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Daniel Seiler (1708 - 1778)

Daniel Seiler aka Sayler
Born in Sembach, Rhineland-Palatinatemap [uncertain]
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and [mother unknown]
Husband of — married 1734 in Lancaster, Pennsylvaniamap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 69 in Frederick, Maryland, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: Francis Berkey private message [send private message] and Richard Saylor private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 3 Mar 2014
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Biography

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,

  • Ulrich Seiler, b. at Wilstig, 16th, Winter Month in the sign of Aries, in the New Moon Anno 1706, Died June 1707.
  • Daniel, b. at Sembauch, 15th of June in the sign of the Scorpion, in the Old Moon Anno 1708.
  • Hedwig, b. at Obermelingen, 22 January in the sign of the Scorpion in the Old Moon Anno 1712.
  • Jacob, b. at Obermelingen, 30th January in the sign of the Lion in the New Moon Anno 1715.
  • Gertrude, b. at Ischbach, March 1718 and d. January 2, 1719.
  • Gertrude, b. at Ischbach, 1st June the sign is the Virgin in the Old Moon, Anno 1720.
  • Johannes, b. at Ischbach, 22nd of July 1723 in the sign of the Fish in the Old Moon and d. June 26, 1725.

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]:

  • Catharine Seiler [Seillerin] "eldest daughter" (out of three) in her father's Will [3] ; b. July 27, 1736 ; m. John Christopher Liverton
  • Anna Seiler [Seillerin] "second eldest daughter" (out of three) in her father's Will [3]
  • John Seiler, referred to with Christian as "two eldest sons" in his father's Will [3] ; b. May 6, 1738
  • Jacob Seiler, b. March 19, 1740; d. young? ; Not mentioned in father's Will.
  • Christian Seiler, referred to with John as "two eldest sons" in his father's Will [3] ; b. March 8, 1742 ; he was a miller by trade [James Saylor, p.20] ; relocated to Ohio ; d. 1797
  • Daniel Seiler, b. November 6, 1744; d. in infancy.
  • Julia Seiler, b. January 19, 1746; ; Not one of the 3 dau. mentioned in her fathers Will so she may have d. bef. 1773 [3] ; m. Mr. Fisher; relocated to Rockingham, VA.
  • Mary Seiler [Seillerin] "youngest daughter" out of three" in her father's Will [3] ; b. August 30, 1748 ; m. Bostian Neff who was made co-executor of her father's Will. [3]
  • Daniel Seiler, mentioned throughout his father's Will requesting of him various tasks regarding distribution of monies to his siblings. [3] b. Dec 30, 1749; "My grandfather Daniel was (probably) the first minister elected in her" [Church of the Brethren at Beaverdam, Frederic, Maryland]. [2] ; m. Sarah Anna Buechley 1772 at Lancaster, PA. ; d. Sep 11, 1839, in Frederick county, Md.

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.

SOURCES

  1. 1.0 1.1 Saylor, Ezra Clayton, Dr. of Dental Surgery, Baltimore, MD. "Continuing the family history research of Dr. Ezra Clayton Saylor (1881-1954)" http://www.ecsaylor.org/HTML/Early_History.htm
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Pilgrim Almanac, 1874 [Supplement to the Weekly Pilgrim] Being the second after Leap Year, and until the fourth of July, the 98th of American Independence" Sayler, D. P., author & editor of "the Weekly Pilgrim": Church of Beaverdam, (Frederic county) MD" German Baptists Brethren (U.S.) periodicals. (image reader p.7/36) pub. 1874, Huntingdon, PA., USA: H.B. Brumbaugh & Bro. pub. https://archive.org/details/pilgrimalmanac1874unse/page/n5/mode/2up/search/seller?q=seller
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Sayler, James Lanning, comp., ed. "A History of the Sayler Family, Being a Collection of Genealogical Notes Relative to Daniel Saler of Frederick County, Maryland, who Came to America about 1725-1730 and His Descendants" p.11-20 pub. 1898, Albany, N.Y., USA: Joel Munsell's Sons, Pub. https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Sayler_Family.html?id=mDlPAAAAMAAJ

Acknowledgements

  • Contributions by direct descendant [[Johnson-43462|Leigh Anne (Johnson) Dear




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Daniel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Daniel:

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Comments: 8

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Hi Richard and Francis, I have been researching my family tree for several years. Thank you for a wonderful, accurate and thorough summary and biography of Daniel Seiler and his family...perfect! I am descended from his eldest son John Sayler Sr. Thank you for all your great work! Sincerely, Brian Saylor
posted by Brian Saylor
Thank you Brian for your comment, and thanks for making a significant addition to the family tree of Daniel Seiler.

Richard Saylor

posted by Richard Saylor
I removed Anna Frienen as the mother of Daniel Seiler for lack of a verifiable source.

Richard Saylor

posted by Richard Saylor
According to Daniel's great grandson D.P. Sayler, who was an elder of the Beaver Dam church, this Daniel emigrated from Switzerland in 1743 along with several brothers and sisters. His name was spelled Seiler at the time and some family members retained that spelling. He and his wife Anna were baptized at the Conestoga Church in Lancaster in 1752, &1753.

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.

posted by Sailor Sailor
My research shows that Daniel came to America 1727 or before. My 6th ggf John Sayler Sr (Daniel's eldest son) was born in Lebanon Township May 6, 1738.
posted by Brian Saylor
I have removed a good bit of data that was included under "NOTES", most of which were excerpts from James Lanning Saylor's book. There was a great amount of repetition and I thought it best to reference it rather than include it. I have replaced it by including the most important source information under the "Biography" heading.

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

posted by Richard Saylor
edited by Richard Saylor
Sayler-19 and Seiler-151 appear to represent the same person because: Hi--I see that this match was previously rejected. I wonder if the match was proposed in such a way that the resulting person would have ended up with a name spelling that one or more profile managers disagreed with. I am generally interested in all German Baptist Brethren profiles and just found this Daniel Sayler that appears an obvious match but had already been proposed and rejected. The two profiles cite the same sources, have the same dates, etc. I don't understand the difference in the places of birth as the main source cited in the profile of Seiler-151 supports the Switzerland place of birth cited in Sayler-19--but I understand that with records that far back there is often more than one story. I have adopted these orphaned profiles solely to try to get them hooked up with duplicates. After the line is ironed out I will remove myself and not remain as a second profile manager for anything. In addition to this merge I'll be proposing merges of the duplicate children as well. I'll try to wait to hear from you as the name did switch from Seiler to Sayler at some point and I'd like to have your input on when that was before I propose additional merges as I would want to propose them in a way that results in a name spelling that makes sense for that generation. Best regards, look forward to hearing from you.

Amy Garber

posted by Amy Garber
Seiler-414 and Seiler-151 appear to represent the same person because: All data matches. Also, Stewart Saylor website is a common source
posted by Richard Saylor