William Seward Monument at Madison Square Park Lincoln’s Helpmeet

Madison Square Park in Mid-Town Manhattan has a well-known bronze statue of Governor, Senator, and Lincoln’s Secretary of State William Seward (1801–1872). The sculpture was crafted by Randolph Rogers (1825–1892). According to the Department of Parks for New York City, “The sculpture was dedicated in 1876, and Seward is said to be the first New Yorker to be honored with a monument in the city.” The backers of the statue raised $25,000 ($500,000 in today’s currency) to pay for the statue. Ulysses S. Grant was one of the donors as was Ambrose Burnside, and Dan Butterfield.

The monument stands at 5th Avenue and 23rd Street.

William Seward was the most powerful non-Democratic politician of the Mid-19th Century in New York State. Originally from the small town of Florida, New York, he moved to Auburn in the Finger Lakes. He married a woman who was a Quaker from a prominent family there and, after becoming a lawyer, Seward became very outspoken against slavery. In 1838 he was elected governor of of the state. He intervened to help Solomon Northrop, a New Yorker, who was kidnapped by slave catchers and held for twelve years as a slave, get his freedom.

The statue was placed on a base of Italian marble, but in 2019 the deteriorated pedestal was replaced with Brazilian-quarried Red Arno granite. In 1995, the statue was cleaned and conserved. As you can see in the photos, it looks like a brand new sculpture, not like something that has been sitting out in the city for nearly a century-and-a-half.

The  monument was dedicated on September 27, 1876. Those attending the dedication included future president Chester A. Arthur, Thurlow Weed, Hamilton Fish, Jr., William Lloyd Garrison and General Winfield Scott Hancock.

 

Seward was a Whig politician who favored government intervention to build roads, canals, and other public improvements. In 1848, he was elected to the United States Senate. After he became a senator, he and his wife became close associates of Harriet Tubman and he helped her move to Auburn in the Finger Lakes just down the road from his house. In the 1850s, as the Whig Party fell apart, Seward helped Abolitionists and spoke frequently against slavery.

Unlike other Whigs, Seward welcomed immigrants to New York. He tried to engineer New York’s social structures to include immigrants, relaxing religious requirements that left non-Protestants at a disadvantage. This openness made him a target of the anti-immigrant Know Nothings who opposed him in his electoral campaigns.

 

In 1855, Seward joined the new Republican Party, probably the most famous politician to join the party. In the late 1850s, Seward fought against President Buchanan attempt to admit Kansas as a slave state saying; “The interest of the white races demands the ultimate emancipation of all men. Whether that consummation shall be allowed to take effect, with needful and wise precautions against sudden change and disaster, or be hurried on by violence, is all that remains for you to decide.”

In 1860, Seward was the leading candidate to be the Republican nominee for president, but he lost at the convention to Abraham Lincoln. While Seward was overcome by the loss, he put his effort into trying to get Lincoln elected. After Lincoln won, the president-elect chose Seward as his Secretary of State. Over the next four years, after some initial insubordination by the New Yorker, the two worked closely together. After Lincoln was assassinated, Seward served Johnson and arranged for the purchase of Alaska in “Seward’s Folly.”

The statue shows Seward sitting on a chair with a quill tip pen in his right hand and a piece of parchment in his left.

 

The statue shows great attention to the details of the chair as well as Seward’s clothes. Underneath the chair are the virtual library of books in which he had ready recourse.

 

The exquisite detail of the face have been expertly preserved by the City’s Parks Department.

 

Madison Square Park is a small urban park that has been restored over the last twenty years to its grandest appearance ever. There are a number of other Civil War statues here including those honoring Roscoe Conkling, Chester Arthur, and Admiral Farragut. There are also spaces where musicians gather to play music, and artists display their installations.

 

Shake Shack has a popular stand here, and there are seats and tables to eat your lunch or play a game of chess.

 

While this park dates back to the 19th Century, it is very lively and well-kept.

The restored fountain in the middle of the park runs every day except during the Winter and many people stop to admire it while on their way to work.

 

All color photos were taken by Pat Young. To see more sites Pat visited CLICK HERE for Google Earth view.

 

 

Sources:

New York Times Sept. 28, 1876

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