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Sealed Landers was my 5th-great grandfather on the Crosby side. And, if you travel to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, you will find “Sealed Landers Park” and other remembrances of his 1761 arrival. Sealed is considered the first (white) settler of Yarmouth and it was there, along the Cape Forchue River, that he built the first grist mill. The millstone, affixed with a bronze plaque, now serves as a monument commemorating the mill and accomplishments of Sealed and his family.
Sealed Landers, born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, was the eldest child of Ebenezer and Temperance (Tobey) Landers. His birth date is not known, but he was baptized March 3, 1722/23. His great grandfather, Thomas Landers, arrived at Massachusetts in 1635 aboard the Abigail.
In September 1746, Sealed married Sarah Crowell in the town of Harwich, Barnstable, MA. In 1748, Sarah gave birth to a son, Jabez. Sometime between the birth of her son and December 1751, Sarah Landers died. Nothing is known of her death or burial.
On December 5, 1751, Sealed married Thankful Handy at Sandwich, MA. Thankful was the only daughter (she had four brothers) of John and Keziah (Wing) Handy. Together, Sealed and Thankful had three children, Sealed Jr., John and Olivia.
In 1761, Sealed accepted an offer from officials of the colony of Nova Scotia, and decided to settle there. On June 9, 1761, Sealed Landers arrived at Chebogue Harbor on the schooner Pompey, along with Ebenezer Ellis and Moses Perry. (Moses was also one of my 5th-great grandfathers and, my genealogy software tells me, Ebenezer Ellis was my 5th-great granduncle.) Sealed’s wife and four children, the oldest being 13 and the youngest just 3-months old, also made the trip to the unsettled wilds.
Moses Perry and Ebenezer Ellis, along with their families, settled in the area of Chebogue Harbor (the southern tip of Nova Scotia). However, Sealed was travelling with a millstone and was searching for a place suited for building a water powered mill. He found such a place at the Cape Forchue River, where it entered Yarmouth Harbor.
The summer and winter of 1761 were spent trying to survive. A shelter needed to be built and food stores needed to be stocked. In 1762, Sealed began building the mill and he, along with his son Jabez, became a miller. Millers usually received a portion of the flour or corn meal that was ground for a farmer.
In addition to the being the first settler of present day Yarmouth, Sealed also has the distinction of building the first wood framed house. The mill, which was passed down through several generations, is no longer standing. All that is left are two of its millstones, one being the original stone brought from Massachusetts. The stones now serve as a monument to both the mill, and to Sealed, and remain at the site of the mill. In 1935 a plaque (pictured) was affixed to the stone.
It reads:
Sealed Landers
First Settler
of the town of Yarmouth
June 9, 1761.
Brought this stone from Sandwich,
Massachusetts
and placed it in a grist mill
which he erected on this site.
This tablet was placed here
by his descendants
June 9, 1935.
For most genealogists a “pioneer” ancestor is one that moved west in North America. Although the Garrison side of my tree has many westward moving pioneers, the Crosby side has none. I never expected to find a pioneer that moved northeast, into the wilds and among the Indians. As I mentioned earlier, there were a few other of my ancestors who moved to the northeast frontier, but Sealed Landers is the one (so far) whose deeds are best remembered. Sealed also joins a handful of my ancestors that have places named for them. One day I would like to visit “Sealed Landers” Park in Yarmouth, and hopefully do so with my children.
My lineage from Sealed Landers:
Sealed Landers > John Landers > Thomas Landers > Eliza (Landers) Tinkham >
Sarah (Tinkham) Crosby > Roy Crosby > Maurice Crosby > Me.
Photo Source:
- http://waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDAJQ_Sealed_Landers_FIRST_Settler_1761_Yarmouth_NS
Genealogy Sources/Bibliography
- “Yarmouth Nova Scotia Genealogies”, George S. Brown, p. 261-264, 389, 527 & 528 (Yarmouth, NS: Yarmouth Herald, 1896-1910).
- “Butlers and Kinsfolk”, Butler, Elmer Ellsworth, Compiled Brown University, 1903 (Milford, NH: The Cabinet Press, 1944), p. 156.
- “Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, Vol. II”, Smith, Leonard H. and Smith, Norma H., editors, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1994), p.278.
- “A History of the County of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia”, Campbell Rev. J.R., (Saint John, N.B., Canada: J & A McMillan, 1876), p.33, 113, 123
- “Annals of Yarmouth and Barrington (Nova Scotia) in the Revolutionary War”, Poole, Edmund Duval, (Yarmouth, N.S., Canada: J. Murray Lawson, 1899), p.122, 123.
- Landers Genealogy (http://www.landersgen.com/landers/), Jerry Landers author.
- “Vital Records of the Towns of Barnstable and Sandwich “, The Mayflower Descendant, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishin Co., 1996 rivised by Leonard Smith and Norma Smith), 104; (Oiginally published in The Mayflower Descendant quarterly between 1901-1935)
- “The History of Cape Cod: The Annals of the Thirteen Towns of Barnstable County, Vol II”, Freeman, Frederick, (Boston, MA: Geo. C. Rand &Avery, 1862), 158.
- “Genealogical Notes of Cape Cod Families”, Lydia B. Brownson, Doris V. Norton, Grace V. Held, (Duxbury, MA: Lydia Brownson, 1966). Vol. 25: Hallett to Handy p. 270; Vol. 32: Kendrick to Leonard p. 167, 173, 188; Vol. 47: Thaxter to Twining p. 51.
