George Franklin Seymour

Background

He was born on January 5, 1829 in New York City, New York, United States, the son of Isaac Newton and Elmira (Belknap) Seymour.

Education

He graduated from Columbia College with distinction in 1850, and from the General Theological Seminary in 1854.

Career

Bishop Horatio Potter ordained him deacon on December 17 of the same year in the Church of the Annunciation, New York, and priest in Zion Church, Dobbs Ferry, New York, on September 23, 1855. His first cure was at Annandale-on-Hudson, Dutchess County.

From 1861 he was rector in succession of St. Mary's, Manhattanville (now a part of New York City), Christ Church, Hudson (1862), and St. John's, Brooklyn (1863 - 67). In 1865 he was elected professor of ecclesiastical history at the General Seminary, New York, and in 1867 became chaplain of the House of Mercy, an institution in charge of the Community of St. Mary.

In 1871 Seymour published A Defence of the Professor of Ecclesiastical History against the Assault of the Dean and the Other Professors of the General Theological Seminary; nevertheless, on Forbes's retirement, Seymour was made, in 1872, acting dean, and in 1875 was formally elected to the deanship. Meanwhile, in 1874, he had been elected bishop of Illinois. His views and actions were widely attacked, and at the General Convention the House of Deputies, after a week in executive session, refused, by a close vote, to confirm the election.

In December 1877 he was elected Bishop of Springfield, one of the three dioceses into which Illinois had been divided. After confirmation of the election and a second request from the diocesan convention he finally accepted in May 1878. He was consecrated in Trinity Church, New York, on June 11, and at once went West for a visitation of his diocese.

He resigned his positions in New York and moved permanently to Springfield. In 1892 Seymour obtained a coadjutor, Bishop Charles Reuben Hale, but after his death in 1900 resumed the entire charge of the work.

In 1904 a coadjutor, Edward William Osborne, was elected and consecrated, but Seymour remained active almost until the end, performing his last official acts a month before his death, which occurred at Springfield.

Achievements

• George Franklin Seymour organized a church and incidentally trained students for the General Theological Seminary, his latter work resulting in the establishment of St. Stephen's College. As dean of the seminary, Seymour established a refectory and made a number of minor improvements in the plant. He secured the maintenance of the institution in New York - an achievement to which he attached great importance; restored its inclusive character; and left it prepared for future progress.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Letter On The Anglican Church's Claims

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Religion

Seymour was an ardent Anglo-Catholic, in full agreement with the principles taught by Pusey. He broke with the more conservative high churchmen by defending the expression of doctrine in ritual, promoting the rise of monastic communities, and pleading for toleration for those who held more advanced opinions than he did.

Views

Towards the end of his life, however, he was inclined to take a dark view of the state of the Church, and was seriously alarmed by the rise of the broad church party.

Personality

Seymour was considered to be an effective teacher, and learned in church history and canon law.

Connections

He had wife, Harriet Atwood (Downe) Aymar, whom he married on July 23, 1889.

Father:

Isaac Newton Seymour

Mother:

Elmira (Belknap) Seymour

Spouse:

Harriet Atwood (Downe) Aymar