Seelye, Laurenus Clark, 1837-1924

Smith College President (first), 1873-1910. Union College, A.B., 1857. Heidelberg University, 1862. Pastor, Old North Church, Springfield, MA, 1863-1965. Professor, Amherst College, 1865-1873.

Laurenus Clark Seelye was born on September 20, 1837, in Bethel, Connecticut. He was the youngest child of Abigail Taylor Seelye and Seth Seelye, who married in 1817. Seth Seelye was a merchant, farmer, and deacon. Seelye's sisters, Hannah and Elizabeth, were not educated. L. Clark and his brothers, Thomas, Samuel, Julius, and Henry, were all educated. Three of the sons, Samuel, Julius, and L. Clark, went on to become ministers, Thomas became a physician, and Henry a farmer and later an attorney. Julius served as the president of Amherst College. Seelye most likely attended the Center District School in Bethel. He was schooled in Woodbury, attended the Old Hadley Academy, and afterwards spent some time in Danbury to complete his education. At the age of twelve he started home schooling under his brother Samuel. He entered Union College at the age of sixteen where he received a B.A. and graduated as valedictorian with highest honors. After Union, he attended Andover Seminary but left due to ill health. He traveled throughout the Mediterranean and across Europe in hopes of getting well; while in Germany, he decided to complete his education in Heidelberg.