OPINION | Seward Park's Link to the Underground Railroad

by Randy Rowland

It's not hard to imagine why our city would name Seward Park after the guy whose foresight brought all that gold rush money to Seattle. William H. Seward was the U.S. secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. If you look up Seward Park, that's all you get regarding its name. But in his day, Seward was more famous (or infamous, depending on your view) as an abolitionist politician. He and his wife were even part of the Underground Railroad. This part of his history, generally overlooked in the cursory mention he gets in relation to Seward Park, is well worth remembering, especially as we reexamine historical figures using a modern lens. Seattle South-Enders can be proud to have a park named after this visionary leader.

William Seward was an ardent abolitionist. He was born into a farming family in New York which owned slaves before that state outlawed slavery in 1827. At age 17, he traveled down to Georgia, where he witnessed the eye-opening treatment of enslaved people in the South. By the time he finished his education, became a lawyer, and then began running for public office, Seward was a committed opponent of slavery. He was described by a contemporary as "one of those spirits who sometimes will go ahead of public opinion instead of tamely following its footprints."

Seward was elected governor of New York back when Northern states were required by federal law to return runaways to their enslavers in the South. In September 1839, an escaped slave was discovered aboard a ship that had sailed from Virginia to New York City. The fugitive was reluctantly returned to his enslaver, as required by the Fugitive Slave Act, but Virginia also demanded that the three free Black sailors who were accused of concealing the stowaway aboard the ship also be arrested and surrendered to Virginia. Seward refused, and when Virginia, in retribution, passed legislation restricting trade with New York, Seward responded by persuading the New York Legislature to pass laws protecting the rights of Black people against Southern slave catchers. Then Seward continued his campaign, signing legislation in 1841 to repeal the "Nine Month Law," which had allowed slaveholders to bring their slaves into New York State for up to nine months before they were considered free. The result was that enslaved persons were considered free as soon as they reached the state of New York. Seward didn't play. In the 1850s, the Seward family used their home as a safe house for fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad.

The South pretty much hated him, but most folk, North and South, thought Seward — who by now was a U.S. Senator — was a shoo-in to be the Republican Party's 1860 candidate for president. The issue of slavery was polarizing the country, and Seward was perhaps the best-known, most outspoken abolitionist politician. The convention instead picked Abraham Lincoln, who was considered a moderate, as their candidate. Though Seward was deeply hurt that he didn't get the nod, he quickly went to work supporting Lincoln's campaign. When Lincoln won the presidential election, with significant help from Seward, it was the first time in American history that the Electoral College system hadn't worked to the South's advantage. Modern Americans, having witnessed what happened when Trump lost, won't be surprised to learn that even though the president-elect was the moderate Lincoln, the slaveholding South immediately began preparing for secession from the Union. So long as the system worked to their advantage, they were patriots, but as soon as they lost, they were out.

Once in office, Lincoln appointed Seward as secretary of state. Despite initial reservations, Seward came to admire Lincoln as the new president grew into his position. Lincoln had been a one-term U.S. congressman more than 10 years earlier, so he wasn't really familiar with Washington, and he came to rely on Seward's advice. The two men built a close personal and professional relationship. It's said that Lincoln would come to Seward's house to relax and chat. Biographers say that Lincoln began to feature Seward in his humorous stories. For example, in one famous anecdote, Lincoln told of Seward giving the new president grief when he caught Lincoln polishing his boots. "In Washington, we do not blacken our own boots," Seward admonished him. Lincoln, the raconteur, responded, "Indeed, then whose boots do you blacken, Mr. Secretary?" Seward often gave Lincoln feedback on drafts of his speeches, and it was Seward who proposed to Lincoln that he proclaim Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Once the Civil War broke out, Seward kept France and the United Kingdom from siding with the South and contributed in a variety of other ways to the war effort. The plot to assassinate Lincoln included plans to kill Seward as well. The night Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a coconspirator simultaneously entered Seward's home and attacked him with a knife. In all, five people were wounded before the intruder fled, and Seward barely survived the attack. He continued his position as secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.

Seward heard that the Russians might sell Alaska. He was the chief negotiator for the U.S. side, and finally struck a deal where the U.S. bought all of Russian Alaska for $7.2 million, a purchase derided by many at the time as "Seward's Folly." The Alaska gold rush began only 29 years later. Imagine if the U.S. had NOT bought Alaska. Seattle might not have gotten rich selling stuff to gold-hungry prospectors, for one thing. And if Alaska had remained Russian territory, perhaps following the Russian Revolution, that region would have become the Soviet Socialist Republic of Alaska. Maybe there'd be Russian missile silos there, and I don't suppose we would have had Sarah Palin to laugh at.

When Seward passed away, folks filed by his open coffin for four hours. Harriet Tubman, who the Sewards had aided earlier in her life, sent flowers. "Seward's Folly" may be his main claim to fame, but for Seattle South-Enders, Seward's determined abolitionist ways are well worth honoring, and it's well worth remembering that our park is linked, through its namesake, to the Underground Railroad.

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Randy Rowland is a retired RN who worked at Harborview Medical Center. He lives in the Rainier Valley neighborhood of Seattle. A member of Veterans For Peace, he has been a sporadic activist since resisting the U.S. war against Vietnam in the late 1960s while an Army medic.

📸 Featured Image: Seward Park in June 2015. (Photo: TIA International Photography/Seattle Parks and Recreation, under a CC BY 2.0 license)