George Dudley Seymour (October 6, 1859 – January 21, 1945) was an American historian, patent attorney, antiquarian, author, and city planner. He was the noted authority and foremost expert on Nathan Hale, 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

hero.

Biography

George Dudley Seymour was born in Bristol, Connecticut, the son of Henry Albert Seymour and Electa Churchill. He practiced patent law in Washington, D.C., and then in New Haven, Connecticut. Seymour was a law graduate of Columbian College in Washington, D.C., and received an honorary Master of Arts degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1913."The Man Who Remembered Hale"
''Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library'', 2009 He was a member of the

Walpole Society The Walpole Society, named after Horace Walpole, was founded in 1911 to promote the study of the history of British art and artists. From 1762 on, Walpole had published the first history of art in Britain, based on the manuscript notebooks of G ...

, the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

,"GEORGE DUDLEY SEYMOUR"
''The American Antiquarian Society - OBITUARIES, Page 45'', April, 1945 the Century Association, the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C. that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

, and the Acorn Club. Seymour was a former vice president of the

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...

, a trustee of the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

, and chairman of the State Commission of Sculpture. He was a close friend of

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, John Singer Sargent, and

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

, and a cousin of Yale President

Charles Seymour Charles Seymour (January 1, 1885 – August 11, 1963) was an American academic, historian and the 15th President of Yale University from 1937 to 1951. As an academic administrator, he was instrumental in establishing Yale's residential colleg ...

. Seymour extensively researched the life of the patriot Nathan Hale. He led the campaign for the statue of Hale on the

Old Campus The Old Campus is the oldest area of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the principal residence of Yale College freshmen and also contains offices for the academic departments of Classics, English, History, Comparative Li ...

at Yale, and convinced the federal government to print a Nathan Hale postage stamp in 1925. In 1914, Seymour purchased the

Nathan Hale Homestead The Nathan Hale Homestead is a historic home located at 2299 South Street in Coventry, Connecticut, Coventry, Connecticut. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was also known as Deacon Richard Hale House. Connect ...

in Coventry, Connecticut, which he restored and gifted to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society. Upon his death, Seymour gifted to the United States government the life size bronze statue '' Captain Nathan Hale'' by sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt; the statue is located at the south facade of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

headquarters in Washington, D.C. Seymour Roosevelt

Seymour was a leading figure in the municipal development of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

, and was the city's most fervent proponent of the City Beautiful movement. The City Beautiful influence in New Haven was responsible for a series of formal public buildings, such as the

New Haven County Courthouse The New Haven County Courthouse is located at 121 Elm Street in the Downtown section of New Haven, Connecticut. The building was built in 1917 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 16, 2003. It is one of the city's fines ...

and the New Haven Free Public Library, with traditional columns and pediments that reinforced the role of the green as a civic center of classical dignity. In 1908, Seymour persuaded Yale to open the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Oth ...

and the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

to the public on Sunday afternoons. He died on January 21, 1945, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

and was buried in the Grove Street Cemetery."G. SEYMOUR, EXPERT ON HALE'S LIFE, DIES"
''The New York Times'', January 22, 1945 The George Dudley Seymour Papers, Seymour's collection of correspondence, writings, photographs, research files, and printed material, are housed within the Manuscripts and Archives in

Sterling Memorial Library Sterling Memorial Library (SML) is the main library building of the Yale University Library system in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Opened in 1931, the library was designed by James Gamble Rogers as the centerpiece of Yale's Gothic Revi ...

at Yale. George Dudley Seymour State Park in

Middlesex County, Connecticut Middlesex County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 164,245. The county was created in May 1785 from portions of Hartford County and New London County. Middlese ...

is named after him.

Bibliography

*''Hale and Wyllys'' (1933) *''The Seymour Family'' (1939) *''Documentary Life of Nathan Hale'' (1942) *''New Haven: A Book Recording the Varied Activities of the Author in his Efforts Over Many Years to Promote the Welfare of the City of his Adoption Since 1883, Together with Some Researches into its Storied Past and Many Illustrations'' (1942)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, George Dudley 1859 births 1945 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers

Biography

See also

Bibliography

References