Seward and Weed meet: See ibid., pp. 5556; 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. 1213.
"a politician who sees...him forever": Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, pp. 2627.
Such measures..."extend its dominion": Seward, An Autobiography, p. 54.
the Albany Evening Journal: Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Weed, pp. 36062.
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. 45163.
"first steam-powered...web of tracks": McEneny, Albany, pp. 16 (quote), 98.
The legislature...Bemont"s Hotel: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 8081; Frederick W. Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, 18301915 (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. 17980.
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, 17931859," Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, (accessed December 2003).
"crushed...pa.s.ses 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, typescript 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 const.i.tuted": 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. 3133.
a three-month voyage to Europe: Seward, An Autobiography, pp. 10441.
"What a romance...malicious political warfare": Ibid., pp. 116, 128.
spent a long weekend visiting: Ibid., pp. 13440.
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. 8789; Taylor, William Henry Seward, pp. 3536.
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, 3334.
"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.