CAROL, thanks, many good ideas. marie, iowa -----Original Message----- From: Carol Herbert [mailto:carolherbert@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 5:41 PM To: mari@netins.net; Jack Sellers Cc: Katherine Kyle; paul kyle Subject: Cuzzy/Cassa/Maria Sellers of Johnston County I am dealing only with Johnston County, North Carolina, Census records and speculation about the relationship of these women who appear as heads of households with the men that I have identified and described in earlier communications. Cuzzy/Cassa Sellers I believe that these names designate the same woman: 1810 "Cuzzy" 1820 "Cassa" 1830 "Cuzzy"? Whose husband could Cuzzy have been? 1. Benjamin Sellers (1) dies or disappears between 1784 and 1790. He does not reappear in any other location. Therefore, Cuzzy could be his wife. 2. Sampson Sellers moves from Johnston County to Richmond County, North Carolina, with his wife and younger children. Cuzzy could not have been his wife. 3. James (1) is married to Faithey and he appears in the 1810 Johnston County Census with his wife and children, the first census that Cuzzy appears in as head of household. Cuzzy could not have been his wife. 4. George Sellers (b. before 1778) appears in tax lists, paying a poll tax between 1802 and 1805. He appears in land transactions in Johnston County in 1798 and 1803. He appears in no other records, census, marriage, military, etc. A George Sellers appears in the 1810 Cumberland County Census with a wife and young child. It is unlikely, but possible for George to have his first child at age 35 and live with a wife in the 26-45 year range. This George is too probably too young to be the Johnston County George. Therefore, it is possible, but unlikely that Cuzzy is the wife of George. 5. John Sellers is in the census as a single male in 1830 and 1840. There is no reason to believe that he evr married. Cuzzy could not have been his wife, Therefore, I conclude that Cuzzy is the wife of Benjamin (1). In 1784, she would have been one of the 7 females in Benjamin's household. NO SELLERS APPEAR IN THE 1800 CENSUS although land and tax records establish that the Sellers men were in the County shortly before and shortly after 1800. Therefore, the fact that Cuzzy is not in the 1800 Census is no way indication that she was not in Johnston County during this period. In the 1810 Census Cuzzy appears as head of household (F over 45) with a M and F, both born between 1784-1794, and 2 girls under 10. This M fits the age of Benjamin(2) exactly. He does not appear as born in 1784 Census with Benjamin (1) and Cuzzy, as he would have been born shortly thereafter, but his age is clearly established as between 1780-90 in later Census records. So Cuzzy is living with her son Benjamin(2) (in her house) and his wife and two daughters. In the 1820 Census Cassa (in the same district of Johnston County) F over 45, appears with 1 F 26-45 and 2 F 16-26. Are these Benjamin's wife and two daughters now ten years older? Benjamin does not appear in the 1820 Census, although he is clearly in Johnston County according toland transactions and tax lists. It would be likely that his wife and children would still be living in his mother's household, even though he is not counted in the census. Benjamin marries Sally Taylor in August of 1820. Is this simply the legal union with a common law wife or a second wife? In the 1830 Census Benjamin's wife was born between 1790 and 1800. This means Sally Taylor could have been the common law wife in 1810, b. 1790 with two girls under 10. Or she could be a second wife, born as late as 1800, married in 1820 and having her first children after 1820. The older two girls (b. 1800-10) are not living with Benjamin and Sally in 1830. Are their marriages in Johnston County between 1820 and 1830? There is at least one: Polly Sellers married Warren Collins 26 March 1822, with Samuel Strickland as bondsman. North Carolina Marriage Bonds need to be checked to see if there are marriage bonds recorded that do not appear in the "Marriages of Johnston County, North Carolina 1762-1868" since that volume omits some records of the period. In the 1830 Census, Cuzzy appears for the last time. However, her age is clearly not recorded properly. Her mark is in the 30-40 age range. So the original Cuzzy is either dead and someone else is known by the same name or the Census taker mismarked the age. I am assuming the Census taker mismarked the age since the household is in the same area of the County and the name is consistent. In addition to mismarked Cuzzy, there is a F 20-30 and 2 M under 5. Who is this younger female with the two young boys? Are the boys grandsons of Cuzzy? If so, their father must be Benjamin because he appears to be her only son. If this younger female is a daughter or granddaughter who has the boys, they will not have Sellers Surnames or ceratinly not Sellers YDNA. The other possibility is that they are sons of James (2) and grandnephews instead of Grandsons. That depends on what happened to James (2). Did he immigate to Tennessee or somewhere else? He does not appear in the Census or tax records after 1820. Maria Sellers In the 1840 Census, Maria Sellers appears in a household with an older F 50-60, F 30-40, and 2 M 10-15. I believe Maria is the F 30-40 because a Mortality record in the 1850 Census shows "Moriah" a widow,dying at age 45 of a "nervous fever" she had for 13 days. If she is a widow, who was her husband? She is not the F in Cuzzy's household in 1810 or 1820. She may be the younger F in 1830 and then head of the household in 1840. The older woman in the household now may be "Faithey" wife of James (1), mother of James (2) because Faithey appears in a Sellers household with three young Sellers 2 M 22 and 24 and 1 F 23 apparently not a wife of either (a sister or cousin?). What we do know about this household of women is that it is closely associated with the households of Benjamin and James. Onee of the questions this 1840 Census raises is the identity of Maria's husband, because he may be the father of two of the males in the 1850 Census who are related in Sellers DNA, Daniel Sellers and Alsey Sellers. We will now examine the relationships I have drawn between and among the Johnston County North Carolina Sellers who appear in records from 1778-1840. Then, we will look at the 1850 Census and records thereafter.