Born in Saco, Maine on October 16, 1811, Seth Scamman was a member of one of Saco’s most prominent families.
Very little information exists about Scamman’s early life and, in fact, when he died the only place an obituary appeared was in the Portland Daily Press.
One explanation for this may be an event which took place in 1858 at the Republican County Convention when Scamman first defeated Louis O. Cowan, one of the founders of the Biddeford Journal, for a Congressional nomination.
Scamman himself was later defeated by D.E. Somes, the first Mayor of Biddeford.
A prominent member of the Republican Party from its formative period in the early 1850’s, Scamman was elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1855 and again in 1856.
Elected to the State Senate in 1857 and 1858, he served as President of that body in the latter year.
His unsuccessful attempt at becoming a Congressional candidate was Scamman’s last attempt at public office.
A farmer and grammar school teacher, Scamman was appointed Superintendent of the State Reform School during the Civil War, a post which he held for many years.
A trustee of Thornton Academy he retired to Scarborough following his service at the State Reform School and lived the life of a gentleman farmer until his death at the age of eighty-two on February 22, 1894.