Merritt W. Seely (August 22, 1813August 25, 1889) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

pioneer. He was a member of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

, representing Green Lake and Marquette counties during the

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

and

1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...

sessions. His name was often abbreviated and his last name was sometimes spelled Seeley.

Biography

M. W. Seely was born in

Bainbridge, New York Bainbridge is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The population was 3,308 at the 2010 census. The Village of Bainbridge is located at the geographic center of the town. History Bainbridge was originally settled by Nati ...

. He was raised and educated in that area, and in 1839 served as village clerk of Bainbridge. Sometime before 1843, he moved west to

Peru, Indiana Peru is a city in, and the county seat of, Miami County, Indiana, Miami County, Indiana, United States. It is north of Indianapolis. The population was 11,073 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous community in Miami County. Peru is loc ...

, where he was a prominent lawyer in the community. After a fire destroyed many of the court records in Miami County, Seely was appointed by an act of the

Indiana General Assembly The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Sena ...

as commissioner to try to collect any remaining evidence and testimony to attempt to restore the records as much as possible, but he was mostly unsuccessful. In the mid-1840s, he moved west to the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

and settled in what is now the town of Brooklyn, Green Lake County, Wisconsin. At the time, this was part of Marquette County. His home was located between the villages of Green Lake and

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

, but he was mostly associated with Ripon. He was one of the founding members of the St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ripon, and was one of the first officers of the church. In 1858, Seely was elected to the

, running on the Republican Party ticket. He represented the 29th State Senate district during the

and

legislative sessions. At the time, his district comprised Marquette and Green Lake counties. After his term in the legislature, Seely served as a county commissioner for the Union Army

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

Fond du Lac County Fond du Lac County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 104,154. Its county seat is Fond du Lac. The county was created in the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and later organized in 1844. Fond d ...

. He was assigned to examine the evidence of people who claimed exemption from military service. He also served three years as municipal judge of the city and town of

Ripon, Wisconsin Ripon () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,863 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is surrounded by the Ripon (town), Wisconsin, Town of Ripon. Ripon is home to the Little White S ...

, holding office from July 1862 to May 1865. He subsequently moved to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, where he resumed his legal career. Later in life, he went to live with his son, Charles, in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, where he died of a stroke in August 1889.

Personal life and family

Seely was the second of at least six children born to Henry "Harry" and Clarissa "Clara" (' Lyon) Seely, of Bainbridge, New York. His paternal grandfather, Eli Seely, served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The Seely family were descendants of

Robert Seeley Robert Seeley, also Seely, Seelye, or Ciely, (1602–1668) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who helped establish Watertown, Wethersfield, and New Haven. He also served as second-in-command to John Mason in the Pequ ...

, an early

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

settler at

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. Merritt Seely's younger brother, Josiah, also came to Wisconsin and settled in Waupun. M. W. Seely married twice, his first wife was Charlotte Byington, of Cairo, New York. She died while they were living in Peru, Indiana. Seely subsequently married Susan Helen Akin, of

Ontario County, New York Ontario County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 112,458. The county seat is Canandaigua. The county is part of the Finger Lakes region of the state. Ontario County is pa ...

, in 1851. With his second wife, he had at least two children. Their son Charles Merritt Seely was a successful businessman in Canton, South Dakota, served two terms as mayor, and was appointed financial clerk of the federally-administered Hiawatha Asylum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seely, M. W. 1813 births 1889 deaths People from Wisconsin Territory People from Dakota Territory People from Bainbridge, New York People from Peru, Indiana People from Green Lake County, Wisconsin People from Ripon, Wisconsin Politicians from Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Wisconsin lawyers 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature