USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 43
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His last will is such a model of terseness and brevity that we reproduce it entire :
" I, Elijah Miller of Auburn, in the County of Cayuga, do hereby make this my last will and testament.
"First-I hereby give and devise to my daughter, Frances A. Seward, wife of Wm. H. Seward, and to her heirs and assigns, my dwelling house, in which I now reside, and the lot on which it is situated in the city of Auburn, containing about three acres of land.
"Secondly-I give, devise and bequeath one- third part of the rest and residue of my real and personal estate, subject to the payment of my debts, unto my daughter, Lazette M. Worden. wife of Alvah Worden ; and I devise and bc- queath the rest and residue of my real and per- sonal estate, subject as aforesaid, to my daughter Frances H. Seward.
"Thirdly-I appoint William H. Seward, of Au- burn, executor of this my last will and testa- ment.
"Lastly-I authorize and empower my said executor to sell and dispose of the residue of my estate, and after the payment of my said debts, to apportion the avails thereof between my said daughters, according to their respective shares. I revoke all former wills.
"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fifth day of November, 1851. " E. MILLER, [L .. S.]
" Attested by
" JAMES C. DERBY, NORMAN C. MILLER."
The execution of this will, he said, " entirely fulfilled the purposes of his life," and it so proved, for eight days after, in the cightieth year of his age, he sank quietly and peacefully to rest. His ashes repose in a beautiful spot in Fort Hill Cemetery, which he was chiefly instrumental in establishing, and where he had selected the spot in which he is buried.
HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
A life like that of the Honorable William II. Seward, whose services for nearly half a century, commanded the attention of the nation, and for a long period, of the civilized world, and whose biography has been written by scores of able pens, and published in full and ample volumes, can be but imperfectly presented within the limits to which, in this sketch, we are necessarily confined. But this is the less to be regretted, since his public life is already a public possession, understood and appreciated by nearly every American.
What we shall say therefore will be mainly confined to his early domestic, scholastic and pro- fessional experiences, in which may be traced the budding and development of the germs of his future greatness.
HON. WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD was the third son of Dr. Samuel S. Seward, and was born at Florida, Orange county, N. Y., May 16th, 1801.
" The bridal tour of the happy pair will show the prevailing fashions of the time in such cases among social leaders. " The married pair with seven friends proceeded in one great barouche to Rust's hotel, Onondaga Hill, where they supped and remained for the night," re- turning in the morning.
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His ancestors, on both sides, were of English or Welch extraction, excepting his maternal grand- mother, who was of Protestant-Irish descent. His father was the physician, merchant and farm- er of the hamlet, and a man of great energy, per- severance and decision of character. His con- victions were controlling, and adhered to with much pertinacity. He was a man of substance, yet of frugal habits. He was a good scholar for the time, a friend and patron of institutions of learning, and the founder of the Institute of Florida that bears his name. He held several local offices, and for many years was First Judge of Orange county.
Seward was of delicate physical organization, though his mind was unusually active and pre- cocious. This fact led to his being early set apart for a collegiate and professional education, a distinction which the economical and industrial spirit of the times usually limited to one of the fami- ly. At nine years of age he was sent to the academy at Goshen, the county capital, where he remained but one term, when he entered the academy of his native town, which had, meanwhile, been erected. Here his preparation for college was chiefly made. In his studies he was remarkably diligent, even enthusiastic. His time, however, was not wholly devoted to his books. He had ample physical exercise; not in the artificial forms of to-day, in the gymnasium, at the oar, or the ball club, but in the diversified duties of the farm and the household. What they were, we will permit him to say in his own frank and sim- ple language, contained in his autobiography, from which we derive most of the incidents of his earlier domestic, scholastic and professional career, and which hitherto have been overshad- owed by the brilliancy of his political fame. As the boy is but the miniature man, we can, we think, trace in the discipline and habits of the earlier years of the future lawyer and statesman, the sources of his great influence and power. Of his habits of study he says :
" My daily studies began at five in the morn- ing and closed at nine at night. The tasks were just the utmost that I could execute, and every day a little more ; even the intervals allowed for recreation were utilized."
