Stephen P. Seymour, son of Eli Seymour and Salome Kent, was born on October 12, 1812 in New Hartford, Connecticut. Before his mother married Eli Seymour, she was married to Pliny Sexton and gave birth to Pliny Sexton II. This makes Stephen P. Seymour, the half-brother of Pliny Sexton.
What may prove of interest to us is that Eli Seymour was from Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Ezra Seymour of Colesville, New York was also from Hartford. Arthur B. Deming published in 1888 that Lucy Harris stole the manuscript and passed it off to “a certain Dr. Seymour.”
Stephen moved with his parents and siblings from New Hartford, Connecticut to Farmington, New York, a distance of 110 miles. From Farmington, the Seymours moved onto Palmyra. When the pages were stolen, Stephen was age sixteen and a Quaker. It should be noted that George Harris, the son of Martin and Lucy Harris, was age fifteen and also a Quaker. They both attended Quaker services at the Lemuel Durfee Sr. meetinghouse.
In 1833, Stephen signed the “Testimony of 51 Neighbors,” later printed in Mormonism Unvailed. The signed statement reads,
[I] have been acquainted with the Smith family, for a number of years, while they resided near this place, and we have no hesitation in saying, that we consider them destitute of that moral character which ought to entitle them to the confidence of any community. They were particularly famous for visionary projects, spent much of their time in digging for money which they pretended was hid in the earth; and to this day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures. Joseph Smith, Senior, and his son Joseph, were in particular, considered entirely destitute of moral character, and addicted to vicious habit.[1]
Sometime between being reared in Palmyra and his wedding in Canandaigua (a distance of 14 miles from Palmyra), Stephen went to Erie, Pennsylvania. There he met and courted Almira Norton (1814-1896). He brought Almira to Western New York. At age twenty-three, Stephen married Almira on November 6, 1835.[2]
The newlyweds made their home in Palmyra. Stephen supported his wife by working in the Pliny Sexton hardware store located on the Jenner Block in Palmyra. He and Almira eventually moved into this house. Stephen added the iron fence.
By 1837, Stephen had the means to purchase the hardware store with partner William H. Bowman. The store was successful, but not as financially profitable as it had been under the ownership of Pliny Sexton. After running the hardware store for sixteen years and finding little financial incentive to continue, in 1853 Stephen closed the store and accepted the offer of Pliny Sexton to be the cashier in the William Cuyler Bank. He added value to his career by becoming a public notary.[3]
In the 1860 US Federal Census, Stephen was listed as a banker. His real wealth was $3,800. In his household was his wife Almyra N. Seymour age 45, his wife’s father Caleb Norton age 85, Mary J. Norton age 19, and Ida B. Seymour age 6.
On May 31, 1864, Stephen became an ensign in the Palmyra Thirty-ninth Infantry.[4] He survived the battles of the Civil War. Following the war, he was again a cashier in the local bank which was now the First National Bank of Palmyra.
In 1870, Stephen’s fortunes changed when he was named vice president of the First National Bank of Palmyra.
Later Years
A disturbance in his home was reported in April 1895:
The residence of Stephen P. Seymour in Palmyra was forcibly entered last Saturday night. About midnight while Mrs. Seymour was lying but partially asleep, she heard a pane of glass fall, as she presumed, from the east sash door in the dining room down stairs. She arose and, getting into her invalid’s wheeling chair, awoke her husband and the servant. The three listened for some time, but, hearing no further disturbance, returned to their rooms. On the following morning when the family arose, they found that the conjecture of Mrs. Seymour had been correct. The burglar, or burglars, had cut out a pane of glass from the aforesaid sash door, and, by thrusting a hand through the aperture, slipped the bolt and in that manner obtained entrance. The slight nose occasioned by Mrs. Seymour in awaking her husband and the servant had probably proved sufficient to alarm the intruder, who took to his heels, letting himself out by the front door. It was not discovered that any article of real value was taken.[5]
Upset by the break-in, Stephen and his wife desired to sell their home. With his wife now an invalid in a wheelchair and Stephen feeling old and feeble, he approached his nephew Pliny T. Sexton about buying his home. Pliny, who owned over forty properties in Palmyra, was willing to buy the house but lamented that Stephen was ending his relationship with the bank.
Between 1895 and 1896, Stephen and his wife moved from Palmyra to Buffalo, New York to be near their daughter Ida Seymour Clements. His wife, Almira Seymour, died on October 11, 1896. On April 24, 1897, Stephen died at his daughter’s home at 204 Lafayette Avenue in Buffalo at age 84 years, 6 months, and 12 days.[6] His remains were brought to Palmyra for burial in the Palmyra City Cemetery.
As for his daughter Ida Clements, she was often named in The Buffalo Review as owing debts. For example,
County Court, Erie County—Henry W. Sprague and one, Plaintiffs, against Ida S. Clement, et al., Defendants. In pursuance of a judgment of foreclosure and sale made and entered in the above entitled action bearing date the 23d day of November, 1898, I, the undersigned the referee in said judgment named, will sell at public auction to the highest bidder therefore, at the Buffalo Real Estate Exchange room, No. 210 Pearl Street, in the City of Buffalo, New York, on the 19th Day of December, 1898.”[7]
[1] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, p. 366–367.
[2] “Married,” Geneva Gazette, November 4, 1835.
[3] The New York State Register for 1843 contains an almanac, civil divisions, and census of the state.
[4] Military History of Wayne, Co. N.Y. In author’s possession.
[5] Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, April 30, 1895.
[6] “Died,” The Buffalo Commercial, April 25, 1897.
[7] The Buffalo Review, December 6, 1898.