52 Cousins~Joseph Hardy Sellers

Joseph Hardy Sellers was born 5 August 1853, a son of Hardy Huntley Sellers (1829 - 1857) and Mary E. Sinclair Sellers (1830-1912) of Chesterfield County, South Carolina. He was the 2nd of 5 children borne to this couple. He had two brothers and two sisters.  

On 6 October 1878, Joseph went to his brother’s home and finding no one at home let himself into the house, found a pistol and killed himself. Family and friends said his mind had been wandering for some time. He was 25 years, 2 months and 1 day of age.   

Joe Sellers Death: 

October 9, 1878, Pee Dee Herald, Page 5, Column 2; (Anson County, NC) "Suicide" - Joe Sellers a young man living in the edge of Chesterfield, SC committed suicide, last Saturday. Mr. Sellers mind had been wondering for some time past and his friends were keeping close watch over him. It seems Mr. Sellers went over to his brothers on a visit and not finding any of the family at home raised one of the windows and went into the house. When found he was lying across a bed cold in death with his brother's pistol by his side with one bullet hole in his forehead and one in his stomach.

Saturday, October 12, 1878, MONROE ENQUIRER (Union County, NC)

-We learn that on last Sunday, Mr. Joseph SELLERS, a young man about 24 years old, and living near Chesterfield CH [Courthouse], committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol...

Coroner's Report:

THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOSEPH H. SELLERS

Date: October 6, 1878, Deceased

Joseph H. Sellers

Sex: Male

Race: White

COD Category: Suicide

COD: Firearm

COD Inquest Finding: 

upon their oaths do say, that on the 6th day of October AD 1878 at the residence of J. S. Sellers in the County and State aforesaid the said Joseph H. Sellers came to his death by voluntarily shooting himself twice with a Pistol once near the pit of the stomach and once in the forehead.

https://csidixie.org/inquests/4141 

He was buried on 7 Oct 1878 at Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.

Joseph Hardy Sellers is my 1st Cousin 5X Removed. 

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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 23 June 2013); Memorial page for Joseph Hardy Sellers; (5 August 1853–6 October 1878); Find a Grave memorial # 42742799, Citing Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery; Ruby, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.

2. Julie Hampton Ganis, http://www.usgwarchives.net/, CHESTERFIELD CO., SOUTH CAROLINA - Miscellaneous Newspaper Accounts (http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/chesterfield/newspapers/misc01.txt: viewed 23 June 2014), Death of Joseph Sellers, committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol..., 7 October 1878.

3. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Joseph Hardy Sellers (5 August 1853–6 October 1878), Memorial # 42742799.

4: Coroner's report > https://csidixie.org/inquests/4141 

Chesterfield County SC Estates~Estate Folder #650–Mary Eliza Sinclair Sellers

 
This is a new series of posting, appearing every Sunday, on selected Estate Folders from the Estate files of Chesterfield County. No known estates exist for the period before the Civil War. They were destroyed with the burning of the Courthouse. There are a few “Equity Records” in the State Archives. Do not overlook this valuable resources if you are looking for ancestors in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. 

Today we will be looking at the following Estate folders:

Folder #650
Mary Eliza Sinclair Sellers¹

This estate folder begins at image #209 and ends with image #239. (images 209-239)  
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19383-13089-56?cc=1911928

Warning: This probate folder contains mixed information. I believe it to be the folder for Mary E. Sinclair Sellers; but also contains information on Samuel S. Sellers and his wife Mary E. including the Will of Samuel S. Sellers. 

Mary Eliza Sinclair was born 23 April 1830, a daughter of James B. Sinclair and Mary Hollingsworth Burch. At age 18, on 20 January 1849, she married Hardy Huntley Sellers. Five children and 8 years later, Mary’s husband Hardy Huntley passed away on 12 January 1857. Her oldest child was a month shy of his 7th birthday. 
 
The petitioners in the below letter are definite the children of Mary Eliza Sinclair Sellers. 
 


State of South Carolina } In Probate
County of Chesterfield} Court
To T. L. Huntley Judge of Probate __
The petitioners Mrs. A. L. Burch, Mrs. M. E. McGregor and J. A. Sellers by their petition shows to this Court.
1. That Mrs. Mary E. Sellers of the State and County above written is their Mother and that she is possessed of a personal Estate amounting to about four hundred Dollars.
2. That she owns real estate the income from which is about two hundred dollars a year.
3. That the Said Mrs. Mary E. Sellers is now in the State Hospital for the Insane and her disease has affected her mind, so that she is totally incapable mentally to attend to her business and is not capable of transacting any business at all.
4. That the business of the said Mrs. Mary E. sellers demands prompt and careful attention from some one who is capable of attending to same and who is under bond to account for the management of the same.
5. That J. S. Sellers her son, also our brother, is a fit and suitable person to attend to the business of the said Mrs. Mary E. Sellers.
Wherefore Petitioners preys that the Said J. S. Sellers may be appointed committee of Lunacy for said Mrs. Mary E. Sellers and will ever pray &c.
As to Mrs. A. L. Burch & Sign here                    J. A. Sellers
M E McGregor}                                                  A. L. Burch
In the presence of}                                            Mollie E. McGregor
C. B. McNair}

