Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Coleman II SELLERS
Dictionary of American Biography; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1935 page 574-575)
Engineer, inventor, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., the youngest son of Coleman and Sophonisba (Peale) Sellers and a descendant of Samuel Sellers who received a grant of land in Pennsylvania in 1682. His father and a number of paternal ancestors had been engineers; his maternal grandfather was Charles
Willson Peale, the portrait painter. During Coleman's childhood his father died, and after attending private schools in Philadelphia and completing the course at Bolmar's academy, West Chester, Pa., when he was about seventeen, the boy spent two years on the farm of a kinsman. He then went to work in the Globe Rolling Mill, Cincinnati, Ohio, operated by his two older brothers. Here his
mechanical ingenuity quickly asserted itself and under his direction the wire mill belonging to the plant was rebuilt and improved.
From childhood Sellers had been greatly interested in natural philosophy and in the solution of physical problems, and he constantly devoted his spare time to studying and making apparatus in order to demonstrate to himself new theories as they were announced. Thus while making wire for the new telegraph lines in the West, he secured a few batteries and constructed apparatus with which he was able to repeat the unusual electrical experiments announced by Michael Faraday. Because of his prompt and thorough investigation of scientific discoveries he became the mentor of a group of intellectual men in Cincinnati and frequently gave lectures, illustrated by practical experiments, on chemistry, physics, and electricity. At the age of twenty-one he became superintendent of the Globe Rolling Mill. In 1850-51 he undertook the design and construction of locomotives for the Panama Railroad and upon the completion of this contract, took charge of the locomotive works of James and Jonathan Niles in Cincinnati. Five years later, in 1856, he was induced by William Sellers, his second
cousin to accept the position of chief engineer of William Sellers & Company in Philadelphia. In this capacity he obtained patents for a variety of inventions, notably the Sellers coupling. He was also much interested in the development of new systems of power transmission. In 1873 he became a partner in
the firm.
Failing health led him to resign his position as chief engineer of William Sellers & Company in 1886, but subsequently he was induced to engage in active practice as a consulting engineer. Probably his greatest work in this capacity was in connection with the hydro-electric power development of Niagara
Falls. He was consulting engineer of the Cataract Construction Company, a corporation formed to execute this work, and served on the International Niagara Commission which determined the types of turbines and generators and the methods of power transmission finally adopted. Sellers designed the first large dynamos installed in this power in this power plant. Throughout his busy life he continued his interest in physics and telegraphy. In addition he was a microscopist and an expert photographer, devising valuable improvements in both photographic processes and apparatus. From the time of his return to Philadelphia in 1856 he was identified with Franklin Institute, which he served as vice president for several years and as president for five consecutive terms. He contributed much to the interest of the Institute's meetings by his lectures, always drawing large audiences. For a number of years after 1886 he was a non-resident professor of engineering practice at Stevens Institute of
Technology, Hoboken, N.J., where he delivered lectures at intervals during the school year. He was a member of engineering and scientific societies both in the United States and in Europe, and was a charter member and president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. for his scientific attainments he was decorated by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway with the Order of St. Olaf.
Sellers vigorously opposed the movement toward the legal establishment of the metric system.
| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |
Return to The Pennocks of Primitive Hall website.
The information in this database may contain errors. If you find any questionable data, or if you have something to add my findings, please feel free to e-mail me by clicking on the "E-MAIL" link above. Thank you!
Page built by Gedpage Version 2.21 ©2009 on 07 July 2020