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Preferred Citation:

William Selden Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Purchase.

Biographical Information:

William Selden was born in 1741 at Princess Ann County, Virginia, the son of John and Grace Boswell Selden. From 1752 to 1755 Selden studied at the College of William and Mary. He originally pursued a career in law, but after several years of practice he switched to work as an Anglican Minister. As early as 1765, Selden applied for the position of rector at the Elizabeth City Parish, Va. but the position was given to Thomas Warrington.

However, upon Warrington's death in late 1770 Selden was unanimously chosen as rector of the parish. In early 1771 he was ordained and by March 1771 Selden was officially licensed by the Virginia Colony to serve as a minister of the Elizabeth City Parish.

Sources indicate that throughout Selden's tenure at the Elizabeth City Parish tithes increased, starting in 1770 with 1,179 and by 1776 reaching 1,246. While the disestablishment of the Church later forced a drop in tithes, numbers had sufficiently increased by 1784 to 1,051. In addition to these financial aspects, during his time Selden also emslaved a number of persons which he used for various economic undertakings. Sources also show that during the American Revolution Selden placed his loyalties with the American cause. William Selden served at the Elizabeth City Parish until his death in 1783.

In the midst of these events, on May 29, 1767 Selden married Mary Ann Hancock (1745-1789) of Princess Ann County. The couple later had eight children, two of whom are known to have lived to adulthood, Sarah H. Selden (1769-1810) and William Boswell Selden (1772-1849). Upon Selden's death in 1783, Mary Ann Hancock Selden oversaw her late husband's financial affairs, often renting persons enslaved by the Selden's to nearby estates, until her death in 1789.

Sources:

Patterson, Susan Louise. Biographical Sketches of Anglican Clergyman Trained at the College of William and Mary, 1729-1776: A Study of James Blair's Plan and its Results. MA Thesis, College of William and Mary, 1973, 68-70.

Goodwin, Edward Lewis. The Colonial Church in Virginia, with Biographical Sketches of the First Six Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, and Other Historical Papers. Milwaukee: Morehouse Publishing Co., 1927: 305-306.

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Scope and Contents

Papers, 1772-1799, of Anglican minister William Selden (1741-1783) and his wife Mary Ann Hancock Selden (1745-1789) of Elizabeth City County, Virginia. These papers are primarily financial in nature and document the Selden family's management of the Elizabeth City Parish, the family estate, persons enslaved by them, and the hiring out of estate enslaved persons to local plantation owners.

Included are receipts, labor contracts, discussing the terms for the hiring of enslaved persons, financial summaries, and a small leather financial ledger. Also included are two leather man's purses owned by the Selden family.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Account books
• Agriculture--Virginia--History--18th century
• Elizabeth City County (Va.)--History
• Episcopal Church--Virginia--Clergy--18th century
• Financial records
• Receipts (financial records)
• Slavery--Virginia--18th century
• Virginia--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
• Virginia--Religious history