William Henry Seward

William Henry Seward was born in Florida, New York, on May 16, 1801. He studied law at Union College in Schenectady, passed the New York bar examination in 1822, and while practicing law with retired judge Elijah Miller in Auburn met Miller's daughter Frances. They married in 1824, moved into the Miller House, raised five children there, and lived there for the rest of their lives. After moving to Auburn, Seward entered politics, winning election to the New York state senate, serving as Governor of New York, and then being twice elected to the U.S. Senate. While serving as a U.S. Senator, he and Frances operated an Underground Railroad safe house in their home in violation of federal law, sheltering slaves traveling north to freedom. Seward became a friend of Harriet Tubman and arranged for her to live in Auburn. In 1860, he was widely expected to win the new Republican Party's presidential nomination, but lost to Abraham Lincoln on the third ballot at the party convention in Chicago, then campaigned vigorously for Lincoln. After Lincoln became president, Seward served as Secretary of State and became his closest cabinet adviser. Although he hoped to preserve the Union and prevent the Civil War, he and Lincoln came to believe after southern secession that abolishing slavery was essential to restoring the Union. During the Civil War, Seward helped keep European countries from recognizing the Confederate States as an independent country, contributed to the wording and timing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and later lobbied Congress to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. On the evening of April 14, 1865, he was targeted for assassination in the same plot that killed Lincoln, and although he survived a vicious knife attack, he was severely injured and left permanently disfigured. After Andrew Johnson became president, Seward continued as Secretary of State.

Juneau, Alaska · United States