The Sewards of NY
Book by Thomas P. Slaughter
The Private Life of a Leading American Political Family…
Pulled Entirely from Never-before-Seen Correspondence
“As William H. Seward was Secretary of State under Lincoln (in addition to prior NY state governor and US senator), we are offered an intimate glance at their private and political lives as culled from their voluminous correspondence amid the Civil War, assassination, Underground Railroad, purchase of Alaska (“Seward’s folly”) and many more events historically intertwined with the Sewards, one of the most important political families of the 19th century.
From how holidays are celebrated, to decisions over smallpox vaccinations, everyday life of this influential family is animated and given life here against the backdrop of a turbulent, rapidly changing nation.
The development of the book itself is a remarkable undertaking: 25,000 pages of Seward’s papers uncovered from baskets and trunks, digitized and archived over 12 years by students at the University of Rochester under Slaughter’s guidance, leading to a separate database of every single individual mentioned (including pets) & shining new light on the era.”