WILLIAM H. SEWARD AND HARRIET TUBMAN: A LESSER KNOWN NEXUS
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
11/17/13
William H. Seward is remembered primarily today by the phrase “Seward's Icebox or Seward's Folly.” While U.S. Secretary of State he purchased Alaska from Russia for 2 cents per acre in 1867.
However, he was also a former U.S. Senator, New York Governor, Republican Party founding member, lawyer, land speculator, Presidential candidate; was nearly assassinated with Lincoln on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth's accomplice in a coordinated attack; husband, father, and dedicated abolitionist.
For me, however, William H. Seward most stands out as the decades-long benefactor of Harriet Tubman. Her most substantial financial contributor, along with his wife, Frances, Seward “sold” Tubman a 7-acre homestead in Auburn, New York, he had inherited to Tubman, which Tubman worked and inhabited with her family, friends, and freedmen seeking shelter, from 1859 forward.
In that respect, Kate Clifford Larson, author of BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND: HARRIET TUBMAN, PORTRAIT OF AN AMERICAN HERO (2004), writes:
“During the late winter or early spring of 1859, William H. Seward offered Tubman a small parcel of property on the outskirts of Auburn, New York. Seward had inherited a seven acre farm from his father-in-law, Elijah Miller, on South Street, near the tollgate on the Auburn and Fleming town lines. For a total of $1200, Seward sold the property to Tubman. Originally known as the Burton Farm, the lot consisted of a house, a barn, several outbuildings, and tillable land, providing ample room for Tubman, her parents, and any other family members or friends who were in need of a home...
“Seward's wife, Frances, may have been instrumental in the transfer of the property. Their son, William H. Seward, Jr., may have negotiated the deal with Tubman, handling the financial and legal terms in his father's absence. According to Sanborn, 'to the credit of the Secretary of State [Seward] it should be said, that he sold her property on very favorable terms, and gave her some time for payment.' This was not the first time Seward had sold property on 'favorable terms' to individuals in need. Seward, and later his son, built small frame dwellings in and around Auburn on property they owned, selling them for sums ranging from $300 to $500 to immigrant and black families. Seward had long been a supporter of immigration and sought to protect the rights of immigrant families, and his commitment to the abolition of slavery and the attainment of equal rights of African Americans was well-documented by this time. Though the property was larger and more valuable than the other properties Seward sold to needy families, Seward's decision to assist Tubman was consistent with his other philanthropic and community commitments.
“In lieu of a $1200 payment, Seward accepted a mortgage on 'easy terms,' that is, Tubman put down $25 on the home and contracted to make quarterly payments of $10 with interest. This offer is remarkable for several reasons. First, Seward was selling the property to a woman, a black woman at that, with no obvious and steady means of income. Property ownership by women was uncommon in this period, and Seward could have required that the property be sold to her father, who was legally free. But Tubman must have made a strong argument for selling the property to her and her alone. There were legal considerations, however: What if her husband, John Tubman, appeared and demanded his rights to the property? Did her suffragist friends advise her as to the best legal course to protect herself, her property, and her family? As a New York resident, Tubman would have had limited citizenship rights. But her status as a fugitive slave lent legal complexity to an already unusual legal transaction. Tubman was not a citizen; she held no rights either as a free black or a slave. The Dred Scott decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1857, had denied that blacks, free or enslaved, could be citizens. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 also placed Seward in a precarious position. Seward was probably commiting an illegal act by selling the property to a known fugitive slave. Conceivably, he could have been arrested for aiding Harriet Tubman.... (pp.163-165)
“On October 10, 1872, William H. Seward died, and his son, Frederick, inherited the note on the property which had grown to over $1500.... On May 29, 1873, Frederick Seward signed over the seven-acre property to Tubman in exchange for a lump-sum payment of $1200, the original mortgage on the home. The rest of her debt to the Seward estate was forgiven.” (p.255)
The Wikipedia link below affords further information on William H. Seward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward
William H. Seward is remembered primarily today by the phrase “Seward's Icebox or Seward's Folly.” While U.S. Secretary of State he purchased Alaska from Russia for 2 cents per acre in 1867.
However, he was also a former U.S. Senator, New York Governor, Republican Party founding member, lawyer, land speculator, Presidential candidate; was nearly assassinated with Lincoln on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth's accomplice in a coordinated attack; husband, father, and dedicated abolitionist.
For me, however, William H. Seward most stands out as the decades-long benefactor of Harriet Tubman. Her most substantial financial contributor, along with his wife, Frances, Seward “sold” Tubman a 7-acre homestead in Auburn, New York, he had inherited to Tubman, which Tubman worked and inhabited with her family, friends, and freedmen seeking shelter, from 1859 forward.
In that respect, Kate Clifford Larson, author of BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND: HARRIET TUBMAN, PORTRAIT OF AN AMERICAN HERO (2004), writes:
“During the late winter or early spring of 1859, William H. Seward offered Tubman a small parcel of property on the outskirts of Auburn, New York. Seward had inherited a seven acre farm from his father-in-law, Elijah Miller, on South Street, near the tollgate on the Auburn and Fleming town lines. For a total of $1200, Seward sold the property to Tubman. Originally known as the Burton Farm, the lot consisted of a house, a barn, several outbuildings, and tillable land, providing ample room for Tubman, her parents, and any other family members or friends who were in need of a home...
“Seward's wife, Frances, may have been instrumental in the transfer of the property. Their son, William H. Seward, Jr., may have negotiated the deal with Tubman, handling the financial and legal terms in his father's absence. According to Sanborn, 'to the credit of the Secretary of State [Seward] it should be said, that he sold her property on very favorable terms, and gave her some time for payment.' This was not the first time Seward had sold property on 'favorable terms' to individuals in need. Seward, and later his son, built small frame dwellings in and around Auburn on property they owned, selling them for sums ranging from $300 to $500 to immigrant and black families. Seward had long been a supporter of immigration and sought to protect the rights of immigrant families, and his commitment to the abolition of slavery and the attainment of equal rights of African Americans was well-documented by this time. Though the property was larger and more valuable than the other properties Seward sold to needy families, Seward's decision to assist Tubman was consistent with his other philanthropic and community commitments.
“In lieu of a $1200 payment, Seward accepted a mortgage on 'easy terms,' that is, Tubman put down $25 on the home and contracted to make quarterly payments of $10 with interest. This offer is remarkable for several reasons. First, Seward was selling the property to a woman, a black woman at that, with no obvious and steady means of income. Property ownership by women was uncommon in this period, and Seward could have required that the property be sold to her father, who was legally free. But Tubman must have made a strong argument for selling the property to her and her alone. There were legal considerations, however: What if her husband, John Tubman, appeared and demanded his rights to the property? Did her suffragist friends advise her as to the best legal course to protect herself, her property, and her family? As a New York resident, Tubman would have had limited citizenship rights. But her status as a fugitive slave lent legal complexity to an already unusual legal transaction. Tubman was not a citizen; she held no rights either as a free black or a slave. The Dred Scott decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1857, had denied that blacks, free or enslaved, could be citizens. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 also placed Seward in a precarious position. Seward was probably commiting an illegal act by selling the property to a known fugitive slave. Conceivably, he could have been arrested for aiding Harriet Tubman.... (pp.163-165)
“On October 10, 1872, William H. Seward died, and his son, Frederick, inherited the note on the property which had grown to over $1500.... On May 29, 1873, Frederick Seward signed over the seven-acre property to Tubman in exchange for a lump-sum payment of $1200, the original mortgage on the home. The rest of her debt to the Seward estate was forgiven.” (p.255)
The Wikipedia link below affords further information on William H. Seward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward
