HENRY J. SEAMAN. The pioneer of the Seaman family in this country came from an English stock and located on Statan Island, N. Y., at some time ante dating the Revolutionary War. The father of our townsman was Henry J. Seaman. This mother, Maria A., a daughter of Charles Augustus Luckcnbach, was a descendant of an old Moravian family. Mr. Luckenbach was an organizer and the first president of the Thomas Iron Company, and an early director of the Bank of Catasauqua.

Henry J. Seaman, the subject of our sketch, was born in Trinity County, California. When he was past three years of age his parents came to Bethlehem, where he attended the Moravian Parochial School. He took a course in Chemistry at Lehigh University and was graduated in 1879, when he went to the mining district of Leadville, Colorado, where he served as chemist of a large Smelting Company. On account of severe illness he returned home in December of the same year. In February, 1880, he succeeded James Gayley as chemist at the Crane Iron Works. He was promoted to Furnace Manager, January, 1886. In June, 1889, he accepted the position of Superintendent of the Carbon Iron and Steel Company at Parryville, Pa. In February, 1892, he became Superintendent of the Atlas Cement Company, which was in process of organization.

At a later date he was elected to the position of General Superintendent of the Atlas Portland Cement Company, of which he has been a director since its organization. He was largely instrumental in perfecting the rotary process of manufacturing Portland Cement, and invented and commercialized a process of burning pulverized fuel, now used almost exclusively in the manufacture of Portland Cement.

Mr. Seaman is Vice-President and General Superintendent of the New York and New England Cement and Lime Company, and a director of the National Bank of Catasauqua. He holds membership in: The Engineers' Club, of New York; The Railroad Club, of New York; The Livingstone Club, Allentown, Pa.; The Lehigh Country Club, Rittersville, Pa.; The American Institute of Mining Engineers; The American Society for Testing Materials; and The American Concrete Institute.

HENRY J. SEAMAN, General Manager for the Atlas Cement Company, whose works are located in Whitehall Township, near Coplay, was born in Shasta County, Cal., in 1859. He is a son of Henry J. and Maria Seaman, natives of Bethlehem, and the former of whom is now deceased. When about four years of age, our subject accompanied his parents to Pennsylvania, and received his preliminary education in the schools of Bethlehem, where they located. Later he was graduated from Lehigh University with the Class of '89, and, having taken a special course in that institution, was for several years afterward chemist and furnace manager of the Crane Iron Company. Subsequently for three years, he was in the employ of the Carbon Iron and Pipe Company, of which he was General Superintendent, and in 1892 he came to fill his present position as General Manager of the Atlas Cement Company.

The cement works in which our subject is employed were incorporated with the following gentlemen as officers: J. R. Maxwell, President; J. F. DeNavarro, Vice-President; Alphonzo DeNavarro, Second Vice-President; and Henry Graves, Jr., Secretary and Treasurer. Their main office is in the Central Building, No. 143 Liberty Street, New York City, where they find a ready market for the product of the factory. The company manufactures solely a high grade of Portland cement, the daily capacity being six hundred barrels. They employ about one hundred hands in the mill, which is equipped with the best methods of machinery to be found in the market. In the manufacture of this article they use crude oil for fuel, and rotary cylinders, the latter being covered by patent controlled by the corporation. Our subject occupies a high position in political circles, voting with the Republican Party, and is also a Mason of prominence, holding membership with the lodge at Catasauqua. He was married in 1885 to Miss Minnie Boyer, daughter of Reuben Boyer, who is now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Seaman have been born two children, Louise and Henry.

Our subject is likewise a member of the Institute of Mining Engineers, and is looked upon as one of the most prominent residents of this section. The Atlas Cement Company also own four hundred acres of land in Northampton County, on which they have erected a large mill for the manufacture of Portland cement.

Henry Seaman grew up in Bethlehem, went to Moravian Academy and graduated from Lehigh in 1879 with a degree in Chemistry.  In 1880, Seaman succeeded Gayley as Chemist for the Crane Iron Works and became Furnace Manager in 1886.  He built a home on Fourth St (See Chapman House).  In 1889, Seaman moved to Parryville, PA as Superintendent of Carbon Iron and Steel Co and returned here in 1892 as an engineer for the Atlas Cement (followed by Superintendent, General Superintendent, then Director). He was general manager at the time Atlas received the contract to provide cement for the Panama Canal, worth $5.5 million, providing 4.5 million barrels of cement over a three year period. When he moved back, he lived in North Catasauqua for awhile, and then built this house. He retired in 1915 due to ill health.

Seaman was Instrumental in perfecting the rotary process of manufacturing Portland Cement and invented & commercialized a process of burning pulverized coal as fuel to make Portland Cement, which is still used today.  He also served as VP and Gen Superintendent of New York & New England Cement and Lime Co.

He was active in the Engineers Club of New York, Railroad Club of New York, Livingston Club in Allentown, and Lehigh Country CluSb. He was a member of the AIME, American society for Testing Materials, and the American Concrete Institute.

He held a patent for rotary kiln cement production that overlapped patents obtained by Thomas Edison.  Each patent was being using by competitors. The issue was resolved by the acquisition of both entity's patents under one licensing association~ 1908.
He married Minnie Boyer and they had a daughter (married Paul Miller, Bryden) and son Harry J. (Bonny Valve), the later lived at 326 Bridge St.  His parents were Henry J. Seaman and Maria, daughter of Charles Augustus Luchenbach:  Luchenbach was a descendant of an old Moravian family, manager of the Bethlehem Flouring Mill, the first president of the Thomas Iron Co and an early director of the Bank of Catasauqua. Henry J. Sr was a businessman in Bethlehem and died in 1875.  Minnie Boyer Seaman’s father, Reuben, was superintendent of mining for the Crane (died 1890).

Seaman lost the home during the depression, and it was converted into apts.  Over the next couple decades, there were some interesting residents.  Henry and Freda Prunaret, and their daughter Frances, lived here beginning in the late 1920s.  Born in France in 1859 to a family already involved in silk manufacturing, he studied in Europe and brought his expertise here, working first in upstate NY, etc, before coming to this area.  He owned a mill in Mauch Chunk, was president of the Stemton Silk Co, etc.  Henry died in 1932 at age 74 and Fredericka died in 1940.