This extract shows how intensely he applied himself to mental culture in his boyhood and we shall find that the same application distinguished him in college, in the study and practice of his profession, and in his political and public efforts of every kind. It was his great industry, his in- domitable perseverance which formed the ground work of his successes.
Of his industrial habits in boyhood, we will also permit him to speak :
" It was my business to drive the cows morn- in and evening, to the distant pasture, to chop and carry in the fuel for the parlor fire, to take the
grist to mill and fetch the flour, to bring the lime from the kiln, and to do the errands for the family generally, the time of my elder brothers being too precious to permit them to be withdrawn from their labors in the store and on the farm."
This extract shows the rigid and systematic physical discipline to which he was subjected and by which the health and vigor of his body were maintained.
His father held slaves in accordance with the nsages and laws of the times. The kitchen and the garret above it was their household empire. In the former glowed the capacious wood fire, around which gathered the sable circle, with their traditionary stories of evil spirits, witches, ghosts and of men that had been hanged. Here the future statesman loved to linger and listen to their weird tales. Two of the younger ones attend- ed school, and, he adds, "sat by my side if they chose." He had no repugnance in childhood, as he had none in manhood, to the colored race.
At fifteen years of age he had finished his pre- paratory studies and was ready, he believed, to enter college in the Sophomore or second year's class, application for which was made at Union College, Schenectady. He was successful and entered the Sophomore class. Here began his first real experience as a writer, and when we know the grace, elegance and force of style to which he afterwards attained, anything which re- lates to his earlier efforts in this field is interest- ing. Of this he writes : " I wrote with difficulty and confusedly, and, it seemed to me, that diffi- culty was incurable, for I had no generous supply of facts or knowledge."
As a speaker, his first effort was a humiliating failure, of which his own description is as com- plete an illustration as need be given. " The first time I arose to speak, I encountered a gen- eral simper, which, before 'I got through, broke into laughter. On inquiring the reason I found I had a measured drawl. Moreover, the dress I wore was not of sufficiently fine material, and it was awkwardly cut by the village tailor, who came annually to my father's to provide the wardrobe for the whole rustic family."
His elocutionary defects were corrected by diligent personal efforts and the coarseness and awkwardness of his apparel by running in debt with the local tailor for a regulation outfit. In- dependently of the tailor's bill, his other expenses exceeded the parental quarterly allowance. Trouble finally arose from this cause.
In college he had set his mark high, and was determined to reach it. He resolved to be the valedictorian of his class, an honor to be awarded at the close of the senior year to him against whom the fewest failures in recitations were re- corded during the entire course. We will let the ambitious student describe his methods of study in his own language. "We," (young Seward
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and his room-mate,) " rose at three o'clock in the morning, cooked and spread our own meals, washed our own dishes, and spent the whole time which we could save from prayers, recitations and the table in severe study, in which we constantly and unreservedly aided each other. The fruits of this study were soon seen in our work."
He had finished his junior year in July, 1818, with fine literary success, and his senior and final year would begin the following September ; but that fated tailor's bill was not paid. It had been repudiated by the father as an unauthorized use of credit by the minor son, which the former would neither justify nor allow. The tailor was importunate; the young student, keenly mortified. Goaded to desperation by the humiliating circum- stances in which he found himself placed, the latter resolved to make a bold push for personal liberty and independence. He decided to ac- company a class-mate to Georgia, where the lat- ter was to engage in teaching. On the first of January, 1819, stealthily and without informing any of his family, he left Union College, took the stage for New York, and a schooner thence to Savannah, Ga., where, in due time, he safely ar- rived, having eluded the diligent search instituted for him by his father. His class-mate engaged in an academy in Augusta, while young Seward sought employment elsewhere. He went to Put- nam county, where he learned a new academy was about to be opened, traveling to reach it, thirty miles on foot. To this he was compelled, for he had but nine shillings and sixpence in his pocket, and was among strangers.
