Talk:William H. Seward

Efforts to prevent secession?

The article states that Seward did his best to prevent the Southern states from seceding. Really? What did he do? Jefferson Davis, in Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, indicates that Seward, as Secretary of State, had virtually promised the Confederacy that the Union government would withdraw from Fort Sumter and hand the installation over to the Confederacy. In other words, cave in. Davis criticizes Seward for his lack of good faith and Lincoln for tolerating him.John Paul Parks (talk) 14:49, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

However, his ultimate goal was to preserve the union, no?--Wehwalt (talk) 17:08, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

older comments

The article says that "In 1850 Seward voted against the Missouri Compromise and claimed in a speech that if slavery were not abolished, America would become embroiled in a civil war. He continued to argue this point of view over the next ten years." The Missouri Compromise was in 1820, so the article most likely meant to say the Seward opposed the Compromise of 1850, a bill similar in that it regulated where slavery could or could not expand to.

Seward's role as Lincoln's Secretary of State should get more coverage, including: the problem of keeping European powers out of the war; Seward's close relationship with Lincoln; and Seward's role in the struggles between the radical Republicans and the more moderate wing of the party. Stegeman 00:30, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Meaning of word "Nee"

"nee disagreeing with Lincoln's war policies"

What does "Nee" mean?

Tabletop 3 July 2005 04:53 (UTC)

Nee means "born", used to indicate a person's original name. It makes no sense in that context, however. From the context, I think what the writer intended was "i.e." Not sure why they wrote "nee", though, unless they were simply ignorant of its meaning -- Nik42 3 July 2005 14:45 (UTC)

That info was added June 10 by User:MSTCrow. Given the amount of new material & its controversial nature, it should be sourced - or else deleted --JimWae 2005 July 3 16:19 (UTC)

This sideview is better and has more resolution. Also it is probably work of some of the famous 19th century photographers, maybe Matthew Brady. - Darwinek 7 July 2005 10:29 (UTC)

What is present day value of the price paid for Alaska?

What is $7.2mm in 2005 or 2006 dollars? Bwithh 03:02, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

$96,604,813.22 in today's dollars, according to this converter. puzzleMeister 01:38, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

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It may be beneficial to note why his epitaph is what it is. Ref. he said it would be so in the concluding remarks in a criminal defense case he was the attorney in...

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Studied Law at College?

I'm questioning whether Seward actually studied law at Union College. My understanding is most people back then who studied law did so after ending their formal education, by working as a sort of apprentice in a law office. Seward "read law" in this way with a couple of different attorneys before taking the bar exam and starting his own practice.

--Eldred (talk) 19:54, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

love you.its your great niece.my name is keeley seward.i wish i could of met you. i am now 10 years old about to be a 11 love you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.177.233.53 (talk) 02:12, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Legacy or no?

In his Legacy section, there was a fact about him and the Guano Islands Act, but when you go to the page on the act, there is no mention of seward at all. --AznShark (talk) 19:15, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Tammie Gunn

Hi my name is Tammie Gunn & my gr.grandfather's name is William Richard Seward born Jan 5, 1882 in Sudlersville, Md. died Mar 8, 1948 in Hagerstown, Md. he married Bessie Deane Dawson b. Jan 31, 1882 in Piedmont, Mineral co., west Va. marr. date Oct. 9, 1905. His father was Richard Russell Seward b. 1839 in Ireland d.1929 spouse Sarah Ann Uliston b. in France but have no dates as of yet. Thank you, Tammie Gunn 97.119.20.175 (talk) 16:56, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Please explain how any of this is about how we can make the article better. By the looks of it, it seems you ask for info for your private genealogy work. In case: that is not what this talk page is for. Wurdnurd (talk) 23:42, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Horace Greeley's opposition to the Seward nomination

The article currently has an unsourced claim that Greeley opposed Seward's nomination because of Seward's radical reputation. However, in her book 'Team of Rivals', Goodwin puts the opposition down to the poor treatment of Greeley by Seward & Weed when Greeley went to them in the hope of getting help in being elected to public office. Does anybody want to substantiate the claim made in the article before I go ahead and replace it?

Polanyi (talk) 03:10, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Can't substantiate it at the moment, but my understanding is that Greeley had a long-standing personal beef with Seward and Weed, but that he publicly justified his opposition to Seward on grounds of Seward's radical reputation. The two statements are not mutually exclusive. john k (talk) 04:44, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Date mixup?

At the very end of the article is this: "In 1957, a century after the Alaska purchase, the actor Joseph Cotten portrayed Seward in "The Freeman Story" of hisNBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show. Virginia Gregg played Fanny Seward." ... but wasn't 1967 the centennial of the Alaskan purchase? Bdefore (talk) 01:13, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

Quick question

Where's the source for the "probable" auction value of $50,000 for the $50 note? Pudge MclameO (talk) 20:06, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

How do you pronounce his name?

