Thriller Thursday~Helton Joe Sellers Assassinated

June 8, 1932 began as a normal day in the home of Helton Joe Sellers and his wife Annie Bittle Sellers at their small farm near the Pee Dee River. 

While Annie remained in the home taking care of her daily household chores; her husband Helton Joe went about his duties on the farm. 

By mid-afternoon, Helton Joe could be seen plowing a field about a quarter of mile or less from his home. He had reached the end of the row and was turning his team when the quite of the afternoon was shattered with the sound of a single gunshot. ^{1 2}    

His family sensing something ominous rush to the field to find Helton Joe lying on the ground. Helton Joe was still alive but gravely injured. The remote location of the farm resulted in some time lost before his son, Clifton, was successful in finding transportation to take his Father to the local hospital in Wadesboro, approximately 12-15 away.   

Helton Joe died about  an hour later while en route to the Anson Sanatorium by his son and son-in-law. 

Sheriff J. Flake Martin and his deputy, W. C. Mangum, rushes immediately to the Sellers farm to begin an investigation. Meanwhile, the body of Helton Joe Sellers was taken to Dr. J. H. Bennett for post mortem examination.

Sheriff Martin found where the killer had hidden in bushes at the edge of the field. Bloodhounds from Fayetteville was brought in to assist with the investigation. 

Dr. Bennett determine that Mr. Sellers was shot with a rifle with the bullet had entered his back below the right shoulder blade passing through the lungs and liver then exiting the upper right breast. He died of internal hemorrhaging.   

Helton Joe Sellers was survived by his wife, Annie Bittle Sellers, his son, Clifton and three daughters, Mildred V. Sellers and her husband Jack Stewart; Anna Naomi Sellers and her husband Craven Smith Staton and Mary Elizabeth Sellers and husband William E. Huntley. 
 
W. J. “Bill’ Tarlton  was convicted by the courts for killing Helton Joe Sellers.  Mr. Tarlton, died in prison, at Raleigh, North Carolina in October 1933 from cirrhosis of the liver. ³

Helton Joe Sellers was buried at Hopewell Baptist Church cemetery, Chesterfield, South Carolina on  10 June 1932. Annie lived another 25 years dying in 1957 and is buried beside her husband at Hopewell. ⁴

Helton Joe Sellers was my 2nd cousin 3 times removed.


_______________________
[1] H. J. Sellers is Killed by Skulking Assassin, The Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, USA, 8 June 1932.
[2] Helton J. SELLERS obituary, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 6 June 1932, page 1, col. 5.
[3] W. J. ”Bill’ Tarlton Dies, The Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, USA, 11 October 1933.
[4] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 January 2014); Memorial page for Helton Joe Sellers; (8 September 1858–8 June 1932); Find a Grave memorial # 57338589, Citing Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.

52 Ancestors: #33, William Thomas Graves

 


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 posting today is my 2nd Great Grand Uncle and brother of my 2nd Great Grand Mother.

William Thomas Graves was born about 1836 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.^{1 2 3} He enlisted for the Civil war on 13 August 1862, serving with Company C, 8th SC Infantry.⁴ William died from pneumonia on 15 Oct 1862 at the age of 26 while admitted to the Charlestown Hospital, Virginia in Charlestown, Virginia.^{5 6}

William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter were married on 26 Jul 1857 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.⁷

Mary Gilley Lassiter, daughter of Eli Lassiter and Mary Gainey, was born in 1839 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. ^{8 9} She was last found living in the POOR HOUSE on 3 Aug 1866.¹⁰ Her fate is unknown after 3 Aug 1866. ¹¹

In their short life and marriage William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter had two children:
i. Clarinda G. Graves, born 23 Oct 1859, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; married Christopher Wesley Teal, 25 Nov 1878, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; died 1 Aug 1933, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.
ii. Nancy Jane Graves was born in 1862.¹² She was baptized on 1 Jan 1874 in Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina.¹³ Her fate after 1 January 1874 is unknown.

 
_______________________
1. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 106A, Line 8, Dwelling 110, Family 110, Household of Mary GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
2. Ibid.
3. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
4. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 13 October 2013), entry for Thomas GRAVES, Private; Co. C, 8th SC Infantry; Confederate.
5. Ibid.
6. Brent H. Holcomb C.A.L.S., St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,: Parish Register 1819-1924 (Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1991), pages 87-68.
7. C.A.L.S., St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 105.
8. 1850 U S Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 108A (stamped); Line 30, Dwelling 147, Family 147, Household of Eli LASSITER; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 17 May 2014); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
9. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Population Schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES.
10. The South Carolina Genealogical Society, "Freedmen's Bureau Ration Book: May - September 1866 Darlington, South Carolina," The Carolina Herald (Summer Issue 2003): Page 27.
11. 1870 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Cheraw, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 259A(stamped); Line 39, Dwelling 164, Family 170, Household of M. LASITER; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 4 January 2009); citing National Archives Microfilm M593_1491.
12. Ibid.
13. C.A.L.S., St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 68.