The Ancestors and Family Tree of Shari Lynn Ward Berens:Information about JOHN M. Sewell
JOHN M. Sewell (b. Abt. 1816, d. February 29, 1860)
Notes for JOHN M. Sewell:
From Jeanne Denman Hale's GENEALOGY NOTES:
"Sewell is a Teutonic word meaning Victory or Conquest (sigi in Old English, sigi, in Old High German, sigis in Gothic).The first syllable has no connection with Ocean Sea, but is combined with "well" (which has nothing to do with water or place where water comes from the ground), coming from Old English wold, waeld, weald, woodland.The weald in the southern part of England are the remains of the great woods that covered that part of the country and still retain the name.The warrior was the man of worth; Odin was called Sig Fadier, or conquering father.
In the U.S., the name is Sowell in Virginia and is found on many early maps.The name Sowell is in the Richmond directory and belongs to people in the Fluvanna.Sewall is the New England form of the name; was born by one of the Salem witchcraft judges.It is in the London Post-Office Directory for 1901, SEWELL, 40 names, but no Seawell nor Sewall.(Source: W. Roger Gillen, GenForum, Feb. 19, 1998).
Family lore says that two Sowell brothers took part in the Boston Tea Party and then had to leave the area for their safety.(The Boston Tea Party was a raiding party in which participants, garbed like Indians, boarded a British ship and dumped the tea in the ocean in protest of the high taxes imposed by England.The event was a catalyst leading to the War of the American Revolution.)The Sowell brothers, according to legend, traveled with their families to North Carolina, where one brother took the name SEWELL while the other kept the name Sowell.The Sowell line then moved into South Carolina and to several states including Bowie County, Texas (in the northeast corner of the state, just west of Texarkana).The Sewell line apparently did not move into South Carolina but into Deep South states and into Texas. (from Carole R. Atkinson, [email protected], August 12, 1999 to Sewell great-grandchild Jeanne Denman Hale.)"
From "FROM WHENCE WE CAME", by Mary Elda Sewell Ward Ferrel:
John M. Sewell came from Kentucky with two of his brothers."From all accounts they were wild, typical frontiersmen.John must have migrated westward and settled in New Orleans for records show that he was married to Alice A. Buggy in that city on October 28, 1843, by a Catholic priest named Father Wullen.This latter fact would suggest that either John or Alice were of that faith.At that time, neither bride or groom had been previously married.
From the records of the War Department, it is known that John volunteered as a company commander at New Orleans on or about May 14, 1846, for a period of six months.He actually served only ninety days.His rank was captain when his service was terminated with an honorable discharge at Matamoros, Mexico.At that time, he received three months extra pay.When he had enlisted, he was described as about thirty years of age, five feet, eight inches tall, light complexioned, with dark eyes and dark hair."
Text by Shari Berens:
JOHN Sewell married Alice Buggy when he was approximately 27 in New Orleans, Louisiana.He apparently moved, after his military service (1846), to Arkansas where his son Alfred was born in October 1847.JOHN and his wife Alice already had four daughters when Alfred was born.
More About JOHN M. Sewell:
Military service: 1846, Company Commander/Captain, New Orleans.
More About JOHN M. Sewell and Alice Ann Buggy:
Marriage: October 28, 1843, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Children of JOHN M. Sewell and Alice Ann Buggy are:
- Ann Sewell, d. date unknown.
- Susie Sewell, d. date unknown.
- Daughter Sewell, d. date unknown.
- Daughter Sewell, d. date unknown.
- +ALFRED EUGENE Sewell, b. October 12, 1847, Arkansas, d. November 15, 1898, Jacksboro, Texas.