When he sought and won a seat: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, pp. 26–27.
“I have never…to have it again”: EB to Julia Bates, April 11, 1825, Bates Papers, ViHi.
Bates’s lonely journey to Washington: EB to Julia Bates, November 7, 1827, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“something of a melancholy…mood”: EB to Julia Bates, November 7, 1827, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“magic…feel it to be true”: EB to Julia Bates, November 7, 1827, Bates Papers, ViHi.
life in Washington: EB to Julia Bates, January 5 and 22, February 25, March 17, 1828, December 4, 1829, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“That man grows…associate with him”: EB to Julia Bates, February 25, 1828, Bates Papers, ViHi.
The main issues that confronted Bates: EB to Julia Bates, March 17, 1828, Bates Papers, ViHi; Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, pp. 28–32.
Benton and Barton were antagonists: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, pp. 28–29.
Bates published a pamphlet: EB, Edward Bates Against Thomas H. Benton (St. Louis: Charless & Paschall, 1828).
“My piece is…never be effaced”: EB to Julia Bates, December 4, 1829, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“roaring disorder…magnificent appearance”: EB to Julia Bates, February 23, 1829, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“As yet I only…is in my eye”: EB to Julia Bates, January 5, 1828, Bates Papers, ViHi.
“O, that I could…my sunshine”: EB to Julia Bates, February 25, 1828, Bates Papers, ViHi.
he lost his bid for reelection: EB to Julia Bates, December 4, 1829, Bates Papers, ViHi.
got into a heated argument: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, pp. 38–39.
“The code preserved…are well spent”: Charles Gibson, The Autobiography of Charles Gibson, ed. E. R. Gibson, 1899, Gibson Papers, MoSHi.
“as much as any man…we possessed”: EB to Julia Bates, December 4, 1829, Bates Papers, ViHi.
two terms in the state legislature: “Bates, Edward,” DAB, Vol. I, p. 48.
“the ablest…of that body”: Switzler, “Lincoln’s Attorney General,” reprinted in Bates, Bates, et al., of Virginia and Missouri, p. 27.
he decided in 1835: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, pp. 53, 55, 58.
the “curious fact…of the frog”: Bates diary, September 17, 1847.
“bad stammerer…more devoted piety”: Bates diary, December 15, 1849.
“Mistress & Queen”: Bates diary, July 10, 1851.
“begrudge her the short respite”: Bates diary, April 23, 1848.
“This day…in a large house”: Bates diary, November 15, 1851.
Every year, on April 29: See, for example, entry for April 29, 1859, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 13.
“mighty changes…of the continent”: Entry for April 29, 1859, in ibid.
His entries proudly record: Bates diary, November 7, 1847; December 20, 1847; December 9, 1852.
a great fire…cholera epidemic: Bates diary, May 18; June 14–28; July 1–11, 1849.
“in perfect health”…fruits and vegetables: Bates diary, July 19, 1849.
medical ignorance…“two weeks at a time”: Bates diary, June 21, 1849.
“I am one…of a known duty”: EB to R. B. Frayser, June 1849, Bates Papers, MoSHi.
Bates filled the pages of his diary: Bates diary, May 21, 1847; May 22, 1847; November 22, 1847; December 10, 1847; March 13, 1848; May 6, 1848; March 11, 1849; March 29, 1851 (quote).
“the largest Convention…the Civil War”: Floyd A. McNeil, “Lincoln’s Attorney General; Edward Bates,” Ph.D. diss., State University of Iowa, 1934, p. 155.
5,000 accredited delegates…David Dudley Field: Shaw, “A Neglected Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln,” Transactions (1922), p. 54; Albert J. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1858, Vol. II (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin/Riverside Press, 1928), pp. 89–90.
“Hon. Abraham…in the State”: NYTrib, July 14, 1847.
“No one who saw…with woolen socks”: E. B. Washburne, “Political Life in Illinois,” in Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Rice, p. 92.
“deep astonishment”…responsibility for its failure: Bates diary, July 5, 1847.
