Minnesota
Official Minnesota Visitor's Guide
St. Paul, MN
Updated Thursday, February 09, 2012 7:53 PM
Cloudy | 36°F | High: 39°F
Low: 8°F
Wind: 7 mph
Humidity: 64%
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Friday
14° / 4° |
Saturday
17° / 8° |
Sunday
27° / 15° | 
Monday
30° / 22° |
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St. Paul, Minnesota
I. Tree Trunk
a. William Wellford Sayles Sr. (1904) & Eleanor Sayles (1904)
II. Tree Branches
a. Eleanor Sayles (1925)
b. William Wellford Sayles Jr. (1926)
c. Richard Sayles (1930)
William Wellford Sayles Jr.
a. Talayah (Sayles) Bayne
b. Renee Sayles
c. Sharon Sayles-Belton
d. Sheila (Sayles) Arrington
e. Sandra (Sayles) Henry
According to the 1930 Census William Wellford Sayles Sr. who resided in St. Paul, Minnesota with his family was born in Mississippi. This partial family tree information for this branch was obtained from William Sr.’s grand daughter Sharon Sayles-Belton, and census research. Sharon stated that he was from the Jackson area. Although Robert Sayles’ (Henry, Hamp, “Brother”, and Ella’s) brother was born in Enid he moved to the Jackson area with his family and it is not known if any other siblings migrated with him. We know that Henry, Hamp, “Brother, and Ella stayed in the Delta. But when talking to one of Robert’s descendants in Jackson they said that William W. Sayles Sr.’s dad and Robert were 1st cousins. Now that we do know there is a connection I think this link will lead us to more siblings of the 5 ancestors we are aware of.
Below is an article from a Minnesota newspaper honoring Sharon’s father.
William Wellford "Bill" Sayles Jr., the father of former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and the first African-American auto salesman in St. Paul, died Thursday. He was 79. Sayles was born in St. Paul and, like his father, was very active in the Rondo neighborhood, the historic center of the city's black community until it was razed for the construction of Interstate 94. In later years, he became youth director and commander of American Legion Post 425 and worked closely with Maxfield Elementary School to promote civic pride and academic excellence.
"He was teaching them about civic pride and patriotism and doing homework," Sayles Belton said. Sayles remained active in Legion activities until about six months ago, Sayles Belton said. He died at the VA Medical Center at Fort Snelling after battling a number of health problems. He served in the Navy during World War II and then returned to work at Midway Ford, first as a mechanic and later as the city's first African-American car salesman. "We were quite fortunate as young girls because every new model that came out, we got to ride in because he brought those fancy cars home," Sayles Belton said. Sayles later went to work for Wheelabrator and retired in 1991.
Sayles Belton recalled her father as a man who enjoyed talking to people. "My father was a storyteller," she said. "He loved telling stories." He told stories about the war, about growing up in St. Paul, about interesting characters he had met and about his five daughters. The other four became a nurse, a teacher, an electrical engineer and an accountant, Sayles Belton said. "He was quite proud of our careers," she said.
Sayles is survived by daughters Talayah Bayne, Renee Sayles, Sharon Sayles Belton, Sheila Arrington and Sandra Henry; sisters Elenora Sayles, Marcella Marzitelli, Ayesha Ecmaan-Sayles and Binta Colley; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.