USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. III > Part 31
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Samuel Sellers Jr., married, at Darby Meeting, October 28, 1712, Sarah Smith, born in Darby, May 30, 1689, daughter of John Smith, born 1645, a native of Croxton, Leicestershire, England, who married, May 4, 1679, Eleanor Dolby, born about 1653, at Harborough, Leiscestershire, and who with their younger children settled in Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1684. John Smith died February 12, 1714-15, and his wife, Eleanor, died September 10, 1708. Both were min- isters of the Society of Friends.
Samuel Sellers Jr., died in 1773, and his wife Sarah (Smith) Sellers survived him nearly five years, dying at "Sellers Hall," in Upper Darby, May 24, 1778. Of their seven children, the following married and left issue, namely :
Samuel Sellers (3), b. July 20, 1715, m. Sept. 28, 1737, Jane, dau. of George and Hannah Wood of Darby, and settled near the forks of the Brandywine, West Bradford town- ship, Chester county, where he d. in 1785, leaving two sons, Samuel and Jonathan, and four daughters who intermarried with prominent families of Chester county.
Hannah Sellers, b. Feb. 10, 1716-17, d. April 12, 1810, m. (first), 1736, Richard Lloyd, son of Robert and Lowry (Jones) Lloyd, (second), 1757, Lewis Davis, of Haverford, Chester county.
Elizabeth Sellers, b. Sept. 15, 1719, d. Oct. 30, 1794, m. in 1738, John Hunt, son of James Hunt, of Kingsessing, Philadelphia county, by his wife Rebecca Faucett, and left two sons, James and John, and four daughters-Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah and Ann. Mary Sellers, b. Dec. 6, 1723, d. May 16, 1777, m. in 1744, David Gibson, of Kingsessing, son of Nathan Gibson, by his wife Ann, a daughter of James Hunt Sr., by his second wife, Elizabeth Bonsall, and half-sister to James Hunt, above mentioned. They had four sons and two daughters and have numerous descendants.
Joseph Sellers, b. June 15, 1726, d. Dec. 1, 1790, m. in 1750, Hannah Paschall, and left a son Joseph, and a daughter Sarah.
JOHN SELLERS, b. Nov. 19, 1728, of whom as follows :
JOHN SELLERS, youngest son of Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Sellers, was born at "Sellers Hall", in Upper Darby, Chester county, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1728. He received from his father in 1752 a conveyance of the Darby home- stead, "Sellers Hall," and one hundred thirty-four acres of the original tract, taken up by his grandfather, and subsequently enlarged the plantation by the purchase of adjoining land. He improved the property by developing the avail-
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able water power to operate mills which he erected. He is credited with being the first in America to establish the industry of weaving and working wire. He was prominent as a surveyor, especially in connection with public highway and canal improvements. He was one of the original members of the American Philosophical Society, and was appointed in 1769 on a committee of that body with David Rittenhouse, Dr. William Smith and John Lukens, to observe the transit of Venus. He took an active part in public affairs, representing Chester county in the Provincial Assembly in every session from 1767, to and including that of 1771-2, and was one of the commissioners appointed to lay out the road from the "Middle Ferry on Schuylkill to the Sign of the Ship, on the Connesto- goe Road, and from thence to the village of Strasburg", by order of Council, February 20, 1770. During the Revolutionary struggle he espoused the cause of the Colonies, and was one of the committee appointed to draught resolutions of sympathy and support for the people of Boston, on the closing of that port by act of Parliament, and was a deputy to the "Boston Port Bill" convention that met in Philadelphia, July 15, 1774. His participation in these affairs led to his disownment by the Society of Friends; the testimony against him at Darby Monthly Meeting stated also that he had signed paper currency issued for carrying on war, and that he had sawed stuff for military service.
After the close of the Revolutionary War he was elected to the first Assembly of the State, but declined to serve as he was opposed to government by one legislative body. In 1780 he was one of the commissioners appointed to build a new courthouse and prison for Chester county, and in 1783 a commissioner to consider the building of a canal to connect the waters of the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. He was of the committee appointed in 1786 to consider the erection of the first Market Street bridge over the Schuylkill; and also one of the commissioners to mark the line between Chester county and the newly organized county of Delaware. In the same year he was appointed by the Su- preme Executive Council a commissioner to consider the improvement of navi- gation on the Schuylkill. He was a delegate from Delaware county to the Con- stitutional Convention of 1790, and was the first senator elected to represent the new county under the Constitution then adopted, serving one term. Pre- vious to this he was appointed an associate justice of the county court, but de- clined to serve. He died at "Sellers Hall", Upper Darby township, Delaware county, February 2, 1804, in his seventy-seventh year.
