Selah B. Strong
Selah Brewster Strong was an American lawyer and politician from New York, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845.
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, the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower, through his son Jonathan Brewster. 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.
On August 14, 1823, he married Cornelia Udall, who was born at Islip on March 20, 1806, the daughter of Dr. Richard Udall and Prudence Carll, daughter of Silas Carll of Huntington, Long Island, New York. She was the sister of Richard Udall, who studied law under Strong.