Walter Stahr Book on Seward

[L Verge]

Me, too! Plus, I can add him to the list of potential conference speakers...

[Gene C]

What did Stahr have to say regarding Seward and Olive Risley and the supposed burning of Seward documents by the family?

[Linda Anderson]

(01-19-2015 04:49 PM)Gene C Wrote:  What did Stahr have to say regarding Seward and Olive Risley and the supposed burning of Seward documents by the family?

Stahr does not mention the burnt letters. Stahr writes, "Seward indeed loved Olive, but in many ways - as a companion, a daughter, a secretary, and (as time passed) a nurse. Moreover, Seward did not want, by marrying Olive, to deprive his sons of their rightful place and inheritance."

John M. Taylor in William Henry Seward: Lincoln's Right Hand quotes another Seward biographer, Glyndon G. Van Deusen, as saying that he (Van Deusen) had it on the "best authority" that letters revealing what the Sewards really thought of Olive and her father "were destroyed by relatives before the Seward Papers were given to the University of Rochester."

Van Deusen came to know the Seward family when he was doing research for his book on Seward's friend and political adviser, Thurlow Weed. Van Deusen tells how the Seward Papers were acquired by the University of Rochester.

"Then Claire Seward, Seward III's wife, came to me one day with some startling information. Would I be interested in seeing documents and letters that had been stored in the attic of their home? Mr. Seward, badly troubled with arthritis, had not been up there in years, and might have even forgotten about their existence. Would I like to see them?

"I shall never forget the sight that met my eyes in that attic. Great masses of material, largely letters to William Henry Seward, were there, some in trunks, boxes, and valises, some bound up in bundles, all covered with the dust of decades."

https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3453

Van Deusen's associate, John R. Russell, wrote "Early in his association with the Sewards they indicated that they would be willing to have me come to Auburn with him [Van Deusen] to make a survey of the letters and documents and printed material in Mr. Seward's possession. So on many Saturdays, beginning in 1945, I went to Auburn with him. While he used the letters that were in bound volumes in the study, I went through the many trunks and boxes in the basement and attic of the house, and in storage rooms in the barn. A pleasant interlude on those days was lunch, which Mrs. Seward asked us to share with her and her husband. The conversation centered around Mr. Seward's grandfather and father. They were always referred to as "the Secretary" and "the General." Gradually, a feeling of mutual respect and trust developed. At the end of each visit I would show Mr. Seward the manuscripts and printed materials that I had found. After looking them over he would usually say that I could take them to the University Library. Occasionally he would keep a few items to look over more carefully."

https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3451

I suspect that Van Deusen heard many stories about the Sewards and that may be where the story of the burnt letters came from.

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(01-19-2015 04:49 PM)Gene C Wrote:  What did Stahr have to say regarding Seward and Olive Risley and the supposed burning of Seward documents by the family?

Stahr does not mention the burnt letters. Stahr writes, "Seward indeed loved Olive, but in many ways - as a companion, a daughter, a secretary, and (as time passed) a nurse. Moreover, Seward did not want, by marrying Olive, to deprive his sons of their rightful place and inheritance."

John M. Taylor in William Henry Seward: Lincoln's Right Hand quotes another Seward biographer, Glyndon G. Van Deusen, as saying that he (Van Deusen) had it on the "best authority" that letters revealing what the Sewards really thought of Olive and her father "were destroyed by relatives before the Seward Papers were given to the University of Rochester."

Van Deusen came to know the Seward family when he was doing research for his book on Seward's friend and political adviser, Thurlow Weed. Van Deusen tells how the Seward Papers were acquired by the University of Rochester.

"Then Claire Seward, Seward III's wife, came to me one day with some startling information. Would I be interested in seeing documents and letters that had been stored in the attic of their home? Mr. Seward, badly troubled with arthritis, had not been up there in years, and might have even forgotten about their existence. Would I like to see them?

"I shall never forget the sight that met my eyes in that attic. Great masses of material, largely letters to William Henry Seward, were there, some in trunks, boxes, and valises, some bound up in bundles, all covered with the dust of decades."

https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3453

Van Deusen's associate, John R. Russell, wrote "Early in his association with the Sewards they indicated that they would be willing to have me come to Auburn with him [Van Deusen] to make a survey of the letters and documents and printed material in Mr. Seward's possession. So on many Saturdays, beginning in 1945, I went to Auburn with him. While he used the letters that were in bound volumes in the study, I went through the many trunks and boxes in the basement and attic of the house, and in storage rooms in the barn. A pleasant interlude on those days was lunch, which Mrs. Seward asked us to share with her and her husband. The conversation centered around Mr. Seward's grandfather and father. They were always referred to as "the Secretary" and "the General." Gradually, a feeling of mutual respect and trust developed. At the end of each visit I would show Mr. Seward the manuscripts and printed materials that I had found. After looking them over he would usually say that I could take them to the University Library. Occasionally he would keep a few items to look over more carefully."

https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3451

I suspect that Van Deusen heard many stories about the Sewards and that may be where the story of the burnt letters came from.