Major Moses Seymour

Major Moses Seymour (1742–1826) poses proudly in the uniform he wore as a captain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He holds his sword in one hand and the feathered tricorn hat of an officer in the other. He stands not on a battlefield, but in front of a fertile landscape that ends at the church steeple in Litchfield, Connecticut, where he lived. This juxtaposition conveys his willingness to serve his nation, yet leave the military for the quiet life of a citizen—raising a family and conducting his business. Seymour follows the example of a model citizen set by the nation’s first president. George Washington left military command to become president and then retired from the presidency and its enormous power to return to his life as a farmer.