Biography

Samuel Swezy (Sweezy) Seward was born December 5, 1768, on Merits Island, New York, the third son of John and Mary Seward. The early years of his life were spent mostly in Morris County, New Jersey. About 1800 he settled in the Town of Florida, Orange County, New York, where he set up a medical practice, and established a mercantile business. In 1795 he married Mary Jennings of Goshen, New York, and they had five children. One of their sons was William Henry Seward (1801-1872), who was a governor of New York State (1839-1842), a United States senator (1849-1861), and Secretary of State in the administrations of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson (1861-1869).

Samuel S. Seward also was active in politics and government. In 1804 he served as a member of the New York State Assembly. In 1815 he became a judge of the Orange County Court and subsequently served as First Judge of the Orange County Court, a position he held for seventeen years.

Records indicate Seward amassed a substantial fortune by the 1840s, some of which was devoted to philanthropic endeavors. In 1846 he established the S.S. Seward Institute, a free (public) school in Florida, New York. He created a $20,000 endowment for the institute and provided for the purchase of land and the erection of the school building.  He died August 24, 1849.

He had one other daughter, Elisabeth (1795-1797).