Laurenus Clark Seelye papers

Laurenus Clark Seelye was the first president of Smith College. 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.

After graduating from Heidelberg in 1862, Seelye became a minister. He was the pastor of the Old North Church in Springfield, MA, for almost two years. It was in Springfield that he met his wife, Henrietta Chapin, a cousin of a parishioner. They had seven children: Ralph, Harriet, Abigail, Arthur, Walter, Henrietta, and Bertram. Bertram died in infancy and Arthur died tragically on Mt. Tom at the age of twenty-five. After two years at his Springfield post, Seelye’s health began to fail again and he decided to take his brother’s offer to teach English Literature at Amherst College. He remained at Amherst for ten years, until the trustees of the newly founded Smith College convinced him to be the first president. He was inaugurated on July 4, 1875. While president of Smith College, he earned a DD from Union College (1875), an LLD from Amherst (1894), and after retirement he received honorary degrees from Union College and Smith College (1913). Seelye retired from Smith College in 1910 and became the director and vice president of the Holyoke Water Power Company. That same year he was named President emeritus of Smith College. Throughout his life Seelye continued to give sermons and was frequently at the pulpit until his death on October 12, 1924.

Laurenus Clark Seelye is an important figure in Smith College history. He was the first president of the college and held the position for thirty-seven years (1873-1910). During his presidency, the college grew from fourteen to over 1600 students and from four faculty members (including Seelye himself) to over one hundred faculty members. After retiring, he remained a part of Smith College life and his connection can be traced through photographs, correspondence, and news articles.