He was successful in securing an engagement here at eight hundred dollars a year, paying for his board one hundred dollars. He was then a happy youth. His way to self-support was open. He was really independent, the great object of his young ambition. The new building would not be ready for occupancy in less than five or six weeks, and, meanwhile, he was freely enter- tained by his courteous and hospitable patrons.
His father having learned his post-office ad- dress, had written him, urging his return, and offering to supply him with the necessary funds. He declined the request and forwarded a paper containing a flattering description of the school and its principal. This brought from his father to the president of the board of trustees an in- dignant letter, in which that officer was threat- ened with prosecution if he continued to harbor the truant son. This letter was kindly and qui- etly shown to young Seward, who made full and satisfactory explanations of the reasons which led him to leave college. A knowledge of the mat- ter was judiciously and kindly kept to himself by the president, and the school was opened and successfully conducted.
A letter at length came from his mother and elder sister, burdened with grief and sadness and
with reason, for William was the third son who had left the parental roof. One had enlisted in the army and the other was secking a precarious fortune in the West. The affectionate and earn- est pleadings of the mother and sister, produced in the young teacher a strong conflict of emo- tions. He desired to earn enough before his return to pay off his debts, which, he well knew he would have to pay ; yet, in him, filial affec- tion was even stronger than his love of indepen- dence. He arranged with the trustees to supply his place in the school, and the following sum- mer returned home. He came, however, not as a penitent prodigal, but solely to relieve the anxieties of his mother and sister whom he ten- derly loved. His spirit was unbroken, and he looked fondly forward to his majority and the acquisition of his profession when that indepen- dence which he had prematurely sought, might be securely claimed and maintained. Of this esca- pade he thus tersely speaks ; " I would by no means imply a present conviction that the fault in the case was altogether with my father. On the other hand, I think now that the fault was not altogether mine. However that may be, he declined to pay bills for me which he thought un- reasonable, and I could not submit to the shame of credit impaired. I resolved thenceforth upon independence, and self-maintenance."
It was decided that he should reenter Union College, which he did, and, by renewing his for- mer diligence, earned, and was crowned on his graduation, with its highest honors.
His literary success under the embarrassing circumstances which surrounded his readmission to the college strikingly illustrates his force of character, his self-reliance, his capabilities and the marked influence which he always exerted upon his associates, whether at the bar, on the platform, or in the councils of the State or Nation.
He was now a thoroughly educated and an ac- complished student and well prepared to pursue his legal studies. These he commenced in Goshen, his own county town. Here he remained about a year, when he entered the office of John Anthon, Esq., an eminent lawyer of New York city. Here, though but twenty years of age, he joined a society of young lawyers entitled the " Forum," where cases were tried in a mock court, a fine preparation for the young aspirants, who were soon to engage in practice in the real courts. He here became more and more impressed with the imperfections of his elocution, and by careful and diligent culture, mainly overcame them.
Ogden Hoffman, a young and eloquent advo- cate, located in Goshen in 1822, and invited Mr. Seward to join him. Though not yet admitted, he could practice in justices' courts and be useful in various ways in the advocate's office. He was offered satisfactory terms, which were gladly ac- cepted, as a means to reduce his college debts,
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which had been increased during his last year in the institution.
