Wesley A. Seeley
WESLEY A. SEELEY — A retired farmer and justice of the peace at Lodi, Medina county, Wesley A. Seeley has also a faithful Civil war record to add to his honors in civil affairs. He was born in York township, this county, on January 11, 1835, and is a son of Jesse and Prudence (Brown) Seeley. His parents were both New Yorkers, his father being born in Schoharie county August 8, 1808. They came to York township in October, 1834, to locate on the tract of eighty acres of timber land which Mr. Seeley had purchased. He soon made a clearing and built a log house, with a huge old-fashioned chimney place, and as he gradually cut away the timber from his land he extended the area of his farm. He engaged in general 'farming for many years, and was for some time also connected with Steele, Lehman & Co., of Springfield, Ohio, who cultivated flax quite extensively, as well as dealt in oil. During the Civil war Jesse Seeley served two terms as trustee of his township, and was sheriff of Medina county, having been elected in 1863. Five of his sons were in the ranks of the Union army. In the late sixties he retired from active work and died January 9, 1888, his wife having gone before, in 1884. They were the parents of fifteen children, as follows : Marietta, John V. K., Esther (deceased), Caroline, Elizabeth. Wesley A., Samuel B., George D.. Harmon J., Delia (deceased), Emma I., Niron G., Nathan S., David O. and Charles M.
Wesley A. Seeley was educated in district and private schools. He remained on the farm in York township until he was twenty-one years of age and in 1861 enlisted in Company K, Eighth Ohio Infantry, Colonel Deputy commanding. After serving three months in that command he was transferred to Company B, Forty-second Ohio Infantry, with Colonel James A. Garfield in command, and as a part of the army of Ohio participated in the battles of Black River, Vicksburg and Cumberland Gap. Mr. Seeley was honorably discharged December 2, 1864, and then resumed farming in York township. Four of his brothers were also soldiers in the Civil war. John V. K. was a member of the Forty-second Ohio Regiment, as was Mr. Seeley himself ; Harmon J. was identified with the Eighty-fourth Ohio and Nathan S. with the Second Ohio Cavalry and the Eighty-fourth Infantry. All served faithfully until honorably discharged.
On Christmas, 1864, about three weeks after his discharge from military service, Mr. Seeley married Miss Lucy A. Crosby, of Chatham township, daughter of Silas and Jane O. (Jones) Crosby. Her parents were natives of Vermont and early settlers of Ohio. Three children were born of this union. Lora married J. L. Knapp; Arthur V. is a prosperous farmer of Westfield township and Mark T. is the station agent at Lodi of the Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Railroad. Of late years Mr. Seeley has not been engaged in active farming pursuits, but has resided in Lodi largely occupied with his duties as justice of the peace, to which position he was elected in 1901. In the discharge of his official duties he has acquired quite a knowledge of the law and is also recognized as a fluent speaker and a racy writer. His fraternal relations are solely with the James Young Post, G. A. R., at Burbank, Ohio.
Page 1171, “History of The Western Reserve,” Vol. II, by Harriet Taylor Upton, published The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago New York, 1910.
[Wesley is grandson of David SGS # 1993 – Wesley A.; Jesse; David (# 1993); Jesse (#620); Samuel; Nathaniel; Nathaniel; Nathaniel; Nathaniel; Robert]