“leaped at one bound…prominence”: Switzler, “Lincoln’s Attorney General,” reprinted in Bates, Bates, et al., of Virginia and Missouri, p. 28.
“too intent…of Reporting”: Albany Evening Journal, July 23, 1847.
“No account…do it justice”: NYTrib, July 15, 1847.
“between sectional disruption…material greatness”: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, p. 63.
“he was interrupted…in attendance”: TW, quoted in Bates, Bates, et al., of Virginia and Missouri, p. 30.
“the crowning act…either house of Congress”: Bates diary, July 5, 1847.
“The nation cannot…and patriotism”: Albany Evening Journal, July 23, 1847.
“the glittering bauble”: Entry for February 28, 1860, The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 106.
“noble aspirations…natural result”: EB to TW, August 9, 1847, reprinted in Albany Evening Journal, January 11, 1861.
“had no ambition…business of the country”: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 52, 53.
Seward and Weed meet: See ibid., pp. 55–56; Thurlow Weed, Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Harriet A. Weed (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1883), p. 139.
“he printed…his own hand”: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 56.
details of Weed’s early life: Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Weed; Thurlow Weed Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1884).
He had walked miles: Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Weed, pp. 12–13.
“a politician who sees…him forever”: Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, pp. 26–27.
Such measures…“extend its dominion”: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 54.
the Albany Evening Journal: Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Weed, pp. 360–62.
Weed engineered…from the seventh district: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 80.
the youngest member to enter: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 24.
Albany still a small town: John J. McEneny, Albany: Capital City on the Hudson (Sun Valley, Calif.: American Historical Press, 1998), p. 76.
description of Albany: “Albany Fifty Years Ago,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 14 (March 1857), pp. 451–63.
“first steam-powered…web of tracks”: McEneny, Albany, pp. 16 (quote), 98.
The legislature…Bemont’s Hotel: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 80–81; Frederick W. Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, 1830–1915 (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1916), p. 2; Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 24.
Seward attends alone: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 80.
“Weed is…warmth of feeling”: WHS to FAS, January 12, 1831, in ibid., p. 166.
“one of the greatest…except politics”: WHS to FAS, February 6, 1831, in ibid., pp. 179–80.
Weed and Seward’s mutual interests: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 17; Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 25.
“My room is a thoroughfare”: WHS to FAS, February 16, 1831, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 182.
Albert Haller Tracy: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 17; “Tracy, Albert Haller, 1793–1859,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov (accessed December 2003).
“crushed…passes in his mind”: FAS to LW, March 12, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“He and Henry…love with each other”: FAS to LW, March 4, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“It shames my…since I left Albany”: Albert H. Tracy to WHS, February 7, 1831, reel 1, Seward Papers.
Seward at first reciprocated: FAS to LW, March 12, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
a “rapturous joy…I possessed”: WHS to Albert H. Tracy, February 11, 1831, typescr
ipt copy, Albert Haller Tracy Papers, New York State Library, Albany, New York [hereafter Tracy Papers].
“My feelings…divided with many”: Albert H. Tracy to WHS, June 12, 1832, reel 1, Seward Papers.
“Weed has never…account for it”: FAS to LW, March [?] 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers (quote); FAS to LW, April 5, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“Love—cruel tyrant…hallowed affections”: Albert H. Tracy to WHS, September 24, 1832, reel 1, Seward Papers.
He transferred his unrequited love: FAS to LW, March [?] and September 27, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers; WHS to FAS, November 28, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“losing my influence…differently constituted”: FAS to WHS, December 5, 1834, reel 113, Seward Papers.
relationship between Tracys and Sewards: FAS to LW, March 12, 24, and undated March, April 9, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“He is a singular…shade of difference”: FAS to LW, March 12, 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“I believe at present…should choose”: FAS to LW, March [?] 1832, reel 118, Seward Papers.
“very glad…very much”: FAS to LW, November 17, 1833, reel 118, Seward Papers.
private emotional intimacy: See Karen Lystra, Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Victorian America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 31–33.
a three-month voyage to Europe: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 104–41.
