THE "FOLLY" OF KIN

 "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." - Sarah Palin

   Anybody will tell you, I've been obsessed with my family genealogy for quite a few years now. As interesting as the notorious, Indian killing, slave "owning," murderous Osterhouts are, it's mom's Jennings side I want to talk about. The most famous of our Jennings ancestors was Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State, the patent lawyer, politician and land agent William H. Seward; known to family and friends as "Henry."

     My introduction to this famous nineteenth century statesman was the fact that he was home from college for Christmas vacation on the winter solstice December 21, 1818 - the day his mother's brother, Richard Jennings, was murdered. It's a long story that has fascinated me for years. Five people: three white men, a white woman and a black man were arrested and tried for the murder. Two would hang. Guess which two. Within hours of the black man, Jack Hodges, fleeing town, Henry Seward also disappeared from his family and college studies without telling anyone why or where he was going. Was this connected to his uncle's murder? I'm still trying to figure that out. But, this is not what I want to discuss here. I want to talk about Henry's real estate deals.

    As we watch Russian troops lob bombs on apartment buildings and march across Ukraine in real time, my thoughts turn to Alaska.

From Wikipedia:   

    Seward had been interested in whaling as a senator; his interest in Russian America was a byproduct of this. In his speech prior to the 1860 convention, he predicted the territory would become part of the U.S., and when he learned in 1864 that it might be for sale, he pressed the Russians for negotiations. Russian minister Baron Eduard de Stoeckl recommended the sale. The territory was a money loser, and the Russian-American Company itself allowed its charter to expire in 1861. Russia could use the money more efficiently for its expansion in Siberia or Central Asia. Keeping it ran the risk of it being captured in war by the British, or overrun by American settlers. Stoeckl was given the authority to make the sale and when he returned in March 1867, negotiated with the Secretary of State. Seward initially offered $5 million; the two men settled on $7 million and on March 15, Seward presented a draft treaty to the Cabinet. Stoeckl's superiors raised several concerns; to induce him to waive them, the final purchase price was increased to $7.2 million. The treaty was signed in the early morning of March 30, 1867, and ratified by the Senate on April 10. Stevens sent the secretary a note of congratulations, predicting that the Alaska Purchase would be seen as one of Seward's greatest accomplishments.

    As almost everyone knows, the purchase of Alaska was not initially seen as Seward's "greatest accomplishment." Far from it. Known as "Seward's Folly," it would take years for U.S. politicians (and the general public) to realize the crucial geopolitical significance of the sale, and Seward's genius as an imperialist land baron. Putting aside the fact that the Indigenous First Nations who had resided on the frozen land mass for thousands of years were never considered nor remunerated in the sale (Seward was what I would call an extinctionist), the purchase was crucial for the National defense of the U.S.A., not to mention Canada. 

    For the price of a small apartment secured for a Russian oligarch's daughter on the upper east side of Manhattan in 2022, Henry Seward closed the deal (without bloodshed) on a land mass that is only eclipsed by the Louisiana Purchase.  The man had his failings and may have even known way more than he was willing to say about Uncle Dick Jennings' murder, but you can't deny his visionary genius in real estate transactions. Thanks for Alaska. Putin must be kicking himself that he doesn't have a time machine. A tip-o-the-hat to cousin Henry! We hardly knew ye.