Person:Adam Sellers (3)

Name^[1]	Adam Sellers
Alt Name^[1]	Adam Zeller
Alt Name	Adam Seller
Alt Name^[1]	Johan "Adam" Sellers
Gender	Male
Birth^[1]	1742	Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marriage	1765	Rockingham County, Virginiato Barbara Teeter
Marriage	Bef 1786	[Not Married] to Negro Slave (add)
Death^[1]	Apr 1821	Springboro, Warren, Ohio, United States
Burial^[1]		Salem Cemetery, Springboro, Warren, Ohio, United States

Adam Sellers was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

1 Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA
2 Records in Augusta County, VA
3 Information on Adam Sellers
4 Sources

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Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA

Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:

Page 280.--11th September, 1768. Henry Seller to Adam Seller, £60, 168 acres patented to Henry, 1st June, 1750. on Shanando, Philip Long's land; corner Peter Sellers'; also 205 acres patented to Henry, 30th August, 1763, between Peaked Mountain and Shanando River; corner Stephen Hemsberger. Teste: John Seller, Daniel ( ) Price, Jacob Hammer.

Page 61.-(undated, appears to be abt. 1770/71)- John ( ) Miller (the signature is recorded Hen.) and Barbara ( ) to Adam Sellers, £6, 6 acres on north side Shanando, part of tract whereon John now lives. Delivered: Adam Sellers. 17th July, 1794.

Page 124.--13th March, 1773. Henry Sellers to Adam Sellers. Teste: Jacob Nicholas, Augustine ( ) Price, Jacob ( ) Argabrite. Delivered: Jno. Sellers, August Court, 1776. (Note: acres or location not specified).

Land Grant Survey: Page 205 - Adam Sellers, 542 acres, Shenandoah River. Adjoining John Miller, Samuel Thornhill, Mathias Scarce, Henry Sellers, Peter Sellers.[Abt. April/May 1773] [Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia, by Peter Cline Kaylor, pg. 74].

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Records in Augusta County, VA

From Chalkley’s Augusta County Records: (unless otherwise listed)

Land Grant Survey: Page 205 - Peter Sellers, 183 acres, Shenandoah River. Adjoining Christian Teeter, Adam Sellers. March 4, 1773. [Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia, by Peter Cline Kaylor, pg. 74].

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Information on Adam Sellers

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I15

Adam spent most of his life in Rockingham County, Virginia, before moving to Warren County, Ohio, in 1817. While still in Rockingham County, Adam's daughter, Mary Christina, married Charles Null, the son of Heinrich "Henry" Null, Sr. and Margaret "Peggy" Harmon, in 1793.

In 1800 Charles and his brother, Christian, emigrated to Ohio and located in the Clear Creek Township in Warren County, and eventually brought the rest of the family out to Ohio. The Null Cabin is still standing and is located on what is now the Heatherwoode Golf Course.

Adam Sellers died in 1821 and in early 1823 there was an estate sale of items from his property. One such item was listed as "One Large Dutch Bible" which was purchased by Adam's son-in-law, Charles Null. Though I don't have any idea if this was the actual Sellers family bible, chances are good that it was. I realize its a complete shot in the dark and probably a lost cause, but I thought it worthwhile to attempt to find out if anyone has any information as to what might have happened to the Bible. After it was purchased by Charles, it might have been given to other Sellers descendents or it might have been passed down via Null descendants.

Just wanted to put this question out there to see if anyone had any idea about the Bible, if anyone had ever heard of it or about it, and/or if anyone had any idea how to go about finding out more about it now that nearly 200 years have passed since Charles Null purchased this "One Large Dutch Bible" from the estate of Adam Sellers in 1823 in Warren County, Ohio.

Thanks for reading this ....

Michael Sellers 5th Great Grandson of Adam Sellers

Headstone: In Memory of Adam Sellers <../../Bios/bios_main.htm> born AD 1742 and died 1821 age 79 yrs Estate notice in Western Star: PUBLIC VENDUE Will be sold at public vendue on Friday the 1st day of June next at the late residence of Adam Sellers <../Bios/bios_main.htm>, on Clearcreek, one Clock and Case, one ten plate stove, a number of Hogs, and Cattle, Beds and Bedding, Corn, wheat, household and kitchen furniture, and a number of other articles too tedious to mention. A credit of nine months will be given, by the purchaser giving his note with good approved security WILLIAM SELLERS } CHRISTIAN SELLERS } Admrs. CHARLES NULL } April 25th, 1821 230c4w

