History of Wexford County, MI. Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 171 - 172

SYLVESTER R. SEAMAN

Success in this life comes to the deserving. It is an axiom demonstrated by all human experience that a man gets out of life what he puts into it, plus a reasonable interest on the investment. The individual who inherits a large estate and adds nothing to his fortune cannot be called a successful man. He that falls heir to a large fortune and increases its value is successful in proportion to the amount he adds to his possessions. But the man who starts in the world unaided and by sheer force of will, controlled by correct principles, forges ahead and at length reaches a position of prominence among his fellow citizens, achieves real success. To a great extent the subject of this sketch is a creditable representative of the class last named. It is a class which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and added to the stability of the government and its institutions. Sylvester R. Seaman, the subject of this review, who resides in Liberty township, on an eighty-acre farm, was born in Leonard township, Mecosta county, Michigan, October 10, 1860. His parents are Warren and Mary E. (Moore) Seaman. A review of the career of the father of the subject can be found in another part of this volume, under the head of Warren Seaman. Sylvester R. Seaman was the third child of a family of five, and was reared to the age of nine years in the county of his birth. In 1869 the family moved to Wexford county, and that county has since been his home. The family established their home in Cedar Creek township and there the subject of this review grew to manhood. His school days were not many and the educational facilities of the time and the locality by no means what they are today, but having a thirst for knowledge and a natural aptitude to acquire it, at the time of quitting school the subject was possessed of a very fair education. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-six years of age, devoting a good part of his time to the work on his father's farm. December 23, 1886, Sylvester R. Seaman was united in marriage to Miss Frances M. Wilson. a native of Michigan, born June 1, 1865, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Wilson, of Liberty township. Immediately after marriage the young couple took up their residence in Cedar Creek township, on a farm which is part of section 5, where they continued to live until 1900, when they moved to section 32, Liberty township. His farm consists of eighty acres, part of it being located in Liberty township and the remainder in Cedar Creek township. The place is well improved, fifty of its acres being under cultivation and well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Seaman have an adopted child, an intelligent, attractive little girl, named Flossie M. The subject has never sought public office or any political preferment, but a number of local positions in the township where he resides have been thrust upon him, among them that of school assessor and member of the board of review. He and his wife are both active members of the Free Methodist church in Manton.