In October, 1822, he considered himself fitted for admission to the bar, applied and was suc- cessful. His examination was at Utica, N. Y., and he availed himself of the occasion to visit Auburn, ostensibly in quest of a business engage- ment, but really for a more interesting purpose, as we shall see. He was offered and accepted a partnership with the Hon. Elijah Miller, then County Judge, one stipulation of which guar- anteed five hundred dollars for the first year, which his actual receipts exceeded. He was now able to pay off all his old and annoying debts, and, for the rest of his life, found full occupation and maintained his independence. He knew he must rely for support upon his profession, and he applied himself diligently to the faithful and prompt execution of every trust confided to him. At the same time he neglected none of the duties which the good citizen owes to the community in which he lives. He was not a lawyer only ; he was a citizen and neighbor as well, and freely de- voted his spare time to the social, material and moral improvement of his adopted village. He was social and courteous and won many per- sonal and warm friends, and the esteem and ad- miration of all that knew him. Connected in business with one of the best lawyers in the Coun- ty, who had also much other business to transact, the legal business of the firm gradually devolved upon Mr. Seward ; but a more interesting case than any which had occurred in his professional experience was soon to be tried, the circumstan- ces of which are thus related by himself.
" I had, in the spring of 1821, while on a visit to Florida, N. Y., met there my sister, who was a pupil in Mrs. Willard's popular seminary at Troy, and was then at home, accompanied by her school-mate, Miss Frances A. Miller, of Auburn. A partiality that I conceived for her was my in- ducement to stop at Auburn, when afterwards exploring the West; our intercourse now ripened into an engagement of marriage." They were married on the 20th of October, 1824. The bride was the daughter of Elijah. Miller, senior partner of the firm. Mr. Miller was a widower, and his consent to the marriage had the condi- tion that the daughter should not leave her father's home for a permanent residence elsewhere while he survived, and she did not, but lived and died in her childhood's home.
Mr. Seward took an active interest in political affairs. He attended conventions, wrote resolu- tions, and delivered addresses. To this he was led by his habit of thoroughly investigating pub- lic questions, on which he formed decided opin- ions, and the impulses of his nature led him to defend and propagate them. As yet, at least, he was not ambitious of public office. The highly honorable social and professional position which
he had attained was satisfactory, and for the time he appeared fully content with them. In 1828, the office of Surrogate became vacant by the res- ignation of Seneca Wood, and the name of Mr. Seward was presented to but not confirmed by the Senate. This led him to say that, "I saw at once, how much the desire for or the holding of such a place tended to compromise my per- sonal independence, and, resolved henceforth, on no consideration other than the safety of the State, to seek, or accept a trust conferred by executive authority."
He adhered to this resolution throughout his life, except when armed rebellion assailed the " safety" of the nation, when, under President Lincoln's and Johnson's administrations he held the office of Secretary of State of the United States.
The abduction and alleged murder by Free Masons, on the 14th of September, 1826, of Wil- liam Morgan, of Batavia, for revealing their se- crets, created widespread and intense excitement, especially in the western counties of New York, and to a considerable extent also throughout the Union. It led to a political organization entitled the Anti-Masonic party, to which the great ma- jority of the electors in Western New York be- came attached, including Mr. Seward. Of this party Mr. Seward became a distinguished leader, and to it he owes his first political preferment. He was nominated for and elected State Senator of the Seventh District by a large majority. He took his seat in the Senate in January following, there being in that body of thirty-two members, but seven anti-masonic representatives. Mr. Seward was then but thirty years of age, with no legislative experience; a member of a party domi- nant only in a few counties of a single State, and hated and scorned by its opponents as an insig- nificant faction. He was confronted by old, tal- ented and experienced opponents. In his first service in the Senate of this State, as afterwards in that of the United States, he had a difficult part to perform, and in both instances his pru- dence, tact and talents were conspicuous dis- played. As a member ex-officio of the court for the Correction of Errors, he was active, indus- trious and influential. Legislation for the gen- eral interest of the State engaged his careful at- tention. In State and national politics, he act- ively participated, and won in his first public ser- vice that respect for his superior acuteness, dili- gence and prudence which has been accorded to him in all the various and responsible public trusts which he has held. In the summer of 1833, he accompanied his father, who was an in- valid seeking restoration of health, in a journey to Europe. While there he contributed very in- teresting letters, which were published in the Albany Evening Fournal, and widely copied by the press of the country, adding to his reputation
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as a clear and forcible writer, and close observer of men, manners and events. He returned in season to resume his seat in the senate.
