Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

was a son of Dr. Luther Holly, born Oc-
tober 29, 1556, at St. Leonard's Parish,
Shoredith, London, England.
(V) Wyx Seely, son of Lieutenant
Eliphalet and Sarah (Holly) Seely, was
born September 16, 1736. He did not
know how to spell his name when he first
went to school and gave the spelling
Wyx, in which manner hi? descendants
have always spelled his name. He mar-
ried, November 4, 1756, Mary St. John,
and she died November 4, 1778, at the age
of forty-two years. She was a descend-
ant of Matthias St. John, one of the first
settlers in Stamford. Wyx Seely died
September 23, 1796.
(VI) Wyx (2) Seely, son of Wyx (1)
and Mary (St. John) Seely, was born
July 16, 1757, and died October 2, 1829.
He married (second) Catharine Selleck,
daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Clock)
Selleck, October 17, 1782. Wyx Seely
married a Quakeress and joined the So-
city of Friends. Robert Seely was a
slave owner and the family continued to
own slaves down to and including the
second Wyx. Slavery was abolished in
Connecticut in 1812.
(VII) Selleck Seely, son of Wyx (2)
Seely, was born June 16, 1786, and died
January 27, 1826. He was a tanner. He
married, September 10, 1807, Mary Clock,
daughter of Nathaniel Clock, and she
died February 7, 1868, aged seventy-nine
years. At one time in his youth, Selleck
Seely was a surveyor, and his tannery
stood on the present site of St. Luke's
Episcopal Church in Noroton. After his
death in 1826, the tannery was bought by
Blatchley Hoyt & Brother.
(VIII) Albert Seely, son of Selleck
and Mary (Clock) Seely, was born January
18, 1809, and as a youth commenced
to learn the tanner's trade with his father.
He was only sixteen when his father died
and it devolved upon him to support the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
34
family, his widowed mother having been
left with six children. He next went into
the butcher business and remained in that
until he was twenty-one years old, when
he went into the real estate business.
When he was twenty-six years old, he
bought the Stamford House in Stamford,
and later in partnership with Ellsworth
Fox, under the firm name of Seely &
Fox, established themselves in the lum-
ber business in Stamford, which after
many changes in ownership has been
known for many years as The Getman &
Judd Company. In 1854 the firm sold
their business to Mr. Fox's brother, Richmond
Fox, and Mr. Seely devoted his
attention to a large farm which he had
acquired in the meantime, and to his
many interests, for he had become one of
Stamford's wealthy citizens. In 1839 he
built the brick building on Main street
now occupied by Jones's Drug Store, and
in 1861 built what was known as Seely's
Block, containing Seely's Hall. These
are said to be the first brick buildings
erected in Stamford. The winter of 1839-
1840 was very severe, and transportation
was so interrupted that his supply of
bricks which came from Long Island became
so curtailed as to interfere with his
building operations. Mr. Seely was
noted for his courage and daring, and on
January 21, 1840, he drove a horse and
sleigh from Stamford to Long Island
across the Sound which was frozen all
the way across. This feat was watched
through a spy-glass by his neighbors,
who were fearful every minute that the
treacherous salt water ice would not sus-
tain the weight, but he reached his desti-
nation, transacted his business with the
brick manufacturer and returned by the
same route. This exploit is famous in the
annals of Fairfield county. Mr. Seely
served as mayor of Stamford, and was
sheriff of Fairfield county. He was a