This photograph was taken at the reunion of the
family of Richard M. Sellars at his home to the NE of Cairo, Grady
County, Georgia, on 20 February 1916. R. M.'s first wife who was
the mother of his children, Mary Ann Haven, had died on 18 January
1892. He had married his second wife Missouri Lester West Harper,
widow of Levi Harper, on 4 December 1898... and though I don't know the
exact date he probably had divorced her by the time this photo was
taken. (A photo of R. M. Sellars and Missouri Harper in happier
times can be seen by clicking
here.
R. M. reported their separation to the congregation of Long Branch
Baptist Church on 12 December 1912. She asked for a
"reconcilliation" at a meeting of the same church (of which R. M. was
the treasurer) on 13 July 1918, but the only result was that R.M. was
charged with and expelled for "contempt of the church".
Back in the days when R.M. lived there, of course, there was no street
address. But the house seen in the photo stood at what is now
2502 GA Highway 188 N, Cairo, Georgia. However, that house burned
down while no one was at home, and justly or unjustly some opinion in
the Sellars family was that Missouri Harper burned it for spite.
This is an unfortunate measure not only of how far her and R.M.'s
relationship deteriorated, but also of how little regard some of her
stepchildren had for her; however, so far as I know no charges were
formally pressed against her nor was she tried and convicted for
arson. In other words... this was an opinion that lacked
actionable evidence. A new house was built on the same spot and
R.M. lived there till he died on 15 January 1926. Many people
these days probably know the "new house" as the home of Jimmie and
Maggie Strickland Sellars, both of whom are now deceased. Jimmie
was the adopted son of R. M.'s son Daniel L. Sellars and his wife
Lizzie Harper. Lizzie was a daughter of Missouri Lester West
(yes, R.M.'s second wife) and Levi Harper. So far as I know,
Daniel and Lizzie are not in this photograph. Is that a further
indication of the rift between R. M. and Missouri...? Probably,
but I don't really know.
The woman sitting to the right of R. M. in the photo is his sister
Martha A. ("Matt") Veal, widow of Virgil Asa Veal, Sr., of DeKalb
County, Georgia, and the woman to the left of R. M. is her daughter
Lizzie Veal. R. M.'s father, Jacob Benjamin Sellers (sic), and R.
M.'s oldest brother, George Washington Sellars (sic) joined the 51st
Georgia Infantry Regiment in Dooley or Calhoun County, Georgia, in
1862. Jacob Benjamin died almost immediately thereafter.
George W. was wounded at Funkstown, Maryland, during Lee's retreat from
Gettysburg in 1863. He died from his wounds about a year later,
in Georgia. R. M.'s mother, Georgia Ann Joiner, died the same
year his father died, 1862. The children of Jacob Benjamin and
Georgia Ann scattered. At age 14 R. M. ran away from home...
probably his maternal grandparents' house, and joined the 11th Georgia
Infantry Regiment in Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, in 1862. One
of R. M.'s younger brothers, Alford Sellars, was raised by Virgil Asa
Veal, Sr.'s uncle, Benjamin Franklin Veal, in DeKalb County. So
far as is known, other than Matt and Lizzie Veal, the people in the
photo are R.M.'s children, his children's children, and their spouses;
but many of the people in the photo have not been identified at this
point. In the following list (as well as above), all references
to direction are from the observer's point of view:
Front row, L to R - (1) Unknown (2) Unknown (3)
Unknown (4) Unknown (5) Unknown (6) Herman Esker
White [my father] (7) John Louie/Lewey [known as "Louie"] White
(8) William Charles [known as "Willie"] White, Sr. (9)
Unknown (10) Unknown (11) Freeman Maze Sellars (12)
Unknown (13) Unknown
Second row, L to R - (1) [maybe?] Pauline Hudson (2)
Unknown (3) Unknown (4) Unknown (5) Unknown (6)
Clyde Ross
Third row, L to R - (1) Grady Hudson (2) Narcissa Sellars [wife of Grady Hudson] (3)
(close behind the smaller girl)
Annice Vaine Griffin [wife of Green Wesley Wynn] (4)
LizzieVeal [daughter of Aunt Matt Veal] (5) R. M. Sellars
(6) Martha A. [called "Matt" or "Mattie"] Veal [Richard M. Sellars'
sister] (7) Unknown (8) Annie Lee [Last Name Unknown]
(9) Unknown (10) Georgia Ann Sellars [wife of John Thomas
Ross] (11) John Thomas Ross
Fourth row, L to R - (1) Odessus Sellars
Fifth row, L to R - (1) Henry M. Sellars (2) Mary [Last Name
Unknown] [wife of Henry M. Sellars] (3) Mary Florence [usually
known as Florence] Sellars [wife of James S. Griffin] (4) James
Elbert [known as Elbert] Sellars (5) Alice Paulina [known as
"Aunt Pliner"] Singletary [wife of Elbert Sellars] (6) Evy
Sellars [wife of Henry Pyles] (7) Charles Henry White (8)
Martha Bama [usually known as Bama] Sellars [wife of C. H. White]
(9) John Thomas Sellars (10) Laura Wynn [wife of J. T.
Sellars] (11) Maudie Sellars [wife of Fred R. Harris] (12)
Wesley [usually known as Wes] Sellars
(Original identifying information obtained from Herman E. White in
the 1980s was supplemented with information received from Louise
Snowden in a letter dated 9 April 1998. This was further updated
on 27 April 1998, and corrected to add Lewey & Willie's nicknames
on 3 March 2004.)
If anyone viewing this disagrees with any of the identifications, can
identify any of the "unknowns", or has any additional information "of
any way, shape, manner, or form"... or just wants to yell at me
something about Missouri Harper one way or the other, please contact
Richard White (
rw@pone.com
). In my own defense, however... I don't make this stuff
up. I'm not that imaginative. If you have different
information, and/or a different opinion, let me know and I'll write it
down too.
NOTE: Many family members have copies of this
photo. The images seen here were made from the best copy that I
have available to me, which was my grandmother Martha Bama Sellars
White's copy. Even in it faces are indistinct and some eyes have
vanished into shadow. An original photo may not be accurate in
every detail, but I believe that the best I have is a copy made from a
copy, not from the original negative... and as copies are made from
copies, each "generation" loses detail. Somewhere out there
someone may have a sharper copy, made from the original negative.
If so, and if you have it and read this PLEASE contact me at rw@pone.com
and help me get a crisper image distributed to the family. The
image is an "odd shape" by current standards and in at least one
particular set of copies that my father had made in the late 1950s or
early 1960s (and distributed to family members some of whom have since
no doubt further made copies of it), Wesley Sellars and the front porch
of the house were cut out of of the photo altogether.
This page was created by Richard White, Tallahassee, Florida, 29 April 2005.