John Sellers married, at Darby Monthly Meeting, April 26, 1749, Anna Gib- son, born January 22, 1729-30, died April 6, 1805, daughter of Nathan Gibson, born in the county of Westmoreland, England, who brought a certificate from Kendall Monthly Meeting of Friends in that county, dated March 6, 1712-13, and settled in Kingsessing, Philadelphia county, where he died February 15, 1757. He became the owner of considerable real estate there, and filled a prominent place in the community, being identified with the local institutions of his section. He was one of the founders of the Darby library in 1743, and its first treasurer. He married, December 7, 1709-10, Ann (Hunt) Blunston, widow of John Blun- ston, and daughter of James Hunt, of Kingsessing, who came to Pennsylvania in 1684, from county of Kent, England, with two daughters, by a deceased wife, and settled in Kingsessing. He married (second) in 1686, Eliazbeth Bonsall, daughter of Richard Bonsall, of Darby, and had by her two children, Ann, above mentioned and James, who married Rebecca Faucett, before mentioned.
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John and Ann (Gibson) Sellers had ten children, four of whom died in child- hood. Those who survived were :-
Elizabeth Sellers, b. Jan. 4, 1749-50, d. March 3, 1774; m. June 9, 1768, Nathan Garrett, of Darby, and had issue: Ann, Sarah and Samuel Garrett.
NATHAN SELLERS, b. Nov. 15, 1751, died July 14, 1830, of whom presently.
Samuel Sellers, b. Dec. 30, 1753, d. Dec. 10, 1776. At the time of his death he was associated with his brother Nathan in the manufacture of paper moulds for the Treasury Board, and he was among those appointed by Congress to sign bills of credit.
David Sellers, b. April, 1757, d. at his home, Sixth St., above Market, Phila., Dec. 2, 1813. He m., Dec. 23, 1779, Rachel, dau. of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Coleman, b. in Phila., Dec. 17, 1757, and d. there June 15, 1826. They had ten children, six of whom lived to mature years, but none married, except James, the second son, who has left numerous descendants.
John Sellers, b. Dec. 1, 1762. His name appears in the muster roll of 1780, Capt. William Kirk's Co., Upper Darby Militia. He m. April 27, 1780, Mary, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Coleman, and sister to the wives of his two elder brothers, Nathan and David. She was born in Phila., Sept. 9, 1761, and d. at "Woodlawn", his residence in Upper Darby. They had five children, two of whom d. inf., and another Ann, d. at age of 22, unmarried. John Sellers, the only surviving son, was b. Sept. 29, 1789, and a dau. Elizabeth, b. Aug. 26, 1791, m. Abraham L. Pennock, in 1810.
George Sellers, b. Feb. 12, 1768. In 1786 his name appears in muster roll of 3rd Chester County Battalion, 3rd Co., Capt. George Vernon. He d. at "Sellers Hall", April 3, 1853. He m. Sept. 8, 1808, Ann Evans Ash, dau. of Joshua and Abigail (Evans) Ash. They had six daughters and one son.
NATHAN SELLERS, eldest son of John and Ann (Gibson) Sellers, was born at "Sellers Hall," Darby township, November 15, 1751. In 1772 he entered the law office of Henry Hale Graham Esq., Prothonotary of Chester county, and after completing the term of his indenture was employed by Mr. Graham and also in various law offices in Philadelphia, serving for a time as clerk or recorder for the Supreme Executive Council under Joseph Shippen Esq., at Philadelphia.
His diaries at this period show that he had a marked taste for mechanics and engineering matters, and that he busied himself in spare hours with such pur- suits, particularly in connection with the wire work at the time his father was turning his attention from the weaving of textiles as carried on by his predecessors to the weaving of wire, in which art he was a pioneer. The experience which Nathan Sellers acquired in this way was turned to good advantage a few years later, as was also the knowledge of surveying which he also acquired in his youth.
In 1775 his journals record frequent employment by the Pennsylvania Commit- tee of Safety in making priming wires, and he was also called upon to assist actively in his father's business affairs. He was prompt in offering himself for military duty, in consequence of which he was disciplined and disowned by the Society of Friends, of which he was a member. On February 24, 1776, he was enrolled in the Pennsylvania Associaters, and served as ensign in Col. Jonathan Paschall's Seventh Battalion under Gen. Daniel Roberdeau. On August II, 1776, his diary contains this significant entry : "Wrote Col. Paschall's will. Our Com- pany marched to Philadelphia."