About Salem Reformed Church Cemetery, from Beers: "The first German Reformed Church in the township was built about the year 1805, on the farm now owned by Robert Eyer, about two and a half miles southeast of Springboro. It was built of logs, as were all the churches of that day. They afterward built a frame house on the farm of Jacob Null, which was replaced about 1863 by the present house in Springboro - a substantial brick edifice"

ID: I15 Name: Adam SELLERS Sex: M Birth: 1742 in Pennsylvania Death: APR 1821 in Springboro,Warren County,Ohio Burial: Salem Reformed Church Cemetery,Springboro,Ohio Note: NAME: Adam was most likely born in Pennsylvania a few years after the family's migration to America when they landed in Philadelphia on 16 September 1738 aboard the "Queen Elizabeth". No birth nor baptism records have yet to be found for Adam. The original German spelling of the name was "Johan Adam Zeller". Anglicanized by both the English courts as well as English society in general, the English version of the name became "Adam Sellers". The last name is also found in various court records either as "Seller" or as "Sellars". As evidenced by the estate records at his death in Warren County, Ohio, he was known as "Adam Sellers".

BURIAL: Adam is buried in the Salem Reformed Church Cemetery in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio, which is maintained by the Clearcreek Township. Gravestone found, photographed, and confirmed as still standing as of January 2004. Adam's gravestone stands on the far left in a row of four. Next to him, second from the left, is a gravestone for Mariah Null the likely second wife of Adam's former son-in-law, Charles Null. The next gravestone, third from left, is likely that of Adam's daughter, Mary Christina (Sellers) Null, first wife of Charles Null. She is listed in a transcription of the cemetery in the 1960s by the DAR as being buried there in that spot, but the gravestone itself has since been broken off at ground level. On the far right of this row is the gravestone for Charles Null. Its likely that Adam and daughter Mary Christina were buried next to each other after Adam's death in 1821 and Mary Christina's in 1824. Charles was buried to the right of Mary Christina when he died in 1844. Charles' second wife, Mariah, was then buried between Adam and Mary Christina to complete the row when she died in 1845.

GRAVESTONE: The gravestone inscription reads,

In Memory of

Adam Sellers

born AD 1742 and

died AD 1821

Aged 79 yrs.

Stone was photographed in October 2003. Quite the miracle it has survived over 187 years. Its a simple stone which appears to have been hewn from rock. Inscription was lightly carved and wasn't done deeply into the stone. Gravestone itself is under a tree and faces in a southwestern direction which is likely what saved it from being illegible after all these years. Doubtful stone and/or the inscription will last another 50 years.

WILL: Adam died intestate in 1821, presumably in the month of April. Son Christian Sellers, grandson William Sellers, and son-in-law Charles Null were appointed administrators of his Estate on April 25, 1821. All three lived in Warren County so its likely they were appointed within two weeks of Adam's passing. This would indicate that his death was in early April 1821. Also indicating his death was likely in April is the notation in the book "Paths Through the Wilderness" about Warren County, Ohio, which states that Adam Sellers was the 3rd person buried in the Salem German Reformed Church Cemetery after a "Thomas McLane" who died and was buried in late February 1821.

TRANSACTIONS: Adam Sellers' land was located in Augusta County, Virginia, until Rockingham County was carved from Augusta in 1778. From 1778 until his migration to Warren County, Ohio, in 1817, Adam can be found in the records of Rockingham County, Virginia. Transactions and mentions of Adam Sellers in Augusta & Rockingham County were seen as early as 1768 and are as follows:

Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Book #15, Page 280 - September 11, 1768: HENRY SELLER to ADAM SELLERS, for 60 pounds, 168 acres patented to Henry, 1st June, 1750, on Shanando (Shenandoah River), Philip Long's land; corner PETER SELLERS'; also 205 acres patented to Henry, 30th August, 1763, between Peaked Mountain and Shanando (Shenandoah) River; corner Stephen Hemsberger (Harnsberger). Teste: JOHN SELLER, Daniel ( ) Price, Jacob Hammer.

Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Book, #18, Page 124 - March 13, 1773: HENRY SELLERS to ADAM SELLERS. Teste: Jacob Nicholas, Augustine Price, Jacob ( ) Argabrite. Delivered JNO. SELLERS, August Court, 1776.

Virginia Land Office Patent #42, Augusta County, Virginia. Page 762 (Reel 41): - July 5, 1774: Adam Sellers, grantee. 542 acres on the north side of Shanando (Shenandoah) River adjoining the lands of John Miller, Samuel Thornhill, and others.

