#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 29 Birthdays: Cornelia Smith Sewell

Of all the thousands of people I have researched over the years, I have found only one that shares my birthday--April 30--my 6X great-grandmother, Cornelia Smith Sewell, born 30 April 1759 in Pennsylvania.

Sadly, I know very little about grandmother Cornelia.  

The first record I have for her is her marriage to Clement Sewell in Pennsylvania on 31 October 1775, at age 16, as his second wife.  Since she was married in Pennsylvania, I assume she was also born there. Her birthdate appears in the Sewell Bible in the Calvert County Historical Society. 

Her husband, Clement Sewell, the son of Clement Sewell and Mary Smith, came from a long-established Maryland family. (I wonder if Cornelia was related to her mother-in-law's family, but I have no evidence of that and Smith is, after all, a very common family name.)

Clement and Cornelia had four daughters: Mary 1775, Cornelia 1776, Henrietta 1782, Maria 1784, and one son Charles Smith Sewell 1779, my 5X-great grandfather. As far as I can tell, all of the daughters died young and/or unmarried. Based on her son's name, I am making a guess that Cornelia was the daughter of a Charles Smith. 

The 1790 Census shows Clement Sewell in Queen Anne's County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with 2 males over 16, 2 males under 16, 5 females (one of whom is most likely Cornelia) and 23 enslaved persons.  The second male in the household is most likely Charles Smith Sewell and the younger people are Charles' children. 

Clement Sewell died in Queen Anne County in 1795.

Cornelia married for a second time to John Sotheren 23 May 1797 in Baltimore County MD. Again I know very little about Mr. Sotheren, except that he applied for insolvency in Baltimore County in 1807.

John Sotheren was probably dead by 1820, although I have not found a record of his death. 

In the 1820 Census of Harford County MD, a woman over age 45 appears in the household of Charles Smith Sewell; I believe that is his mother, Cornelia Sotheren. 

Cornelia Smith Sewell Sotheren died in Harford County in January 1821 at the age of 61. She is buried in Cokesbury United Methodist Church Cemetery at Abingdon, Harford County MD. 

Cornelia's son, Charles Smith Sewell, (my 5X-great grandfather) was born in 1779 in Queen Anne County MD and was an active participant in Maryland politics. After serving in the 42nd Regiment of the Maryland militia during the War of 1812, Charles went on to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates and the state Senate.  He was twice elected to the US Congress, once as a Jacksonian and once as a Democrat. 

In 1805, he married Ann Catherine Keagy of Lancaster PA and had ten children with her, seven sons and three daughters,  including my 4X-great grandmother, Cornelia Olivia Sewell, who was named after her grandmother.  Charles retired to Harford County and died at his Rose Hill estate in 1848, at the age of 69. He and his wife are both buried in the Cokesbury Cemetery along with his mother.