While his battalion was encamped at Newark, New Jersey, he was ordered by a special resolution of the Continental Congress to return to Philadelphia and pre- pare moulds for the manufacture of paper by the Treasury Board. This action was taken on the petition of sundry paper makers. As Nathan Sellers had pre- viously given little or no attention to the making of moulds, which prior to this time had been imported, this action of Congress and the paper makers evidently
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recognized the fact that he was the only man available in the Colonies to undertake the task. His skill and ingenuity in this connection led to his ultimate business success and fortune and to the development of the art in this country. He devised new and original processes and is credited with being the first to anneal wire in closed vessels, besides perfecting appliances for drawing and straightening wire which were subsequently adopted by the manufacturers in Europe.
His first employment by the Treasury Board was at York when that place was the seat of the government, but he afterwards established the mould making in Upper Darby until he finally transferred the business to Philadelphia, where ten years later he took his younger brother, David Sellers, into partnership, under the firm name of Nathan & David Sellers.
In 1777, Nathan Sellers was commissioned by the Council of Safety of Penn- sylvania to make a survey of the Delaware river and its military defenses prior to the advance of the British army under Gen. Howe. About this time it appears he was proposed for the office of Prothonotary and Clerk of the Court of Chester County, and in one of the letters recommending him to the Council of State he is referred to as "having wrote a considerable time in Graham's office at Chester, and is a very sensible young man and ready clerk, and himself a warm Whig as is also his father." He was among those who were appointed by Congress to sign the paper currency issued during the war.
After the close of the war, while actively engaged in the extension of his busi- ness, he was still drawn into public life to a considerable extent as member of common councils of the city of Philadelphia, to which he was nominated and elected jointly by both political parties and served several terms.
On September 15, 1783, he was appointed by the General Assembly one of the three commissioners, with David Rittenhouse and Thomas Hutchins, "to view the different roads leading from the Susquehanna to Reading and Philadelphia, and to point out the most practical mode of improving the same; also to con- sider the most probable way of opening a communication between the rivers ยท Susquehanna and Schuylkill-to form an estimate to the expense of carrying the above designs into execution and to report their proceedings with all possible exe- cution to the next House of Assembly." Also "to receive the proposals of such person or persons as may offer lands to the public for the purpose of building a town or towns on the east bank of the Susquehanna." He also served on other public commissions in relation to internal state improvements.
In 1817 he retired from Philadelphia to his country place, "Mill Bank," on the Marshall road in Upper Darby, and his interest in the firm of Nathan & David Sellers was entrusted to his eldest son, Coleman Sellers.
Nathan Sellers married, in Philadelphia, May 4, 1779, Elizabeth Coleman, born in Philadelphia, October 2, 1756, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Cole- man, and granddaughter of Dr. Joseph and Mary (Thomas) Coleman, of Prince George's county, Maryland, and great-granddaughter of Thomas and Margaret (Muskett) Coleman, of Scituate, Massachusetts, where the Coleman family had settled in 1638.
Nathan and Elizabeth (Coleman) Sellers had issue, four children, viz :-
COLEMAN SELLERS, b. Nov. 7, 1781, of whom presently.
Ann Sellers, b. in Phila., April 20, 1783, d. at "Mill Bank," Upper Darby, April 4, 1870, unm.
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Hannah Sellers, b. in Phila., Dec. 12, 1785, d. at Bryn Mawr, Chester Co., Pa., June 4, 1877 ; m. July 7, 1824, Peter Hill, b. April 5, 1783, d. Oct. 5, 1857; they had issue :- Nathan Sellers Hill, b. Aug. 4, 1820; Elizabeth Sellers Hill, b. Oct. 12, 1829.
Nathan Sellers Jr., b. in Philadelphia, Oct. 19, 1788, d. in Burlington Co., N. J., Dec. 23, 1867; m. Euphronsia Sontag, b. 1790, d. in Upper Darby, June 7, 1856. Soon after his marriage, Nathan Sellers Jr., built the "Wild Orchard" place, on the Marshall road, adjoining his father's residence, "Mill Bank", and resided there until after his wife's death, when he removed to Burlington County, New Jersey, in 1857, where he resided until his death at his home, "Earl Hall".
