My Genealogy Hound

MORITZ SEYDELL, a prosperous resident of Berrien County, and the owner of a fruit farm on section 10, St. Joseph Township, was born in Potsdam, Prussia, Germany, on the 15th of August, 1840. He is of German parentage, and belongs to a family whose members through many generations have been identified with the growth and development of the Fatherland. Frederick William Seydell, the father of our subject, was an officer in the engineer corps of the Prussian Army and was killed in the Revolution of 1848, his widow dying of grief six months afterward.

A lad of nine years when orphaned by his mother’s death, Moritz Seydell was afterward sent to the military school in Potsdam, Prussia, where he remained until sixteen years of age, meanwhile availing himself of the excellent opportunities for acquiring a practical German education. From Prussia he went to Sweden, thence to England, and later to Germany. In 1860 he emigrated to America, and coming West to Chicago, located in that city, where he secured a position as teacher of gymnastics in a German school. In 1868 he resigned that position in order to accept the place of Assistant Superintendent of the Chicago Reform School. Ten years later he opened a dry-goods store and conducted a successful mercantile business, gaining special note as a designer of patterns for fine silks, curtains, linens, etc.

In Chicago, in 1867, Mr. Seydell was united in marriage with Miss Matilda Probsthan, a native of Germany, who emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen years, and settled in Chicago about 1856. Her father, Adelbert Probsthan, is deceased. Her mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Gill, makes her home with Mrs. Seydell. Our subject and his wife were the parents of six children, three of whom are living, viz.: Adelbert, Ernest and William, all of whom are at home. The others died in infancy.

Removing from Chicago in the fall of 1892, Mr. Seydell came to Berrien County and settled on section 10, St. Joseph Township. In addition to this property, which consists of twenty acres, he is the owner of five acres in another part of the same township. Ten acres have been planted to fruits, and although he has not realized a crop, there is no doubt but that the farm will prove a very profitable investment. Since coming here, he has erected a number of substantial buildings, suitable to their various purposes, and the place is one of the most attractive rural abodes in the vicinity.

Although of foreign birth, no native-born citizen of the United States is more patriotic than Mr. Seydell. He maintains an intelligent interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the people of this community, and is a firm advocate of the principles of the Republican party. For more than a quarter of a century he was identified with Keystone Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Chicago, and has always taken an interest in the fraternity.