A brief history of the Sedore family in Flinton

Feb 25, 2015

At their monthly meeting at Cloyne's Barrie hall on February 16, Shirley Sedore presented a talk on the roots of the Sedore family in the Flinton.

Shirley' s husband, Ronald Sedore who passed away in 2002, hailed from a family whose roots go back multiple generations in Flinton. Shirley began with the founder of Ronald's family, one Coonradt Sedore who was born in Germany in 1734. It is believed that Coonradt arrived in the United States sometime either in 1754 or 1755 and documents show that he enlisted in the New York militia in 1758. Other records dating from 1755 from the Old Dutch church of Sleepy Hollow, (now known as the First Reform Church of Tarrytown, New York), show that Coonradt Sedore married Antje Boeckhout, the latter, a native of Philipsburgh, N.Y. who was baptized in Tarrytown, N.Y. in 1733. Both Coonradt and Antje are thought to have lived until about 1810. In her presentation Shirley noted that there exist various spellings of both names, Coonradt and Sedore but that the family founder used the original spellings (used here) until the end of his life. The 1758 enlistment records show that Coonradt's occupation had been as a “taylor” and it is believed that he likely learned the tailoring trade prior to leaving Europe.

The couple had eight children, 6 boys and 2 girls, all born in New York State. It is believed that the family moved to Canada sometime in the early 1800's. One of their sons, John, who was born in 1784, married Margaret Thompson in Richmond Township in 1807. One of that couple’s sons named Issac lll moved from Richmond township to Kaladar, Ontario and married Hannah Yorke in Lennox and Addington. Shirley noted that Issac lll died at the age of 91 in Kaladar Township and Hannah died there also at the age of 80.

Isaac lll and Hannah's youngest son, Jonas, was born July 10, 1839 and he was the great, grand father of the present days Sedores. He was Ronald (Shirley’s husband) Sedore’s great grandfather. Jonas married Jane Clark in 1862 and they had 11 children. Their son Herbert married Isabel Robinson and together they had 8 children. Joseph was that couple’s eldest son born in 1903, one of 3 boys and 5 sisters and Joseph was Shirley's father-in-law and her husband Ronald's father.

Shirley herself grew up in Mountain Grove and met Ronald Sedore in 1953. She noted that at that time only one brother and two sisters of her father-in-law Joseph were still living. Shirley and Ronald had seven children of their own, six of whom are living. Researching a family history never comes easy or without its own special mysteries. One that Shirley uncovered was the question of one Abraham Sedore, who is definitely a relative though it is yet to be determined exactly how he is related. Whatever the case, it is known that Abraham Sedore was nicknamed “Bromie” and it is thought that he had no less than 31 children with three different wives.

It is amazing that some people are able to trace their family ancestors back so many generations and it was generous of Shirley Sedore to share what she has found with members of the Cloyne and District Historical Society and guests.