Col. Samuel Selden and Elizabeth Ely

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Husband Col. Samuel Selden ^{1 2}

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           Born: 11 Jan 1723 - Hadlyme, New London Co, CT 1 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 11 Nov 1776 - New York City, NY 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: Capt. Samuel Selden (1695-1745) 1 2
         Mother: Deborah Dudley (1701-1799) 1 2

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       Marriage: 23 May 1745 - Hadlyme, New London Co, CT 3 4

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Wife Elizabeth Ely ^{3 4}

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           Born: 11 Oct 1724 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 2 Feb 1802 - Hadlyme, New London Co, CT 3
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 F Elizabeth Selden ^{3 4 5}

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           Born: 16 Apr 1747 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Elisha Marvin (      -      ) 3 4 5

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2 M Samuel Selden ^{3 4 6}

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           Born: 1 Nov 1748 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Sarah Marvin (      -      ) 3 4

         Spouse: Deborah Colt (      -      ) 3 4 6

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3 F Esther Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 22 Jun 1750 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 8 Jun 1751 3
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

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4 M Elijah Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 21 Feb 1752 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Eunice Comstock (      -      ) 3 4

         Spouse: Hannah Tracy (      -      ) 3 4

         Spouse: Wealthy Hall (      -      ) 3 4

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5 F Deborah Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 29 Dec 1753 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Dr. Joseph Spencer (      -      ) 3 4

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6 M Charles Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 23 Nov 1755 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Abigail Jones (      -      ) 3 4

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7 F Jemima Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 3 Sep 1757 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Joel Loomis (      -      ) 3 4

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8 M Richard Ely Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 25 May 1759 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Desire Colt (      -      ) 3 4

         Spouse: Hope Chapman (      -      ) 3 4

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9 F Mary Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 22 Apr 1761 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Abner Lord (      -      ) 3 4

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10 M Dr. George Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 27 Feb 1763 - Hadlyme, New London Co, CT 3 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 27 May 1817 - Millersburg, Bourbon Co, KY 3 4
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Olive West (1775-1831) 3 4

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11 M Joseph Dudley Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 30 Dec 1764 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Ethelinda Colt (      -      ) 3 4

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12 F Dorothy Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 26 Dec 1766 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Selden Warner (      -      ) 3 4

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13 M Roger Selden ^{3 4}

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           Born: 16 Apr 1769 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Mary Schuyler Douglas (      -      ) 3 4

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General Notes: Husband - Col. Samuel Selden

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Colonel Selden was appointed to the command of the first regiment raised in New London county for the service of the country. He was a man of great wealth for the times, of high social position and prestige, in the prime of life, surrounded by all that makes life desirable; of untarnished name and fame, and unquestioned bravery and skill. Such was his devotion to his country's cause that at the first challenge of the combat he left his home, a house then recently built, the finest one at that time in all the country round about; a wife and twelve children, a large number of servants,-and to them he returned no more.

Colonel Selden was deacon of the church at Haddam, and justice of the peace from 1753 until his death. He was deputy from 1756 until 1776 to the general assembly. His military offices were successively ensign, lieutenant, captain, major and colonel.

In 1752 he was appointed lieutenant of the train band in Lyme, and in June, 1774, he was commissioned major of Colonel Gurdon Saltonstall's Third Regiment, Connecticut Militia; he was in Boston early in 1774; promoted to colonel June 20, 1776, Fourth Battalion, Connecticut Militia, Wadsworth's Brigade, and was stationed on the East River when the British attacked New York, September 15th, being taken prisoner near where Thirty-fourth Street now is, and confined in the Brick Church until his death. The Selden family had always thought that he died on board the notorious "Jersey" prison ship and that his body was thrown with a multitude of others into the sea, until 1876, when at a centenary sermon preached by Mr. Bushnell in the Brick Church, reference was made to two letters written by British officers speaking in eulogistic terms of an American officer, Colonel Samuel Selden, who had recently died in said church and was the first person interred in the churchyard. Mrs. Abner Ely, a granddaughter of the colonel, was present at the sermon. The brief information of his death had been taken to his home by his body servant, one John Saunders, and though never considered satisfactory, could be neither verified or disproved by his family. The man pretended that he had nursed the colonel until he had been carried off to the prison ship. Aside from his military distinction, Colonel Selden had held a prominent public position, having been justice of the peace from 1763 until his death, and a deputy to the General Assembly from 1762 to 1776, and auditor of the Colony accounts in 1776. He was a deacon in the church at Haddam, a man of great wealth for the times, of high social position and prestige, bore an untarnished name, and was of unquestioned bravery and military skill. His devotion to his country's cause was shown by the fact that he left his home, the finest in all that region, at the very beginning of the Revolutionary struggle never to return to it, leaving his wife and their twelve surviving children. When the estate was settled the widow received her dower, the children their several shares, and the negro servants, of whom there were many, were liberated. Although the British took, sacked and burned New London, the seat of the probate court, Colonel Selden's will escaped this disaster, and was long in the possession of his heirs.

1 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 584.

2 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (NW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 202.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 585.

4 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (NW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 203.

5 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Erie, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1896), Pg 558.

6 John Miller, 20th Century History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 477.