Amy Johnson Crow of No Story To Small has started a challenge of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
From her blog “The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.”
The focus of my blog post today is Pvt. Andrew Washington Sellers, Confederate Soldier
Among the many ancestors I have researched, three men, in my direct lineage, stands heads above the others as men I most admire. They are Hezekiah Brock, my 2nd Great Grandfather, Shadrach Johns, my 2nd Great Grandfather and Andrew Washington Sellers, my Great Grand Uncle. While these three men are mentioned here I in no way want to diminish the achievements of my other relatives. My dad, stands tall among all these men and I admire none of them more than I do my father.
I have written about each of these men previously but today we will revisit with Andrew Washington Sellers.
Andrew Washington Sellers grew up in tough times without his father. Shortly after his birth, his father William Eddins Sellers took his family to Madison County, Tennessee where some of their Sellers relatives had migrated. Sometime before Andrew turned 10, about or before 1854, his father, William Eddins Sellers was killed in an accident. Their mother, Elizabeth (Parsons) Sellers packed up her 4 sons and two daughters and moved back to Chesterfield County, South Carolina. 1 2
At the breakout of the Civil War, Andrew Washington, enlisted on 26 December 1861 as a private with Company A, 4th SC Cavalry. On the September-October 1864 Muster Roll he is shown on detached duty to Stoney Creek with an unserviceable horse. This tuned out to be an unfortunate event because on 1 December 1864, Andrew Washington Sellers, was captured at Stoney Creek, taken prisoner and sent to Pt. Lookout, Maryland. He was released after taking the “Oath of Allegiance” 19 June 1865. This is 13 days after the official end of the War on 6 June 1865.3 4
My blog posting “Interview with a Confederate Veteran” is his experience in his words and is highly recommended. In this article Andrew Washington refers to a “Bronze Cross of Honor” that he was awarded. The interview was conducted in 1932 and I suspect this Bronze Cross of Honor was in fact the “Southern Cross of Honor” presented to Andrew sometime after the Civil War by the Stonewall Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.5
Andrew Washington married Catherine Pinkney Wallace on 27 December 1865. They had nine children; 5 sons and 4 daughters. Catherine passed away on 30 December 1912. Andrew Washington Sellers,passed away on 12 January 1935, at age 90 and was buried at Zoar United Methodist Church cemetery.6 7
Andrew Washington Sellers is my Great grand Uncle.
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1. 1850 U. S. Census, Madison County, Tennessee, population schedule, District 10, Madison County, Tennessee, Page 305B; Line 1, Dwelling 244, Family 244, Household of Wm. E. SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 889.
2. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 130B; Line 28, Dwelling 0522, Family 0521, Household of Elizabeth SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
3. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/:accessed 3 September 2013), entry for Andrew Washington SELLERS, Private; Co. A, 4th SC CAV CSA.; Confederate.
4. Andrew Washington SELLERS, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 7 April 1932, page 3, col. 3-5. Interview with Andrew Washington Sellers, Confederate Veteran (conducted by Nellie Bristow, Florence Morning News, reprinted Chesterfield Advertiser, April 7, 1932).
5. Ibid.
6. Andrew Washington Sellers, obituary, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 24 January 1935, page 1, col 5.
7. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com:accessed 26 May 2013); Memorial page for Andrew Washington Sellers; (24 November 1844–12 January 1935); Find a Grave memorial # 32166062, Citing Zoar United Methodist Church Cemetery; Brocks Mill, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
