, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, Lucy SELLERS; Certificate number 9551, 15 June 1925.
Prepared by Charles Purvis, Thomasville, NC • CPurvis1@gmail.com • May 16, 2026
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