Joseph S. Seely
Personal
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: October 30, 1841
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Joseph S. Seely is the owner of the lake called by his name and is the proprietor of Lakeside, a charming resort for pleasure-seekers of Weld County. The lake is an artificial one, having been made in 1873, and originally served merely as a waste-reservoir for Ditch No. 2, which irrigates this section of farming country. Twenty-four years ago, Mr. Seely wisely looking forward to the future possibilities of this little lake, purchased the property, and within the past fifteen years has expended large sums of money in the improvement of the grounds, in stocking the lake with perch and black bass, and in other material ways increasing the beauty and value of the place as a resort. In 1895 he built a pavilion and he keeps over a dozen boats for the use of visitors. The fishing here is very good in season, and large parties frequently come here from Denver and other cities and towns, near and far. Born October 30, 1841, our subject is a son of Joseph and Julia (Jackson) Seely, who were natives of Delaware County, N. Y., and spent their early married life there. About two years prior to the birth of Joseph S. they removed to Rome, Bradford County, Pa., and in that locality they spent the rest of their lives upon a farm. Grandfather Seely was a native of Connecticut, and was an early settler of New York. Grandfather Isaac Jackson was a native of England and after coming to this country lived upon a farm on the banks of Trout Creek, in Delaware County, N. Y. The children of Joseph and Julia Seely were eleven in number. George went to California in 1849 and was a county surveyor for a while, but has been lost track of in later years. Silas K, now of Arkansas, was a wagon manufacturer in Rome, Pa., for many years. Mrs. Ada George Harman lives on a farm in Vermont. Charles E., who was engaged in blacksmithing up to the time of the Civil war, then enlisted in the Union army, and later was a Nebraska farmer; he is now managing a fruit farm near Loveland, Colo. Mary R. is the wife of Charles Brown, of Sheshequin, Pa. William H. is a carpenter and a resident of Oakwood, Mich. Isaac J. remained on the old family homestead until recently, when he removed to Nichols, N. Y. Warren A. died when eighteen years of age, and Julia and Melissa were each about nine years old at the time of death.
Joseph S. Seely was born and reared on the parental homestead in Pennsylvania, receiving a common-school education. In January, 1864, he became an employe of the railroad construction department of the army. He worked on roads in Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia for the government, and was advanced to be the foreman of his force of men. When the war had been brought to a close he engaged in the milk business in Chattanooga for a couple of years. Returning then to the north he worked with his brother Henry in Michigan as a carpenter for fourteen months, after which he went back to the old farm and assisted in its cultivation for one season.
When the colony for Greeley, Colo., was organized he became a member, and was assigned a town lot and an eighty-acre farm on section 26, township 6, range 66 west. He built a house on his farm and continued the improvement of the place. He has made agriculture his chief business and has prospered, as he deserves to do. By degrees he increased the boundaries of his farm until he owned three hundred and ninety-five acres. Afterwards he sold a quarter section, and now retains two hundred and thirty-five acres. He also owns a nice residence property in Greeley. For the past five years he has been engaged in the ice business, putting up his supplies when the lake freezes, and running a wagon to Greeley during the season, to meet the demands of the trade there. Politically he is a Republican. He is a charter member of Occidental Lodge No. 20, A. F. & A. M., of Greeley, and is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
October 30, 1877, Mr. Seely married Esther A. Nettleton, of Greeley. Mrs. Seely died in June, 1879, leaving an only child, May H., who is a graduate of the Greeley high school and a normal student, and now attending the Metropolitan Business College of Chicago. The present wife of Mr. Seely was formerly Mrs. Kate S. Williams. They were married in Greeley, in January, 1881.
Pages 289-290, PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF DENVER & VICINITY Containing Portraits & Biographies of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past & Present. Chapman Pub. Co. 1898).
[Joseph Sylvester is SGS # 4159 –Joseph S.; Joseph S.; Sylvanus; Sylvanus; Eliphalet; Jonas; Obadiah]
