BIoORAPUICAL NOTICES. 



499 



if John Moon bad been satisfied for 

 the services of the young hidy. Paul 

 soon ac(|uired a high standing in public 

 estimation, as well as in that of the 

 Society, and his bride, by her prudence 

 and intelligence, proved herself worthy 

 of hi.s choice. In IG'JO, he was a repre- 

 sentative from Philadelphia in the 

 Provincial Assembly, and was frequent- 

 ly charged with other important public 

 apjjointments. Edith died in 1098, 

 and in 1701, Paul removed to Chester 

 ■where he carried on the tanning Ijusi- 

 ness for some years, but previous to 

 his deatii, which iiappened in 171G, he 

 removed to Philadelphia. So far as is 

 known, he had but two children, Paul 

 and .Mary 



ScoTuou.v, Robert, settled in Darby 

 in 1G84. He came from Oxton in the 

 County of Northumberland, England. 

 In 1G92, he married Mary, the daughter 

 of Henry Gibbons, and having that 

 year purchased land in what is now 

 Upper Darby, made his permanent set- 

 lement there. By trade he was a shoe- 

 maker, and in religious profession, a 

 strict Friend. He died in 17u8, leaving 

 his wife and two sons, Samuel and 

 Nathan to survive him. 



Sellers, Samuel, emigrated froniBel- 

 per, in the " County of Darby," England, 

 in 1(!8'J, and arriving the same year, set- 

 tled in Darby, now Upper Darby, on a 

 small tract of land, which is still in the 

 possessionof his descendants. In IGB-i, 

 he was married to Anna the daughter 

 of Henry Gibbons, who probably came 

 over in the same ship. By trade he 

 ■was a weaver, and carried on that 

 business in connection with farming. 

 As a man, he was upright and just 

 in his dealings ; as a Friend, he was 

 attentive to his religious duties, and 

 submissive to the discipline of the 

 Society, even yielding his judgment to 

 that of the meeting in private affairs, 

 being " willing to give way," in the 

 matter of the marriage of a daughter, 

 to which he had interposed objections. 

 He lived to an advanced age, and de- 

 parted this life about the year 1732, 

 his wife surviving him. In his latter 

 years the Society indulged him with 

 holding meetings at his house during 

 the inclement season of the year. 



Sellers, John, the youngest son of 



Samuel Sellers and Jane his wife, and 

 grandson of Samuel Sellers, the immi- 

 grant, was born in Darby townsliip, (now 

 Upper Darby) in 1126 at the place where 

 the elder Samuel had first settled. John 

 received but little if any more school 

 education than was usual in the days 

 of his boyhood, but he was regularly 

 instructed in the art of weaving, which 

 had been the occupation of both his 

 grandfather and father ; the latter 

 having acquired a high reputation in 

 the business as the inventor of a com- 

 plex machine for twisting worsted, and 

 as a coverlet and camlet weaver. Jo/in. 

 in early life displayed a more enter- 

 prising disposition than his father. By 

 application to books and study, he 

 acquired a knowledge of surveying, 

 which he began to practice early, and 

 soon became eminent as a land surveyor. 

 His mechanical ingenuity, which he 

 appears to have inherited from his 

 father, was eaily manifested by his 

 construction of Wire Rolling-screens, 

 and sieves for cleaning wheat, flax seed 

 (fee, he being the first, as is believed, 

 who made these articles in America. 

 With the wire weaving business he 

 combined the manufacture of Dutch 

 grain-fans, but at the same time drop- 

 ped that of common weaving. He 

 improved his paternal and purchased 

 estates by the erection of mills, and it 

 is said of him, that during his life he 

 had erected six mill-dams, and dug 

 three miles of mill-race. He strongly 

 felt the necessity of a bridge over 

 the Schuylkill, and to further its erec- 

 tion, constructed a model of one long 

 before the erection of the permanent 

 bridge. 



He frequently served as a member of 

 the Provincial Assembly, and before 

 the revolutionary war, was appointed 

 by the Governer and Council to run a 

 straight line from the middle ferry on 

 the Schuylkill to Lancaster, preparatory 

 to laying out the Strasburg road, and 

 by the same authority one of the com- 

 missioners to lay out that road. He 

 was also one of a commission to 

 examine and ascertain the practica- 

 bility of uniting the waters of the 

 Schuylkill and Susquehanna by a nav- 

 igable canal. In the revolution, his 

 feelings were strong against the mother 

 country ; and having sawed timber tor 

 military purposes, and signed paper 

 money emitted for carrying on the war, 