State of South Carolina}
County of Chesterfield}
Personally before the subscribing officers appears J. A. Sellers, one of the above named petitioners, who on oath says that allegations of the above petitioner are true of his own knowledge.
Sworn to before me}                                           J. A. Sellers
Sept. 16, 1899}
D. S. Matheson {seal}}
Notary Public
I hereby unite with above named petitioners in asking this Court to appoint me as committee of my mother. Mrs. Mary E. Sellers and agree to accept the commission if so appointed.                                                           J. S. Sellers

State of South Carolina} In Probate Court
County of Chesterfield}
On reading and filing the within petition it appearing that Mrs. Mary E. Sellers is mentally incapable of attending to her business, and that she is liable to suffer loss, unless some one proper person under bond be appointed to take charge of the same and that her son J. S. Sellers is a fit-person to attend to said business. It is therefore ordered that – the said J. S. Sellers be and is hereby appointed committee of Lunacy of the said Mrs. Mary E. Sellers and on entering into a bond for twelve hundred dollars conditioned to account for the property income and effects of the said Mrs. Mary E. Sellers payable to the Judge of Probate of this County according to the usual terms of Guardians bonds the said Committee shall have the right and it shall be his duty to take charge of all and singular the effects of Mrs. Mary E. Sellers and proceed to manage her business in every particular.
Sept. 25th, 1899}                                              T. L. Huntley
                                                                       Judge of Probate


James Sinclair Sellers was appointed administrator of his Mother’s Estate upon her commitment to the State Hospital. Dismissory letters were issued in 10 April 1908.  No death date is recorded within the Probate file for Mary Eliza but we know from her tombstone that her date of death is recorded as 11 December 1912. 



The home of Hardy and Mary Eliza still stands today, just outside of Ruby, SC, and is occupied by Sellers descendants. The home can be viewed by clicking on this link. 

http://carolinafamilyroots.blogspot.com/2013/02/wordless-wednesday-hardy-huntley.html










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[1] "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19383-13089-56?cc=1911928&wc=MPP5-3TT:190567401,190561002,190567402,191220701 : accessed 07 Jun 2014), Chesterfield > Probate Court, Estate records > 1865-1927 > Cases 0638-0757 > image 209 of 1623.

Tombstone Tuesday~Adela Lavina Sellers Burch

Adela Lavina Sellers Burch

b. 2 Feb. 1850

d. 11 May 1928

bu. Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery

Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord.

Photo courtesy of Julious Burr

Photo courtesy of Julious Burr

Adela was the first born child of Hardy Huntley Sellers and his wife, Mary Eliza Sinclair. She had a sister and three brothers of which one died rather young. ¹

Adela married Tristum Thomas Burch, son of Joseph Thomas Burch and Susannah Jackson on 19 September 1866 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. ²

Adela and Tristum had a family of seven children; 3 sons and 4 daughters. ^{3 4} 

Adela Burch died 11 May 1828 in Mt. Croghan, Chesterfield County, South Carolina. her lifetime husband and companion had died almost a year earlier on 20 July 1927. They were buried in the Gaddy –Sellers cemetery, Chesterfield County, South Carolina. ^{5 6 7 8}

Adela Lavina Sellers Burch is my 1st Cousin 5 times removed.








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1. 1850 U S Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 169A (stamped); Line 8, Dwelling 1085, Family 1085, Household of Hardy H. SELLERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 10 June 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
2. 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), Page 136.
3. 1870 U. S. Census, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 338B (stamped); Line 5, Dwelling 255, Family 255, Household of T. T. Burch; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed` 10 June 2010); citing National Archive Microfilm M593, Roll 1491.
4. 1880 U S Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Mount Croghan, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 007, Page: 366D (stamped); Line 46, Dwelling 267, Family 267, Household of Tristum BURCH; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 10 June 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm T9-1225.
5. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 3 June 2010); Memorial page for Adela Lavinia Sellers Burch; (2 February 1850–11 May 1928); Find a Grave memorial # 40379682, Citing Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery; Ruby, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
6. James C. Pigg, Chesterfield County Cemetery Survey; Chesterfield County Genealogical Services, 1995, page 1102. Tombstone of Adela Lavinia Sellers Burch; 2 February 1850–11 May 1928, Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
7. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Adela Lavinia Sellers Burch (2 February 1850–11 May 1928), Memorial # 40379682.
8. Mrs. T. T. Burch obituary, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 24 May 1928, page 1, col. 3.

