150. HENRY⁶ SEYMOUR (Moses⁵, Moses⁴, John³, John², Richard¹), born at Litchfield, Conn., 30 May 1780, died at Utica, N.Y., 26 Aug. 1837 (gravestone); married at Cazenovia, N.Y., 1 Jan. 1807, MARY LEDYARD⁷ FORMAN, born at Monmouth, N.J., 18 Feb. 1785, died at Utica, 16 Sept. 1859 (gravestone), daughter of Gen. Jonathan⁶ (Samuel⁵, Jonathan⁴, Samuel³, Aaron², Robert¹) and Mary (Ledyard), of New Jersey, but at the time a resident of Cazenovia.

General Forman removed about 1797 to Cazenovia, N.Y., where his daughter was married. He left Princeton College at the age of nineteen to enter the army, and served through the Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of Colonel. His wife, Mrs. Seymour's mother, was Mary Ledyard, daughter of Capt. Youngs Ledyard, and niece and namesake of Mary (Ledyard) Seymour, the wife of the First Mayor of Hartford [No. 83].

Henry Seymour moved at an early age from Litchfield to Pompey Hill, N.Y., and entered into business as a merchant. By his integrity, sound judgment, and executive ability, he soon became well and favorably known, and from 1816 to 1819, and again in 1822, he was elected State Senator from that part of the State then known as the Western District. In 1818 he was nominated and chosen by the Assembly a member of the “Council of Appointment,” which body had the appointing of a great number of the civil, military and judicial officers of the State. On 24 Mar. 1819, he was appointed one of the Commissioners in charge of the Erie and Champlain Canals, then being constructed. He held this office, and was actively engaged in the discharge of its duties until 1833, having in the meantime, during the year 1819, removed his residence to Utica, of which place he was Mayor. He resigned the office of Canal Commissioner in 1833, and was chosen President of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Co., of the City of New York. The change from an active life in the country to the sedentary labors of an office in New York, destroyed his health.

Portraits of Henry Seymour and Mary Ledyard (Forman) Seymour are included in the present volume.

HELEN CLARISSA⁷ SEYMOUR (1818-1894) was wife of Ledyard Lincklaen of Cazenovia, N.Y., adopted son of Jan Lincklaen, founder of that village. The latter had no children and at his request, by act of the Legislature, the adopted son's name, Lincklaen Ledyard, was transposed so that the name of Lincklaen might be perpetuated.

But Mr. and Mrs. Lincklaen had no male issue, their only child being Mrs. Fairchild; so with Mrs. Lincklaen's death died also the honored name of Lincklaen.

The Ledyard homestead in Cazenovia, a superb place facing the lake, with extensive holdings of land, was one of the fine places of the region.

With an ample fortune at her disposal, Mrs. Lincklaen devoted much of her life to works of charity. She was a member of St. Peter's Church and active in religious matters, and the people of Cazenovia, where nearly her entire life was spent, received many evidences of her benevolent character. Gracious, kind and generous, she nevertheless held her opinions strongly and expressed them with direct and emphatic speech. Her portrait, and that of her daughter, Mrs. Fairchild, are included in the present volume.

HELEN⁸ LINCKLAEN (1846-1931), only child of the above, became wife of Hon. Charles S. Fairchild in 1871. “Lorenzo,” the old Lincklaen place by the lake at Cazenovia, was for nearly eighty-six years her home. In 1875 Mr. Fairchild was elected Attorney-General of New York State. In 1885 he became Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and upon the resignation of Daniel Manning he served as Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Grover Cleveland. The activities in public life, travel, and large business interests, for many years kept Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild away from their home for considerable intervals of time, but they always came back to Cazenovia and “Lorenzo” as the center of their life and affection.

Mrs. Fairchild was a woman of rare nobility of character and of unusual attainments, intellectual and in the graces of life, and was eminently fitted for the varied duties and pleasures that she shared with her husband during his long and successful career. While dispensing gracious hospitality, she found time for extensive reading and study and the writing of books, and was deeply interested in historical and genealogical research. She compiled from the Journals of John Lincklaen, a record of “Travels in Pennsylvania, Vermont and New York 1791-1792,” published in 1897. She wrote the life of “Francis Adrian Van Der Kemp,” the Dutch patriot, friend of Adams and Jefferson, who came to America in 1788, published in 1903. She was a member of the Colonial Dames, and also of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She intensely loved her country and its institutions; she was proud of its best traditions, and of the great men, soldiers and statesmen, associated with its history.

Some of her benefactions were known, but most of them – and they were numerous – were bestowed in the way commended by the Scriptures. Her friends were many and devoted.

“After a well-spent life she passed on in the fullness of years, honored and beloved by friends and family, and satisfied with the faith that told her of the meetings without partings. Mrs. Fairchild was an Episcopalian by tradition and conviction, holding firmly to the old-time teachings and practices; faithful in her attendance upon the services of the sanctuary, and with a purse open to appeals for the work and support of the church. In New York City, Grace Church was her church home, and both she and Mr. Fairchild were warm friends of the late Rev. William R. Huntington. But she always looked upon St. Peters, Cazenovia, as her own. It was the parish church of her family and ever dear in her sight. It was from St. Peters that all that was mortal of this good and noble woman was carried to the family plot in our beautiful cemetery, there to remain until the Archangel's trumpet shall sound the everlasting morn.” [The Cazenovia Republican, 28 May 1931.]

JULIA CATHERINE⁷ SEYMOUR (1827-1893) was born at Utica, N.Y., in the then new Seymour homestead on Whitesboro Street, the youngest sister of Gov. Seymour and of Mrs. Lincklaen. She became the wife of Senator Roscoe Conkling in June 1855, being married by the Rev. S. Hanson Coxe, D.D., of Utica.

She was a communicant of Trinity Church during the rectorship of Dr. Coxe, and upon his resignation in 1877 she became connected with Calvary Church, a connection she retained until her death. She was the regent and founder of the Oneida Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution, and took a lively interest in this organization. Just previous to her last illness, she was planning a series of historical papers to be delivered by eminent specialists in Revolutionary history before this society.

Although not officially connected with charitable organizations, her charities and benefactions were numerous and munificent. Of late years she spent a portion of each winter at her daughter's residence in New York, and a portion of the summer at Mr. Oakman's cottage at Southampton, Long Island. During Mr. Conkling's public career, she entertained many dignitaries of the land, both civil and military. At Washington and Utica, her hospitality was noted for its charming grace and dignity.

A Washington friend wrote: “I remember Mrs. Roscoe Conkling in the first years of the [Civil] War, when she shone in Washington, where she devoted much time and energy to the sick soldiers in the hospitals. She looked like some worthy chatelaine of the Middle Ages, as she came from her errands of mercy, 'with a pale cheek, and yet a brow inspired,' and yet she was always composed, gentle, and firm. At dinner parties we used to say that Senator and Mrs. Conkling were the handsomest pair in Washington.

“I was at a dinner with her at Governor Morgan's, given to General Grant after he was elected, but before the inauguration. Mrs. Conkling, looking splendid in a blue brocade with pearls, was taken in by Senator Sumner. After dinner I had a few words with him. I said: 'I have been so fortunate as to sit next to Mr. Conkling, and we have talked poetry.' Senator Sumner replied: 'I have been so lucky as to sit next to Mrs. Conkling, and we have talked sense. Do you know, she is one of the few women who can talk sense.' ”

She was characterized as a woman without vanity, though beautiful; without undue pride, though of aristocratic lineage and connections; a woman pure, self- contained, silent, yet overflowing with sympathy. Her portrait is included in the present volume.

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