Selina E. Dooley was born around 1852 in Indiana to Silas and Sarah Dooley. Her father was a farmer who owned $3,320 of real estate and $800 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Washington, Indiana, and she married Alfred A. Newlin on November 2, 1870. They had at least six children: Strauda, born around 1872; Sarah, born around 1874; Nathan, born around 1876; Mattie, born around 1879; Ella, born around 1885; and Virginia, born around 1890. They lived in Washington, and her husband worked as a farmer. She died in Marshall County, Indiana, on April 17, 1919.