Moses Seymour, Jr. House (1817)

The Moses Seymour, Jr. House, at 24 South Street in Litchfield, is a Federal-style house with a distinctive trefoil window in the front gable. Moses Seymour, Jr. (1774-1826), a merchant and businessman, was the son of Maj. Moses Seymour and the brother of Ozias Seymour, whose house is at 34 South Street. The 1903 book, Chronicles of a Pioneer School from 1792 to 1833, Being the History of Miss Sarah Pierce and Her Litchfield School, contains a reminiscence by Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith, who writes:

In 1797 Mabel Strong, Lucy Case and a Miss Dwight, all of Addison, Vt., made a start for Litchfield, Ct., to attend Miss Pierce’s School — They made the journey to Bennington on horseback, and from thence the Rev. Mr. Dwight drove them to Litchfield — the latter part of the journey was made in a wagon. Mabel Strong made her home during the years of her stay in Litchfield, with Mrs Brace, a sister of Miss Pierce, and the mother of John P. Brace — her wardrobe was made up after her arrival. The Brace house stood on the site now occupied by the Congregational parsonage. […] My grandfather Moses Seymour Jr. drove from Litchfield, with a sleigh and pair of horses in Feb. 1800, to bring home Mabel Strong as his bride; […] Moses Seymour Jr., and his bride commenced housekeeping in what was then known as the Skinner house, now occupied by the Bissells next the United States Hotel; they afterwards removed to the Marsh house on the corner, where the Library building stands, where they remained until 1817, when the house which I now occupy, was completed for my grandfather and they took possession of it in that year. Moses Seymour Jr. was for many years high Sheriff of the County. […] [Their daughter] Jane Seymour married Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith who was for forty years in active practice in this town, she lived, until her death, which occurred in 1868, in her father’s homestead.