Mrs. Seward, age 73, was the wife of General William H. Seward, Jr., and the daughter-in-law of celebrated American statesman William H. Seward. Born Janet MacNeil Watson, she was the daughter of Robert Watson (c.1805-1845) and the former Margaret Standart (c.1806-1893). Her father died when she was five years old, but her widowed mother remained in her life for many years, predeceasing her by less than a decade. Mrs. Seward and her husband, who had served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, resided at the landmark Seward House on South Street in Auburn, NY. After her death General Seward lived on another seven years before joining her here in the Seward Family plot.