Sellmeyer Family Collection, 1839-1990 (C3062)

4 folders

MICROFILM

INTRODUCTION

Deeds, wills, family trees and photographs of three 19th-century immigrant families who settled in Missouri. The Velten and Ebeling families immigrated from Germany and settled in Warren County, while the Swedish Bentleys came to settle in Howard County. Also includes probate and census records, and a "Velten Family Record" narrative.

DONOR INFORMATION

Photocopies of the Sellmeyer Family Collection were loaned to the University of Missouri for copying by Daniel J. and Lois Sellmeyer on 24 September 1990 (Accession Nos. 4991 and 4992).

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

These family papers are arranged into four series, and chronologically within each series, one series for each family's papers, and a fourth for Velten family photographs.

The Photograph series contains 1870s portraits of the John (Johannes) Velten family, which settled in Warren County in 1841. They include pictures of John Velten, his sister Sidonie, and John's six children. Spouses' names are also given on the verso of the photographs.

The Velten Family series begins with an overview of Velten family history, as told by Beriniece Velten Cott in March 1956. A one-page addendum produced in September 1990 by Daniel J. Sellmeyer provides annotated corrections to Beriniece Cott's chronology. An 1839 abstract of birth records of the parish of Niedermoos, Germany is accompanied by a typed translation and detail map showing the towns mentioned in the records, along with a brief family tree identifying the immediate family of John Velten. The estate of Sebastian Velten is inventoried upon his death in 1841, and accompanying ledger pages detail the settlement of his bills at death. An 1848 U. S. citizenship document for John Velten, Warren County land transactions concerning John and Louisa Velten, and a black-bordered funeral card marking the death of Martha Jane Velten in 1925 round out this series.

The Ebeling Family series contains an index card explaining the Velten-Ebeling family connection, five pages of land transactions that occurred in 1839 and 1842 in Warren County concerning sale of lands to Ludolph and Johanna Ebeling, and a two-page will of Ludolph Ebeling dated 14 March 1844.

The Bentley Family series documents Lois Sellemyer's Swedish roots, and especially the life of her grandfather, immigrant Henry Noah Bentley. This series contains photographs of Henry and Susan (Tuggle) Bentley (c. 1876), Henry Bentley and his nine children (c. 1905), and a 1981 photograph of Bentley family members living in Sweden. This series also contains an 1895 Declaration of Intention, signed by by H.N. Bentley, a supplemental page from a 1910 U. S. census of Omaha, Nebraska, on which Henry Bentley is listed as a "broom maker," three pages of Howard County probate court records concerning the settlement of the estate of Henry Bentley (dated 1923), and a family tree, last revised in 1987 on which are listed subsequent offspring of H. N. Bentley.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Bentley family
  • Bentley Family Genealogy
  • Bentley, Henry N.
  • Ebling, Ludolph
  • Estate inventories, 1840s
  • Estate settlements, 1840s
  • Estate settlements, 1920s
  • Naturalization
  • Photographers, Missouri, Boonville
  • Photographers, Missouri, Glasgow
  • Portraits, 1880s
  • Troxell and Jackson's Photo and Copying House, Glasgow, MO
  • Wills, 1844