GEORGE SELMAN

Profiles from a tour of the Old Baptist Church Cemetery In Monroe, Georgia

Conducted, Written and provided courtesy Nowell Briscoe ( [email protected] )

 

GEORGE SELMAN AND EVA SELMAN

 

After the deaths of Waters and Martha Briscoe, George Selman, whose grave is No. 2 on our list, bought his father-in law’s interest in “The Hill” and the house became known as the “Selman Home”.  As the Selman family grew in size, so did the house until it reached its present size of 15 rooms.

        George Cowan Selman was born on July 10, 1825 to John W. Selman and Sarah Cowan.  Selman’s father was one of seven brothers, all of whom saw service in the Revolutionary War.  Colonel Selman, also known as an Indian fighter, came to this area from North Carolina and he and his wife are buried at the Bethel Baptist Cemetery in Good Hope.  He gave the land on which the Primitive Baptist Church, later known as Bethel Baptist, was built in 1825.

        In 1837 at the age of 12, George Selman was orphaned.  In 1855 at the age of 30, he became a member of the firm Edwin Bates & Co., a wholesale house in Charleston, SC as a salesman for the company.  During the Civil War, the business was suspended and Mr. Selman returned to Monroe and was elected to the legislature.  At the conclusion of the war, Mr. Selman returned to work for the Bates Company which had opened offices in Atlanta and New York. George Selman was given charge of the New York offices which he held until ill health forced his retirement in 1877.  On the advice of his doctors he was advised to lead a “rural life”, so he returned to Monroe, buying up large tracts of land in the county.

        Since there were no banks in Walton County at the time, he assisted farmers and his other friends by lending them money.

        On August 16, 1878 he joined the First Baptist Church of Monroe and was ordained a deacon in 1879 and for several years was Moderator of the Appalachee Association.

        At one point in his life George Selman owned 6,000 acres of land in Walton County.  It has been said that one could travel five miles west without leaving the Selman property.

        Mr. Selman had a natural aptitude for plantation life and his shrewd business judgment won him credit for much of the county’s growth and success.  He was called “The founder of Monroe’s Industrial Progress”.

        In 1899 Mr. Selman organized the Monroe Guano Company which was later known as The Monroe Oil & Fertilizer Co., serving as president. This was the county seat’s first cooperative manufacturing enterprise.  In 1891 he was one of the founders and first president of the Bank of Monroe.  He was also one of two men who, by his financial backing, made possible the establishment of the Monroe Cotton Mills which was chartered on August 19, 1895 and began operation in 1896.

        In the summer of 1896 George Selman became ill and over the years his health continued to decline despite numerous treatments and hospitalizations. As a last resort, he sought treatment at Sulphur Springs, Virginia in hopes of regaining his health.  About a week after returning to his adored ante-bellum home, he died there on September 24, 1899.  

        An obituary of his life in a newspaper from that time read in part: “Monroe is several times the town she was 20 years ago.  More to him than any other person is this progress attributable.”

        George and Mary Virginia Selman had seven children:  Mary Lou, better known as “Miss Lula”, a talented musician and organist at the First Baptist Church for many years, Martha Wellborn, Sarah Catherine, Lucy Stearnes, Judith, George Cowan Selman, Jr. and Eva Selman.

 Eva Selman, who is No. 3 on our list, was the last child born to George and Mary Virginia. She married Dr. Pickney Daniel Pollock an English professor at Mercer University in 1895, who later became president of the university in 1897. They were the parents of one son, Daniel Marshall Pollock, who is No. 5 on our list. With the death of her father, Eva Pollock and her family along with her sisters Judith and Lula, took over the beloved home place where they lived the remainder of their lives. When “Miss Eva” became frail and in poor health, Marshall Pollock and his family moved from their home on Walton Street back to the  historic house and it remained in the family until after the death of Mrs. Marshall Pollock when it was sold outside the family. “Miss Eva” Pollock died on July 1, 1962.