Moe,
Sealed Landers and my fifth great grandfather were partners in the grist mill at the western side of the Fourchu River. Abner Walker owned land including some which had belonged to James McMullen. James McMullen’s granddaughter married Abner Walker’s granddaughter Elizabeth my 3rd great grand aunt. Every time I visit your site I find more of my family. 🙂
— Liane
I was born in Yarmouth Nova Scotia and have driven past Sealed Landers park many times . It’s beautifull and you would love it . )
Sealed Landers was among a group of 5 families that all arrived in June of 1761 in Yarmouth, NS, so the moniker of “first white settler” is inaccurate for a couple of reasons:
a. He was among a group of 5 families – and Jonathan Crosby and his family were also there, so all 5 should be the first English settlers
and
b. The French Acadians had settled the area for years, so they were the first European settlers of the area.
Incidentally, a direct Crosby relative (Lemuel Crosby and his wife Sarah Wing) settled that same week (June 5, 1761) in Barrington, NS. Lemeul dies after just a couple of years and Sarah comes to Yarmouth with her sons and they produce many Crosby descendants here.
We have documents that show The Landers Line from Sealed to my grandmother’s brother Norman Landers
Sealed Landers is an ancestor on my mother’s (Ruth Smith Zeender), daughter of Thomas Smith and Alice Jeffrey Smith. Alice was born in Port Maitland, Nova Scotia, a short distance from Yarmouth. My mother had many fond memories of family visits to Port Maitland with her brothers Tom, Dick and Harry in the 1930s. In 2015, I visited my Canadian cousins in Yarmouth for the first time and organized a small family reunion with my siblings and American cousins, my own treasured memory of my Nova Scotia roots.
Sealed Landers was my husband’s 6th great grandfather. Do you have a date for his death?
Hello,
I do not have a date of death for Sealed.
In my database I used “After 1770”. (Its the best I can come up with).
Here is the citation I used to establish that date:
In a pamphlet “Historic Sites”, published by the Yarmouth Town & Country Tourist Assn., there appears a picture of “one of the mill stones used by Sealed Landers in his grist mill, erected at Milton (now Yarmouth North), this millstone said to have been brought from New England by Sealed Landers… and used by him in his mill built about 1770”.
Thanks. Do you have a family tree on Ancestry? Or elsewhere?
I do have an Ancestry tree, but that branch is not up to date. Plus, my Ancestry tree is not as accurate as my off-line database. I add “possibilities” to the Ancestry tree in the hopes of getting hints that may verify the information. However, only proven information is added to my off-line database.
I will email you a PDF created from my off-line database. It will have all the citations for the sources of the information.
Can you tell me from which of Sealed’s children your husband is descended? I will start the report at that person so you also get the lineage of Sealed’s wife (Thankful Handy).
I just “discovered” Sealed this year as I was preparing for my first visit to Yarmouth, NS (from my home in Massachusetts). I knew that three sons of immigrant Thomas Landers had married three daughters of Sandwich founder Edmund Freeman as I descend from one of his other children on both my mother and father’s sides. I also knew that Ellis and Perry were family names so I started searching, finding cousin-ship almost immediately for 2 of the 3 original settlers of Yarmouth, NS. I’ve just completed charts (part of a Christmas present for my siblings) showing the relationships. Sealed is my 2nd cousin, 7 times removed. His grandmother, Rachel Freeman is half-sister to my Rebecca Freeman (my 7th great-grandmother). Moses Perry’s wife, Eleanor Ellis, is Ebenezer’s sister. I descend from one of their sisters, Abigail (who stayed here in Mass.) As such, Ebenezer and Eleanor are my 5th great grand-uncle and aunt respectively. Moses is a 5th great grand-uncle by marriage. However, since Moses’s father, Samuel Perry, is brother to my ancestor Hannah Perry (who m Samuel Muxom), Moses is also my 1st cousin, 7 times removed. I’ve repeatedly seem these three families as being the “founders” as first to arrive. I’d love to know about the other two families Bill thinks count as “first settlers.” I understand that the grant was given in 1759 but it took a couple of years for people to organize a move and settle their affairs.
recently, i became a grandfather twice and felt this urge and responsibility to research and share my family heritage. I found my way to Sealed Landers, who appears to be my 7th great grandfather. My grandfather was Harold Landers and father is Donald Landers. In addition to my paternal roots to Nova Scotia, my Maternal side is also connected to Nova Scotia by way of the Brow’s.
thank you for sharing
Thanks for digging into this. Very interesting history for sure. Especially Thomas Landers arriving in MA 1635 aboard the ABIGAIL…my name Thomas Landers and my daughters name Abigail…so coincidental. Thank you Paul.
My husband, Alan Longstaff’s ancestor, Sarah Crosby, is descended from Sealed Landers from Nova Scotia. She married a Longstaff and they moved to Montana. We have a picture of her gravestone.
Sealed Landers was my 5th great grandfather. My great grandfather, George Stephen Landers, son of Stephen Landers, moved to Atlanta before he died and his widow Eva stayed in Atlanta. I believe I have some long lost distant relatives cousins still in the Massachusetts and Nova Scotia area. I am hoping to connect with others who can trace their roots similar to my own. Your post about sealed was helpful to me in my genealogy research. Thank you.