COLEMAN SELLERS, eldest son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Coleman) Sellers, was born in Darby, and much of his youth was spent at "Sellers Hall," the home of his grandparents. He was educated at private schools, and received his early business training in the employ of Nathan & David Sellers, to which firm he was eventually admitted, and his ingenuity resulted in a number of useful patents in connection with the business as well as in other fields. On his father's retirement and the subsequent dissolution of the firm of Nathan & David Sellers, Coleman Sellers continued the manufacture of paper and carding machinery under the firm name of Coleman Sellers & Sons. In 1829 he removed his estab- lishment to Upper Darby, on Cobb's Creek, near the Marshall road, where he erected extensive shop buildings and dwellings for his employees and gave to his village the name of Cardington. The improved equipment of these shops caused the State Railroad Commissioners to call upon Coleman Sellers to undertake a contract for building locomotives for the Columbia railroad, and, at the sugges- tion of the firm, radical changes and improvements were made in the design, and accepted by the commissioners, which marked an important advance towards mod- ern locomotive construction. These improvements included the substitution of iron for the wooden frames of the running gear; the placing of the connecting rods and cylinders outside of the frame and the introduction of the pivoted for- ward truck, features which have been retained to this day. Owing to the Card- ington works being so far removed from railroad transportation, Coleman Sellers did not wholly favor this departure from his regular business, nor did he live to see the contract finally completed, his death occurring May 7, 1834, at his residence No. 10 North Sixth street, Philadelphia.
Coleman Sellers' business interests allowed him very little opportunity for activity in public life, although he was at one time solicited by both political par- ties to allow his name to be proposed for Congress, at a time, too, when condi- tions tended to narrow party lines. The only public office he was induced to accept was that of a commissioner to build the Eastern Penitentiary under appointment by the Legislature in 1821.
On September 23, 1805, he married, at the residence of his kinsman, Henry Moore Esq., in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Sophonisba Peale, daughter of Charles Willson and Rachel (Brewer) Peale, who was born in Philadelphia, April 24, 1786, and died at "Mill Bank," Upper Darby, October 26, 1859. Their children were :-
Charles Sellers, b. Oct. 25, 1806, in Phila., d. at Woodstock, Ill., June 12, 1898; was a mechanical engineer, and from 1829 to 1841 a member of the firm of Coleman Sellers & Sons. He subsequently was manager of rolling mills and iron works in the middle West, and for a time superintendent of motive power for the Indianapolis Railway. He m. at Phila., Dec. 10, 1829, Elizabeth Morris, dau. of John and Olivia (Symes) Morris, b. in Phila., April 31, 1810, d. at Woodstock, Ills., April 21, 1895. They had six children.
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George Escol Sellers, b. in Phila., Nov. 26, 1808, d. at Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1, 1899; was a mechanical engineer, and from 1829 to 1841 a member of firm of Coleman Sellers & Sons; patented a number of useful devices in mechanics, including improve- ments in locomotives, particularly the hill climbing type which he built for the Panama Railway; also a process for manufacturing lead pipe, and for making paper from vegetable fibre, being a pioneer in both arts. He had considerable talent as an artist, and with Sully, Darley, and others, organized one of the earliest social organ- izations of artists in Philadelphia; he was actively interested in archaeological research pertaining to the American Indians, and formed a valuable collection of pottery and implements of the prehistoric tribes of the Ohio valley. After the dissolution of the firm of Coleman Sellers & Sons, he removed to Cincinnati, and subsequently to southern Illinois, finally after retirement from active business he resided at his place "Crestview" on Mission Ridge, Chattanooga, where he died. He m., at Phila., March 6, 1833, Rachel Brooks Parrish, b. July 18, 1812, died at Sellers Landing, Hardin Co., Ills., Sept. 14, 1860, dau. of Robert A. and Eleanor Parrish, of Phila .; they had six children.
Elizabeth Coleman Sellers, b. in Phila., Oct. 24, 1810, d. Feb. 20, 1841; m. at Phila., Nov. 27, 1832, Alfred Harrold, of Birmingham, Eng., who d. Jan. I, 1844. They had four children, two of whom survived infancy, viz .:
Charlotte Sellers Harrold, b. July 30, 1835, d. Dec. 15, 1875; m. at Birmingham, Eng., Rev. Robert William Simpson.
Frances Elizabeth Harrold, b. Oct. 26, 1837, m. at Birmingham, Eng., Nov. 7, 1860, Joseph Colvin Randall.
