Saturday, November 29, 2014

Six Generations of Sellers Signatures

For Veterans Day I wrote about my great-great-grandfather Cornelius Godshalk Sellers and some of the events in his life, including his experiences as a New Jersey volunteer in the Civil War.  I mentioned that I was waiting on a copy of Cornelius' payment voucher from 1865 and that I would then have a copy of his signature.  One of the reasons this was significant to me was because it would allow me to put together six generations of Sellers signatures — Cornelius was the only one I was missing.

Guess what arrived in the mail?

Janice Marie Sellers (me), born 1962

Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (my father), born 1935

Bertram Lynn Sellers [Sr.] (my grandfather), born circa 1903

Cornelius Elmer Sellers (my great-grandfather), born 1874

Cornelius Godshalk Sellers (my great-great-grandfather), born 1845

Franklin Peter Sellers (my great-great-great-grandfather), born 1800

Next goal:  Find a signature of my fourth-great-grandfather, Abraham Sellers!

2 comments:

  1. Knowing your family tree as I do, I'm curious as to how many other ancestors' signatures you have acquired?

    I wonder if there's an official historical signature collecting sort of hobby - like coin or stamp collecting. If so, you've got an wonderful start.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't counted, but I know I have several other ancestors' signatures. Sellers is the first line I've been able to take to six generations.

      I don't know if there's an official society or anything, but I've seen people on Antiques Roadshow who collect signatures/autographs. One man, who did not appear on air, had signatures from every president. If I remember correctly, his collection was valued at a million dollars.

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