Figure 23. — George 

 EscoL Sellers, 

 1808-1899. 



about locomotives and, in certain instances, contradicts the rec- 

 ollections of Sellers and his associates. 



The Sellers family was well known in Philadelphia for its mechani- 

 cal skill and ability.^* George's grandfather, Nathan, and father, 

 Coleman (the elder), produced a great variety of machinery in their 

 shop including fire engines, papermaking and textile machinery, 

 leather hose, and presses for several of the U.S. mints. It is not 

 surprising, then, that George became interested in the study of the 

 mechanical arts. 



At the time of his father's death in 1834, George and his elder 



^^ Information on the Sellers family and the early activities of their machine shop 

 is drawn from an excellent series of nearly 40 articles by George E. Sellers entitled 

 "Early Engineering Reminiscences," which appeared in the American Machinist 

 from 1884 to 1895. The obituary of G. E. Sellers that appeared in the same journal 

 on March 20, 1899, was also consulted. See Early Engineering Reminiscences (1815- 

 1840) of George Escol Sellers (U.S. National Museum Bulletin 238, edit. Eugene S. 

 Ferguson; Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1964). 



48 



