American Seymour Genealogy

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====== 297. Rt. Rev. George Franklin Seymour ======

[[i513.george_franklin|{{ :book:george_franklin.jpg?400|The Right Rev. George Franklin Seymour (1829-1906)}}]]

297. RT. REV. GEORGE FRANKLIN<sup>8</sup> SEYMOUR (//[[218.isaac_newton|Isaac
Newton]]//<sup>7</sup>, //[[117.jesse|Jesse]]//<sup>6</sup>,
//[[060.william|William]]//<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 New York, N.Y., 25 Jan. 1829,
died at Springfield, Ill., Dec. 1906; married at New York, N.Y., 23 July 1889,
HARRIET ATWOOD (DOWNE) AYMAR. No children.

He began his education at the Columbia Grammar School, and was graduated as
Greek salutatorian and at the head of his class from Columbia University (A.B.,
1850; A.M., 1853). He was graduated from the General Theological Seminary in
1854, and was ordained deacon in the Church of the Annunciation, New York, 17
Dec. 1854, by Bishop Horatio Potter, who gave him priest's orders in Zion
Church, Greenburg (Dobbs Ferry), N.Y., 23 Sept. 1855.

His first field of labor was as a missionary at Annandale, Dutchess County, N.
Y., from Jan. 1855 until July 1861. There he added to his pastoral work the
founding of St. Stephen's College, of which he became the first warden. He was
next transferred, Nov. 1861, to St. Mary's Church, Manhattanville, and in Oct.
1862 assumed charge of Christ Church, Hudson, N.Y., and a year later of St.
John's Church, Brooklyn.

After serving these rectorships, the larger phase of Bishop Seymour's work
opened with his installation as professor of Ecclesiastical History in the
General Theological Seminary in 1865, and in 1875 he was chosen dean of the
Seminary, a position which he filled in addition to his professorial duties. In
Sept. 1874, he was elected Bishop of Illinois, but because of his strong
ritualistic tendencies the House of Deputies did not confirm the election.
During this period, he was invited to several rectorships, in Chicago, San
Francisco, and elsewhere, but declined. He was active in raising $30,000 for new
chapel and library buildings for the Seminary, and opposed its removal from the
city into the country. From 1867 to 1879 he served as Chaplain to the House of
Mercy, New York, without salary. He was also superintendent of the Society for
Promoting Religion and Learning in the State of New York until 1878. He received
the degree of D.D. from Racine in 1867, and that of LL.D. from Columbia in 1878;
and afterwards, in 1905, that of D.C.L. from University of the South.

On 19 Dec. 1877, he was unanimously chosen Bishop of the new Diocese of
Springfield (Illinois), and the election was confirmed by the standing
committees and the House of Deputies, but Dr. Seymour declined in Apr. 1878. The
Convention of the Diocese, at its annual meeting, May 1878, again unanimously
chose him and requested the withdrawal of his declination. He was consecrated in
Trinity Church, New York, 11 June 1878, by Bishops Potter, Southgate,
Odenheimer, Lay, Quintard, Clarkson, Neely, Scarborough, and McLaren, together
with the Bishop of Christ Church and Metropolitan of New Zealand, Dr. H. J. C.
Harper.

Seymour brought to his episcopal work the results of deep and thorough study and
a wide experience. His diocese prospered under his administration, and was well
supplied with schools and other agencies for promoting the spread of the gospel.
He attended the third Pan-Anglican Council held at Lambeth Palace, London, in
July 1888, and during the conference made an address that was much admired.

"Seymour was an ardent Anglo-Catholic, in full agreement with the principles
taught by Pusey. He broke with the more conservative high churchmen by defending
the expression of doctrine in ritual, promoting the rise of amonastic
communities, and pleading for toleration for those who had more advanced
opinions that he did."//Dictionary of American Biography, //quoted by
permission.

Bishop Seymour was a scholar and teacher, an ecclesiastical historian, a man of
great culture; an accomplished canonist, an eloquent and forceful speaker, a
skilled controversialist, a ready writer. He was a "high churchman," and
maintained a very strong position on the subject of divorce and the
indissolubility of the marriage relation. He published //S0111,f Considerations
Why the Name of the Protestant Episcopal Church Should be Changed //(1887),
advocating the title "Church of the United States"; and //Modern Romanism Not
Catholicity //(1888). His high intellectual endowment was spiritualized and
sweetened by great beauty of character.

His picture is inserted, furnished the author by his successor in the diocese
of Springfield, the Rt. Rev. John Chanler White.

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