Florida group hopes to preserve Seward's birthplace

FLORIDA — No fourth grade year in the Florida School District would be complete without a field trip to the village and an introduction to its most famous historic native William H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State and purchaser of Alaska.
In honor of Seward’s legacy, a group of local history buffs and volunteers of the “Seward Homestead Restoration Committee” are looking beyond the grade school demographic to raise awareness about Seward and preserve the site of his birthplace, an aged structure off Main Street.
“I’ve known and loved this house for years and years and years and I love the thought of bringing it back,” said Bob Scott, who grew up in Florida and delivered firewood to the Seward property when he was as young as eight years old.
To that end, the committee is holding its first fund raising event next week at the S.S. Seward Institute, where it will host author Walter Stahr. Stahr will be on hand to sign copies of his recently published book, “Seward Lincoln’s Indispensable Man.”

Seward then, Clinton more recently

John Kimiecik, who is known as the go-to man for information about Seward, said that it is important to preserve the remnants of such an important figure in history.
“Seward came very close to becoming president (the year that Lincoln ran),” said Kimiecik, “but Lincoln had good, shrewd people supporting him. Though Seward was better known than Lincoln, and initially ahead in seeking the Republican nomination, Lincoln’s people had convinced the majority that Lincoln could do more for them.”
Seward was then offered the Secretary of State position much like Hillary Clinton after she lost her bid for the nomination against Barack Obama.
Kimiecik, a retired English teacher who taught grades seven through nine at S.S. Seward Institute regularly looked out of his classroom onto the Seward property, wondering about the famous man who played such an integral part of our country’s history.
Though he taught English, his interest in local history grew and he often brought discussions about Seward into his classroom. He and his wife began collecting books on Seward and artifacts. He now has one of the largest collections in the area of information and memorabilia connected to Seward.

Goal: $150,000

He likes sharing little known facts about Seward’s life.
“One time,” said Kimiecik, “Seward, who loved reading, was bringing cows back from the pasture and reading a book as he walked. Some children threw pebbles at him so he walked backwards while reading and fell into a creek. His older brother had to pull him out.”
Since the Seward Homestead Restoration Committee formed in 2010, when the property was first purchased by the Town of Warwick and deeded to the Village of Florida, the group has grown from a small group of core members, to roughly 30 people.
Now the group meets once a month and coordinates volunteer workers to maintain the Seward property. The committee’s aim this year is to raise an additional $150,000 to further efforts to preserve the site.

Essential information

The book signing will take place on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m. at the S.S. Seward Institute.
After a lecture about William H. Seward, books which were purchased at a special price by the organization will be available to the public and signed by the author.
Books can also be reserved in advance by e-mail at events@sewardhomestead.org or by visiting the Web site at www.sewardhomestead.org/events.