Pioneer.
Born at Hillcommon, Somerset, England on 27 April 1857, he came to Winnipeg in 1883 with his brothers John, Henry, and Richard and helped to build the city’s first sewage system the same year. An early resident of Seamo, a settlement near Oak Point to which he moved in 1885, he worked there as postmaster, storekeeper, and secretary-treasurer of the Rural Municipality of Posen. Sixteen years later, he relocated to Edrans where he farmed over 1,000 acres. He served the community as police magistrate, police commissioner, school trustee, and municipal assessor. Described in his obituary as “one of Manitoba’s oldest and best-known pioneers,” he also worked as an immigration agent, railroad signalman, telegrapher, and insurance agent.
An active member of the provincial Conservative Party, he helped organize Baldwin Larus Baldwinson’s successful campaign in the Gimli constituency. He also played a part in the overthrow of the Greenway government and originated the motion that admitted Rodmond Palen Roblin into the Conservative caucus. A member of the 90th Winnipeg Rifles, he also belonged to the Independent Order of Foresters and once served as the High Chief Ranger of the High Court of Manitoba.
He and his wife Edith Stone (1855-1931) had six children: Archibald Seaman (1878-1942), Lucretia Martha Seaman (1882-1967, wife of Horace Edward Smith), Anne Elizabeth Seaman (1884-1974, wife of George C. Main), Bertie Seaman (1887-1983), Edith Naomi Seaman (1894-1982, wife of William Allen Campbell), and William James Seaman (1898-1979).
He died at Edrans on 22 January 1949 and was buried in the Edrans Cemetery.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Builder of first city sewer dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 February 1949. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B10, page 83]
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Les Acton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Sarah Ramsden and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 5 November 2020
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