Origins
Daniel Seiler was born on 15th January 1708. There are two sources that suggest different birth locations. Dr. Ezra Clayton's research [1]gives his birth location as Sembach in the Rhineland-Palatinate (later within a consolidated German nation). Another source[2] states that Daniel Seiler came from Switzerland which one would assume was his birth location.
Daniel Seiler's father was Joseph Seiler and nothing is known of him except that based upon his surname he may have been a rope-maker. His son Jacob, Daniel's brother, brought with him the old family Bible which named all of Joseph's children. Contained in that Bible is the notation: "This book belongs to me Jacob Seiler and I inherited it from my father, Joseph" dated "12 January 1740, Melsbach." Saylor family historian Dr. Ezra Clayton's research, [1]supported by German translation, shows that Daniel was probably born in the Rhineland-Palatinate (German) town of Sembach. The births of all Joseph's children are listed as follows,
German Baptists Brethren Arrival in Pennsylvania
Family tradition says that Daniel and his brother Jacob Sayler arrived in Pennsylvania about 1725-1730 and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. [3]
"My great-grandfather, Daniel Sayler (then spelled Seiler) ... was [formerly] baptized by the brethren [German Baptists Brethren] in Conestoga Church, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania in 1752 and my great-grandmother Anna, by the same in 1753." [2] "The Seiler Family (especially the Maryland Branch) have been closely identified with this church from that time. [3]
Based upon a land deed dated 16 July 1741 for L42.18s.2p Daniel Seiler purchased thirty-two acres in Lebanon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from Herman Long. [3]
Relocation to Beaverdam, Frederick, Maryland
In the spring of 1772 Daniel Seiler moved to Beaverdam, Frederick County, Maryland, where the year before, he had purchased a farm and built some cabins. [2] [3] With him went his wife Anna, youngest son Daniel, his daughters Catharine, Julia and Mary, together with Mary's husband, Bostian Neff. [3]
Family author D.P. Saylor relates that "Coming in wagons, they crossed the Susquehanna river on the ice and when near the shore on the south side the hind wheel of the rear wagon cut through the ice and stood and they supposed on the bottom, they leisurely pryed up the wheel and hauled the wagon to shore, and being on land one of the company carelessly put in the hole one of the rails used to pry up the wagon to measure the actual depth of the water [the precious pry bar having then sunk]." [2]
From Daniel Seiler's will it is learned that he sold his Lancaster County farm, before removing to Maryland, to his two sons, John and Christian, "at a low figure so as to include their patrimony". [3]
John Seiler is mentioned in his father's will as having, together with his brother Christian, purchased the home farm in Lancaster county, upon the father's removal to Maryland. Christian Seiler subsequently sold his interest in this farm and also moved to Beaverdam. [3]
Children of Daniel and Anna Seiller aka Seiller
The following are the names of Daniel and Anna Seiler’s [mentioned in her husbands Will]:
Death and Will
Daniel Seiler of Beaverdam, Frederick, Maryland passed away in 1778. [3] Will, dated 23rd of January 1773, of Daniel Seiler residing at the "Beaver Dams" in Frederick Courts, Providence of Maryland. [3]
Daniel and Anna Seiler are buried in the family burying ground on the farm on which they lived. Four generations of the Seiler family are buried there. Author James Lanning Saylor notes that Daniel lived in stirring times but he appears to have lived apart from them due to the Brethren's doctrine of non-resistance. [3]
Research Notes
Original profile creation notes: Upon merging, there were two alternative birth locations: Switzerland, and Sembach, Germany. I found no Sembach in Switzerland, and there are two Sembachs in Germany: One in Bavaria near Nürnberg and one near Kaiserlautern in Palatine. Choosing the former because there is text below that mentions Nürnberg.
Upon merging, the alternative birth date 15 Jun 1708 was discarded in favour of 15 Jan 1708 because January is mentioned as the birth date in the text of the will, below. In the will, he called himself Daniel Seiler, so I'm going with "Seiler" not "Sayler".
Other Notes
Yes I can, I am currently working on the family because of the close association between the Seiler families with the Berkey families coming to this country together from the Swiss area of Europe. I recently down loaded a 46 page piece of work by Stewart Saylor of Friedens, PA that starts at Joseph Seiler and (---) Unknown. His work closely follows that of Gingerich and Kreider in their Amish Amish/Mennonite Genealogies book with much added from his own research. Daniel appears as the second child of Joseph who is AKA SL in G&K's numbering system. The first is named Ulrich AKA SL1 and Daniel is AKA SL2 and so it goes to the 7th. I will go ahead with some editing and I hope it meets your satisfaction.
Francis E. Berkey (Berkey-120), 17 Aug 2017.
Acknowledgements
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Daniel is 27 degrees from Zendaya Coleman, 26 degrees from Sting Sumner, 18 degrees from Josh Brolin, 21 degrees from Timothée Chalamet, 19 degrees from José Ferrer, 15 degrees from Frank Herbert, 20 degrees from Richard Jordan, 22 degrees from David Lynch, 18 degrees from Virginia Madsen, 21 degrees from Charlotte Rampling, 26 degrees from Patrick Stewart and 20 degrees from Denis Villeneuve on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Richard Saylor
Richard Saylor
They traveled to Beaver-dam in 1771 from Lancaster and built cabins. They returned in 1772. He quotes both the birth and death dates of his Grandfather as slightly different: born in 1753 and died in 14th Sept. 1840. In a discussion with Elder Pfoutz, they determined he had been in service of the church for 56 years, making his election sometime in 1784, twelve years after moving to Beaver-dam. More information is available in this document but mostly relates to church elders. Pilgrim Almanac 1874 written by D.P. Sayler found here: https://archive.org/details/pilgrimalmanac1874unse/page/n5/mode/2up/search/seller?q=seller
In light of this new information from his grandson, I'll hope you update this record.
I have also added a link to where the book can be read on line and also downloaded as a pdf file where it is much easier to read and also can be searched.
Richard Saylor
edited by Richard Saylor
Amy Garber