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[Trudy Krisher]

(01-18-2015 02:05 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  

(01-17-2015 09:00 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thank you, Linda, for the information. I remember reading Frances was once close to begin an affair with another man.

Trudy, what do you think of the The Governor and His Lady by Earl Conrad? I got it out of the library some time ago but I remember reading that Mr. & Mrs. Seward had an "understanding" about Seward's relationships with other women in Washington while Mrs. Seward was living in Auburn. Maybe they didn't actually talk about it but Frances looked the other way. As I recall, there was no documentation in Conrad's book.

That's true about Frances, Eva. The following is from my post in the George Robinson and his Family thread:

"...it is clear from later letters that sometime during this winter [Seward's friend Alfred] Tracy crossed the line between friendly familiarity and inappropriate intimacy with Frances. Exactly what happened cannot be reconstructed-it seems unlikely there was any physical relationship-but one day Frances came to her husband in tears, handed him a set of letters from Tracy, and asked him to decide whether she had acted improperly. Seward burned the letters without reading them, wrapped his wife in his arms, and assured her that he loved and trusted her. For some reason he did not confront Tracy-that would not come for several months-and indeed he continued in the interim to write Tracy friendly letters."

In late 1834 Seward wrote to Frances that "Tracy offered her the 'feelings and love' which Seward should have offered her as her husband..."

Tracy wrote to Seward "regretting that they were no longer as close as they had been when they first met. 'Commend me to your dear wife,' Tracy wrote on December 29, 'for she knows the strength and purity of my love and will not doubt its constancy.'"

Seward wrote back the same day that "he had forgiven Tracy for his offense, but not forgotten it, and that they would part as mere friends, nothing more."

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Linda and Eva,

Yes, the information about the Tracy affair is true. I enjoyed reading THE GOVERNOR AND HIS LADY but preferred focusing on primary sources as I felt Conrad was a bit novelistic in his treatment.

However, there is not a SMIDGEN of evidence that I know of that Seward was ever unfaithful to his wife. Although he was gregarious, respected women, and loved socializing, his personal life was completely free of scandal. Although he and Frances lived separate lives in Auburn and Washington (both chose their separate poles), he loved her very much, respected her intelligence, and worried about her health.

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(01-18-2015 09:59 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I am now into about the first 150 pages of Fanny Seward: A Life and still loving it. It is so much more than just a biography of an intelligent young lady; it is proving to be an excellent overview of life between Auburn, New York, and Washington, D.C. during our country's most turbulent decades. It's covering military aspects as well as familial and social events in the life of Fanny and others of her age. Thank you, Trudy!

May I ask a personal question? I have yet to google your name for your bio, but I am trying to decide whether you are a professor of history or English literature? I was assuming history until the chapter where you discuss Fanny's literary growth. That turned me to thinking of literature because you review her work much like a teacher of 19th-century writing would -- especially her poem on Dead! Dead?

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Thank you, Laurie, for your kind words. I appreciate your comments about context. Since so many readers would not necessarily have heard of Fanny, I felt it was important to place her in an historical context.

Yes, my background is literary, not historical, although I have great affection for both. In the Acknowledgements section of the book you can learn more about me and how I came to Fanny's story. One great attraction was that Fanny was an aspiring writer, and writing was something I aspired to when young as well.

You can learn more about me at my website http://www.trudykrisherauthor.com

I'm so glad you are enjoying learning more about the Sewards.