William Henry Seaman

William Henry Seaman (November 15, 1842March 8, 1915) was an American lawyer and judge from Wisconsin. He served as a United States federal judge for 22 years, first in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, then on the Seventh Circuit. Early life and education William Henry Seaman was born in New Berlin, Wisconsin Territory, on November 15, 1842. His father, William Seaman, had brought the family to the Wisconsin Territory from Buffalo, New York, the previous year. His mother, Arelisle (Crane) Seaman, was descended from some of the earliest Puritan settlers at the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His paternal grandfather, Williams Seaman, was a Democratic state senator in the New York State Legislature. His father had intended to bring goods to the territory and set up a store, but the supplies were lost in a shipwreck. Instead, they settled in what was then western Milwaukee County and built a saw mill and log cabin, where our William H. Seaman was born. Unfortunately, in the winter after his birth, the saw mill burned down and the family had to relocate again. This time they moved to village of Milwaukee, where his father became a harness maker. The next year they moved to Ceresco, and finally, in 1845, to Sheboygan, where his father was finally able to prosper as a merchant.