Selma Mansion is located in Loudoun County Virginia in the town of Leesburg – a town and district of great historical value within the context of American independence and establishment. With its location so near to the East Coast and to the nation’s capital, Loudoun County has housed many political and historical figures and seen plenty of noteworthy events throughout American history.
Colonial settlers arrived in the Loudoun County area as far back as the early 1700s, many of them Quakers from various towns along the East Coast. They settled on the land granted to Lord Fairfax by King Charles II.
As the country drew nearer to the Revolutionary War, Loudoun County citizens gathered in courthouses to protest laws and taxes imposed on the American citizens by the British Monarchy. Many men from Loudoun County went on to fight in the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration of Independence was read in Loudoun County in 1776. Francis Lightfoot Lee, the son of the eponymous Thomas Lee of Leesburg, was a signer.
During the war of 1812, Loudoun County temporarily served as a refuge for President James Madison when the British burned Washington. Along with the president, Loudoun County protected the constitution, and some other important state documents during this time.
Additionally, one of the first battles of the Civil War, The Battle of Ball’s Bluff, was also fought in Loudoun County. Colonel John Mosby, a well-known Confederate battalion commander, led raids in the area, and Loudoun County also served as a home to the Laurel Brigade, a well-known Confederate cavalry unit commanded by Elijah V. White. Names such as President James Monroe and Marquis de la Fayette were in and out of Loudoun County – Monroe as a resident and Lafayette as a temporary visitor.
Due to the rich activity in the area, the Mason family of Selma were inevitably linked to high profile figures in U.S history. Stevens Mason served as an aide to George Washington at the battle of Yorktown and was a close personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, the eventual third President of the United States.