Conrad Seel, born in the Palatinate area of Germany near the Rhine Valley,
was the father of Frans/Francis Seel who came to America with the early
Palatine immigrants to New York State. He settled at East Camp, Albany
Co., NY. He wed Elizabeth Sophia Bartel in 1746 at Tarbush, NY. German
speaking Lutheran pastors were in short supply so they traveled from location
to location. They often only recorded marriages at their home church, in
this case the Loonenburg Church, now called the Zion Lutheran Church of
Athens at Athens, Greene Co., NY. Elizabeth was the daughter of Andrew/Johan
Andreas Bartel and Sophia Elizabeth Mertz. Andrew was born ca. 1692 in
Epstein Commune, Darmstadt, Germany.
Elizabeth
and Francis had four children, all born in East Camp, now called Germantown,
Columbia Co., NY. Their son Johan/John Seel/Sales, born 1751, married Annatje/Hannah
Westfall, a Dutch girl, daughter of Wouter/Walter Westfall and Jannatie
Piers from Ulster Co., NY. By 1775 they were residents of Hoosick, NY now
in Rensselaer County. They had seven children. During the Revolutionary
War John served in the Albany County New York Militia in the 13th Regiment.
His name was spelled "Sayles" on the military rolls, possibly for the first
time. They were enumerated in the first U.S. census of 1790 at Hoosick,
2-2-5, four males and five females.
Between
1791/1800 the family moved to Montgomery County, NY in the Mohawk Valley,
John resided with his son-in-law Jacob Cronkhite and his daughter Elizabeth
plus John’s wife Hannah and two younger Sales children at Charleston, NY.
His youngest son John, baptized in 1784 at Gilead Lutheran Church, Brunswick,
NY, married in 1806 in the First Reform Dutch Church of Charleston (now
located in Glen, NY) Catherine Pauter.
John,
the father, bought land in Bloomfield, Ontario Co., NY (now called Victor,
NY). The land was on the west bank of Mud Creek. His youngest son John
does not go to Victor, settling instead at Warren, Herkimer Co., NY.
In
1821 the father John Sales wrote his will signing his name "Johan Seel".
He named each of his children, leaving each $1. His farm and the residue
of his estate went to his youngest daughter.
Young
John and his wife Catherine plus one son and two daughters were enumerated
in the 1810 census of Warren, NY. In 1812 the town of Warren was divided
with 220 families becoming the Town of Columbia. During the War of 1812
John served in the 27th New York Militia Regiment headed by Shoemaker.
About
1816 the family removed to Vermilion, Oswego Co., NY, according to
Historian John C. Churchill. In 1820
at Volney, Oswego Co., NY a son Francis was born who died on 23 December
1824, according to the IGI. In the 1820's the couple had two more sons.
The family was enumerated at Volney in the 1820 and 1830 censuses.
Their
oldest son John, Jr., born ca. 1808 in Montgomery County, wed in 1832 Margaret
Knight. She had a daughter Adeline and a son Manville, but she died in
childbirth on 8 June 1840. John remarried ca. 1842 Adaline Loomis.
On
3 January 1836 John and Catherine’s daughter Angeline, born ca. 1815, wed
Guy P. Loomis. She had the following children: Charles Comstock, born 11
September 1837; Margaret A., born 4 June 1840; Olive V., born 7 September
1843; Lydia A., born 2 February 1847; Perry John , born 21 May 1851; and
Warren Henry, born 10 April 1855. Angeline died in 1877 at Palermo.
John
and Catherine’s daughter Rachel, born 15 November 1810, was christened
on 23 February 1811 at Lutheran St. Pauls Church, Minden, Montgomery Co.,
NY, according to the IGI. This event was entered under the names "Rachel
Sail, daughter of John and Catharina Sail". Nothing further was found.
Son
Guy D. Sales, born 12 April 1817 according to thte IGI, wed _______ who
gave birth to son Chauncey S. Sales. The unknon wife died before the 1840
Palermo census. Guy married again ca. 1842 Mary ____.
In
the 1840 Palermo census John and Catherine lived with 2 males and one female
who were likely sons Gerrit and Lewis plus an unknown female servant. Gerrit
wed ca. 1846 Adaline L. Johnson from Butterfly, NY, according to the IGI.
She gave birth to son David ca. 1848, dying 10 March 1849.
By
the 1850 Palermo census Gerrit had become the head of household. His wife
was deceased. The census showed the following Palermo households for the
family.
Sales,
Gerrit -26-farmer-NY-$3000
Osterhout,
Cornelia -18-servant-NY
Sales,
David -2-son-NY
Sales,
Marcus -14-unknown-NY
Sales,
John -67-father-NY
Sales,
Catherine -64-mother-NY
XXX
Sales,
Lewis -23-farmer-NY-$850
Sales,
Phebe-18-wife-NY
Lewis
H. Sales, born ca. 1827, had wed on 12 June 1849 according to the IGI.
He married Phebe S. Loomis, born 12 August 1831, the daughter of Raysford
Loomis and Ruth Parren. Raysford died on 22 May 1867 in Palermo.
XXX
Sales,
Guy G. -33-farmer-NY-$1200
Sales,
Mary -29-wife-NY
Sales,
Chauncey S. -14-son-NY
Sales,
Harvey W. -1-son-NY
XXX
Sales,
John, Jr. -41-farmer-NY-$7000
Sales,
Adeline [sic] -29-wife-NY
Sales,
Adeline [sic] -16-daughter-NY
Sales,
Immanuel [sic] -9-son-NY
Father
John died 29 September 1858, age 74, in Palermo. His son John, Jr. Died
on 7 November 1859, age 51, in Palermo. Both were buried in the Sayles
Corners Cemetery, Palermo.
The
1860 Palermo census enumerations showed changes. One of the most striking
was the new spelling of the family name: Sayles. Most of the sons used
the new spelling. The original Sayles family were English who settled in
Rhode Island, but when they came into New York State particularly in Rensselaer
County, they encountered the German Seel/Sales family. It was at this time
that the colonies became the United States and there was a wave of sentiment
about becoming Americans that affected people especially in New York where
the Dutch and German families altered their names to sound more American,
to belong as they hadn’t before. As more records were done only in English
the new spellings became permanent. Soon after 1880 the Sales spelling
was dropped entirely. There were still three family households.
Sayles,
Catherine -72-widow-NY-$1200
Austin,
Eliza -54-helper?-NY
XXX
Sayles,
Adaline -39-widow-NY-$2675
Sayles,
Malvern [sic] -20-son-NY
Sayles,
Mary -18-daughter-NY
XXX
Sayles,
Lewis -33-blank-NY-$3500
Sayles,
Phebe -28-wife-NY
Sayles,
Ellie -7-daughter-NY
Sayles,
Frank -4-son-NY
plus
one teacher being boarded
Catherine
(Pauter) Sales died on 24 February 1863, age 85. She was buried in the
Sayles Corners Cemetery, Palermo, with her husband and son John, Jr.
Before
1870 Lewis moved his family into Mexico, NY, a few miles away. The 1870
census showed the following:
Sayles,
Lewis -42-farmer-NY-$7245
Sayles,
Phoebe [sic] -38-wife-NY
Sayles,
Ella -17-daughter-NY
Sayles,
Frank -14-son-NY
Sayles,
Mina -6-daughter-NY
In
1869 Phebe S. (Loomis) Sayles had a daughter Gertie M. who lived 12 days
only. She was buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery, Also buried there
was their son Warren L. Sayles, who died at age 2 months, probably in 1860
soon after their arrival in Mexico. There appeared to be a typographical
error in the Cemetery Census for the town.
Lewis
H. Sayles prospered in Mexico opening a hardware store which were popular
at the time because they offered factory made, uniform goods at cheap prices.
The family was enumerated in the 1880 Mexico census.
Sales,
Lewis -52-hardware merchant-NY
Sales,
Febe [sic] -48-wife-NY
Sales,
Mina -16-daughter-NY
Dooley,
Lizzey -23-servant-CAN
Also
residing in Mexico was the son of John, Jr. He was enumerated in the 1880
census.
