Seward, Amos Dudley, 1815 - 1909. Letters, 1855 - 1879

Collection — Folder: 1

Identifier: SMHC Collection 1220

Staff Only

Abstract

This collection consists of twenty-one letters written by Amos Dudley Seward, of Mankato, Minnesota, to his brother John Woodhouse Seward of Talmadge, Ohio. The letters span the time period from 1855 until 1879, and are arranged in chronological order. In the letters, Seward describes Mankato during its frontier stage, and later its increasing development. Other topics in the letters include: national politics, family affairs, his flour mill in Mankato, crop and land prices, transportation in Mankato, and his church affiliation. Twenty of the letters were sent from Mankato, but one was written from Stillwater, Minnesota on October 14, 1875.

Dates

1855-1879

Biographical / Historical

Amos Dudley Seward was born in Hartford, New York in April 1815. He later lived in Ohio and Indiana before moving to Mankato, Minnesota in 1855. While living in Mankato, Seward owned a flourmill and was elected Blue Earth County Treasurer in 1857, and county auditor in 1868. Seward and his family moved to California in 1883. Amos Seward died in Ventura, California in May of 1909.

Biographical information obtained from Mankato, Its First Fifty Years, Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, and History of Blue Earth County.