William Edgar Sellers

Other Events:

• Census: 1850, Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Peter Sellers, farmer, in the household of George Sellers
• Census: 1860, Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Peter Sellers, farm laborer, in the household of George Sellers

Notes:

Died at the home of his son Stanley Sellers in Lebanon, Ohio on Monday, June 28, 1896, in the sixty-second year of his age. He died from pneumonia. Born near Springboro, Oct 27, 1834Paternal grandparents came from Virginia. Parents - George and Anna Sellers. [Source: Note in the files at Brookville Historical Society, Brookville, Ohio]

Prof. Peter Sellers died at the home of his son Stanley Sellers in Lebanon Ohio, on Monday, June 28th, 1896, in the Sixty-second year of his age. He died from Pneumonia with which he had been attacked at Albion, Ills., more than two years before his death. After his return to his friends and relatives in Warren county there was at times such improvement in his health that hopes of his final recovery were entertained, but theses hopes proved elusive and from the spring of 1896 his decline was rapid.

Prof. Sellers was during the greater portion his life a practical teacher and though much of his work as an instructor was in other counties and states, yet he was so long connected with the schools of Warren county that it is fit in that this association should listen to a brief memorial of his life and work. In this county he was born and educated; and here he taught the common school, was principal of the graded school, was county school examiner, member of the teachers' association, and instructor in the county institute. Here he passed the last months of his life and here died and was buried.

Peter Sellers born near Springboro, October 27th, 1834. His paternal grand-parents came from Virginia and were among the earliest pioneers of Warren county. His parents were Gerge and Anna Sellers, who lived and died in the vicinity of Springboro. Without the advantages of a college training Peter received a good education. the community in which his parents lived was one of more than average intelligence; the public common schools he attended were often taught by good teachers and this Springboro Academy where he studied the higher branches, was a useful institution. In early manhood he attended the lectures of the Law School at Cincinnati where he received the degree of LL>B. Perhaps the best part of his intellectual outfit was the result of reading and study out of school. In early life he acquired a love of good literature, but he was through life careful and painstaking in his reading, rather than omniverous. When a boy a volume of Macaulay's essays fell into his hands and even then he was struck with the wide circle of the knowledge of that marvelous man, and he wondered how he had ever learned all he knew.

Peter Sellers commence the work of his life profession in early youth. Having obtained a certificate he taught his first school in District No. 10 of his native township of Clearcreek, beginning January 3rd, 1853. He was then eighteen years of age. With occasional interruptions by other avocations he continued in the profession of teaching until his last illness. He taught common schools in various districts of Warren county; and was successively principal of the graded schools of Springboro, Waynesville and Eaton. For a time he successfully conducted a private school in Kentucky, but he and his wife preferred to rear their children in their native state and they returned to Warren county.

In 1868 he was appointed a member of the board of County School Examiners of Warren county and he served in that capacity a number of years. Those who served with him in the board know better than those who were examined by him how diligent and conscientious he was in the discharge of the important duties of his office and how well he combined goodness and kindness in maintaining a high standard of qualification in the teachers profession.

In 1890 he was called to the presidency of the Albion Normal University at Albion, Ill. He was then fifty-six years of age; he had kept up his studies and was doubtless better prepared for the work of instructing advanced classes than ever before. He continued in the faithful and successful discharge of his duties at this institution until he was compelled to relinquish them by the illness from which he never recovered.

Prof. Sellers was not possessed of those showy talents which attract the admiration of the unthinking multitude. His acquirements were real. It is not too much to say of him no teacher of Warren county had about him less of false pretense, less of the disposition to show off. he did not pretend to be what he knew he was not, or to know what he knew he did not know. Those who came to know him best learned to esteem him best. He was an honest searcher after truth and a hard and persistent student. He willingly began new and difficult studies and mastered them by his unaided efforts. He could not long be content unless his mind was vigorously exercised. Even in the tedious months of his last sickness he would turn from the daily newspaper and the light conversation of friends to fined recreation in reading a Latin author or in solving a geometrical problem.

His personal character commanded respect and he will be remembered with affection and tenderness by those who were associated with him in educational work. Affable in manner, of quiet integrity, a true friend and a Christian, his daily life exemplified the possession of virtues which made him a symbol of honor in his profession and his life work entitles hie name in an honorable place in the history of education in our country. [Source: Obituary Records, Historical Museum Warren County, Lebanon, Ohio, Item 6 FHL#1637819, A Memorial Read Before the Warren County Teachers Association Sept. 26th, 1896, by Josiah Morrow.]

