John Sellers
Member of the Pennsylvania State Assembly
from the Delaware County, Philadelphia County and Philadelphia district
In office
1790–1794
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the Chester County district
In office
1761–1771
Serving with Isaac Person, Charles Humphreys, George Ashbridge, John Minshall, Jonas Preston, John Jacobs, Nathaniel Pennock, John Crosby, John Morton
Preceded byGeorge Ashbridge, Nathaniel Pennock, John Jacobs, Charles Humphreys, Isaac Pearson, Joshua Ash, John Minshall, Jonas Preston
Succeeded byCharles Humphreys, Isaac Pearson, John Morton, John Jacobs, John Minshall, James Hockley, George Ashbridge, Benjamin Bartholomew
Personal details
Born1728 (1728)
Upper Darby Township, Province of Pennsylvania
DiedFebruary 2, 1804(1804-02-02) (aged 75–76)
Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeDarby Friends Cemetery
Political partyFederalist
Occupation
  • Politician
  • surveyor
  • engineer

John Sellers (1728 – February 2, 1804) was an American scientist, politician and surveyor from Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, representing Chester County from 1767 to 1771. He also served in the Pennsylvania Senate, representing Delaware and Philadelphia counties and the city of Philadelphia from 1790 to 1794. He was a founding member of the American Philosophical Society and observed the Transit of Venus in 1769.

Early life

John Sellers was born on September (or November) 19, 1728, at Sellers Hall in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, to Sarah (née Smith) and Samuel Sellers. His grandfather Samuel Sellers worked as a weaver and emigrated from Derbyshire .[1][2][3]

Career

Surveying career

Sellers worked as a weaver.[1] He was appointed surveyor by the governor to run a line from Schuylkill to Lancaster to prepare for the Strasburg Road. He was appointed as road commissioner of the Strasburg Road. He was appointed as a surveying engineer of the Union Canal. He was also involved in the Schuylkill-Susquehanna canal study of 1783 and the boundary commission for the newly created Delaware County in 1789.[1][4]

American Philosophical Society

Sellers was one of the original members of the American Philosophical Society. He joined the organization in 1768. Sellers and David Rittenhouse and others were members of the society's committee that observed the Transit of Venus in 1769 and reported their observations for the benefit of science.[1][4]

Political career

Sellers was a Federalist. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (later the Pennsylvania House of Representatives), representing Chester County, from 1767 to 1771.[2][5] He was appointed one of the Boston Port Bill Committee and was a deputy in the first Provincial Conference of Representatives at Philadelphia on July 14, 1774. These activities on behalf of the Revolution and particularly Sellers' role in signing the Continental currency led to his disownment by the Society of Friends.

He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1789, representing Delaware. He served in the first session of the Pennsylvania Senate. He represented Delaware and Philadelphia counties and Philadelphia from 1790 to 1794.[1][2][6][7] He was appointed by Governor Thomas Mifflin as associate judge of the Delaware County Court, but declined the appointment.[1]

Personal life

Sellers grandson James Sellers was an inventor and had a wire weaving business. His great-great grandson James C. Sellers was a Philadelphia lawyer.[2]

Sellers died on February 2, 1804, in Upper Darby. He was interred at Darby Friends Cemetery.[1][2]

Further reading

  • Andrew Dawson, Lives of the Philadelphia Engineers: Capital, Class, and Revolution (2004).
  • George Eschol Sellers, Early Engineering Reminiscences (1965).
  • Dominic Vitiello, Engineering Philadelphia: The Sellers Family and the Industrial Metropolis (2013).
  • Anthony F.C. Wallace, Rockdale (1978).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "John Sellers". Pennsylvania Senate Library. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wiley, Samuel T. (1893). Garner, Winfield Scott (ed.). Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Comprising A Historical Sketch of the County. Gresham Publishing Company. pp. 305–306. Retrieved November 25, 2023 – via Archive.org.Open access icon
  3. ↑ Bell, Whitfield Jenks (November 11, 1997). Patriot-improvers: 1743-1768. American Philosophical Society. ISBN 9780871692269. Retrieved November 11, 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 Zipfel, Nathan. "History of Delaware County Pennsylvania - Chapter 10 - PA-Roots". Pa-roots.com. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Thomson, W. W., ed. (1898). Chester County and Its People. The Union History Company. p. 436. Retrieved November 25, 2023 – via Archive.org.Open access icon
  6. ↑ "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - 1790 | Duquesne University". Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  7. ↑ Center, Legislativate Data Processing. "John Sellers". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.