From Rockingham County Court Minutes, cited from "A History of Rockingham County" by John W. Wayland (1912): - March 29, 1782: Accounts were allowed for military supplies furnished, for public service with teams, for horses lost in public service, etc., to the following: ADAM SELLERS - April 24, 1782: Accounts were allowed for service, supplies furnished, etc., during the Revolution, to the following persons: ADAM SELLERS

Virginia Land Office Grants, Rockingham County, Virginia. (#18, 1788-1789, p. 246, Reel 84) - July 28, 1788, Adam Sellers, grantee. 290 acres between Shanendoah River and the South Mountain adjoining land of Miller, Single, Etc.

Cited from "A History of Rockingham County", by John W. Wayland. "LARGE LANDOWNDERS OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN THE YEAR 1789" List by Reuben Moore, Commissioner. ADAM SELLERS - 1,154 acres

Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Book #XVII (17), Page 61 - July 17, 1794: John ( ) Miller (the signature is recorded Hen.) and Barbara ( ) to ADAM SELLERS, ?6, 6 acres on north side Shanando, part of tract whereon John now lives. Delivered: ADAM SELLERS. (Researcher Note: This record may have been for Adam's youngest son, Adam Sellers, Jr. Though Adam Sellers, Sr. also lived in the area it's quite possible that this purchase of 6 acres was done so by Adam, Jr.)

In either 1815 or 1816 Adam wrote to William Sellers, his grandson living in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio, for William to come to Virginia to help guide Adam "to the wilderness of Ohio". In preparation for the move, beginning in or around 1815 Adam began selling off most, but not all, of his property located in Rockingham County, Virginia. By late 1816 he had sold well over 1,000 acres and had given freedom to at least 3 of his male Free Slaves. Ohio was a "Free State" and Darke County, Ohio, was a haven for former slaves. William did come to Virginia and, with at least two four-horse drawn wagons, they began the trek for Ohio in early 1817. Upon leaving Rockingham County, Virginia, they first went to Darke County, Ohio, where Adam released the remainder of his slaves and setup provisions for them for the rest of his days. A brief sketch of the trek was detailed in an 1887 letter by another of Adam's grandsons, also named Adam Sellers, in which he wrote:

"About 70 years ago, 1817, my grandfather, then living on the Shenandoe River, Rockingham County, VA. (where all of that branch of the family then lived) being a widower about 72 years of age, and having a desire to free his slaves, wrote to my brother, William Sellers, to come to Virginia and super-intend the disposal of his property, and pilot them to this wilderness, as it was then considered by them. The trip was made in two four-horse wagons in about thirty days, camping out every night. They stopped one week at our house, one mile north of Lebanon."

For reasons unknown Adam held on to a couple hundred acres in Rockingham County even after the move, and his oldest son, Henry Sellers, Sr., adminstered the property in Adam's absence. This was evidenced in an Adminstrator's Bond filed by Henry in Rockingham County, Virginia, around 1822 after Adam's death in Warren County, Ohio, in April 1821.

Upon arriving in Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, Adam Sellers bought 206 acres from George Harnsberger for $4,550 on May 10, 1817. The property was located on present-day Lower Springboro Rd a few miles east of the intersection of Red Lion Rd and just a mile or so east of where the Salem Reformed Church Cemetery is presently located. Clear Creek itself flowed thru the property towards the north end of the land. After Adam's death in April 1821, it took nearly 14 years to settle the estate as he left no will. Adam's son, Christian, along with Adam's aforementioned grandson, William Sellers, and Adam's son-in-law, Charles Null, administered the estate throughout the 14 years. Christian eventually had all of the "Heirs of Adam Sellers" sign over their interest in the property to him where he was then able to sell the entire 206 acres outright and nearly in one piece. With Christian overseeing the administering of the property, 143 acres of the original 206 that Adam had purchased passed from the "Heirs of Adam Sellers" to Jacob Tressler, the husband of Adam's granddaughter, Sarah Null. Sarah was the daughter of Adam's daughter, Mary Christina, and his aforementioned son-in-law, Charles Null. Another 26 acres adjacent to the southwest corner of the 143 acres went to E.M. Allen. After Jacob Tressler's death on September 1, 1860, his son-in-law, William H. Taylor, became the owner of the 143 acres. An 1867 Plat Map of Clear Creek Township shows that the property is owned by "W.H. Taylor". William Taylor had married Jacob and Sarah (Null) Tressler's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Tressler, and they soon moved onto the farm with Mary's parents, Jacob and Sarah. Sarah remained living on the farm until her death in 1875, and William and Mary Elizabeth continued to own it and raise their family there. After William H. Taylor's death in 1894, Mary Elizabeth remained as owner. A 1904 Plat Map of Clear Creek Township clearly shows her as the owner of the 143 acres. Upon Mary Elizabeth's death in 1904 her son, John T. Taylor, became the owner. John T. Taylor had married Mary B. Warrick in 1885, and they had moved onto the farm soon after and began raising their own family by having a son, Walter W. Taylor, in 1892. After John's mother, Mary Elizabeth, died he remained owner of the farm until his own death in 1918.