Peter married Sarah Gallaher on 15 Jan 1862 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. Sarah was born on 15 Nov 1838 in Ohio, United States; died on 19 Aug 1917 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States; was buried on 21 Aug 1917 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Census: 1850, Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as George Sellers, farmer, head of household
• Beneficiary: 12 May 1852; in the will of his father, Jacob Sellers
• Census: 1860, Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as George Sellers, farmer, head of household

George married Anne Sellers on 25 Sep 1814 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. Anne (daughter of John Sellers and Henrietta Smith) was born on 12 Dec 1794 in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States; died on 18 Jun 1856 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Annie Sellers
• Census: 1850, Clear Creek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Annie Sellers, in the household of George Sellers

Other Events:

• Obituary: Newspaper unknown
• Name: Jacob Zeller
• Census: 1830, Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Jacob Sellers
• Census: 1840, Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Jacob Sellers
• Census: 1850, Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as Jacob Sellars, farmer, in the household of Abrahan Miller
• Will: 12 May 1852, Warren County, Ohio, United States
• Probate: 24 Feb 1853, Warren County, Ohio, United States

Notes:

In 1798 when Jacob Sellers came to Ohio, he settled in what was Hamilton County, (now Warren County,). Warren County, was not formed until 1803.

Jacob was one of the pioneer settlers of Warren County, Ohio, arriving there before either the county or the state was formed. He and his cousin John pioneered the route followed by other Sellers' emmigrating to Ohio, over the Allegheny mountains by wagon to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and then by raft down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers to the vicinity of Cincinnati. This trip of some six hundred miles, more twice the direct distance, took a month or more, depending on the weather, luck, Indians, and other factors. In 1798 he purchased 300 acres from John Symmes in the northern part of what was to become Warren county

Notes- 1. Symmes Tract Transactions. p. 36. 2. Warren County, Ohio Will book 12, p. 594. [Reference: Frank M. Sellers, "Sellers - A Preliminary Study of the Descendants of Heinrich Sellers", (Denver, Colorado: Lion Press, 1984), pg. 8.]

Excerpt from old letter.....
My recollection of grandfather Jacob Sellers is that he was a man of rather less than medium height, well made and active; rather quiet in his movements. He made regular visits to his children living near him, about once a month, and always came on horseback. He rode a good animal; well kept, and gentle and a good traveler, and always well groomed. He was always neatly and clearly dressed and smoothly shaven. Hair white, with a pleasant, cheerful countenance, and a great friend among us children. We were always in high glee when grandfather came. He spoke very broken English, and asked the blessing at table in German. I remember the queer sounds of his words yet. He was a zealous active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Lebanon at the time of his death, and had been for many years before.

His first wife's name was Runkel, as you see by Adam's sketch; and his second marriage was to a Munger, an aunt, I think, of George Munger of Clear Creek township, who died some years ago.

Grandfather came to Turtle Creek township north of Lebanon, in 1798. He remained on the same farm until the time of his death, which was in 1853 or 1854, if my memory is not at fault. He was not a great man, nor exceedingly wise. He never became wealthy, nor tried to do so, was possessed of some 160 acres of land and some money and property; but he was a good man, honest and loyal, and a good Christian, of a type not to be mistaken. [Source: Letter dated 'Waynesville, O. June 9th, 1890', includes this description of Jacob Sellers written by his grandson, Peter Sellers (1834). The sketch he refers to is with Peter Sellers notes]

Excerpt from old letter.....
In 1798 or 1799 the Jacob Sellers family moved from Virginia to Warren County, Ohio. It was in Turtle Creek township north of Lebanon, Ohio that Jacob Sellers settled, remaining on the same farm until his death in 1853. At the time he purchased land Jacob Sellers was the head of one of the original families of that then remote region of and can be considered one of the true pioneers of Warren County, Ohio. These excerpts are taken from an article entitled, "Lebanon, City of Culture and Education," which appeared in the July 15, 1936 addition of "The Cincinnati Enquirer: Into this wild, unsettled region a few determined pioneers visioned a city dedicated American ideals, culture, and education. The scalping of Indians and the howling of wolves had scarcely ceased when the few settlers of the outpost laid the foundation of the first school. The building stood on the north bank of Turtle Creek, not far from the present boundary of Lebanon. From this small group there came some famous characters, among them the familiar names of Thomas Corwin, Judge Kesling, Hon. Moses B. Corwin, A. H. Dunlevy, William Taylor, Matthias Corwin, Daniel Voorhis, and Jacob Sellers.

