Norristown Preservation Society

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Norristown Preservation Society was created to help save and restore Selma Mansion, and to preserve the history and architecture of the building and the surrounding architecture in Norristown.

09/28/2026

Elizabeth Rittenhouse Porter Parker was born September 27, 1769 to Andrew Porter and his first wife, Elizabeth MacDowell Porter. The younger Elizabeth never lived in Selma Mansion as we know it today, but she was married in 1789, supposedly in Montgomery County (possibly at the Presbyterian Church where her stepmother was later buried). If the Porter family was living on Selma property at the time, young Elizabeth may have spent a year there. She married Robert Parker, and they went to live in Lexington, Kentucky, where Robert became a merchant. She gave birth to a daughter named Eliza, who married Robert Todd. They had a daughter named Mary -- the same Mary Todd who married Abraham Lincoln. According to the Mary Todd Lincoln House website, Mary Todd was close to her maternal grandmother, who by then was widowed. Elizabeth Rittenhouse Porter Parker died in 1851 and is buried in Lexington Kentucky.

09/24/2026

Andrew Porter was born September 24, 1743, near what is today Norristown, PA. He's remembered by us as the man who had Selma Mansion built, but he served the US and the state in many capacities. Here are some highlights from his life:

1762-sent to learn carpentry from his brother but had no aptitude for it. Instead, by 1767, he was teaching mathematics and English. He also married Elizabeth MacDowell that year. Over the next 6 years the couple had 5 children. Elizabeth died in 1773 giving birth to twin sons.

1776-In June he was commissioned as one of the first captains in the new Marine Corp. By the end of the next summer he'd been transferred to Knox's Continental Artillery, still a captain.

1777- married Elizabeth Parker, who took care of his 5 children. When the army was in Valley Forge, he was at home on furlough until May, when the couple had their first daughter.

Porter remained in the artillery, becoming a major in 1781. At Yorktown he was in charge of making/procuring gunpowder for the siege. He was promoted to Lt. Colonel in 1782 and decommissioned in 1783.

1784- appointed by the Supreme Council of PA as a surveyor. By 1787, he was working with Andrew Ellicott to survey the western border of the state between the Mason-Dixon line and Lake Erie (now called the Ellicott line).

1787-returned home and purchased 114 acres in Montgomery county (which became Selma). He and his wife had their 2nd son, David, the next year. Together they had 8 children (plus the 5 from the 1st marriage). Work was begun on a bigger house.

1789 - Porter applied to Pres. Washington for the position of Surveyor General of the Western Territory but didn't get it. He continued to do surveying in PA

1794 - Selma Mansion was completed.

1805 - Pres. Jefferson nominated Porter for the position of Surveyor of the Port and Inspector of Revenue for New Orleans in the new Louisiana Territory. Likely the Senate didn't confirm him since he doesn't seemed to have moved there.

1809 - Porter was appointed Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. He moved to Harrisburg and died there in 1813. His wife remained at Selma. As a side note, Porter became the great-grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln through his first daughter.

09/18/2026

Happy Birthday to Joseph Knox Fornance, born at Selma Mansion on Sept 16, 1882, the oldest child of Joseph and Ellen Knox Fornance. He attended Princeton University and Penn U. Law School, then joined the Navy, then the PA Infantry. Pictured is Joseph's WWI military record as a Captain, then a Major, seeing action at some of the worst battles of the war, and earned the British Military Cross. Returned to Selma after leaving active service (though he remained in the reserves) and opened a law office on Swede St. In 1930 he married Ruth Dodson Ryder. The couple lived at Selma and had no children. Joseph died on June 2, 1965 of cardiovascular disease at Montgomery Hospital. He's buried in Riverside Cemetery.

09/11/2026

Happy Birthday to RUTH RYDER FORNANCE, the last private owner of Selma Mansion, born September 11, 1891 to Franklin and Malvina Ryder, who lived at 922 West Main in Norristown. Her father was a coal agent (probably coal for furnaces). She lived with her parents until April 5, 1930, when she married a lawyer named Joseph Knox Fornance and moved into Selma, which Joseph inherited from his parents. The couple had no children.

Ruth was fond of German shepherd dogs and had at least 2 in the 1940s and 50s, named Liberty and Victory. Joseph had a large garden planted for her. She was fond of roses, and made a very good mint iced tea. She’s said to have been a member of the Norristown Octave Club and held some of their recitals in her home at a baby grand piano in the parlor.

Joseph died in 1965 and Ruth inherited the property. She lived there with a cook and caregiver in her later years until she died on July 25, 1984 at age 92. She’s buried in Riverside Cemetery.

09/07/2026

For Labor Day, we're honoring some of the workers who lived at Selma. For most, we only know their names, ages, and place of birth. The Knox family couldn't have prospered without them.

08/20/2026

Selma Mansion had at least 18 servants/hired hands in residence that we know of in its nearly 200 year history. We don't know much about them except for census records. One man, Alphonzo Clayton (also often spelled Alfonso) lived at Selma as a hired man/gardener for more than 40 years, from age 27 to at least 67 (1880 to 1920). We don't know whether he lived in the mansion or perhaps in an outbuilding, maybe over the carriage house. And we haven't be able to find out anything more about him, though he apparently never married.

08/14/2026

Happy Birthday to Andrew Knox Jr., born August 13, 1773 in Whitpain. He was the second owner of Selma Mansion, buying it (or possibly his father-in-law bought it) in 1821 from the Porter family after Elizabeth Porter's death. The photo below is of the only primary document we have from Andrew's time at Selma--a receipt for mowing done in 1840. We actually know more about Andrew before he came to Selma. He lived in Savannah, Georgia from at least 1803 when he married Rebecca Rice Pray Knox, from a prominent Savannah family. He was a partner in a shipping business with Benjamin Pope, and in 1812, they petitioned the US Senate because one of their ships, the Eleanor, had been captured by the British (one of the causes of the War of 1812). The ships may have, at least early on, transported slaves. Andrew did, according to a 1813 slave schedule, own at least one slave. Possibly more, since the family owned land in Savannah until around 1850 (though there's no evidence that he brought slaves to Selma). Andrew's shipping company didn't survive the war and he brought his family north to where there were supposedly more business opportunities., though we don't know what exactly he did while at Selma. Andrew died in 1844 and was originally buried at First Presbyterian Church on Airy St. When the parking lot was built there, it's thought that he and his wife's remains were moved to Montgomery Cemetery.

07/24/2026

John Pray Knox, middle son of Andrew and Rebecca Rice Pray Knox, was born July 26, 1811 in Savannah and came north with his parents when they settled at Selma Mansion in 1821 (he's listed at Selma in 1830 census). John went to Rutgers University, then New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He married Aletta Van Doren of New Jersey and they had 7 children. In 1837, he became pastor of the Reformed Church of Nassau, Bahamas, then in 1841, he moved to the Reformed Church of St. Thomas in the West Indies. While there, he wrote a history of the island and promoted education. In 1852, his wife died. Three years later, Rev. Knox moved to Elmhurst, NY to become pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Newtown. He gave lectures about his extensive travels in Europe and on spiritual topics. He died June 2, 1882 and was buried in Somerville, NJ with his wife.

07/17/2026

Andrew Porter, who built Selma Mansion as it appears today.

Address

1301 W. Airy Street
Norristown, PA
19401

Website

https://norristownpreservationsociety.org/

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