By John Deichler, sgr
This article was published in the December 2025 edition of Soul Search, the Journal of The Sole Society
The knock at the front door was polite but persistent. It had to be. The H.P. Sewell Farm was not accustomed to receiving late night callers and, in 1937, 11pm was very late indeed. Horace Preston Sewell reassured his wife, Bess, that all would be well and rose out of bed to begin a conversation that would change his life.
The Sewell Family Farm was located in the Shuler Community, about 17 miles west of El Dorado, Arkansas – one of the southern United States. It had been founded by Horace’s grandfather, John Asbury Sewell, who had travelled there by wagon train in 1882.
With all of his possessions packed into a wooden box less than seven square feet in size, John walked the 600 roughhewn miles from Meriweather County, Georgia over a span of two months as riding was reserved for women and children. This in of itself was no small feat as John was an injured veteran of the American Civil War.
John originally mustered in July of 1861 as a private in Company B, 2nd Regiment Georgia Infantry under Captain William Harris but was released due to illness. In 1862, he remustered again as 3rd sergeant of the 1st Regiment Georgia Cavalry and was later injured when hit in the jaw by enemy fire. Having seen so much in only 39 years, the chance for rich, affordable land and a fresh start in Arkansas must have seemed enticing to John. Well worth the walk, it seems.
possessions 600 miles
While no doubt daunting to modern readers, such a challenge was nothing new for this branch of American Sewells. In fact, it was all too familiar. John Asbury Sewell’s great-grandfather, Samuel Sewell Jr., had relocated his family 300 miles from Lenior, North Carolina to homestead Georgian land received in lieu of payment for service as private with the North Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War.
Indeed, these Sewells had much to fight for. Their forefathers had been in the New World since its beginnings and literally carved their names upon the landscape. Our brave revolutionary, Samuel Jr., was the great-grandson of Colonel Henry Sewell, who had travelled to Virginia from Gloucestershire in the early 17th century before serving as burgess for Norfolk County. He established himself at Sewell’s Point, at the mouth of the Elizabeth River, and the area still carries his name to this day. This Henry’s parentage is in question but he may have been the son of another Colonel Henry Sewell, secretary to Lord Baltimore, and the grandson of Sir William Sewell, Mayor of Coventry in 1540.
So it was with the blood of pioneers and patriots that our original Horace Sewell answered the farmhouse door back in 1937.
The land agent who greeted him spoke hastily of newly discovered oil and offered Horace more money than he’d ever seen – no doubt hoping to swindle yet another half-awake rural farmer out of his family legacy. He was disappointed. After wisely consulting with his wife, our Horace agreed to sell only half of his interest and his grandson, Gary Sewell, proudly serves as President of the Sewell Oil Company to this day.
They hope that you will visit them at www.sewelloil.com and in-person should you ever find yourself in southern Arkansas. They would be glad to meet a fellow SOLE Society member – though, perhaps, you might avoid knocking on the door so very late at night?