“What a romance…malicious political warfare”: Ibid., pp. 116, 128.
spent a long weekend visiting: Ibid., pp. 134–40.
When Judge Miller…“be so unreasonable”: FAS to LW, September 27, 1833, reel 118, Seward Papers.
she proffered the letters: WHS to Albert Tracy, quoted in WHS to FAS, December 29, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
Seward’s first run for governor: Glyndon G. Van Deusen, Thurlow Weed: Wizard of the Lobby (Boston: Little, Brown, 1947), pp. 87–89; Taylor, William Henry Seward, pp. 35–36.
Whigs offered a gallery…Henry Clay himself: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 238. This same campaign tactic was adopted by the youthful John F. Kennedy in his campaign for the presidency in 1960.
Defeat shook…jeopardized his marriage: WHS to FAS, November 24 and 28, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers; Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, pp. 28, 33–34.
“What a demon…are not crushed”: WHS to FAS, November 28, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“I am growing womanish…happy a lot”: WHS to FAS, December 5, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“You reproach yourself…the right path”: FAS to WHS, December 5, 1834, reel 113, Seward Papers.
Seward pledged: WHS to FAS, December 15 and 29, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“to live for you…dear boys”: WHS to FAS, December 29, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“a partner in…cares and feelings”: WHS to FAS, December 1, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“count[ing] with eagerness…life will commence”: WHS to FAS, December 29, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
“golden dreams…displayed towards you”: Albert Tracy to WHS, December 29, 1834, reel 3, Seward Papers.
“alienation…but without affection”: WHS to Albert Tracy, quoted in Seward to FAS, December 29, 1834, reel 112, Seward Papers.
If Seward believed: WHS to TW, January 18, 1835, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 249; WHS to unknown recipient, June 1, 1836, in ibid., p. 300.
“It is seldom…periods of seclusion”: WHS to Alvah Hunt, January 25, 1843, quoted in Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 99.
“keep me informed…as a politician”: WHS to TW, January 1835, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 249.
family expedition to the South: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 37; Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, p. 9.
“When I travel…and reflection”: WHS to Albert H. Tracy, June 23, 1831, Tracy Papers.
their letters home extolled: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 272–73; Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, pp. 12–13.
“teemed with…reform of mankind”: Introduction to “The Conflict of Cultures,” in The Causes of the Civil War, 3rd edn., ed. Kenneth M. Stampp (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1959; New York: Touchstone Books, 1991), p. 201.
a world virtually unchanged: James M. McPherson, “Modernization and Sectionalism,” in ibid., p. 104.
“We no longer passed…of slaves”: Entry for June 12, 1835, WHS journal, quoted in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 267.
“a waste…decaying habitation”: Entry for June 12, 1835, WHS journal, in ibid., p. 267.
“How deeply…decayed as Virginia”: WHS to Albert H. Tracy, June 25, 1835, Tracy Papers.
Slavery trapped…a sizable middle class: McPherson, “Modernization and Sectionalism,” in The Causes of the Civil War, ed. Stampp, pp. 104–05.
“We are told that…this injured race”: FAS to LW, quoted in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 272.
“turning the ponderous”…any of them again: Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, pp. 14–15.
“Ten naked little boys…themselves to sleep”: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 271.
“Sick of slavery and the South”: Entry for June 13, 1835, FAS, “Diary of Trip through Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, 1835,” reel 197, Seward Papers.
“the evil effects…marring everything”: Entry of June 17, 1835, FAS, “Diary of Trip through Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, 1835,” reel 197, Seward Papers.
“turned their horses’…homeward”: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 272.
indelible images…social conscience: Entry for June 15, 1835, WHS journal in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 268; FAS to LW, January 15, 1853, reel 119, Seward Papers; WHS, “Speech in Cleveland, Ohio on the Election of 1848,” Works of William H. Seward, Vol. III, pp. 295–96.
a lucrative opportunity…Seward did not hesitate: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, pp. 38–39.
