Travel YMT blog

The story of William H. Seward, famous for “Seward’s Folly” (the Alaska purchase), is like peeling an onion—it has many layers. Born in Florida, New York, on May 16, 1801, he followed his father’s footsteps into law, graduating from Union College in 1820. He then read law, and was admitted to the New York bar. In 1921, he met and fell in love with Frances Miller of Auburn, New York. He moved to Auburn in 1923 to be close to her, and went into practice with her father. Frances and William married in 1924, and had five children.

Seward served in the New York state assembly from 1830 to 1834, and later was elected governor in 1838, serving two terms. Initially an enthusiastic backer of Whig support for internal improvements, Seward came to support the emerging antislavery movement, as well as prison and education reform. When he failed to win a third term as governor, Seward returned to his law practice.

In 1850, the New York State Assembly selected Seward to serve in the U.S. Senate. There he was an outspoken opponent of the Compromise of 1850 (the debate on whether or not to allow states to enter the union as “free” which gave rise to the Fugitive Slave Act), arguing that there should be no restriction upon the admission of California to the Union. A vocal opponent to slavery, Seward spoke of a “higher law than the Constitution.”

When Seward aligned himself with the new Republican Party in 1855, his political demeanor became a bit contradictory. He would attack slavery one minute, then back off with a more moderate statement the next. Some people believed he was attempting to become more appealing to the public in preparation for a bid at the presidency. However, Seward never allied himself with Radical Republicans.

Seward was the frontrunner for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination. Unfortunately, because Horace Greeley and other radical factions opposed him, he couldn’t get backing. Steward’s disappointment, however, made it possible for Abraham Lincoln to win the nomination and the election. Despite this, Seward went on a lengthy speaking tour through the West to support the Republican ticket.

After the election, Seward reluctantly accepted a cabinet appointment from Lincoln because the president had ignored Seward’s suggestion for other positions. However, he agreed to become secretary of state, performing efficiently and professionally throughout his tenure. He convinced the British that they should not recognize the Confederacy, and smoothed over the Trent Affair so well that it actually cemented relations between the U.S. and Great Britain. (The Trent Affair was an international diplomatic incident involving the British mail steamer, Trent. The U.S. boarded the ship to arrest two confederate ambassadors aboard. Great Britain was so insulted over this assault on their sovereignty that they threatened war!) Seward also persuaded the French to withdraw from Mexico. As secretary of state, Seward signed the Emancipation Proclamation and convinced President Lincoln not to announce the document’s existence until the Union won a major victory.

Devout abolitionists, William Henry and Frances Seward used their personal wealth and their home as part of the Underground Railroad to shelter fugitive slaves in the 1850s. The Sewards also purchased a home in Auburn for Harriet Tubman, where she lived for over fifty years. Sadly, the remarkable parts that William and Frances Seward played in the abolition of slavery have been greatly overshadowed by Seward's political career, specifically, his involvement in the Alaska purchase.

At the close of the Civil War, Seward became a target of John Wilkes Booth’s plot to kill Lincoln. Booth decided Seward was dangerous because of his outspoken belief that slavery should be abolished and every slave should be unconditionally free. While Booth was murdering Lincoln, Lewis Powell, Booth’s co-conspirator, burst into Seward’s home on April 14, 1865 where he was recovering from a serious carriage accident, and stabbed him in the throat. Seward surprised doctors by recovering. Regrettably, Frances Seward, already in ill health, died two months later from her shock at the brutal attack.

Seward continued to serve as secretary of state under Andrew Johnson. Turning increasingly conservative, Seward was a loyal defender of the Johnson reconstruction plan, giving up his personal ideals for national unity.

In 1867, believing the United States must move westward, Seward finalized negotiations with Russia to purchase the frontier land of Alaska. The American public and newspapers ridiculed his support for the purchase of Alaska, calling it “Seward’s Folly.” The tide of public opinion changed rapidly, however, when gold was discovered, and today, Alaska celebrates “Seward’s Day” on the last Monday of March every year. The Seward Peninsula and Seward, Alaska were named in his honor, as well as Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, and the Town of Seward, NY. There is a statue of him in both Madison Square Park Volunteer Park in New York City.

William Seward retired in 1869 and finally was able to visit Alaska. He spent his last years writing and traveling around the world and writing. In October 10, 1872 after a short illness, Seward died at his home in Auburn, New York.