The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-01
william Henry Seward.
rIpaT NOTICE.

WtInRm henry SoWaTu'
FIRST NOTICE..
We are indebted 10 The Harpers for the two vol
umes comprising a Lite o. WR'fnm Henri S''rdrd
by FREDERIC BANCROFT. This. oil course
IL not the frst biog raphy of the New York states
man, but II Is probably that which will live the
longest. II aims to he a work OF art, a. disun-
guished from a mere compilation Of the subiects
correspondence int rsre rsed and supplemented
by annota,ions. For that reason II Is likely To
fnd readers who, not unnaturally, shrnk from
volumes mainly made up Of letters. Ills. no doubt.
n biog rapher's business not to present his data
in their crude, original forms. but to winnow them
and TO digest them. This was Mr.. Bancrofts
purpose in the book before US. and that he has
gone lar to fulfil /, is no slight praise.
The initial chapter Of the work, comprising but
twelve pages, and entitled The Start in life"
carries the subject Of the biog raphy from his birth
n his marriage at the age Of %. To ~genealog
ical matters Just one page is devoted. Apparently,
in the lives Of W. II. Stewards forefa,hers, there
was nothing that calls for either boas,ing or con
cealment. His grandfather, John Seward, was
supposed 10 be OF Welsh descent: he lived In Morris
county, y. j.. WAS a Colonel in the Revolution
airy Army and died in 1909. About all tina, is
known NJ Seward's grandfather on his mothers
side, Isaac Jennings, IL that 'he was a well-to-do
farmer, who tdmed out with the militia Of Go
shen. y. y" Stewards father. Samurl s.
Seward, was a physician by profession, but by
practice a farmer, a merchant, a politician, a
magistrate and for seventeen wears a county
Judge. lie represented his county in the New
York Legislature In 1904. He acquired what
in those days seemed wealth, for he founded in
the village Of Florida a high school OF institute,
and endowed II with 500 900. DR.. Stewards
wife, Mary Jennings, had merely tho educational
advantages Of cred by country schools.
I.
william Henry Seward was born In Florida,
Orange county, y. Y, May 10, 1901. He was
the fourth Of six children, two OF whom were girls.
Asa child, he was asked which one Of his fathers
many calings he intended to adopt, and replied
that he ex p~cted to he a J Justice OF the Peace. When
o years old, he was sent TO an academy
in the neighboring village Of Goshen, where he
began TO study Latin. With the exception Of
six months at this school, II was in Florida that
h. prepared for college, Not all his time could
had a few sla yes, for slavery still fingered in
New York, the boy had many chores to do. He
recalled in after years that TT was my business
W Univ lF 'oNS, m'inihk W. w oia
from distant pastures, to chop and carry in the
fuel for tn parlor fire, to take the grain to mill
and fetch the -four, to bring the lime from the
kiln and to do the errands Of the family generally"
Much studious work, however, must have been
crowded into the six years spent al the Goshen
and Florida academies, for, by the autumn OF
1915 Stewards studies had taken him to a point
about midway in the curriculum Of a first class
,,llnu, Havipu haap axnpipad Gov a1u,iSsinp
to Union College in Schenectady, he was informed
that he was qualified intellectually to enter the
Junior class. a. he had expected to do. but that,
rs he was under rs, tn. rules would not per
init him. So he became a sophomore. After
his graduation Al Union, Seward entered an
attorneys Office In Goshen, and remained there
until the autumn Of 1891, after which H. con.
tinued his studies under John Anthem in New
York city. In tn, spring OF the following year,
he went into partnership In Goshen with Ogden
Hoffman, who became subsequently a famous
criminal lawyer in the city Of New York, Al.
though Seward had not yet been admitted to the
bar. he received one-,hird Of the profits of the
office business. and all he earned in the justices
courts, while his partner hal the counsel fees.
Aiter Stewards admission to practice In October
1929, the partnership came to an end, but the
Wv l' iioi NohltNi W. ~ WIZ w ~
his ex expenses while hA looked about for a place
in which to establish himself. In 1923, he settled
In Auburn. having become a partner Of Elijah
Miller, who guaranteed him $500 per annum.
The first years practice brought him more than
the sum guaranteed, and he soon became known
as a good advocate, a careful conveyancer and a
successful collector Of debts. In October, 1924.
he married Frances Miller, his partners daughter.
II wRs in the Presidential IN mnaiou of 1904
that Seward. who had but recently completed
his twenty third year. began TO take an active
part in the politics Of his county. His father.
DR.. Seward. remained a stanch Jefersoniant 10
his last hour, but his son William united with
the opponents Of the Republican party, and helped
to carry the State for De Witt Clinton. The
strength Of the new National Republican" party.
to which Adams and Clay belonged, quickly de-
cllned, however. in the State OF New York, and its
upholders were barely able 10 re- elect Clinton 10 The
Goyernorsbip in 1925, while their Republican
opponents secured maiorities in the State Legis-
lature and n majority Of the Cong ressmen. Two
years later Seward found that his party was
monbund In the State, and he decided 70 enlist
in the anti Masonic movement Soon after
ward a close personal alliance was formed be
tween him and Thurlow Weed, In September, 1880,
he was a delegat I TO the National Anti Masonic
Convention in Philadelphia, and, on his return
thereirom, was elected a State Senator from Cayuga
county. lie soon became the leader Of the anti.
Masons In the State Senate, but tina, party did not
long survive. and his career as a State Senator
came to an end in the spring OF 1884. II was in
this year that the antag onists OF the Democrats
in the State Of New York assumed the lame Of
Wings, and Seward was the first nominee Of
an. a. t.. Al. n~- -