Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Government

Location

35 South St, Auburn, NY 13021, USA

Lat/Long

42.92867, -76.56602

Grant Recipient

City of Auburn

Dedicated on Nov. 15^th, 1888, Seward Park commemorates the legacy of statesman, William H. Seward, most remembered in posterity for his role in the Lincoln and Johnson cabinets as Secretary of State, and for proctoring the treaty to purchase Alaska from Russia in 1867. The land for the park was donated by Seward’s sons, Frederick and Will Jr., who presented the deed for the property to Auburn Mayor Mortimer V. Austin as part of the ceremony that day.

Born in Florida, New York in 1801 to Samuel Sweezy and Mary Jennings, Seward moved to Auburn in 1822 when he took a job under his future father-in-law, the Hon. Elijah Miller, working at his law firm. Though Seward continued working as a lawyer in the decades to follow, he soon found himself interested in politics. Seward was sworn in as a New York State Senator in 1831, kicking off a nearly four decade long political career that would see him hold the subsequent offices of New York State Governor, United States Senator, and Secretary of State for the Lincoln and Johnson administration.

Throughout his career as a politician Seward became a vocal anti-slavery advocate and proponent of education and prison reform. His wife, Miller’s daughter Frances, was an abolitionist who operated their Auburn house as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Seward’s political trajectory continued to rise, and in 1860 he was the presumed nominee for the Republican Party; however, in an upset Seward lost to Abraham Lincoln. Seward would campaign for his former foe leading up to the national election, and after Lincoln was elected 16^th President of the United State he would return the favor by selecting Seward to serve as his Secretary of State. After surviving an assassination attempt the same night Lincoln was shot, Seward continued to serve as Secretary of State in the Johnson administration where he spearheaded the effort to purchase Alaska before retiring from public office in 1869. Seward went on two international trips following his retirement from public office, and he would spend the last year of his life in Auburn working on a travel memoir and autobiography. He passed away in October 1872 at the age of 71. The park was dedicated 16 years after his death.

A bronze statue, crafted by Civil War veteran Walter G. Robinson, captures Seward as he gives his maiden speech on the senate floor, which would become known as the “higher law” speech. An excerpt from the speech can be seen in the southward face of the granite base of the statue:

The Constitution regulates our stewardship: the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare, and to liberty. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purpose.

With this, Senator Seward placed himself into the national debate regarding the expansion of slavery as the United States as the country looked west.

The park is located on property first purchased by Miller in 1816, and which stayed in the family until the dedication of the park. From the marker you can see the statue and park, as well as the house constructed by Miller in 1816, which Seward would move into in 1824 after marrying Frances. The house remained in the family until 1951, and in 1955 it opened its doors as a museum.