Frederick W. Seward

Frederick William Seward (July 8, 1830 – April 25, 1915) He graduated from Union College in 1849 and studied law with Henry E. Davies and William Kent. In 1851, he was admitted to the bar in Rochester, New York. In 1878, Union awarded him an honorary LL.D. degree.

Baltimore Plot

On February 21, 1861, Seward arrived at the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia carrying a letter from his father for President-elect Lincoln. The letter contained information gathered by Colonel Charles Pomeroy Stone and General Winfield Scott.

Stone had stationed three detectives from the New York police department in Baltimore to gather information about plots against Lincoln. Making his way by train from Illinois to Washington for his inauguration, Lincoln had intended to stop next at Baltimore, which was home to many secessionist sympathizers. According to information gathered by Stone's detectives, secessionists were planning to assassinate Lincoln during his stop in Baltimore.

The warning Fred Seward brought would contribute to Lincoln's decision to pass through Baltimore under the cover of night, rather than stop and appear in public there. Although Allan Pinkerton also warned Lincoln of danger awaiting him in Baltimore, it was Seward's information that confirmed everyone's fears.

Civil War When his father was appointed Secretary of State in 1861, Seward became Assistant Secretary of State in charge of consular service under Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He served in the position until 1869 and "assisted in the negotiations to the adoption of the Burlingame Treaty," which set the attitude towards China when the empire "accepted the principles of international law." On April 17, 1868, Seward testified in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, having been called as a witness by Johnson's defense team.

Frederick's father died on October 10, 1872. Seward was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 7th D.) in 1875. At the New York state election, 1875, he ran on the Republican ticket for Secretary of State of New York, but was defeated by Democrat John Bigelow. He served again as Assistant Secretary of State, in the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes under William M. Evarts, from 1877 until his resignation in November 1879 due to illness.

Seward also edited and published his father's autobiography and letters in a volume entitled Life and Letters of William H. Seward. near Peekskill, in New York. The estate had nearly a mile of Hudson River water-frontage. He was interred with his family in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York. Seward left an estate valued at $100,000. In 1916, a year after his death, his book Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, 1830-1915, a five-hundred page book about the Civil War and politics, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Also in 1916, his widow sold their 50-acre Montrose estate.

In popular culture Seward was portrayed by Josh Bowman in the 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries series Manhunt.