Upper Darby Township.
Coleman, daughter of Joseph and Mary Coleman, of Philadelphia, and had, among other children:
V. John Sellers, who was born Sept. 29, 1789, and died July 20, 1878.
John Sellers, son of Samuel and Sarah Smith Sellers, was born in Upper Darby, Sept. 19, 1728, and was taught the trade of a weaver, his father having erected in that township the first twisting-mill in Pennsylvania, which became noted for the coerlet and camlet cloths there made. Early in life he displayed much ingenuity, and invented the first wire rolling screens and sieves for cleansing grain ever made on this continent. So successful was this invention that he abandoned the manufacture of textile fabrics and devoted his attention to wire weaving, and subsequently added thereto the making of fans for farm purposes. He had also given considerable attention to the study of civil engineering, and soon became noted in the country, no one questioning the accuracy of every line run by him. In 1767 be was elected a member of Assembly, and consecutively for five terms thereafter was one of the representatives of Chester County in that body. Previous to the Revolutionary war he was appointed by the Governor one of the surveyors to run a line from the Middle Ferry at Philadelphia, to Lancaster for the Strasburg road, and in 1763 was one of the commissioners to lay out that highway.
In 1769 the Assembly of Pennsylvania granted to the Philosophical Society one hundred pounds towards the cost of building an observatory in the State-House yard in Philadelphia, from which to observe the transit of Venus, which took place June 3, 1769. This phenomenon was here successfully observed by Dr. John Ewing, David Rittenhouse, John Sellers, and others.
In 1776 he was chosen a member of Assembly from Chester County, but declined to accept, he, with many other thoughtful men of that day, holding that the Constitution of 1776 had many features subversive of the liberty of the people, one of its most objectionable provisions being that reposing the legislative authority in one House. Yet by that Constitutional Convention he was made one of the justices of Chester County. In 1789, Governor Mifflin appointed him to make surveys of the Schuylkill River, the object being to ascertain whether it was practicable to unite by a canal the Susquehanna and Schuylkill Rivers. In the mean while Delaware County had been erected, and John Sellers was, in the bill, appointed one of the commissioners to adjust the dividing line, and in the election of October of that year he was chosen one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1790, wherein he took an active part. The duties of these offices demanded his attention to such an extent that, Oct. 17, 1789, he resigned his "Commission for Examining the Waters of the Schuylkill," and Benjamin Rittenhouse was appointed in his stead. In 1790 he was elected senator from his district, then included with the city of Philadelphia, and served a term of four years. Governor Mifflin, on Sept. 17, 1791, appointed him one of the judges of Delaware County. He seems to have qualified for the office, but resigned shortly afterwards, and the following year Hugh Lloyd was appointed in his stead. John Sellers was recognized in his day as a man of considerable scientific attainments, although wholly self-taught, and was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society of 1768. He died Feb. 3, 1804, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
John Sellers, the son of John and Mary Coleman Sellers, was born in Philadelphia, Sept. 29, 1789, and died July 20, 1878. His mother died when he was about five years old. In consequence of this great loss he spent most of his early life in the country, at the home of his grandfather (also John Sellers). This place, now known as "Sellers' Hall," was part of the original tract of ground taken up by Samuel Sellers, the emigrant, and the present brief of title contains the form of original grant from William Penn. Here the family lived from generation to generation, and that part of it now known as Millbourne was the home of this John Sellers after his marriage, and is still in possession of his sons. Country life was the ideal of all delights to his boyhood, and it was here, no doubt, that his love of nature was developed which to his latest day was so strong a characteristic. Here he was sent to the common country schools, and obtained such education as they then afforded. His habits of observation opened up to him great fields of knowledge which were always extending, and the silent influences of nature were real teachers to him. He knew all kinds of wood lore, and every bird by its note, and all the habits of insect life.
With the greatest simplicity of character he had an amount of latent strength which was not always suspected even by himself, but which made him always a reliance to his friends and neighbors. Even in early life he was often called upon to arbitrate in disputes, where his winning, persuasive manner and clear judgment had great influence.
He learned the trade of a miller under Thomas Steel, who then had an old mill on Millbourne Place. In 1814 his father built for him a new mill up to the highest-known standard. Part of it is still standing, surrounded and overtopped by handsome additions and improvements, and is now known as Millbourne Mills. Much of the wood-work on the original mill was made by John Sellers and his mechanical father. He felt it a great responsibility to run this mill, and his modesty perhaps exaggerated his deficiencies in business knowledge. He took into it untiring energy and determination, and gradually made it a success. His business principles were very simple, as his whole life was fitted to the groove of strictest justice. He had been brought up in accordance with the teachings of Friends, and to "observe moderation in all things" was a vital principle of religion to him.