Algerian prisoner makes epic journey to Staunton

[Al-khiyal]

Algerian prisoner makes epic journey to Staunton

by Charles Culbertson

April 2, 2011 -- With a long rifle cradled in his arm and a couple of horses in tow, Samuel Givens left his cabin near Staunton one day in 1759 on a hunting expedition. Several days later, as he ranged through the forest for game, he came upon a large fallen tree. As he examined it, something in the treetop moved, and Givens — thinking the form he saw was an animal — quickly raised the long rifle to shoot. His finger was tightening on the trigger when he saw that the form wasn't that of an animal, but of a man. The man was naked except for some rags tied about his feet; he was emaciated and starving; his entire body was covered with scabs. To boot, the words that came out of his mouth were utter gibberish, at least to Givens, who spoke only English. Givens gave the famished man small quantities of food over the next few days until he was strong enough to ride one of the pack horses Givens had brought along. Together they rode to the home of Captain John Dickinson at Windy Cove near present-day Millboro, where Dickinson assumed care of the strange man for the next several months.

With the assistance of Dickinson and his family, the stranger worked diligently to learn English. When he felt he had a firm enough grasp of the language, he told the Dickinsons what had happened to him. His name was Selim and he was from Algiers in northern Africa, the son of wealthy and respectable parents. He had received his education in Constantinople (now Istanbul) and, while returning to Algiers, the ship on which he was traveling was overtaken by a Spanish privateer. Since Spain at that time was in alliance with France against England, Selim was turned over to a French vessel, which transported him to New Orleans. Selim lived with the French at New Orleans for a time until he was sent far up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the Shawnee towns in the interior of the country. There he was abandoned by the French. Selim, acquainted enough with geography to know that the English had settlements in the east, escaped from the Shawnee and headed toward the rising sun.

"This was a daring attempt, for he was an entire stranger to the distance he would have to travel and the dangers which lay in his way," wrote 19th century clergyman Benjamin H. Rice. "He had no pilot but the sun, nor any provisions for his journey — nor gun, ammunition or other means of obtaining them. Being thus badly provided for, and under all these discouraging circumstances, he set out on his arduous journey through an unknown mountainous wilderness of several hundred miles." Sleeping in the open, dodging Indians and wild animals, and eating only nuts and berries, Selim forged toward the east. Undergrowth tore his clothing until all that was left were rags. These he wrapped about his feet for protection while he walked, naked, through the wilderness. Soon, however, his naked body was ripped to shreds by briers and thorns. After some weeks, Selim was gaunt, exhausted and near death. Unable to travel any further, he wedged himself into the top of a fallen tree and prepared to die. It was at this point that Givens found him. When Selim had provided this account of his adventures, Dickinson took an even greater interest in him and made him his constant companion. Together they rode to visit Dickinson's neighbors and, later, to Staunton where Selim and his story created a sensation among the settlers.

One of the people Selim met in Staunton was John Craig, the Presbyterian minister of Stone Church at Fort Defiance. The instant Selim laid eyes on Craig, he insisted God had arranged their meeting — Craig was ordained by Providence to give Selim religious instruction. Craig agreed to the arrangement and spent the next few weeks teaching Selim about Christianity. In the Stone Church, Selim abandoned his Muslim faith when he came before the congregation and made a public profession of Christianity. Craig baptized him in the Stone Church. Not long after his conversion, Selim expressed a desire to return to Algiers to see his parents and friends. Craig reminded him that his friends and countrymen, Muslims all, "entertained strong prejudices against the Christian religion" and would probably treat him badly. Craig tried to talk Selim into staying in the New World where he could practice his Christianity without fear of punishment. Selim, who was desperately homesick and adamant about returning to Algiers, replied that he didn't believe his father's Islamic religious views "would go so far as to get the better of his humanity." He was wrong. The hard road he had already traveled would soon pale in comparison to the journey that lay ahead of him.

[Al-khiyal]

Selim's adventures ended in pathos

Selim — the Algerian refugee found naked and starving in the forests near Staunton in 1759 — had converted from Islam to Christianity in the Augusta Stone Church and not long afterward expressed a desire to return home to see his family and friends. Although the Rev. John Craig warned him against it, noting that "Mohammadeans" hated Christians, Selim was adamant. Craig and a number of people in the Staunton community raised enough money to pay Selim's passage on a ship to England from Williamsburg; in Williamsburg, Selim was further assisted by Craig's friend, the wealthy planter and House of Burgesses member Robert Carter III. With his passage and needs taken care of, Selim sailed for home.

Years passed with the people of Staunton and Augusta County hearing nothing about the fate of Selim. At about the time of the American Revolution, news suddenly arrived about him, and it was not good. Selim, it appears, had made his way to his home in Algiers, but when he got there he was reluctant to hide his new faith. When he made his renunciation of Islam known, Selim's devout Muslim father threw him out of the family home and disinherited him. "Affection for his parents, grief for their religious prejudices and his own temporal ruin, tormented his tender heart," wrote the Rev. Benjamin Rice in the early 19th century. "He was now turned out into the world, without money, without a friend, without any art by which he could obtain subsistence. "He left his own country," continued Rice, "the estate on which he expected to spend his life, and all his natural connections, without the most distant prospect of ever seeing or enjoying them more."

From Algiers Selim wandered to England, hoping to find a way of making a living and enjoying his newfound Christianity. Without friends or support, however, he could not gain a foothold in British society, and so he determined to make his way back to America. On the ship going to Virginia — with nothing to do but "pore over his wretched situation" — Selim slipped slowly into a state of insanity. It must not have been a dangerous insanity; the reports that have come to us indicate that Selim seemed greatly distressed that he had no friend, and that he constantly traveled about in quest of one — sometimes without clothes. Yet, when he found friends — such as when he reconnected with Colonel John Dickinson of Millboro and Robert Carter III — he was unsatisfied and soon left to continue his ramblings.

There is no record that Selim ever returned to Staunton and the great friends he had established there, including his original Christian adviser, the Rev. John Craig of the Augusta Stone Church. In about 1789, Selim was committed to the madhouse in Williamsburg. However, his story did not end there. John Page of Rosewell plantation near Gloucester had been greatly affected by Selim's incredible story; no sooner had Selim been committed than Page got him out and became his patron. When Page became a congressman, he took Selim to Philadelphia with him. The American painter, Charles Willson Peale, painted a portrait of Selim, which for many years hung in Rosewell. The portrait was lost during the Civil War, but a woodcut produced from it survives.

In 1805, as Selim lay sick and dying, his sanity returned to him. The Page family reportedly treated him with great tenderness, for which Selim expressed gratitude. "It appears that he died with great composure," wrote Rice. "He placed himself, his hands, his feet and his whole body in a proper posture to be laid in his coffin, and so expired."