New Britain herald., 1915-10-04
Charles E. 5eymOur of Lincoln
 Street Dies of Old Age
OLDTIME BUSINESS MAN
Funeral Services Tomorrow After noon at 2:3O o'clock-Knights of Camp Oldest Man Here.

o'clock last evening at the home or
 his daughter, Mrs Elizabeth $. Atkin-
 son of 65 Lincoln street, aged 96
 years. MT. Seymour observed his l ninety y-sixth birthday on April 15 and | until a few months ago retained all 1 of his faculties to a remarkable de- | gree. The funeral services will be | held at 2.30 o'clock from his late residence. Rev. Dr. J. C. Adams of Hartford will officiate and interment
 will be in Fairview cemetery. St.
 Elmo lodge, Knights of Pythias, of
 which MT. Seymour was a member,
 will have charge of the services and
 they will be in accord with the funer-
 al rites of that order. MT. Seymour was not afflicted with any disease of the body. His death
 came peacefully and calmly and al though for the past few weeks he
 had been in a semi-conscious condi- tion, it was due to a general decline
 brought about by his advanced years
 rather than any bodily ailment.
 Born at Sheffield, Eng. Born at Sheffield. England, on April IS, 1919, the same year that
 saw the birth of Queen Victoria, Eng lands ruler who died a decade or so ago, MT. Seymour learned the shoe
 manufacturing business as a youth
 and became an expert in that line of
 work. His youth was spent at Hudd- fersfeld, Yorkshire, England, but conditions there not being as prosper ous ass he would have had them, the
 youn& shoemaker decided to come to
 the United States, where he had req
 son to believe he would prosper. Five Weeks on Ocean. Accordingly he left his home and l friends in England and on October l IS, 1so5, he said goodbye forever to the shores of his native land. In those days the fast sailing ocean lin-
 CTS were unknown and vessels such
 as the Vaterland and other monarchs l of the deep were unthought of. MT. | Seymour took passage on slow going
 sailing vessel and was on the ocean l five weeks before land was sighted. Coming to New Britain, in Novem | beer, 1855, MT. Seymour entered the employ of Lester Booth who conduct ed the first shoe store in New Brit
 ain. The only other footwear estab- lishment in the city at the time was
 conducted by Robert Johnston, father of Frank M Johnston of West Main
 street. At that time New Britain
 was small village of 5000 or 5000. inhabitants and during the years
 that MT. Seymour lived here he was
 pleased to watch it's steady growth to
 a large, bustling city, and took es-
 pecial delight in telling his friends of it's size when he first made his home here.
 ] Twice Burned Out.
 Except for the year of 1S63-1SG4
 when he lived in Philadelphia, MT. | Seymour spent his entire life on this
 side of the Atlantic in New Britain
 He went into the shoe business for himself and opened a shop in the old Schmidt block which was adjacent to ! J. J. Walsh's restaurant. He was l burned out there by a disastrous fire. He also conducted a shoe shop where Miss Chatfield's news store now is and later he went into business at the ] corner of Main and Church streets, l in the old Booth block. The post of | flee was located at this corner in those | days. MT. Seymour was regarded as 1 the best shoemaker in town and even l in his later life took great pleasure l in reflecting upon this title.
 Bad fortune seemed to pursue Mr. Seymour's business ventures and the 1 fire which gutted Booths block also | wiped out his business. MT. SeyIn our 1 lived on Grand street at that time and knew nothing of his loss until the following morning when he went down street to open up his shop and was informed that 1t was burned. Was We'll Known Man. MT. Seymour was well known and
 respected by all of the older resi-
 dents of New Britain and the late Dr.
 Linus Luddington, who resided on Arch street near Pearl Court, was
 a great admirer. Sidney Oldershaw of Stanley street was also a firm friend of MT. Seymour and was much grieved this morning to learn of lis death.
 Always strong temperance ad- vocate, it was MT. Seymour who or
 ganized the New Britain Total Ab- stinence social club. He was a staunch member of St. Elmo lodge Knights of Pythias, and always took an active interest in its welfare. Iee- ligiously, MT. Seymour was affiliated
 with the UniversaIist church and the
 Rev. Dr. ]. C. Adams who will con duct the funeral services is of that denomination.
 Those Who Survive Him.
 MT. Seymour is survived by his
 daughter. Mrs. F S. Atkinson, with
 son, Thomas F Seymour. The last