Andrew Sefton 1807-1887

Nancy Ogden Westerdahl’s Great Grandfather

Andrew Sefton moved to the Maryland community of Mechanicstown, now known as Thurmont in 1831. There were 300 people in the town at that time. Andrew is the grandson of John Sefton, the earliest Sefton in my records.  

Eighteen months after Andrew arrived, he bought a town property, now the site of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank. In March of 1833, he married Elizabeth Weller, daughter of Jacob Weller, the subject of an earlier TWIG. On her 70th birthday in 1883, Elizabeth was the oldest original citizen of Mechanicstown.

Andrew and Elizabeth were founding members of the town’s first church which was built on land formerly owned by her father. The church is now known as the Weller United Methodist Church, and many Seftons and Wellers are buried in the adjoining cemetery. http://wellerumc.com/index.html

The obituary of Andrew Sefton appeared in the Catoctin Clarion newspaper on December 8, 1887. It noted that at 80 years, 1 month and 17 days, he was the oldest resident of the town. It praised him as a man “..well known as an intelligent and Christian man..an expert and careful workman.. possessed of a valuable fund of general information.. an interesting conversationalist, genial and entertaining.”

After the death of Elizabeth Sefton in 1897, the house she and Andrew lived in for 54 years was sold to Joseph W. Sefton of San Diego, CA for $1,435.

Bruce