“more beautiful”…invited Weed’s seventeen-year-old daughter: WHS to Harriet Weed, September 8, 1836, Thurlow Weed Papers, Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, University of Rochester Library, Rochester, N.Y. [hereafter Weed Papers].
“there are a thousand…upon them”: WHS to FAS, December 21, 1836, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 321.
“so vividly remembered…a rare event”: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 162.
death of Cornelia from smallpox: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 323.
“did not think it…from their Grandpa”: FAS to Harriet Weed, February 9, 1837, Weed Papers.
“lightness that was…for myself”: WHS to FAS, February 12, 1837, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 325.
Frances and the boys come to Westfield: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 334–35.
“Well, I am here…from Tusculum”: WHS to TW, July 10, 1837, in ibid., p. 336.
“found Westfield…missed and loved her”: FAS to Harriet Weed, September 6, 1837, Weed Papers.
“I am almost in despair…almost as helpless”: WHS to [FAS], December 17, 1837, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 354.
“There is such…time to think”: WHS to [TW], undated, in ibid., p. 344.
“I have been two…healthful channels”: TW to WHS, November 11, 1837, quoted in Van Deusen, Thurlow Weed, p. 95.
Weed raised money…powerful New York Tribune: Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Weed, pp. 466–67; Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, pp. 45, 88.
1838 gubernatorial campaign: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, pp. 49–52.
received the nomination on the fourth ballot: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 373; Van Deusen, Thurlow Weed, p. 100.
“Well, Seward…earnestly to work”: TW to WHS, September 15, 1838, reel 5, Seward Papers.
the overwhelming victor: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 378.
“God bless…result to him”: WHS, quoted in J. C. Derby, Fifty Years Among Authors, Books and Publishers (New York: G.W. Carleton & Co., 1884), p. 5
8.
“It is a fearful post…a house alone”: WHS to TW, November 11, 1838, hereafter Weed Papers.
Weed arrived…inaugural outfit: WHS to TW, November 28, 1838, Weed Papers; Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 381–82 (quote p. 382); Van Deusen, Thurlow Weed, p. 102.
“it was [his]…a cabinet”: WHS to Hiram Ketchum, February 15, 1839, reel 8, Seward Papers.
“Your letter…as it comes up”: WHS to [TW], November 23, 1837, in Seward, An Autobiography, p. 345.
“I had no idea…amiable creatures”: WHS to TW, December 14, 1838, in ibid., p. 381.
“There were never two…highest sense”: Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, p. 262.
told the story of a carriage ride: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 395.
an ambitious agenda…imprisonment for debt: WHS, “Annual Message to the Legislature, January 1, 1839,” The Works of William H. Seward, Vol. II, pp. 183–211; Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 386–87.
“Our race is ordained”…the engine of Northern expansion: WHS, “Annual Message, 1839,” Works of William H. Seward, Vol. II, pp. 197–99.
to support parochial schools: Ibid., p. 199; WHS, “Annual Message to the Legislature, January 7, 1840,” p. 215.
“to overthrow republican”…the hands of priests: Seward, An Autobiography, p. 462.
“Virginia Case”…governor refused: WHS, “Biographical Memoir of William H. Seward,” Works of William H. Seward, Vol. I, pp. lxiii–lxvi.
“the universal sentiment…praiseworthy”: George E. Baker, ed., Life of William H. Seward, with Selections from His Works (New York: J. S. Redfield, 1855), p. 85.
“intermeddling…New England fanatic”: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 463, 464.
This only emboldened Seward’s resolve: Ibid., pp. 463–64, 510–11.
the “new irritation”: Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, April 22, 1820, in The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. XII, ed. Ford, p. 158.
number of slaves who escaped to the North: Don E. Fehrenbacher, “The Wilmot Proviso and the Mid-Century Crisis,” in Fehrenbacher, The South and Three Sectional Crises (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980), p. 33.
“all actions…Constitution”: William H. Pease and Jane H. Pease, ed. The Antislavery Argument (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965), p. xxx.