Frank Barrows Seeley, D.D.
Personal
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: May 10, 1872
Date of Death: 1921
Birth Place: Richfield Springs, Ostego County
Pastor of the Reformed Church of Kingston, Ulster county, Rev. Frank Barrows Seeley is dean of the clergymen of that city, having occupied that post continuously since April 1, 1898. Greatly beloved by all the members of his congregation, Dr. Seeley is admired and respected by all the residents of Kingston, irrespective of creed or position, and is every where recognized as a true exemplar of the tenets he preaches. He has often been heard to declare that life seems to him more wonderful every day, and he truly lives his belief that a man takes out of life what he puts into it.
Dr. Seeley was born at Richfield Springs, Otsego County, May 10, 1872, the son of Francis Hiram and Martha (Weeks) Seeley, both natives of Vermont. The mother of Dr. Seeley was a sister of Governor Weeks of Vermont, and a direct descendant of John Alden. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman who was pastor in Richfield Springs from 1866 to 1882, after which he held a pastorate in Delhi, Delaware County, from 1882 to 1912. He died in 1921, at the advanced age of eighty-two; his wife having passed away while Dr. Seeley was but an infant.
The early education of Dr. Seeley was obtained at Delaware Academy, Delhi, after which he entered Middlebury Academy, Middlebury, Vermont, graduating in 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the Union Theological Seminary, New York City, from which he graduated in 1896. His first pastorate was at Margaretville, Delaware County, where he remained for one year. He then supplied the Reformed Church at Gardiner, Ulster County, from August, 1897, to April 1, 1898, at which time he was called to Kingston. He received his degree of Doctor of Divinity from Middlebury College in 1920. Dr. Seeley is affiliated with Kingston Lodge, No. 10, Free And Accepted Masons, of which he is Past Master, and is also a member of Mount Horeb Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He has been president of the Rotary Club of Kingston; President of the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church in America, of which he has been an active member for many years and president since 1927, and is greatly to the fore in all community and welfare projects.
In June, 1896, Dr. Seeley married Virginia St. Claire Boice, daughter of the late Hewitt Boice, of Kingston, a prominent operator of blue stone quarries and one of the organizers of the United States Gypsum Company. Dr. and Mrs. Seeley were the parents of one child, a daughter, Louise Caroline, who died in her infancy. They have since adopted a child, Virginia, a cousin of Mrs. Seeley.
The History of New York State published by Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1927, page 251.
[Son of Franklin Hiram SGS # 2414 – Frank Barrows, Franklin Hiram (SGS # 2414); Jonathan; Jonathan; Ephraim; John; Benjamin; Nathaniel; Robert]
