George Escol Sellers

George Escol Sellers
George Escol Sellers, ca. 1898
Born	(1808-11-26)November 26, 1808 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	January 1, 1899(1899-01-01) (aged 90) Chattanooga
Nationality	American
Parent(s)	Coleman Sellers and Sophonisba
Engineering career
Discipline	Mechanical engineering
Institutions	Nathan & David Sellers
Practice name	Globe Rolling Mills
Employer(s)	Panama Railway
Projects	Railroad locomotives and related equipment

George Escol Sellers (November 26, 1808 – January 1, 1899) was an American businessman, mechanical engineer, and inventor. He is associated with designing railroad locomotives and related equipment. He was the target of a confusing name appropriation by author Mark Twain.

Sellers was born on November 26, 1808, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His birthplace was near the Philadelphia Mint in a neighborhood known as Mulberry Court. Sellers' parents were Coleman Sellers and Sophonisba. He had one older brother Charles, born in 1806; two younger sisters Elizabeth, born in 1810; and Anna, born in 1824; and two younger brothers Harvey, born in 1813; and Coleman II, born in 1827. His paternal grandfather Nathan Sellers (wife Elizabeth Coleman) was known for artwork of wire paper molds. His father and many ancestors had been engineers; his maternal grandfather was Charles Willson Peale. He was educated at public schools and studied for five years with tutor Anthony Bolmar at his academy in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Sellers first obtained employment of his father's and grandfather's firm, Nathan & David Sellers, upon completing his private school education in Philadelphia. The business made machinery for producing wire and paper. The company was the first to use forged frames to build locomotives. They also did work for the United States Mint. Sellers' elder brother Charles was employed there too. It was this work that furnished inspiration for his many engineering writings. When Nathan Sellers died in 1830, the business was reorganized. Coleman Sellers and his two sons then ran the business. As a consequence of the Depression of 1837 the company then became insolvent and closed.

Sellers then moved to Cincinnati with his brother Charles and established a factory for making lead pipe from hot fluid lead. He patented his invention of the machinery that was capable of doing this. This business was eventually sold out and merged into a company that was a major producer of lead pipe in the United States. Sellers then partnered with Josiah Lawrence, a Cincinnati businessman, and organized a wire manufacturing company called Globe Rolling Mills. Here he introduced machinery of his own design that was more efficient in producing lead pipe and wire. Eventually he sold his interest in the company by 1850. In 1851 he undertook the manufacture of railroad locomotives for the Panama Railway. He invented a railroad engine for climbing mountains of heavy inclined planes. Sellers was engaged in the manufacture and sale of railroad equipment for several years in the 1850s. Sellers became interested in mining operations in southern Illinois in the 1860s. He spent the remainder of his career pursuing mechanical engineering and design.