Robert Seeley (1602-1668)

Biography
Captain Robert Seeley, (also Seely, Seelye, or Ciely), was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who helped establish Watertown MA, Wethersfield CT, and New Haven CT. He also served as second-in-command to John Mason in the Pequot War.

Early Life
Robert Seeley was born in Bluntisham-cum-Earith, Huntingdonshire, England in 1602. His father William was a joiner (cabinet maker).

Watertown Founders Monument
He is listed on Watertown Founders Monument, commemorating the first settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts. The town was first known as Saltonstall Plantation, one of the earliest of the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlements. Founded in early 1630 by a group of settlers led by Richard Saltonstall and George Phillips, it was officially incorporated that same year. The alternate spelling "Waterton" is seen in some early documents.

In 1630 Robert, Mary and Nathaniel sailed with John Winthrop as a part of the original Puritan expedition to Massachusetts. Soon after arriving in the New World, Seeley became one of the original forty settlers of Watertown, one of Massachusetts' earliest Puritan communities. He employed his training in surveying by laying out many of the plots for the settlers. He was granted freeman status in 1631.

Marriage and Family
In 1623 Robert moved to London, where he became an apprentice cordwainer (shoemaker). He married Mary Mason, widow of Walter Mason, in 1626 and began attending the church of the Puritan minister John Davenport that same year. On 16 September 1627 Robert and Mary's only son, Nathaniel, was baptized at St Stephen's Parish, Coleman Street, London.