Seymour

Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham, The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796 - 1840, vol. 1 & 2, Under the Auspices of The Executive Committee of the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission, 1896, pp. 460-61.

For two days in the late summer of 1849, a crowd stood near the foot of Water street in front of "Sunset Cottage," built and once occupied by Alfred Kelley, but then the residence of Alexander Seymour, a well known and popular resident of the city. Every one coming out of the house was waylaid and eagerly questioned. All were watching and waiting for tidings from within where lay the master of the house, stricken down with Asiatic cholera. It was the third time that the scourge had visited the city, and each time its victims had been largely of the best and most valuable of its citizens.

Sorrow and dismay were on the faces of all gathered there. At length, some one came out, and announced that Mr. Seymour had passed away, and was free from further suffering.

He left a family of orphan children, as his wife had died some years previous, 1839.

Alexander Seymour was the son of Norman and Kate Seymour of Northampton, Mass. His branch of the Seymour family has been recognized by the descendants of Jane Seymour, wife of Henry VIII, yet living in an English castle, as related to them in line of descent. His parents were cousins.

An early resident of the city who lived on Water street, as a child, says that he was a very handsome man, with a fine, stately carriage, and polished manners.

While in Troy, N. Y., on business, he met Hester Lansing, daughter of Jacob Lansing, who gave Lansingburg, N. Y., its name, who had an ideal home on the Hudson river, and a family of children, all of whom married into well-known New York families.

Mr. and Mrs. Seymour went to live in Utica, N. Y., where Mr. Seymour built a most attractive residence on the crest of a hill and between two streets, so that both sides of the house had beautiful frontages.

The young couple had a number of relatives living in Utica. Among them were Horatio Seymour, a cousin, and one-time governor of New York, and Mrs. Gardner Tracy, a sister of Mrs. Seymour. Three children of the latter afterward came to Cleveland, James J. Tracy, Mrs. A. N. Barney, and Mrs. John E. Lyon.

About 1834, Mr. Seymour concluded to engage in the banking business in Cleveland, and with his wife and three children came here all the way from Utica in a carriage. The youngest child, a little girl, took her naps on a pillow on the floor of the vehicle.

Their first home was on Huron street, west of Erie, near where the Homeopathic Hospital stands. They then moved to the eastern side of the double brick residence standing on Rockwell street, back of the new post-office. Their front windows looked out on the Case homestead, then occupying the whole square, and surrounded by trees, shrubs and flowers.

Mr. Seymour became interested in Rocky River real-estate, and owned a large farm there where the family spent vacations and the hot, summer days. A brother of Mr. Seymour lived on it afterward, many years.

In the Rockwell street home Mrs. Seymour died of consumption. She was an exceptionally lovable character, and had made hosts of loving,

grateful friends in the three towns in which she had spent her life, Lansingburgh, Utica, and Cleveland.

She had a heart tenderly touched by the sufferings of the needy, and always listened sympathetically to every tale of sin or suffering. She lived for her home and family, and trusted God. She left five children, two of them born in Cleveland. After her death, Mr. Seymour removed to Sunset Cottage, Water street.

They were both laid to rest in Erie street cemetery. Their two youngest children were delicate and died young. The others were:

While residing in Utica, N. Y., Alexander Seymour became much attached to the Rev. Samuel Aiken, and after removing here was instrumental in securing that clergyman for the Old Stone church. So loving was the friendship of the two men, that they bought adjoining burial lots in Erie street cemetery that they might together open their eyes on the resurrection morn.

[ Warren family | Warren Steel | UM Home ]