In 1834 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor, being defeated by Wm. L. Marcy. Mr. Seward's increasing popularity with the peo- ple of the State was shown by his triumphant election to the same office, over the same com- petitor, in 1838, and he was rëelected in 1840. As Governor, his administration was eminently popular, and his State papers were dignified, for- cible and original. His official acts were stamped with that boldness and vigor of thought which distinguished his entire public career, and re- ceived the enthusiastic endorsement of the great body of the people of the State.
At the close of his gubernatorial service, for. the ensuing years he practiced his profession with success and distinction. In 1849 he was appointed Senator of the United States and re- appointed six years later, holding the office for twelve years. He entered that body in the full maturity of his powers, with deliberately formed and thoroughly grounded political opinions, and with capacities for their forcible and logical de- fense. The period of his service in the United States Senate was that of the incubation of se- cession, when the arrogance and dominance of its friends were offensively manifest. Mr. Sew- ard at once took firm ground against their pre- tentions. His independent, and, as some of his friends thought, his ultra course was offensive to some of the leading members of his party, as Webster, Clay and Fillmore,-while no epithets were sufficiently expressive to characterize the Southern hatred of his policy. He was bitterly denounced by pro-slavery men ; every effort was made to bring him in disrepute, destroy his in- fluence and deter him from his course ; but in vain. He had carefully laid his plans and de- liberately pursued them. To their railing and bitter invective he never retorted. Personalities he scorned. He met and overcame his opponents in argument, which was the only triumph he de- sired, leaving to time and events the vindication of the wisdom of his acts. His calm, unswerv- ing course finally won the regard, even of the hot headed Southerners themselves, who, though they hated his measures, could not but respect the man. His career in the Senate, while it was one of the most difficult which any of our states- men had attempted, was crowned by the most complete triumph. He won the hearts of our loyal citizens, brought them into harmony with his views, and prepared them when the final trial came, to sacrifice life and fortune in defense of the union. He was strongly opposed to slavery, both from its injustice to the colored race, and its injurious effects upon the whites themselves. With the mind of a philosopher he saw in the jarring and dissonarice between the freemen of the
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North, and the slave-holders of the South, such a wide separation and bitterness of feeling, as to render hopeless the effort to induce harmony of action. The government must, in his judgment, be either free or slave, and this led him to an- nounce that ever memorable sentiment, that the conflict between the sections was "irrepressible," for which, at the time, he was severely criticised; but which subsequent events proved to have been prophetic.
In the National Republican Convention of 1860, he was a prominent candidate for the presi- dential nomination which his friends regarded as certain. On the second ballot he received one hundred and eighty-four and one-half votes ; but on the third Mr. Lincoln received the nomina- tion.
In the organization of his Cabinet, Mr. Seward ,was made Secretary of State, a position which he held during Lincoln's and Johnson's adminis- trations, discharging its delicate and embarrass- ing duties with signal ability and success. New, . grave and complicated questions of domestic and foreign policy arose during the Rebellion, which must be met and decided, and the vast number of able papers which were issued from the State Department attest, at once, his great industry, wisdom and sagacity.
Early in April, 1865, while riding in his car- riage, the horses becoming frightened, ran, and in jumping out, he was thrown violently to the ground, his right arm broken and both sides of his lower jaw fractured. He was completely prostrated by the injury and fatal results were feared. While thus lying enfeebled upon his bed, at ten o'clock on the evening of April 14th, a would-be assassin forced his way into his cham- ber, armed with a heavy horse pistol and a large knife. His son, Frederick W., Assistant Secre- tary of State, who sought to prevent the assassin from entering the chamber, had his skull crushed by a fierce blow of the pistol, and his life was, for a long time, despaired of ; Augustus, another son, Paymaster in the United States Army, and two male nurses, who came to the rescue of the in- valid Secretary, were all severely wounded.
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