John T. Taylor's wife, Mary B. Warrick, followed suit and became the owner of the 143 acres after John died. Meanwhile, John and Mary B.'s son, Walter W. Taylor, was also still living on the farm when he married Ella W. Earnhart.

Walter and Ella began raising their own family as well by having a daughter, Mary Helen Taylor, in 1919. Mary B. (Warrick) Taylor was still shown as owning the 143 acres according to a 1932 Plat Map of Clear Creek Township. Mary B. Taylor lived until 1954 at which time it can be resonably assumed that ownership of the farm went to her son, Walter. Walter was a direct line descendant of the original owner, Adam Sellers, as a Great-Great-Great Grandson. All told the 143 acres parcel had remained "in the family" for over 130 years after Adam's death in 1821.

Whether Walter became the eventual owner has not yet been determined. However, at present (May 2008), the 143 acres tract is still together and undeveloped in Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, some 188 years after Adam Sellers first took ownership of it from George Harnsbarger in 1817. Of the original 206 acres that Adam purchased, approximately 36+ acres of it extended north across present-day Lower Springboro Rd and is today part of a housing development of "tract mansions". The area is growing rapidly, and it appears that development of Adam Sellers' remaining 143 acres will turn into housing development(s) in the not-so-distant future.

CENSUS 1810: Adam Sellers found on the 1810 Census living in the New Haven District of Rockingham County, Virginia. Census enumeration date unknown. Data for the household is located on Page 177, Line 17.

HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD: ADAM SELLARS 1 - Male 45 years old and over 3 - All Other Free Persons (Persons of Color) 12 - Slaves

NOTE 1810: Adam's Grand Niece, Catherine (Sellers) Pence, and her husband, Adam Pence, are living in the next household. Catherine was the granddaughter of Adam's brother, Peter Sellers, Sr. Adam's nephew, (and Catherine Sellers Pence's father), Peter Sellers, Jr., is living two households away with his family. Adam had lived in Rockingham County, Virginia, since the family's move from Pennsylvania in late 1749. But, in the spring of 1817, Adam finished selling off most of his 2000+ acres of land in Rockingham County in preparation for a move to Clear Creek Township in Warren County, Ohio, where his son Christian and daughter Mary Christina Null were living. He wrote a letter to his grandson, William Sellers, in Warren County requesting that he come back to Virginia and help Adam move out there with them, which William did. William was the oldest son of Adam's deceased son, Peter Sellers, and was 24 years old at the time of the move. After first stopping off in Darke County, Ohio, to free his slaves from Virginia, Adam stopped off and stayed at William's home one mile north of Lebanon, Ohio, for about one week. At that time, May 10, 1817, Adam purchased 206 acres from George Harnsberger in Clear Creek Township and began his new homestead there.

CENSUS 1820: Adam Sellers found on the 1820 Census living in Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio. Census enumeration date unknown. Data for his household is located on Page 389.

HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD: ADAM SELLERS

1 - White Male over 45 years old

4 - Male Slaves 14 to 25 years old

1 - Male Slave 26 to 44 years old

3 - Female Slaves under 13 years old

2 - Female Slaves 14 to 25 years old

2 - Female Slaves 26 to 44 years old

NOTE 1820: Adam Sellers died the following year in April 1821 at the age of 79. He was buried in the Salem German Reformed Church Cemetery that was located less than two miles to the west of Adam's homestead on what is now Lower Springboro Road. Change Date: 4 SEP 2008 at 19:31:22

Father: Hans Henrich ZELLER </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I17> b: 17 AUG 1704 in Möttgers,Hesse,Germany Mother: Anna Maria FECHTER </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I18> b: 1701 in Möttgers,Hesse,Germany

Marriage 1 Barbara TEETER </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I16> Children Henry SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I13> b: Abt 1766 in Rockingham County,Virginia Christian SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I44> b: 1768 in Rockingham County,Virginia Peter SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I45> b: 1771 in Rockingham County,Virginia Mary Christina SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I46> b: 1773 in Rockingham County,Virginia Elizabeth SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I48> b: 15 MAR 1776 in Rockingham County,Virginia Adam SELLERS </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=muckham&id=I51> b: 1778 in Rockingham County,Virginia

Buried in Old Salem Cemetery on Craiglaw Lane just to the west of Salem Farm. Turn onto Craighlaw and drive back off Lower Springboro Road. You'll find the cemetery a coupleo f hundred yards back on the left across from a home. Adam, Christina, Mariah and Charles all in a row next to each other in the back park of the cemetery.

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