Sandford Sellers was born on July 24, 1854, near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in Anderson County.
In 1880, he was convinced by his Central University classmate Benjamin L. Hobson to go to Lexington, Missouri to help start Wentworth Male Academy.
When Hobson left to pursue a career in the ministry at the end of the 1880–81 school year, Sellers took sole charge of the academy.
For the next 58 years, Sellers served as Principal, Superintendent and President of the school, which changed its name to Wentworth Military Academy in 1890.
For a number of years Colonel Sellers served as a director and vice-president of the Lexington Savings Bank.