Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye

Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye (15 December 1858 - November 11, 1923) was an American writer from the U.S. state of Minnesota.

Elizabeth Eggleston was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, 15 December, 1858. She was a daughter of Edward Eggleston, the novelist. Her mother, Elizabeth, was of English parentage and of a family with talent for graphic art. Seelye early showed the "book hunger" that characterized members of her family, but, on account of her delicate health, her parents were obliged to restrain her education. In 1866, the family removed to Evanston, Illinois, where her father had built in his own grounds one of the earliest kindergartens in America, that his children, of whom Elizabeth was the oldest, might be trained correctly from the start. After the removal of the family to Brooklyn, New York, in 1870, Seelye attended Packer Collegiate Institute for a short time, but with her parents dissatisfied with the teaching method, she and her sister were taught mainly at home by private teachers. She also attended for some years the classes in French and German in the Brooklyn Mercantile Library (now Brooklyn Public Library), and was the only child in classes of adults. She early became an eager reader of the best books, especially in English and French.

The Story of Columbus (1892)

As an adult, she read works of philosophy, natural science and political economy. Her study of the literature of the Middle English period enabled her to supply the editor of the Century Dictionary with 500 new words and definitions. In 1877, she became the wife of Elwyn Seelye, and she since that time lived on or near Lake George, New York. She wrote four of the five volumes in the "Famous American Indian Series", Tecumseh (New York, 1878); Pocahontas (New York, 1879); Brant and Red Jacket (New York, 1879), and Montezuma (New York, 1880). Seelye also published The Story of Columbus (New York, 1892), illustrated by her sister, Allegra Eggleston.

Seelye was the mother of six children: Allegra (b. 1878), Blanche (b. 1882), Elwyn (b. 1884), Edward (b. 1888), Cynthia (b. 1888) and Elizabeth (b. 1893). She died November 11, 1923, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.