I would take it completely apart and clean each piece. Then repair
any bad places on each piece before reassembling. The seat is
probably several pieces glued together. Those joints may also need to
be redone. Could be a beautiful chair if restored. Would be even
more beautiful to me if it can be finished with a clear poly to show
the wood.
Attached is a picture of an oak barstool I restored. It had several
layers of paint on it that I stripped off.
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:49:15 GMT, Walter Johnson
wrote:

This chair was rescued from a potential bonfire. It is likely 100+ years
old and I want to remove the old paint and start over with bare wood.
Any suggestions on how to remove the old paint? Any suggestions for a
finish? It is my belief that chairs of this vintage were painted rather
than finished with natural wood finish. It appears to have been red then
green. I am thinking green or blue as a finish color.

Walter.