New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

William Seward

Albany’s Thurlow Weed: Seward, Lincoln’s Election, & The Civil War Years

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Lincoln Hamlin 1860 campaign banner The second Republican Party Presidential election was held in 1860. Thurlow Weed wanted supporters of the recently formed Republican Party to nominate William Seward.

Working against Weed was the fact that the Republican convention was to be held in Chicago, Illinois, home state of Abraham Lincoln. Weed knew that his man, Seward, was far better known throughout the country. In addition to being New York’s Governor, Seward had been a U.S. Senator and as a leading anti-slavery proponent he had received extensive publicity. His biggest drawback was that he had been considered at one time to be the most radical anti-slavery member of the Senate. [Read more…] about Albany’s Thurlow Weed: Seward, Lincoln’s Election, & The Civil War Years

The End of the Whigs: Thurlow Weed & The Birth of the Republican Party

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Thurlow Weed ca 1865 photo by Matthew Brady from the National Portrait GalleryFollowing his political successes in the disputed Election of 1824, Thurlow Weed was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1825 and again in 1830.

In the 1820s, like many in Upstate New York with populist, anti-elite feelings, Weed strongly believed the Masons were trying to control government using secret means. He felt that political affairs should be conducted publicly and particularly opposed the fraternal secrecy of Freemasonry.  An alleged conspiracy by Masons to murder William Morgan in Western New York in September, 1826 sparked the anti-Freemasonry movement. Weed began publishing the Anti-Masonic Enquirer in Rochester, NY in February, 1828.

Soon Weed was hired as editor of the newly formed Anti-Masonic Albany Evening Journal, which began publication on March 22, 1830. The move to Albany made him a statewide leader of the fledgling Anti-Masonic Party. [Read more…] about The End of the Whigs: Thurlow Weed & The Birth of the Republican Party

Albany’s Ira Harris: From Rights Advocate to Lincoln’s Assassination

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Ira HarrisIra Harris was born at Charleston, Montgomery County, NY on May 31st, 1802 to Fredrick Waterman Harris and Lucy Hamilton. When he was six years old, his family moved to Preble, NY where his father became one of the largest landowners in Cortland County.

Harris attended Homer Academy and graduated from Union College in 1824. He studied law for one year in Homer, New York and then moved to Albany where he assisted one of that city’s most highly regarded jurists, Ambrose Spencer. [Read more…] about Albany’s Ira Harris: From Rights Advocate to Lincoln’s Assassination

Seward Assassination Attempt Reconsidered In Auburn

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Seward Assassination AttemptThe Seward House Museum has announced a program, Murder and Medicine: The Seward Assassination Attempt Reconsidered, has been set for Wednesday, October 17th, from 7:15 to 8:30 pm, at the Carriage House Theater, located behind the Cayuga Musuem on 203 Genesee St, Auburn. [Read more…] about Seward Assassination Attempt Reconsidered In Auburn

William Seward’s and Horatio Seymour’s Gettysburg Addresses

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The dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863, is mostly remembered for the short speech that President Abraham Lincoln delivered there that day. At the time, however, most of the public attention went to a much longer, formal oration by Edward Everett, former Massachusetts governor, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State.

But there were other speakers at Gettysburg as well, including two New Yorkers, Secretary of State (and former U.S. Senator and governor) William H. Seward, and Governor Horatio Seymour.

At the time, Seward and Seymour were nationally recognized and influential leaders and their short speeches were widely noted and reprinted in the press. [Read more…] about William Seward’s and Horatio Seymour’s Gettysburg Addresses

Seward Family Treasures On Exhibit In Auburn

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Untold Stories 2Two of Auburn’s leading cultural institutions, the Cayuga Museum of History and Art, and the Seward House Museum, have joined forces to create a new exhibit, “Untold Stories: Treasures from the Seward Family Collection” will be on display at the Cayuga Museum from until August 30, 2015.

Showcasing items from the collections of the Seward House Museum in the spacious galleries of the Cayuga Museum, this unique collaboration explores the themes of family life in the Victorian era and the Seward family’s world travels. [Read more…] about Seward Family Treasures On Exhibit In Auburn

New Book On The Life Of Fanny Seward

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fanny-sewardOn April 14, 1865, the night of President Lincoln’s assassination, Booth’s conspirator Lewis Powell attempted to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward in his home just blocks from Ford’s Theatre.

The attack, which left Seward and his son seriously wounded, is recounted in poignant detail in Fanny Seward’s diary. Fanny, the beloved only daughter of Seward, was a keen observer, and her diary entries from 1858 to 1866 are the foundation of Trudy Krisher’s Fanny Seward: A LIfe (Syracuse Univ. Press, 2014), a vivid portrait of the young girl who was an eyewitness to one of the most tumultuous periods in American history. [Read more…] about New Book On The Life Of Fanny Seward

Cuomo Eulogy Echoes Lincoln, Seward

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Mario Cuomo in 2009 (courtesy New York State Writers Institute)Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s eloquent eulogy last week for his father, Mario M. Cuomo, echoed both Abraham Lincoln and former New York Gov. William Seward, one of the leading abolitionists in political life.

“Mario Cuomo was the keynote speaker for our better angels,” Andrew Cuomo said at the funeral on Wednesday, invoking the memory of his father’s famous San Francisco Democratic National Convention speech and, at the same time, recalling the historic closing lines of Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address. [Read more…] about Cuomo Eulogy Echoes Lincoln, Seward