The Selden family has a long history both in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The name originated from the ancient location of Selkeden in Eccleston,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England. The first known Selden in this family was John, born about 1210. A subsequent

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

, born in 1584, was a famous English jurist and member of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

referred to him as "the chief of learned men reputed in this Land." He was confined by the Sheriff of London due to his involvement with the

Protestation of 1621 The Protestation of 1621 was a declaration by the House of Commons of England reaffirming their right to freedom of speech in the face of King James I's belief that they had no right to debate foreign policy. Many Members of Parliament were unha ...

, which resulted in the dissolution of Parliament. Several years later, because he helped draft and present the

Petition of Right The Petition of Right, passed on 7 June 1628, is an English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, reportedly of equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689. It was part of a wider ...

to the House of Lords in 1628, a document that objected to the overreach of authority by King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

and protested his infringement on the civil liberties of the people of England, he was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. Selden published a number of scholarly works. His book "History of Tithes" was an important and influential account of the history of English law, leading some to call him the "father of Legal History." He also wrote "

Mare Clausum ''Mare clausum'' (legal Latin meaning "closed sea") is a term used in international law to mention a sea, ocean or other navigable body of water under the jurisdiction of a state that is closed or not accessible to other states. ''Mare clausum'' ...

," a significant treatise regarding the law of the sea. Seldens were numbered among the early settlers of the original American colonies. Dorothy Selden married Stephen Hosmer; their son settled in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, another son James lived in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

. The Selden name in America was carried by Thomas Selden (b. 1616/17; d. aft Aug 1655) and by Samuel Selden (b. 1662; d. 1720). The Selden family is among the

First Families of Virginia First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg ...

Notable people of Selden descent

* Col.

Samuel Selden Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

(January 11, 1723 - October 11, 1776) * Rev. Miles Selden (1726 - March 20, 1785), rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia when

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

gave his memorable speech at the

Second Virginia Convention The Virginia Conventions have been the assemblies of delegates elected for the purpose of establishing constitutions of fundamental law for the Commonwealth of Virginia superior to General Assembly legislation. Their constitutions and subseque ...

Dudley Selden Dudley Selden (1794 – November 7, 1855 Paris, France) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. From 1833 to 1834, he served part of one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Life Family He was a son of Joseph Dudley S ...

(1794 – November 7, 1855), Member of the U.S. House of Representatives *

Morrison Remick Waite Morrison Remick "Mott" Waite (November 29, 1816 – March 23, 1888) was an American attorney, jurist, and politician from Ohio. He served as the seventh chief justice of the United States from 1874 until his death in 1888. During his tenure ...

(November 29, 1816 – March 23, 1888), son of Maria Selden and Chief Justice of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Samuel L. Selden Samuel Lee Selden (October 12, 1800 – September 20, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals in 1862. Life Selden was born in Lyme, Connecticut in 1800 and moved to Rochest ...

(October 12, 1800 - September 20, 1876), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals *

Henry R. Selden Henry Rogers Selden (October 14, 1805 – September 18, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1857 to 1858. He defended Susan B. Anthony in her 1873 trial for unlawfully voting as a woman.Alan D ...

(October 14, 1805 – September 18, 1885), Abraham Lincoln's first choice for vice president *

George B. Selden George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.Flink, p. 51 ''Probably the most absurd action in the history of patent law was the granting ...

(September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922), Henry Selden's son, possibly first to patent the automobile * Arthur Selden Lloyd (May 3, 1857 – July 22, 1936), bishop and president of the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church *

Dixie Selden Dixie Selden (February 28, 1868November 15, 1935) was an American artist. She studied with Frank Duveneck, who was a mentor and significant influence, and William Merritt Chase, who introduced her to Impressionism. Selden painted portraits of Ame ...

(February 28, 1868 – November 15, 1935), artist * Armistead Selden (February 20, 1921 – November 14, 1985), Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, and other islands

References

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Sources

American families of English ancestry