Horatio
Seymour,
the son of a banker, was born in Pompey Hill, New York, on 31st May,
1810. Trained as a lawyer, he served as military secretary to the
New York governor, William M. Marcy from 1833 to 1839.
In 1841 Seymour was elected to the lower house of the New York Legislature
(1842-46). Her served as Speaker (1845-47) and in 1852 was elected
as governor of New York but was defeated two years later, mainly because
of his refusal to support prohibition.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
Seymour initially supported Abraham Lincoln
but urged a peaceful settlement of the conflict. When he criticised
Lincoln's excessive use of executive power, he was accused of being
sympathetic to the Southern cause.
In 1868 Seymour was nominated as the Democratic
candidate to run against Ulysses S. Grant.
During the campaign, Thomas Nast, produced
several cartoons for Harper's Weekly
attacking his campaign. One of these drawings shows Seymour joining
hands with the Irish vote and the Confederate vote to prevent the
Negro from reaching the ballot box. Seymour fought a good campaign
and only lost by 300,000 votes.
Seymour returned to New York politics and with Samuel
Tilden and Thomas Nast, helped to remove
the city's corrupt mayor, Robert Tweed.
Horatio Seymour died on 12th February, 1886.
Thomas Nast, This is White Man Government,
Harper's Weekly (5th September,
1868)
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