Selim the Algerian (ca. 1740-1795), or Algerine, was a man found in ill health by two hunters, in the wilderness of either present-day Pocahontas County, or, according to competing accounts, near Warm Springs, Virginia, in 1759.

Born in Algeria, where his father was a high-ranking military leader, Selim had been classically educated at the University of Istanbul in Constantinople, where he learned Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, physics, mathematics, and geometry. After finishing his education, he boarded a ship to return to Algeria, which at the time was a protectorate under the Ottoman Empire. En route, the ship was captured by a Spanish vessel, which was in turn captured by a French ship.  The French ship put to port in New Orleans, where Selim was sold into slavery. Legend has it that Selim, coming from an educated and noble background, was rebellious, refusing to be subservient to his enslavers. As such, he was passed from owner to owner before being sold to Mingo Indians somewhere along the Ohio River. He eventually ran away to search for English settlers along the East Coast. Some accounts suggest he traveled through the Kanawha Valley, which had not yet been settled by Europeans, and then followed the Greenbrier River northward.

One day, frontiersman Samuel Givens was hunting with his son in what some sources cite as present-day Pocahontas County. They found Selim wearing torn clothes, nearly dead in a tree. Givens nursed him back to health and took him to meet Colonel John Dickinson (sometimes spelled Dickenson) near Windy Cove in Bath County, Virginia. Despite knowing multiple languages, Selim did not speak English and initially struggled to communicate with the two men. Dickinson took him to Staunton, where, as a “curiosity,” Selim attracted a large crowd. He met a Rev. Craig, who owned a Greek-language Bible that Selim could easily read. Selim claimed he had seen Craig in a vision during his long journey and wanted to stay with him. He soon converted from Islam to Christianity.

Selim made his way to Williamsburg, where his knowledge and unique culture made him popular with the colonial Virginia elite. At the College of William and Mary, he read Greek with President James Horrocks and Professor William Small. Selim became particularly close with wealthy landowner John Page and often stayed at his palatial Tidewater home. Thomas Jefferson was studying at William and Mary at the time. While no meeting is recorded, their mutual acquaintances—namely Small and Page—suggest they likely met at some point. While in Williamsburg, Jefferson bought a Quran and took an interest in Islam, which some speculate could have been inspired by meeting Selim.

Selim, missing his family and homeland, traveled back to Algeria. But his family disowned him upon learning of his conversion to Christianity. He returned to America via England, visited Dickinson, and returned to the Page family. When Page served in the Continental Congress, he took Selim with him to Philadelphia. Page insisted that Charles Willson Peale, who was creating portraits of all the delegates, also paint one of Selim. Unfortunately, this portrait was lost during the Civil War.

Selim lived out the rest of his life with the Pages. In his old age, he suffered from mental health issues, likely dementia. He was repeatedly placed in Williamsburg’s “lunatic asylum” and brought back to the Pages when lucid. He died in Williamsburg, but the date is unknown.

Much of Selim’s story is difficult to verify, but his legacy lives on in folklore. In the 1900s, Pocahontas County residents were still telling tales, passed down from generation to generation, about Selim the Algerian and his long journey to their region.