He was buried in the Old Methodist Graveyard, Lebanon. His wife's grave is located in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

Birth:
(now Augusta County, Virginia)

Obituary:

DIED.
On the 10th inst., at his residence near Lebanon, Mr. Jacob Sellers, in the 87th year of his age. The subject of this notice removed from Rrockingham County, Va., to the Turtlecreek Valley, Warren County, Ohio, about the year 1798, and was thenceforward until the time of his dath one of the valuable accesions which this vicinity gained by the emigration of that early period in the history of this community. Industrious, honest and frugal, he was enabled to possess himself of the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and a competency of this world's wealth. The writer of this notice is not wware of the precise period when he embraced religion, He was a number of years a member of the German Reformed Church, but eleven or twelve years since united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in this place, by letter, in which he lived an example of punctuality, humility and meekness, honored and beloved by all who knew him.
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."

Will:


Last Will and Testament of Jacob Sellers
—I Jacob Sellers of Warren County, Ohio do make & publish this my last will & testament.
—Item 1st, It is my will, that after my death the farm in which I live be sold by my Executors to the best advantage, either at public or private sale, and upon such terms of credit as my said Executors shall think advisable, and the proceeds of the sale thereof be equality divided among my following children and heirs to wit: George Sellers, the children of Nancy Gallaher, Lucinda Miller, Rebecca Long, Mary Miller, Sarah Sheets and Jacob M. Sellers. That is to son George Sellers and his heirs to receive one equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm; the children of Nancy Gallaher and their heirs to receive one equal share equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm; Lucinda Miller to receive one equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm; Rebecca Long and her heirs to receive one equal seventh part of the sale of said farm; Mary Miller to receive one equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm; Sarah Sheets to receive one equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm and Jacob M. Sellers to receive the one equal seventh part of the proceeds of the sale of said farm. The portion of the heirs of Nancy Gallaher to remain in the hands of my Executors to be paid out to them as they respectively become of age.
—Item 2nd, it is my will that out of my personal estate all my just debts and funeral expenses be fully paid, and the residue be divided among my children as follows to wit: My son Jacob M. Sellers to receive One Hundred Dollars for extra services by him performed after he becomes of age; Abraham Miller to receive One Hundred Dollars for services received; and after the said Two Hundred Dollars and my just debts and funeral expenses are paid, my son John Sellers to receive one ninth part of my said personal estate; my son George Sellers to receive on ninth part of my personal estate; the children of Nancy Gallaher to receive on ninth part of the same upon the same terms and in the same way that they are to receive their portion of my real estate; my daughter Lucinda Miller to receive one ninth part of the same; my son Wm. Sellers to receive one ninth part of the same; my daughter Rebecca Long to receive one ninth part of the same; my daughter Mary Miller to receive one ninth part of the same; my daughter Sarah Sheets to receive one ninth part of the same; and my son Jacob M. Sellers to receive one ninth part of the same.
—Item Third, I hereby release and discharge my sons John & William Sellers all claims for advancements by me to them made with in money or the purchase of land for them or either of the said advancements being considered equal in a full share of my real estate, and will make them equal with the rest of my children and heirs.
—Item 4th, I do hereby nominate and appoint my sons William Sellers and Jacob M. Sellers, Executors of this my last will and testament, hereby authorizing and appointing them to compromise, adjust, release and discharge in such manner as they may deem proper the debts & claims due me.
—I hereby revoke all former wills by me made.
In Testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand & seal this 12th day of May 1852.
Jacob Sellers [Seal]
—Signed, sealed and acknowledged by the said Jacob Sellers as his last Will & Testament in our presence & signed by us In his presence.
Leonard Peckenpaugh
Benj. Blackburn

Jacob married Christina Runkle on 11 Oct 1788 in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. Christina (daughter of Peter Runkle and Margaret Steiner Koch) was born on 2 Mar 1772 in Augusta County, Virginia, British Colonial America; died on 31 Aug 1807 in Ohio, United States; was buried in Sep 1807 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Nancy Christene Runkle
• Nationality: of German origin

Notes:

Buried:
(Moved from Presbyterian Cemetery)

Other Events:

• Census: 1830, Lockport, Warren County, Ohio, United States

John married Henrietta Smith on 2 Dec 1793 in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. Henrietta was born in Apr 1775 in Augusta County, Virginia, British Colonial America; died on 2 Dec 1843 in Warren County, Ohio, United States; was buried in Dec 1843 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]