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George Selden |
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GEORGE SELDEN, son of George and Elizabeth (Card) Selden, was born
in Erie, September 26, 1827. He was educated at the Erie Academy and by
private study and extensive travel. At the age of seventeen years he
decided to see the world, and going to New York, he shipped on board a
merchant vessel bound for the East Indies and China, and spent several
years on the sea. Returning to Erie he remained here until the gold
excitement of 1849, in which year he went out to California, where he
spent four years in a fairly successful quest for gold. Returning once
more to Erie, he became associated with the late Col. John H. Bliss in the
manufacture of petroleum barrels and in other lines of business. In 1864,
he and Col. Bliss purchased an interest in the Erie City Iron Works. He
made and patented important improvements in steam boilers and saw mill
machinery and the success of the Erie City Iron Works was due largely to
his inventive genius and to his remarkable ability as a business man and
executive. He was president of this gigantic enterprise at the time of his
death on November 19, 1893. He was a true “captain of industry.” He
traveled extensively through the United States, Mexico and Europe and in
1885-6 accomplished the journey westward around the world. Mr. Selden was united in marriage March 4, 1857, to Anna M., the daughter of Charles Lawton, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. She died in Erie in March, 1871. For many years Mr. Selden was a prominent member of the First Presbyterian church, of which he was a generous supporter. The beautiful chapel of the church was a gift from Mr. Selden, a memorial to his wife. He was a member of the board of trade and of Mt. Olivet Commandery of the order of Masons. He was for years a managing director of the Hamot Hospital and at his death left by bequest a large sum for that worthy institution. A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1909, page 479. More Erie County History Books Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors. View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file! Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.
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