Selah Brewster Strong (May 1, 1792 – November 29, 1872) was an American lawyer and politician from New York, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845.
Contents
Life
He was born on May 1, 1792 at Brookhaven, New York, the son of Judge Thomas Sheppard Strong and Hannah Brewster. His mother was the daughter of Joseph Brewster of Setauket and Rebecca Mills. She was also a descendant of Elder William Brewster (c. 1567 – April 10, 1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower, through his son Jonathan Brewster. (This lineage appeared in some genealogies of the Strong family. However, she was actually descended from Rev. Nathaniel Brewster of New Haven and his wife Sarah Ludlow. They died in the Town of Brookhaven.) She was also a descendant of Lt. Gov. Roger Ludlow.
His paternal grandmother was Anna Strong, the only female member of the Culper Ring, based in Setauket, NY.
He was also a descendant of Lion Gardiner, an early English settler and soldier in the New World, who founded the first English settlement in what became the state of New York. His legacy includes Gardiners Island which remains in the family and is the largest privately owned island in the United States. He graduated from Yale College in 1811. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1814, and commenced practice in New York City.