Could somebody please help us non-Americans by adding guidance on how to pronounce the name "Seward"? Is it Sea-ward or Sewer-d? (Not that you hear anyone saying it out loud much these days, but just in case ...) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.110.216.193 (talk) 08:58, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

It's Sewer-d. --Partnerfrance (talk) 23:18, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Seward's Folly

I saw that this article was promoted to FA status quite recently. I skimmed through it and was surprised that his purchase of Alaska wasn't given much emphasis either in the lead or in the "Territorial expansion and Alaska." The only thing I knew about Seward before reading the article was that he bought Alaska from the Russians. Would it be inaccurate to change the lead to "Seward remained loyally at his post through the presidency of Andrew Johnson, and was responsible for the Alaska purchase, for which he is best known" or something like that? I feel like the average person will only recognize his name from "Seward's Folly." AmericanLemming (talk) 15:24, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Is he best known for that? I assume so, but reliable sourcing could be difficult. His role as wartime SecState was important, perhaps vital. And the folly is a bit of a myth, see the footnote--Wehwalt (talk) 16:31, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

I did a comprehensive search for "Seward's Folly" in my university's digital library, and the only thing I found that said he was best known for the Alaska purchase was in an obituary for his great grandnephew John P. Seward (1905-1985) that appeared in the January 1987 issue of American Psychologist. If this was just a GA, I would go ahead and add the tidbit about it him being best known for it, but given that this is a FA, I'm not sure the source is reliable enough. By the way, I do agree with you that the Alaska purchase wasn't his most important accomplishment, just his best known. It frustrates me that sometimes you can't state the painfully obvious in an article just because you can't find a source to back you up, but WP:VERIFY is policy, after all. AmericanLemming (talk) 22:23, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, we could say "for which he remains well-known", which is vaguer and of course certainly true, though we'd have to add something in support (not hard). I agree with you on the frustration!--Wehwalt (talk) 23:12, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

I would just like to contribute my two cents, that I think it most appropriate that there be some mention of the term "Seward's folly" in the main text of the article, and not just in a footnote. Ergo Sum 00:08, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

fact conflict

This article, in the section about the Assassination attempt, says: ..that Herold, panicked by the screams from the house, had left with both horses. However, the main article link to Assassination of Abraham Lincoln#Powell attacks Secretary William Seward states: ..Powell exclaimed, "I'm mad! I'm mad!", untied his horse from the tree where Herold left it, and rode away, alone. Nyth83 (talk) 00:00, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

God only knows. All I wrote is what was in the source given.--Wehwalt (talk) 03:35, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Late Photograph

This article formerly contained a photograph of Seward taken near the end of his public life. It showed extensive creasing on his right cheek, far more so than on his left. Those creases were mostly knife scars from the murderous attack on the night when President Lincoln was killed. I think it would be useful to restore that historically illustrative photograph. J S Ayer (talk) 01:59, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

File:William H. Seward portrait - restoration.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:William H. Seward portrait - restoration.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on May 16, 2017. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2017-05-16. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 03:56, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Picture of the day

William H. Seward (1801–1872) was United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as Governor of New York and United States Senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was generally praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the American Civil War. His firm stance against foreign intervention in the Civil War helped deter Britain and France from entering the conflict, which might have led to the independence of the Confederate States. His contemporary Carl Schurz described Seward as "one of those spirits who sometimes will go ahead of public opinion instead of tamely following its footprints."Photograph: Unknown; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

Disfigurement

Nothing about the disfigurement of his face due to being stabbed through the cheek and jaw (perhaps in conjunction with the previous injuries?)? It was quite marked and he took great pains to avoid showing that side of his face in photographs later in life (at least one exists however). It is somewhat ironic that Powell also was facially disfigured from a mule breaking his jaw when he was 12 years old.AnnaGoFast (talk) 06:39, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

It's shown in the cartoon, and alluded to in the sequence about not having had the fortune to die with Lincoln. What do you feel is needed?--Wehwalt (talk) 09:08, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

Summer

When is summer? --MarchOrDie (talk) 13:54, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

I think in the context of a person who never left the Northern Hemisphere, it's pretty clear. But if you were going to change it, I'd rather you relied on the sources, rather than on the imperfect rendering of them that is a Wikipedia article.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:07, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

It's not clear at all. Even within the Northern Hemisphere, there are at least three competing definitions of "summer", which is why WP:SEASON recommends not using it like this. A Featured Article should have been edited for MoS compliance; this is basic stuff. If you are able to use the sources to add actual dates, that would be the best. --MarchOrDie (talk) 15:04, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

MOS:JOBTITLES

Adding a note because people randomly keep capitalizing it but the "governor" in "governor of New York" is not meant to be capitalized. It is merely an office and does not refer to a real person specifically like most proper nouns. --NikkeKatski [Elite] (talk) 19:22, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Also...

Can we get this article semi-protected until people stop vandalizing it... kthx --NikkeKatski [Elite] (talk) 19:23, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Try WP:RFPP. As the FAC nominator, I would prefer not to be the guy to do it, although I have done so in the past.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:31, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Have requested semi. Thanks! BusterD (talk) 20:21, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Declined. BusterD (talk) 21:09, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

IT's calmed down and only a few hours left.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:24, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Kinda wish that by default the main page articles would get semi-protection. sadly we cant just use cascading semi-protection --NikkeKatski [Elite] (talk) 00:05, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

Intro links

User:Elitematterman, I added the intro links for opposition to immigration and anti-Catholicism in order to illuminate why his support for them would have been controversial. I suppose one could rewrite the phrase to say he opposed the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments of the period, but it might get a bit unwieldy. MisfitToys (talk) 20:31, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

I see. I'll go ahead and re-add the changes for you User:MisfitToys --NikkeKatski [Elite] (talk) 23:15, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

Thanks. MisfitToys (talk) 21:59, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Shame pole

The original Seward Pole, carved c. 1885, shamed William H. Seward

https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/about-ahs/special-projects/150treaty/150th-resource-library/new-articles/the-seward-shame-pole-countering-alaskas-sesquicentennial/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole#Shame/ridicule_pole Polygnotus (talk) 01:57, 29 December 2023 (UTC)