Selby Family Ancestry

The Selby Families of Southern Maryland

cousins 1957
COUSINS READY FOR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 1957
L to R: Karen, Sharon, Timmy with Tom behind him, Buster, Larry, Robert, Joe

While this website is about the Selbys of Southern Maryland, it is especially for those families that grew up together on the old homestead in Cheltenham and now are scattered like so many leaves. If this is your first visit to the website, a good starting point is the "Descendent Families" tab which is the trunk of the tree with four generations of Frank Selby and Agnes Murray offspring. Or you can choose to follow our ancestral roots.

For 50+ years we have considered ourselves descendents of William Selby who settled at Leith on the shores of the Patuxent River at what is now called Selby Landing. We are not. Our Joseph Selby who died in 1786 was not a grandson or great grandson of William Selby. There was only one Joseph Selby son/grandson/great grandson and he died in 1752, not 1786. A listing of William Selby's descendents is provided [Descendents of William Selby]. Much research went into determining our link with William Selby--the proximity of the families (only a few miles apart and both on Mattaponi Creek) made it seem a certainty that we were his descendents. So where did our Joseph Selby come from?

Each menu tab shows a direct line ancestor for Frank Willes Selby. The drop down below the tab gives names of siblings and links to their pages. Parents of spouses are also shown (if known) and appear on the tab appropriate to their generation. PHOTOS ENLARGE WHEN CLICKED.

Please feel free to drop a line if you have information that will help fill in the gaps or provide details about, or photos of, our ancestors. We recently located the family bible for Edwin and Frances Selby, which has verified or provided many names and dates. In addition we are working through a stack of photo albums. If you have an album or collection of photos that might be helpful, please write or email. If willing to loan some photos, I promise to return them. If sending digital photos, please scan at 300 dpi (200 dpi if larger than 5" x 7"). Please take a look at the information for your branch of the family tree. If it needs corrections or additions, please let me know. If your photos are missing from the tree or you don't like the ones showing, then please consider sending some.

To those who have already provided photos and information–many thanks! For locating the family bible–Chiara Selby, thank you, thank you!!! For the loan of family photo albums–thank you Linda Courtillet and Betty Selby Ripple. For assistance in identifying faces in family album photos and providing stories to accompany the photos–thank you Richard Selby, Betty Selby Ripple, and Janet Selby Hall. The assistance provided by so many has been invaluable in making this project interesting, fun, and enlightening.

Source Abbreviations:

AA = Anne Arundel County
PG = Prince George's County
LR = Land Record Book
WB = Will Book
XX.# = Liber.Folio or Book.Page
MSA = Maryland State Archives
KR = Karen Ripple
LR = Larry Ripple
FB = Family Bible of Edwin Selby

Printed Sources:
  • Rowe 2001 = The Youngs of Aquasco by Joseph Y. Rowe, 2001 (limited edition book)
  • Rowe 2005 = Aquasco Used to be Woodville by Joseph Y. Rowe, 2005 (limited edition book)
  • Martenet 1861 = Atlas of Prince George's County, Maryland 1861--Adapted from Martenet's Map by Simon J. Martenet, Baltimore, 1861
  • Hopkins 1878 = Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington Including The County of Prince George Maryland by G. M. Hopkins, Philadelphia, 1878

Contact the webmaster via email if you have additions, corrections, or questions--or even if you just want to say "hello, I think we're distant cousins!"

Note: Now that I have retired there will be major updates to the website and faster replies to queries.