(01-20-2015 04:56 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Does anyone know what $50,000 was worth in 1872?

Linda, the page here says:

$50,000 of 1872 dollars would be worth: $961,538.46 in 2014.

$50,000 of 2014 dollars would be worth $2,600.00 in 1872.

(01-20-2015 04:56 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  

(01-20-2015 05:36 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks for clarifying, Linda. I agree, these excerpts do sound more than fatherly . . .Did she inherit less than the sons? Wiki reads: "She and Seward's three surviving sons were named joint heirs of the Seward estate", but that still doesn't tell if the portions were equal ones.

The 11/18/1872 New York Herald published a copy of Seward's will dated 11/5/1870. Seward's three sons Gus, Fred and Will inherited in equal shares "the house and real estate in Auburn in which I dwell."

Seward gave "all my remaining estate, real and personal, in equal shares to my said three sons, and my adopted daughter, Olive F. Risley, daughter of my old friend, Harrison A. Risley."

Seward appointed Will and Olive as executor and executrix.

The 10/18/1872 San Francisco Chronicle states that besides the house in Auburn, "his other property, consisting in part of securities, but mainly of real estate in Auburn and vicinity, he divides in four equal shares among his sons and his adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward...The property has not yet been appraised, and it is impossible to say precisely what it will amount to, but it will probably not be far from $200,00."

Does anyone know what $50,000 was worth in 1872?

Is the bold amount supposed to read "$200,000? If so, that guesstimate would make the estate worth nearly $5 million. If I were Seward's three sons, I would have nothing nice to say about Olive! Also consider that she had traveled the world with Seward, and who knows what she had already been given monetarily while he was alive. Someone needs to write a bio on Olive Risley... Making her an executrix had to hurt the boys also.

(01-20-2015 05:12 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-20-2015 04:56 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Does anyone know what $50,000 was worth in 1872?

Linda, the page here says:

$50,000 of 1872 dollars would be worth: $961,538.46 in 2014.

$50,000 of 2014 dollars would be worth $2,600.00 in 1872.

Thanks, Roger. I found this site which comes to about the same estimate. The $200,000 total is the correct amount, Laurie. Olive did well receiving $50,000. I can just imagine what was in those letters from the Seward sons about her.

"This chart, compiled by the blog Advisor Perspectives using a combination of official Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data since 1913, and historical data taken from Robert Shiller's website, shows that the purchasing power of $1.00 in 1872 has dropped to $0.05 today:"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-dollar-...z3PP5lvQIb

Thanks again for sharing, Linda! It seems to me Olive would have inherited the same portion anyway, as wife as well as as adopted daughter?!

What happened to the house after Seward's death? Did all the Seward children live there, or did one take it over? I just know it's now a museum (and their website doesn't work on my phone), and Wiki states "it was occupied by blood relatives until 1951".

Other than Abraham Lincoln Seward didn't seem having invested in bonds, just in real estate.

Laurie, I agree on "making her an executrix had to hurt the boys also"! BTW - thanks for your feedback on the book - can't wait now to receive and read my copy!

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(01-19-2015 03:20 PM)Gene C Wrote:  Here is the Wiki article about her.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Risley_Seward

Is it me, or does she look a bit like Clara Harris?
http://blog.fords.org/2014/08/14/clara-h...-identity/

This comes a bit late, but thanks for the Ford's link, Gene! Very pleasing to read that Ford's appreciated the correction and credited Roger and Dave. Also I agree - the ladies resemble each other. I have never seen this photo of Clara Harris, nor any that shows her entire face in frontal view, only in profile. I wouldn't have recognized her!

(01-20-2015 05:44 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks again for sharing, Linda! It seems to me Olive would have inherited the same portion anyway, as wife as well as as adopted daughter?!

What happened to the house after Seward's death? Did all the Seward children live there, or did one take it over? I just know it's now a museum (and their website doesn't work on my phone), and Wiki states "it was occupied by blood relatives until 1951".

I don't know how much Olive would have inherited as Seward's wife. It would be interesting to see Seward's will before he changed it in 1870 to see how much Frances would have inherited if Seward had died first.

Seward's son Will lived in the house until his death in 1920 then it passed to his son Will III. "In 1951 William Henry Seward III bequeathed the family home in Auburn, NY to the Fred L. Emerson Foundation to serve as living memorial to his famous father and grandfather."

http://sewardhouse.org/mission-and-history/

Thanks, Linda. Sadly the website doesn't work for me, all I get is this:
   

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(01-20-2015 06:04 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  I don't know how much Olive would have inherited as Seward's wife.

Forgot: I assume(d), since Seward did make a (new?) will he would have left Olive with the same share, whether as daughter or as wife.

