General Notes

Matthew is richly documented in the deeds and tax lists of two counties (d
ue to shifting county lines and county creation) -- Chowan as early as 171
7, Bertie in 1722 (the area of Matthew's residence is today in Northampt
on Co.).
He died in late 1739 or early 1740 -- his last deed appearance was in t
he Bertie Co. records (Bk. F, p.55) as a witness in July 1739, and Februa
ry 1740 (Bk. F, p.195-196), in which his son Benjamin ("of Edgecombe Co.
") sells land in Bertie Co. to Benjamin Hill, "one parcel of fifty acr
es my father Matthew Sellers bought of Benjamin Foreman whereon my moth
er now lives, and the other fifty acres which my father bought of John Mah
are, and also 170 acres patented in my father's name, all the said lands j
oining together."
This deed refers to some of Matthew's deeds and land deals of the pa
st -- Chowan Co. Bk. B-1, p. 471 (the 50 acres from Benjamin Foreman); pro
bably Bertie Co. Bk. C, p.313 (from John Mohare); and Patent Book 3, p. 1
36 (the 170 acres). Letters of Administration were granted to Matthew's wi
dow Catherine in August 1740 in Bertie Co. court. Later, Benjamin appea
rs in a Northampton Co. deed (Bk. 1, pp.108-109) -- he was now living in E
dgecombe Co. however -- dated December 22, 1743, between Benjamin Hill a
nd Henry Sowerby, which mentions him as "the son of Matthew Sellers, dec'
d" and as the former owner of 270 acres on the south side of the Maherin R
iver and the north side of Kerby's Creek. As may be obvious by now, this 2
70 acres is the same land Benjamin Sellers sold in February 1740. Benjam
in now lived in Edgecombe Co.