Tombstone Tuesday~Hardy Huntley Sellers

Hardy Huntley Sellers

b. 11 June 1829

d. 12 Jan. 1857

bu.  Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery

Photo Courtesy of Julious Burr

Hardy Huntley Sellers is my 4th Great Grand Uncle. He is the first born son of my 5th Great Grandfather Hardy Sellers and his second wife, Levina Gulledge.

Hardy H. Sellers married Mary E. Sinclair on 20 January 1849 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Hardy passed away on 12 January 1857, at the age of 27, leaving his wife and five children; three sons and two daughters. 

Hardy was buried in what is known today as the Gaddy-Sellers cemetery. Only 13 tombstones/graves remains identifiable in some way in this cemetery. Hardy Huntley Sellers tombstone is in bad shape as depicted in the above photo.





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[1] Find A Grave Memorial# 42742669

Tombstone Tuesday~Joseph Hardy Sellers

b. Aug. 5, 1853

d. Oct. 6, 1878

bu. Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery¹

Photo Courtesy of Julious Burr

Note: Weather has taken it’s toil on this tombstone making it almost totally illegible.

Young Joseph Hardy Sellers was only 25 years old when he took his own life. No one today knows what possessed this young man to take the course of action that he chose.
 
Saturday, October 12, 1878, MONROE ENQUIRER (Union County, NC)-We learn that on last Sunday, Mr. Joseph SELLERS, a young man about 24 years old, and living near Chesterfield CH [Courthouse], committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol...²

Joseph Hardy was born  in August 1853 to Hardy Huntley Sellers and Mary Eliza Sinclair. This was their 3rd child and an older brother and sister preceded him. He also had a twin sister and a younger brother. His father Hardy Huntley Sellers passed away when he was a mere 3 years and 5 months old.  

It’s almost certain that without a father, his Mother Mary struggled to raise their family of 5 siblings throughout the war years (1861-1865) and throughout the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). 

Joseph Hardy Sellers is my 1st cousin 5 times removed.  




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[1] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 June 2013); Memorial page for Joseph Hardy Sellers; (5 August 1853–6 October 1878); Find a Grave memorial # 42742799, Citing Gaddy-Sellers Cemetery; Ruby, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
[2] Julie Hampton Ganis, http://www.usgwarchives.net/, CHESTERFIELD CO., SOUTH CAROLINA - Miscellaneous Newspaper Accounts (http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/chesterfield/newspapers/misc01.txt : viewed 23 Jan 2014), Death of Joseph Sellers, committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol..., 7 October 1878.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hardy Huntley Sellers Home

Hardy Huntley Sellers Home

Hardy Huntley Sellers

Birth:  Jun. 11, 1829

Death:  Jan. 12, 1857

Wife: Mary E. Sinclair (1830-1912) 

Son of Hardy Sellers Sr. and Lavinia Gulledge Sellers.

Sunday’s Obituary–J. A. Sellers

Julius Alexander Sellers

b. 16 Apr 1855

d. 28 Oct 1917

bu. Oakwood Cemetery

Word was received here this week of the death of Mr. J.A. Sellers, at Hickory, NC. Mr. Sellers is a native of Chesterfield County and leaves two sisters and one brother, Mrs. D. H. McGregor, Mrs. T. T. Burch and Mr. J. S. Sellers. His death was self-inflicted, attributed to failing health. [The Chesterfield Advertiser, November 1, 1817, page 8, col 4.] [1]

In addition to the two sisters and brother mentioned in the above obituary; Julie had another brother – Joseph Hardy Sellers who died in 1878.

The above NC Death Certificate (#251) shows that Julius was married yet his wife is not named on the death certificate nor is she mentioned in the short obituary of his death.

Ancestry.com shows that Julius A. Sellers married Jennie Jackson in 1888, Union County, North Carolina, Marriage License Book 4, page 52.[2] Her given name was Louise Virginia “Jennie” Jackson, daughter of Benjamin & Mary Catherine Jackson. Julius and Jennie had five (5) daughters - Mary E.; Eugenia S.; Ella J.; Virginia and Annie D. Sellers.

Julius Alexander Sellers was born 16 April 1855 to Hardy Huntley Sellers and Mary Eliza Sinclair.

Julius A. Sellers was my 1st cousin 5 time removed.
 
 

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[1] Obituary - Mr. J. A. Sellers, The Chesterfield Advertiser, November 1, 1917, page 8, col. 4. SOURCE: James C. Pigg, "Obituaries from the Chesterfield Advertiser 1892-1926, Chesterfield County, SC" (Tega Cay, SC, Self-published, 2001). November 1, 1917, page 8, col. 4:
[2] Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Marriage Collection, 1741-2004 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. North Carolina State Archives. North Carolina County Marriage Indexes. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. North Carolina Marriage Index, 1962-2004. North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, Raleigh, North Carolina.