Olive Risley Seward
Encyclopedia
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
, United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
under Presidents
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
and Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
.
Life and career
Olive F. Risley, was born in FredoniaFredonia, New York
Fredonia is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 11,068 as of 2009.The Village of Fredonia is in the Town of Pomfret south of Lake Erie...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, daughter of the former Harriet C. Crosby and Anson A. Risley, a prominent civil servant who later worked for the Secretary of the Treasury and resided in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. She became a close companion of William Henry Seward's in the last years of his life, beginning about 1868, following by a few years the deaths of Seward's wife Frances Adeline Miller Seward and daughter Frances Adeline "Fanny" Seward
Frances Adeline "Fanny" Seward
Frances Adeline "Fanny" Seward was the only surviving daughter of United States Secretary of State, William H. Seward and his wife Frances Adeline Miller...
, and shortly after the death of her own mother (in 1866). In order to curtail gossip and family worries about their relationship, Olive was formally adopted by Seward in 1870. She also, in company with her sister Harriet Risley, traveled extensively with Seward through Asia, the Middle East and Europe in 1870-1871, an experience recorded in the book William H. Seward's Travels Around the World, published in 1873, a best-selling work of its day for which Olive Risley Seward was credited as editor. She and Seward's three surviving sons were named joint heirs of the Seward estate.
Memorial
In 1971, sculptor John CavanaughJohn Cavanaugh (sculptor)
John William Cavanaugh, was a sculptor. He worked primarily in lead, which metal is believed to have led to his death from a disease of the lungs.-Life:...
chose to create a statue honoring her rather than her accomplished father. A picture of her was not found at the time, so Cavanaugh sculpted his idea of an idealized Victorian
Victorian fashion
Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and grew in province throughout the Victorian era and the reign of Queen Victoria, a period which would last from June 1837 to January 1901. Covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the 63 year reign...
lady instead. The statue stands in front of a private residence on North Carolina Avenue and Sixth Street, SE in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The subject's head is turned to the left as if gazing toward the nearby Seward Square
Seward Square
Seward Square is a square and park maintained by the National Park Service located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Carolina Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. The square is bounded by 4th Street to the west and 6th Street to the east. North...
, named for her adoptive father. Olive died in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Fredonia, NY with her parents.
External links
- Olive Risley Seward at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Olive Risley Seward statue
- Olive Risley Seward statue