SEYMOUR, Moses, soldier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 23 July, 1742; died in Litchfield, Connecticut, 17 September, 1826. He was fifth in descent from Richard, the ancestor of all of his name in the United States, who settled in Hartford in 1635. Richard is supposed to be the son of Chaplain Richard of Popham's expedition, who was the first to preach the gospel to the Indians in this country. Moses removed to Litchfield in early life, became captain of a troop of horse in the 17th Connecticut militia regiment, and in 1776 was given the same rank in the 5th cavalry, with which he served in repelling Tryon's invasion in 1777, and at the surrender of Burgoyne. He also did good service as commissary of supplies at Litchfield, which was then a depot for military stores. In 1783 he retired with the rank of major. Major Seymour held the office of town-clerk for thirty-seven years consecutively from 1789 till his death, was elected annually to the legislature from 1795 till 1811, and was active in the affairs of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was greatly instrumental in securing the proceeds of the sale of the Western Reserve for the promotion of common-school education, and is said to have originated the plan. He is one of the figures in Colonel Trumbull's painting of the surrender of Burgoyne.--Moses's son, Horatio, senator, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 31 May, 1778; died in Middlebury, Vermont, 21 November, 1857, was graduated at Yale in 1797, studied law at Litchfield law-school, and removed in October, 1799, to Middlebury, Vermont, where he continued his studies with Daniel Chipman, and was admitted to the bar in 1800. He was a member of the state council from 1809 till 1817, and in October, 1820, was elected to the United States senate as a Clay Democrat, serving two terms, from 1821 till 1833. While in the senate he was chairman of the committee on agriculture. At the expiration of his second term he resumed the practice of his profession. He was the Whig candidate for governor of the state in 1836. but was defeated by Silas H. Jennison. In October, 1847, he was appointed by the legislature judge of probate for the district of Addison. Mr. Seymour had acquired a competency, but lost it, chiefly through becoming surety for others. Yale gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1847.--Another son, Henry, merchant, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 30 May, 1780; died in Utica, New York, 26 August, 1837, settled as a merchant in Pompey, Onondaga County, New York, accumulated a fortune, and afterward removed to Utica. He served in both branches of the New York legislature, and was mayor of Utica, canal commissioner, and president of the Farmers' loan and trust company.--Henry's son, Horatio, governor of New York, is noticed elsewhere.--Moses's grandson, Origen Storrs, jurist, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 9 February, 1804; died there, 12 August, 1881, was the son of Ozias Seymour, who was for many years sheriff of Litchfield county. He was placed m a mercantile house m New York at the age of fourteen, but illness forced him to return home, and he then entered Yale. An affection of the eyes compelled him to learn his lessons by hearing them read to him, and the training that this gave to his memory had much influence on his subsequent career. He was graduated in 1824, read law, was admitted to the bar in 1826, and engaged in active practice. He was county clerk in 1836-'44, served in the legislature in 1842, 1849, and 1850, and in the last year was speaker of the house. In the same year he was chosen to congress as a Democrat, serving two terms. He was one of the small number of anti-Nebraska Democrats whose opposition nearly defeated the Kansas-Nebraska bill, but in the contest that followed he adhered to the Democratic party. In 1855 he became a judge of the state superior court, but in 186a the Republican legislature refused to re-elect him and his Democratic colleague, through fear that they might interfere with the National draft by writs of habeas corpus, though they had been War Democrats. In 1864 he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor, and in 1870 a legislature whose majority was Republican chose him to the bench of the state supreme court. In 1873 he succeeded to the chief justiceship, and in 1874, by constitutional limitation of age, he retired. After that he was employed chiefly as committee and arbitrator in the trial of causes. In one county the majority of the eases on the superior court docket were referred to him by agreement for decision. In 1876 he was chairman of the commission that settled the long-standing boundary dispute between Connecticut and New York, and in 1878 he was at the head of the one that prepared the new state practice act. From 1876 till his death he delivered an annual course of lectures at Yale law-school. He was elected to office for the last time in 1881, when he was again a member of the legislature. Judge Seymour was an active member of the Protestant Episcopal church and a delegate to every general convention from 1868 till his death. Trinity gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1866, and Yale in 1873. A memorial of him was printed privately (Hartford, 1882).--Origen Storrs's son, Edward Woodruff; congressman, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 30 August, 1832, was graduated at Yale in 1853, studied law, and has attained reputation at the bar. He served in the lower house of the Connecticut legislature four times between 1859 and 1871, was in the senate in 1876, and in 1882 was chosen to congress as a Democrat, serving two terms. -Origen Storrs's daughter-in-law, Mary Harrison, author, born in Oxford, Connecticut, 7 September, 1835, is the wife of Reverend Storrs O. Seymour, of Hartford, Connecticut She was educated in Brooklyn, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland, and, besides many contributions to periodicals, chiefly for children, has published " Mollie's Christmas Stocking " (New York, 1865); " Sunshine and Starlight " (Boston, 1868; London, 1879) ; " Posy Vinton's Picnic" (Boston, 1869) ; " Ned, Nellie, and Amy" (1870) ; "Recompense " (New York, 1877); "Every Day" (1877; republished as "A Year of Promise, Praise, an(] Prayer," London, 1879) ; and "Through the Darkness " (New York. 1884).
bio contributed by Steven Keller (#47478415)