American Seymour Genealogy

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
[[109.isaac|(<-- 109. Isaac(6) Seymour)]] [[start|(Back to Start)]] [[111.roger|(111. Roger(6) Seymour -->)]]

====== 110. James Seymour ======

110. JAMES<sup>6</sup> SEYMOUR (//[[059.John|John]]//<sup>5</sup>,
//[[020.John|John]]//<sup>4</sup>, //[[008.John|John]]//<sup>3</sup>,
//[[003.John|John]]//<sup>2</sup>, //[[001.Richard|Richard]]//<sup>1</sup>),
born at West Hartford, Conn., 12 May 1751, died there 28 Feb. 1814; married Jan.
1795, HANNAH COLLINS, born 29 Jan. 1769, died at West Hartford, 29 Oct. 1848,
daughter of Seth and Lucy (Sedgwick).

He served as a naval officer in the Revolution; was in fifteen engagements with
British vessels; was three times taken prisoner and once escaped from the prison
ship in New York. But according to his widow's pension application he was a
corporal; and received a bullet through his hat in the battle of Long Island.

The will of James Seymour of Hartford, dated 18 May 1810, proved 21 Mar. 1814,
named wife Hannah and only child Harvey Seymour, now about thirteen years old.
The inventory amounted to $4656.01.

^ Children, born at Hartford: ^^^^
| i. | COLLINS<sup>7</sup>, b. 22 June 1795; d. 20 Nov. 1803 ae, 8. |||
| ii. | HARVEY, b. 9 July 1797; d. at Hartford, 25 Apr. 1881; a banker, of Hartford, Conn.; m. (1) at Lenox, Mass., 25 Oct. 1831, REBECCA HUNT, b. 23 Jan. 1798, d. at Hartford, 5 May 1861, dau. of Benjamin and Abigail; m. (2) MARY TURNER ALLYN, b. abt. 1831, d. at New York City, 12 Dec. 1906, dau. of Lyman and Emma Allyn of New London, Conn. She m. (2) E. J. Henry of Princeton, N.J. |||
| | Children by first wife: |||
| | I. | Harvey B.<sup>8</sup>, b. 12 May 1833; d. at Jersey City, N.J., 16 May 1894 ae. 61. ||
| | II. | Mary J., b. 1 Mar. 1836; d. at Ironton, Ohio, 25 Aug. 1898. ||
| | III. | Hannah M., b. 11 Sept. 1837; d. 24 Aug. 1860. ||
| | IV. | James Collins, b. abt. 1843; d. at New York City, 27 Jan. 1913 ae. 70; m. abt. 1882, Cornelia Hubbell Ostrander. He was connected throughout his business life with the firm of H. B. Claflin & Co. ||
| | | Child: ||
| | | (1) | Cornelia Collins<sup>9</sup>, b. 23 Oct. 1884: d. 21 Feb. 1888. |

The family of HARVEY<sup>7</sup> SEYMOUR belonged to the literary circle in
Hartford which acclaimed Lydia H. Sigourney as its poetic genius. His second
wife had no children, and made many public bequests in her will. She left $2,000
for a window in Center Church, Hartford, in memory of her first husband, Harvey
Seymour; $1,000 for the poor of New London; $1,000 for a drinking fountain in
New London; and $5,000 to St. James' Episcopal Church, New London. Miss
Sigourney's lines to her friend, the first Mrs. Seymour, follow:

<blockquote>
MRS. REBECCA H. SEYMOUR\\
Wife of Harvey Seymour\\
Died, Sunday, May. 5th, 1861\\

She found a painless avenue to make\\
Her great transition from a world of care\\
To one of rest.

It was the Sabbath day,\\
And beautiful with smile of vernal sun\\
And the up-rising fragrance from the earth,\\
And all that soothing quietude which links\\
The consecrated season unto Him\\
Who bade the creatures He had made, revere\\
And keep it holy. From her fair abode,\\
Lovely with earthly flowers, she took her way\\
The second time unto the House of God,\\
Side by side with her life's chosen friend\\
Walked cheerfully.

Within those hallowed courts,\\
Where holds the soul communion with its Sire,\\
She listening sate.

Yet then she leaned her head\\
Upon her husband's shoulder, and unmarked\\
By one distorted feature, by the loss\\
Or blanching of the rose-tint on her cheek,\\
Or even by the quivering of a lip\\
Rose to a more perfect worship.

It might seem\\
As if a sacred Temple, purified\\
By prayer and praises, were a place sublime,\\
Of fitting sanctity, wherein to hear\\
That inexpressive call which summoneth\\
The ready spirit upward.

But the change\\
In her delightful home, what words can tell?\\
The shock and contrast, when a mind so skilled\\
With ardor and efficiency to fill\\
Each post of woman's duty and of love\\
Vanished from all its daily ministries,\\
And the lone daughter found the guiding voice\\
Silent forevermore.

Her's was the heart\\
For an unswerving friendship, warm and true\\
And self-forgetful; her's the liberal hand\\
For those who pine in cells of poverty;\\
The knowledge of their state, the will to aid,\\
The thought that cared for them, the alms that blest.\\
Hence, tears o'er rugged cheeks fell fast for her,\\
And the old white haired pensioner knelt down\\
Beside her lifeless clay, and crossed himself,\\
Pouring his desolate prayer; for her kind heart\\
Saw in the creed of different sects no bar\\
To charity, but in their time of need\\
Held all as brethren.

'Twas a pleasant spot,\\
Amid fresh verdure, where they lay her down,\\
While the young plants that on a dear one's grave\\
Took summer rooting, seemed in haste to reach\\
Their yet incipient buds and tendrils green\\
To broider her turf-pillow.

Sleep in peace,\\
Ye, whom the ties of nature closely bound,\\
And Death disparted for a little while,\\
Mother and Daughter, sleep ye here in peace,\\
Your forms engraven deep on loving hearts,\\
As with a diamond point, till memory fades.

L. H. Sigourney\\
Hartford, May 10th, 1861
</blockquote>

\\ [[109.isaac|(<-- 109. Isaac(6) Seymour)]] [[start|(Back to Start)]] [[111.roger|(111. Roger(6) Seymour -->)]]