SELLERS, John L. - Putnam

SELLERS, John L. PO Putnamville, Farmer, Sec 5; was born Aug 25, 1836 in this township, son of John C. and Fannie Sellers. He married Dec 11, 1866, Mary WATKINS at Greencastle. Six children: Edward J born Sept 11, 1867; Katie born Nov 1868; Jennie born April 1870; Nannie born July 4, 1872; Sallie born Oct 1874; Minnie B born Feb 15, 1876. Mr. Sellers is the oldest son now living of John C. Sellers. He entered the army Sept 4, 1862 enlisting in Co. L of 45th Reg of Cavalry and served till the close of the war; his officers were Capt. OM Powers and Lt. GJ Langsdale. John L. like the rest of the Sellers family is a good neighbor and useful member of society. He is a Presbyterian in religion and staunch Republican in Politics.

Among the native sons of Warren township, Putnam county, who deserve a place in local history is John L. Sellers, who has spent his long life here and who has ever had the interest of his community at heart. His birth occurred August 25, 1836, the son of John Crawford Sellers, who was born March 26, 1796, in Garrard county, Kentucky. March I, 1821, he married Fannie Brown and thirteen children resulted from this union, two of whom are living, John L., of this review, and Joseph B., whose death occurred in 1843 ; those deceased are, Mrs. Rebecca Gilmore, born in 1830, died in April, 1906; Mrs. Martha Ruark, born in 1838, died April 19, 1909; Mrs. Lucy Ann Leach, born in 1822, died May 6, 1846; James Washington, born in 1823, died June 11, 1865 ; William, born in 1824, died October 5, 1850; Mary, born 1826, died October 2, 1853 ; Elizabeth, born 1828, died October 16, 1858 ; Amanda J., born 1832, died November 13, 1836; Mrs. Nancy Talbott, born 1834 ; died February 8, 1872 ; Fannie E. (twin sister of John L.), born 1836, died November, 1851 ; Sarah B., born 1840, died in infancy. The father of these children arrived in Putnam county in 1823, having a capital of only two hundred dollars. He bought eighty acres of land in section 5, Warren township, all in the woods, ten acres of which had been deadened. The first spring after he came here he rolled logs and assisted to build cabins for thirty-one days in succession. His only horse being crippled. he was compelled to tend his first crop of corn with a steer. He laid the "worm" rail of his fence at night and his wife would finish building the fence the next day while he was doing other work. From time to time he added other land to his home farm until he owned four hundred acres of valuable land, entering most of it from the government. When he started out he worked for twenty-five cents per day to get money with which to buy his first land. When lie came here the county was practically a wilderness and to get to Greencastle, then a hamlet composed of seven cabins, he was compelled to blaze his way through the heavy woods, composed principally of tall oaks and dense underbrush. School houses and churches were unknown then and the chances for an education were very limited, but he gave his children such as could be obtained. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, his regiment being organized principally in the northern frontier and he was in the famous charge when the Indian chief Tecumseh was killed at the battle of the Thames. Mr. Sellers was an industrious, plain, honest man, who never sought or held office. For forty years he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church at Putnamville, he being an elder during the greater part of that time, giving liberally and cheerfully of his means for the advancement of the church's interest, and he did much to develop the resources of the county. His death occurred November 1, 1874, at the age of seventy-eight years, his wife surviving -until 1878, dying in her seventy- seventh year, and they are buried at the old Putnamville cemetery. John L. Sellers, the immediate subject of this review, spent his youth on the home farm, having the advantage of a three-months subscription school each winter. September 4, 1862, he enlisted in Company L, Forty-fifth Regiment, Third Indiana Cavalry, under Capt. 0. M. Powers and Lieut. G. J. Langsdale, and he served with credit until the close of the war. On December 11, 1866, Mr. Sellers married Mary Matkins, of Greencastle, and they went to live with his parents, with whom he remained during their lifetime in fact; he has since made his home on the parental farm, devoting his attention exclusively to general farming and stock raising, being very successful in each. Mr. Sellers very ably served his township as trustee for a period of four years. He is known as a very liberal man, generous and kind hearted, and he has thus been imposed upon, having frequently paid notes on which he was security. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and was an elder in the same for years, also a trustee for many years. Mrs. Sellers was also a faithful member of the Methodist church. She died October 20, 1879, having borne her husband seven children, namely : Edward J., born September I I, 1867, married Clara Silver, and they are the parents of seven children : Arthur U., Lawrence L., Ethel V., Joyne M., Louisa A., Harold G. and Edward L. Katherine A. Sellers was born in November, 1868; she has remained single and is living at home. Jennie L., born in April, 1870, died in November, 1882. Nannie E., born July 4, 1872, is the wife of Alonzo Day and they have two children, Hazel and Russell (deceased). Sarah F., born in October, 1874, died May 20, 1879. Minnie B., born February 15, 1876, married Charles R. Grogan and they had four children ; Grace Mav, Jennie (died October 22, 1902), Dorothy F., and Esther A. Ida M. Sellers is the wife of Hays Williams; she was born August I, 1879, and they have two children, Estelle L. and Hubert L. On August 3, 1880, John L. Sellers married a second time, his last wife being Elizabeth Wells, daughter of Levi and Katherine Wells, of Greencastle, and this union resulted in the birth of three children : William C., born August 21, 1881, married Grace Haymaker, and they have one child, John Riley ; Mary E., born January 17, 1884, and Myrtle O., born July 5, 1891, graduated from the Greencastle high school in the class of 1910.