In Celle Newsletter #123, pages 6 & 7, we outlined the marriage records of Catharine, Elizabeth, and Susan Jane Sells, all found to have married in Greene County, Illinois between 1851 and 1857. We suspected that these three girls were all daughters of Benjamin Sells, a.1800/1810-a.1835, and Nancy Ballinger Sells.
Loretta Beeuwsaert of San Clemente, CA was kind enough to send us the 1850 and 1860 census records for the Ogle and Rexroat families living in Greene County, Illinois; and these are the families listed; all living between Macoupin and Apple Creek:
In 1850; on page 13, dwelling and family #164:
John Rexroat, age 50, male, farmer, born PA
Nancy, age 41, female, born KY
Catharine, age 21, female, born IL
Elizabeth, age 20, female, born IL
Susan J., age 18, female, born IL
Sarah, age 13, female, born IL
John A., age 11, male, born IL
William G., age 9, male, born IL
Samuel L., age 7, male, born IL
Mathias P., age 2, male, born IL
Jeremiah J., age 2, male, born IL
Also listed in 1850, on page 15, dwelling and family #194:
Benjamin Ogle, age 69, male, farmer, born VA
Hannah, age 68, female, born NC
Absalom, age 34, male, farmer, born TN
Cyntha, age 30, female, born IL
Susan, age 23, female, born IL
Josiah, age 20, male, born IL
John R. Stuart, age 6, male, born IL
William Hudson, age 22, male, farmer, born KY
These records show these two families living pretty close to each other, certainly close enough for us to conclude that Elizabeth Sells who married Absalom Ogle in 1851 is the daughter of Nancy Ballinger Sells Rexroat; and that Catharine and Susan Jane are her sisters. Even though the census taker did not list the Sells surnames for these girls on this record, it is apparent that they are Nancy's daughters from her first marriage, in 1826 to Benjamin Sells. Nancy married John George Rexroat in 1836, so if the ages given for all of her children are correctly listed on the above census record, Catharine, Elizabeth and Susan Jane must be daughters of Benjamin Sells; and Sarah and all the boys children of John Rexroat.
By 1860 the Rexroat family had moved to Iowa, and the three Sells daughters had married in Green County. The 1860 Green County, Illinois census does not include any Sells or Rexroat families, but does record several Ogle families, including:
On page 836, family #1512:
Absolom Ogle, age 43, male, farmer, born TN
Elizabeth, age 30, female, born IL
Nancy A. Ogle, age 8, female, born IL
Samuel W. Ogle, age 11 months, male, born IL
Susan Bunch, age 16, female, domestic, born IL.
And on page 740, family #844:
Benjamin Ogle, age 71, male, farmer, born NC
Hannah, age 71, female, born NC
Cynthia Ogle, age 39, female, born IL
Susan Ogle, age 33, female, born IL.
Absolom and Elizabeth Sells Ogle, who married in 1851, now have two children, and are living not too far from his parents. (Note that Benjamin and Hannah Ogle had aged only a few years in this decade; while everyone else seems to be 9 to 10 years older!)
It would still be nice to find a probate record or obituary for Benjamin Sells, who probably died about 1834/35 in Greene County, Illinois; and or an obituary for Nancy Ballinger Sells Rexroat, that names all of these Sells children as siblings. But lacking that, we do seem to be on the right track here, and perhaps someday will find more evidence that these three Sells girls were sisters. Any help in this endeavor will be much appreciated.
Carolyn Cell Choppin
Choppin.Carolyn@usa.net
