(Photo, George and Marian Sellers, photo courtesy Janet Sellers Meisels)
On this day in Arlington history: October 9, 1943, Marian Rhinehart married George Sellers.
Marian Rhinehart was the orphaned niece of Julia and Will Powell, who lived at 5620 Third Street in the Glencarlyn neighborhood. Marian, who was living in Illinois with her parents, came to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents died within six months of each other.
She attended grade school at what is now Carlin Hall, then attended the Maury School in Clarendon. She graduated in 1940 from Washington-Lee High School. She met George Sellers over the back fence. They married and eventually settled in Vienna, Virginia. She and her husband established a life for themselves and had two children, Janet and James. She eventually came to serve as Vienna’s Town Clerk and retired from there after 40 years.
When her Uncle Will died in 1969 and left her the house, Marian didn’t need or want to live in it. In 1975 she donated the house—the oldest house in Arlington—to the Arlington Historical Society. It was built in the 1740s by John Ball and given to AHS by Mrs. Marian Sellers so that’s why it’s called the Ball-Sellers House. Both George and Marian are buried together in Arlington National Cemetery.