Sayues
[sic], Manvill [sic] -F -40-gentleman-NY
Sayles,
John M -2-son-NY
Sayles,
Adeline -59-stepmother-NY
Manville
F. Sayles, born 1 June 1840 in Palermo, was the son of Margaret (Knight)
Sales, the first wife of John Sales, Jr. According to the IGI, he wed on
20 June 1876 in Rock, WI Olive E. Antisdel who died on 27 May 1878 in childbirth.
Manville’s stepmother assisted with his son until her death on 8 March
1895. Manville’s sister Adaline, born 1833, wed Hiram Warren Loomis, a
member of the New York State Assembly in Albany among other distinguished
positions. She died in 1907 and was buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery
along with her husband. Dates of her birth and death were taken from her
tombstone. She had three sons. The eldest Ira died at age 34. The two younger,
Elmer H, Loomis and Fred M. Loomis had very successful academic careers.
Elmer became the chair of the Physics Department, Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey.
Brother
Guy D. Sayles and his wife Mary remained in Palermo on their farm. They
were enumerated in 1880. Mary died soon after the census on 29 July 1880.
Guy passed on 3 December 1881.
Lewis’
wife Phebe died in 1882. In the 1910 census Lewis H. Sayles, retired farmer,
age 83, had remarried to Lovisa A., age 74. They lived in Ward 14, Syracuse,
NY. Lewis died soon after the census. He was buried with his wife in the
Mexico Village Cemetery.
Also
in 1910 Lewis and Phebe’s daughter Mina, age 46, who never married, was
enumerated at Ward 6, Hartford, CT. She lived as a roomer working as a
stenographer at an insurance company. Mina died at age 65 in 1929. She
became the last Sayles burial in the Mexico Village Cemetery where all
the tombstones used the spelling: Sayles.
Special
thanks are due Kathy Miller <kathybluecat@bellsouth,net> for her outstanding
and detailed research on the Seel family which she made available to all.
This research should be consulted as it is rich with data not included
in this short sketch. Care should be taken with the IGI entries as there
was considerable error in the many duplicate records which had no documentation
or source given.
SOURCES:
Cemetery
Census of the Town of Mexico, Oswego County, New York. Mexico: Mexico Historical
Society, 2002.
Churchill,
John C. Landmarks of Oswego County, New York. Syracuse: Mason, 1895.
Documentary
History of New York, v. 3. (LDS microfilm #0896505 item 1).
Fagan,
Rose Marie, Ann Guiffre and Mary Joan Snyder. A History of Victory, New
York. Victor: History Committee of the Victor Bicentennial Commission,
1976.
First
Reformed Dutch Church (Glen, N.Y.) Records, 1799-1882. (LDS microfilm #0534217).
International
Genealogical Index. Available [online] http://familysearch.org
[6 May 2005]
Jones,
Henry Z. The Palatine Families of New York. v. 1. Rockport: Picton, 1985.
Loomis,
Elias. Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America. New Haven: Tuttle, 1880.
N.Y.
Comptroller’s Office. New York in the Revolution as Colony and State, v.
2. Albany: Lyon, 1904.
Records
of Zion’s Evangelical Luthern Church at Athens, Greene County, New York,
1704-1872. (LDS microfilm #0533478 items 1-5).
Schaghticoke
Dutch Reformed Church Records. (LDS microfilm #0017919 item 1).
U.S.
Census Hartford, Hartford Co., CT 1910.
U.S.
Census Warren, Herkimer Co., NY 1810.
U.S.
Census Charleston, Montgomery Co., NY 1800 & 1810.
U.S.
Census Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY 1910.
U.S.
Census Mexico, Oswego Co., NY 1870 & 1880.
U.S.
Census Palermo, Oswego Co., NY 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870 & 1880.
U.S.
Census Volney, Oswego Co., NY 1820 & 1830.
U.S.
Census Hoosick, Rensselaer Co., NY 1790.
Vosburgh,
Royden W. Records of the Gilead Evangelical Luthern Church at Center Brunswick,
in the Town of Brunswick, Rensselaer County, New York. (LDS microfilm #0534202
items 2-3).
War
of 1812 Service Records. Available [online] http://ancestry.com
[7 May 2005].
WorldConnect
Project. Available [online] http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com
[5 May 2005].