(01-20-2015 06:37 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Linda. Sadly the website doesn't work for me, all I get is this:

Eva, I am guessing you are automatically being redirected to their mobile site instead. Can you use a different browser? Can you see this OK? --> http://sewardhouse.org/

Unfortunately due to the code on the website there may be no workaround for you. I hope I am wrong.

(01-21-2015 05:42 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-20-2015 06:37 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Linda. Sadly the website doesn't work for me, all I get is this:

Eva, I am guessing you are automatically being redirected to their mobile site instead. Can you use a different browser? Can you see this OK? --> http://sewardhouse.org/

No, Roger, I get the screen I posted above. On the bottom is an option "View mobile/classic". If I click "classic", I get this:
   
...but the first next click I do takes me back to the first screen above. I think I'll have to check it out on the computer. Strange, most sites do work well both ways (mobile and classic view) on the phone. I came to prefer the classic view as the mobile sites are usually abridged. So I'm very glad the forum has no mobile view you are (get?) always taken back to like on the Seward House site.

Frances Seward inherited the house on four acres in Auburn from her father, Judge Miller. I don't know how much other property Seward bought in Auburn.

Stahr writes that when Seward was young, he "...devoted much of his energy in this period to the pursuit and praise of women." Seward chose Frances Miller, daughter of his employer, Judge Miller, to be his wife when he was "'reduced to my last shilling and in debt.'"

Seward wrote to his father that Frances "satisfied his three prerequisites for marriage: a strong attachment, a proper respect and financial prospects." (Stahr)

Part of the deal was that they live in the Judge's house. Stahr writes, "As one perceptive author has noted, the arrangement allowed Henry to travel for weeks and months, without worrying too much about his wife in her 'comfortable house, with the care of servants and the companionship of father, grandmother and aunt.'"

The "perceptive author" is Patricia Carley Johnson who studied under Van Deusen. Stahr says that, "The best study of the Sewards' marriage is Patricia Johnson, "'I Could Not be Well or Happy at Home'...Politics and the Seward Family," University of Rochester Library Bulletin 31 (1978) (available online)."

https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=1018

(01-21-2015 05:42 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-20-2015 06:37 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Linda. Sadly the website doesn't work for me, all I get is this:

Eva, I am guessing you are automatically being redirected to their mobile site instead. Can you use a different browser? Can you see this OK? --> http://sewardhouse.org/

Unfortunately due to the code on the website there may be no workaround for you. I hope I am wrong.

This is the first time I have come to this site and noticed so many pop ups, RJ. What is that about? They are actually getting in the way of our posting comments. Did you get any other complaints about this? I meant to send you a note yesterday about this. I didn't know if you were aware of it. Thanks, Genna

I've never seen a pop up here.

Genna, I have never seen one here. I am not sure I know what you are talking about. You are the first person to mention this (as far as I know). If possible, please check the site in several browsers to see if this is happening in all of them. Thanks.

The forum software contains no pop ups, and I do not have any ads on the site.

(01-21-2015 01:57 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Genna, I have never seen one here. I am not sure I know what you are talking about. You are the first person to mention this (as far as I know). If possible, please check the site in several browsers to see if this is happening in all of them. Thanks.

The forum software contains no pop ups, and I do not have any ads on the site.

Its just the strangest thing. I have never seen a pop up here either, RJ
until just a few days ago. It is a pop up ad that says it is a live tech support with a picture of some guy with a phone to his ear. Then the screen goes dark and this pop up shows up and asks you to WAIT! CALL IF YOU NEED TECH SUPPORT! It just keeps coming up everytime I try to type and post. I have checked my computer for viruses but my anti virus is saying that I don't have any. So, I thought that I would let you know. I use Google Chrome but I may try another just to see what happens. Thanks so much for your quick reply, RJ. I love this site so much.

I am using Chrome - and have never seen a pop up on any of these sites....

Genna; you could have malware on your PC. Malware behaves differently than a virus usually, but it is just as annoying. Sounds like malware to me. Some antivirus does not pick it up. MalwareBytes is a great free program to download and install. I use it all the time. It will take care of things that sometimes antivirus does not. I use Kaspersky antivirus in addition to MalwareBytes.

You may also want to go into your browser settings and go to "Advanced" and then go to "Privacy" and make sure that "No Popups Allowed" is checked. Still, there are no pop ups or advertisements here on the Forum. But it's safe to make sure that no pop ups are allowed on your machine.

I use Chrome at home and Yahoo at work and have never had a pop-up on this forum. I don't know enough about computers to offer a suggestion, but it would seem to be a problem within your computer.