Harvey Lewis Sellers, b. in Phila., Feb. 25, 1813, d. at Natchez, Miss., Aug. 12, 1892; was a dentist by profession, and in active practice until his death; he spent much of his life abroad, finally establishing himself in the South; he m. (first) Sarah Ann Shoemaker, dau. of Dr. Nathan and Frances Shoemaker, of Phila., who d. May I, 1845; he m. (second), Annie Littler, of Baltimore; and (third) Nov. 14, 1866, Ellen Corrine Miller, of Natchez, Miss., by whom he had two daughters, both deceased. Anna Sellers, b. Sept. 30, 1824; d. at Chattanooga, Tenn.
COLEMAN SELLERS, b. Jan. '28, 1827, of whom as follows:
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COLEMAN SELLERS, youngest son of Coleman and Sophonisba (Peale) Sellers, was born in Philadelphia, January 28, 1827, and after receiving his preliminary education in private schools in Philadelphia he entered the Academy of Anthony Bolmar, at West Chester, Pennsylvania. At the age of nineteen he joined his elder brothers who had recently removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there began his professional career at draughtsman in the Globe Rolling Mill, being advanced shortly to the position of superintendent. He already had experience in surveying for a railroad in Kentucky, on which his elder brother, Escol, was engaged, and was associated also with his brother in the building of locomotives for the Pa- nama Railroad. Subsequently he was engaged as general foreman or superinten- dent of Niles & Co.'s locomotive works at Cincinnati, which position he held for five years. In 1856 he was induced to return to Philadelphia to take the posi- tion of chief engineer of the Machine Tool Works of William Sellers & Co. In this capacity his ingenuity resulted in the notable improvements in machine tools which contributed so largely to the reputation of the establishment. In 1873 he was admitted to partnership, and continued his connection with the firm until 1885 when obliged by ill health to retire temporarily from active duty.
From boyhood, Coleman Sellers devoted his vacations and hours of leisure to the study of electricity, conchology, microscopy and photography, each with scientific thoroughness and on lines of original research and practical application. In 1860, when experimenting with photography, he devised and patented an apapratus which he termed a "Kinetoscope," by which figures in stereoscopic pictures could be represented in motion, the forerunner of the various devices since perfected through the development of instantaneous photography. At about the same time, in the course of his experiments with gun cotton, he discovered
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properties which led him to suggest for the first time the use of absorbent cotton for surgical uses.
After his retirement from the firm of William Sellers & Company his reputa- tion very shortly drew him into independent practice as a consulting engineer. In this field his most notable work perhaps was that in connection with the devel- opment of the power of Niagara Falls. Having been retained to investigate and report upon this project, in 1888 he was appointed consulting engineer of the construction company, and in 1890 was a member of the International Niagara Commission which met in London with Lord Kelvin as chairman to determine the best method of generating the power. Upon the adoption of the general plan of development at Niagara Falls, Mr. Sellers was made chairman of the board of engineers in charge of the work preparatory to the installation of the machinery, and when that point was reached the board was dissolved and he was appointed president and chief engineer of the Niagara Falls Power Company, while still retaining the office of chief consulting engineer of the construction company.
As stated in the "Proceedings of the American Institute of Electrical Engi- neers" in this connection, "Mr. Sellers assumed responsibility as great perhaps as any that have ever been laid upon the shoulders of one of the world's great engineers; and by his ability, untiring energy and singleness of purpose con- tributed more than any other man to the ultimate success of this great engineer- ing development."
Dr. Sellers was decorated by King Oscar of Sweden with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf, and received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania and the degree of Doctor of Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. For several years he held the non-resident professorship of Engineering Practice in the Stevens Institute, and besides con- tributing to engineering literature he frequently lectured on scientific and kin- dred subjects.
He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Insti- tution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain, and corresponding member of the Society of Arts of Geneva, Switzerland; also a member and past president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Naval Architects, member and vice-pres- ident of the American Philosophical Society, and his varied interests aside from his profession are suggested by his membership in the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Skating Club, Uni- versity Club, Academy of Natural Sciences, Photographic Society of Philadelphia. He was an early member of the Union League, Social Art Club, Penn Club, and one of the founders and first President of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. Throughout his active life in Philadelphia he was a member and director of the Franklin Institute and one of its past presidents, and in the early days of photography he was the American correspondent of the British Journal of Photography.
Dr. Coleman Sellers married, October 8, 1851, at Cincinnati, Ohio, Cornelia Wells, daughter of Horace and Sarah Hewes (Whipple) Wells, of Cincinnati, and a granddaughter of Oliver and Tirzah (Talcott) Wells, through whom she was descended from the Abbot, Grant, Talcott, Hollister, Pynchon, Holyoke, Lyman and other allied families of New England. She was a great-granddaugh-
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