Very early in our research of the Sell(s) Families, we learned of the John Sells family (son of Solomon) who moved from the Washington Co., Tennessee area to Southern Indiana.
In the October 1977 Celle Newsletter (#28) we wrote about the land records found in Washington and Johnson Counties of Indiana. At the same time we wrote: "one of the current challenges related to these records, is to clarify which records belong to which of the several William Sells."
We knew that the William Sells who married Sarah LeFever was a son of this John Sells, and that this William Sells apparently owned land in Washington, Morgan, and Johnson Counties of Indiana; and later in Henderson County, Illinois. By 1977 we had identified only a few of his children, as we wrote in that Newsletter (#28) that "he had 3 to 5 sons, William Jr., Benjamin, Miles, and possibly a Jacob and/or a John." We also knew that this William Sells had died in 1874 in Henderson County, Illinois.
In 1971 Dr. James W. Sells ("Jim Sells" to his family), then living in Atlanta, Georgia had written us looking for the parentage of his grandfather, James Sells, 1835-1880, who married Helen Mary Hendrickson. James Sells was born in Indiana in 1835, and they had lived in McDouough County, Illinois and Johnson County, Kansas. The process of elimination over several years of research brought us to the conclusion, published first in our January 1978 (#29) Newsletter, that "James Sells, born 1835 in Indiana, who married Helen Mary Hendrickson is probably a son of William W. Sells and Sarah Lefever." But we still needed proof that William had a son named James!
At this same time, researcher Clifton Huff, who is also a descendant of William Sells and Sarah Lefever, was searching diligently through the probate records of William's brother James Sells, and also the Henderson County, Illinois files for William Sells. And after some very tedious work, Clifton finally found the most valuable document of all: the petition for probate, filed by son Miles Sells! This document does, as the law required, name ALL the surviving heirs of William W. Sells, and not just those mentioned in other deeds or the will. William's will names four sons, "Wm., James, Benj., and Miles"; and his (2nd) wife, Pamelia Sells. But the petition for probate names six sons and a daughter! This petition for probate reads in part: "Miles Sells being duly sworn, desposes and says that Wm. W. Sells of the county of Henderson and State of Illinois is dead, and that he died on or about the 18th day of December AD 1874. That said Wm. W. Sells left at the time of his decease Pamelia Sells his widow, and Wm., James, John, and Samuel Sells, Sarah Dollarhite, Benj. Sells and Miles Sells his children"
So this record provided quite a different list of the children of William and Sarah LeFever Sells. You will note also that William's widow, is NOT the mother of his children. We had to find the 1852 Illinois marriage record for William Sells and Pamelia Nickerson to be certain that William had married Pamelia AFTER all of his children were born. Checking all the Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa census records helped to determine the order of birth and birth years of his children, as they are NOT named in their order of birth in the above mentioned probate files. We also had found the 1817 Washington Co., Indiana marriage record for William Sells and Sarah LeFever.
First: We found that John Sells was probably the eldest, born about 1820, probably in Washington Co., Indiana. He married about 1848, probably in Henderson County, Illinois to Lucretia Bogle.
They had five known children another long and tedious quest by descendant Clifton Huff.
Second: Sarah Sells, the only surviving daughter, was probably born about 1821/22 in Indiana. Her marriage record is in Johnson County, Indiana, dated 3 March 1836 to Elijah Dollarhide.
Third: Samuel Sells, born about 1823/24 in Indiana. We still know almost nothing about him.
Fourth: a son born about 1825 in Indiana who probably died young, between 1830 and 1840. (This child is indicated only by the 1830 census records.)
Fifth: William Sells, born about 1830 in Indiana; married in 1854 in Fulton County, Illinois to Isabel Hunt. By 1860 they had three children, and possibly others born after 1860?
Sixth: Benjamin Sells, born 24 January 1834/36 in Indiana; died 5 January 1893 at Randolph, Fremont County, Iowa; married about 1855/56 to Malinda Evans. His will names his wife, two sons and a step daughter.
Seventh: James Sells, born 18 June 1835, Johnson County, Indiana; died 13 June 1880 in Illinois; married 1861 in McDonough Co., Illinois to Helen Mary Hendrickson. They had five children, and good records of this family were provided by Dr. James W. Sells of Atlanta, Georgia in 1971.
Eighth: Miles Sells, born about 1842/3 in Iowa; died 22 June 1921 at Randolph, Fremont County, Iowa; married in 1872 at St. Francisville, Missouri to Minnie Ann Smith; served in the Civil War and filed a Civil War Pension Application in 1891, which names his wife and two daughters. He was also the executor of his father's will of 1874.
Without the petition for probate this listing of the children of William W. Sell and Sarah LeFever would never have been complete. His census records were found for 1820 and 1830 in Washington County, Indiana; and there are also deeds there, dating from 1830 to 1846. William apparently moved his family to Johnson County, Indiana for a few years, indicated by deeds there, and his daughter's marriage record. But by 1840 he was living in Muscatine County, Iowa; and in 1850 and 1860 he is recorded in Henderson County, Illinois where his probate records are also filed.
It is quite possible that there were other children born to this couple who died very young, and were never recorded on any census record. But at least we now know that we have identified all of his surviving children, thanks to the efforts of researcher Clifton Huff.
Clifton Huff has been a very active researcher of Sell(s) records, and has shared his work with us since 1975. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has traveled often to Indiana and Illinois to do original research into courthouse documents. Thank you Clifton for all your diligent work over these many years to sort out the many Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Sell(s) families.
