Selim
A Biographical Sketch of Selim
by Emma L. Powers
Selim (c. 1735- after 1789) Algerian immigrant to Virginia, Mohammedan convert to
Christianity, former slave, and patient at the Public Hospital.
Two reliable nineteenth-century sources relate the story of Selim, a native of
Northern Africa who had been educated in Constantinople, was captured near Gibraltar,
and sold into slavery in New Orleans. Selim escaped and traveled on food to eastern Kentucky.
After being caught by Indians there, he again escaped and by 1760 was taken in by a
kindly hunter in Augusta County, Virginia. With good treatment, Selim regained his
health and learned to speak English. Some time later in nearby Staunton, Selim first
saw Rev. John Craig, an elderly Presbyterian minister. Because of a dream, Selim
begged Rev. Mr. Craig to take him in and give him religious instruction. Rev.
Craig complied, took him to the parsonage, and soon discovered that Selim could read
the Greek testament. After a few weeks’ instruction and study, Selim converted to
Christianity and was baptized.
Before long Selim wished to travel to his homeland to see his parents. Contributions
were collected and with additional assistance from Robert Carter III of Williamsburg,
Selim set sail for England and from there continued on to northern Africa. His parents
disowned him because of his new religion, which he refused to repudiate, and the
wanderer somehow managed to get back to Virginia.
Selim’s misfortunes left him mentally unbalanced. At some point between
the Revolution and 1789, he was admitted to the Public Hospital as
a mental patient. Eventually John Page of Rosewell became Selim’s
patron. Early in 1789, Page went to Philadelphia
for Congress, and Selim either accompanied or followed him there.
Charles Willson Peale painted a portrait of Selim at that time and
the picture hung for many years at Rosewell. Lost during the Civil
War, the painting is known to us now only through
a small woodcut reproduction that appeared in Bishop Meade’s book
in 1857.1
Endnotes
1William Meade, Old Families and
Churches vol. I, pp. 341-348; the picture appears on the unnumbered
page opposite p. 341. More details about Selim’s life were written
down by a Page descendant and were printed in William and Mary
Quarterly, ser.1, vol. 14, pp. 57-59.
Emma L. Powers is a historian in the
Department of Training and Historical Research. This paper was published in the “Enslaving
Virginia Resource Book,” in Becoming
Americans: Our Struggle to be Both Free and Equal. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1998.
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