JOHN SEELEY, of New Durham, Hudson County, is one of the best known citizens of that section. He was born in Oxford, England, April 4, 1819, the son of Job Baker Seeley and Elizabeth Willis, his ancestors having been long established in the City of Oxford. When the present Mr. Seeley was a boy his father came to America, settling in North Bergen, N. J., where he engaged in the shoe business. He died in New Durham in 1855, when sixty-three years of age. His wife subsequently died in Ohio.

John Seeley was educated in the public schools and then engaged in the manufacture of shoes, in which business he was successful. He subsequently engaged in real estate speculation, chiefly at New Durham, Hudson County. For a time he was also engaged in the grocery business in Hoboken. He is a Democrat, and held the office of Town Treasurer for a period of twenty-one years. For a great many years he has also been connected with the Fire Department. He is a member of various clubs and societies. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and a liberal supporter of church and educational interests and of all worthy local enterprises.

Mr. Seeley has been twice married. By his first wife, Sarah House, of Schenectady County, N. Y., he has five children: Mary, Kate, John, William, and James. He married, second, Augusta Blythe, by whom he has two children, Frederick and Howard.

Page 328, “Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey,” Cornelius Burnham Harvey editor, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1900.