William Grant Seaman

William Grant Seaman (November 2, 1866 – 1944) was a notable Methodist Episcopal minister, academic, and leader in "civic and social causes."^[1]

Early life and education

He was born in Wakarusa, Indiana to Joseph Washington Seaman and Sarah Margaret Uline. He studied at Fort Wayne Academy and graduated from Depauw University in 1891.^[2] He earned a PhD from Boston University in 1897.

Career

He sang in the Depauw Male Quartet before being ordained as a Methodist minister in Anderson, Indiana. He was minister in Sudbury, Massachusetts from 1893-1898, State Street M.E. Church in Springfield, Massachusetts from 1898-1900, and Wesley Church in Salem, Massachusetts from 1900-1904. He was a chair of Philosophy at Depauw University from 1904-1912 before becoming president of Dakota Wesleyan University in the latter year.

Beginning in 1916, he was the minister of the City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana. He led an effort to build a large new church, the largest Methodist church in the midwest, largely through donations from U.S. Steel. He was transferred to Ohio, but his ashes were eventually interned in the church.

Family life

He married Laura Owen Rice in 1907. She was the daughter of The Rev. Dr. Charles Francis Rice and Miriam Owen Rice. She was born in 1876, attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Vassar College, where she elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She was director of the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA from 1900-1904. Their children were Miriam Seaman, William Rice Seaman, and Charles Francis Seaman.

References