U.S. Secretary of State in the President Abraham Lincoln Administration

(1801-72) Lawyer and Whig politician. Governor of New York 1839-42. He later served in the Senate, vigorously opposed slavery and joined the Republican party in 1856. Twice passed over for president (1856 and 1860) he became Abraham Lincoln's very able Secretary of State. He was savagely attacked in his bed on the night of the Lincoln assassination by fellow conspirator Lewis Payne. He recovered from his wounds and served in the same post under President Andrew Johnson. Perhaps his most important act was the purchase of Alaksa, then called "Seward's Folly," in 1867 from Russia.

Portrait engraving, 8 x 10 3/4. Full view seated at a desk with printed facsimile autograph below. Likeness from the latest photograph from life. Published by Johnson, Fry & Co., New York, 1862. Age toning in the border areas.