Today Auburn, New York, is a sleepy upstate town most notable for its prison. But in the antebellum period, Auburn was a bustling mercantile center built astride the Erie Canal and a convenient stop en route from Syracuse to Buffalo. It was a town served by newspapers, publishers, a variety of retail businesses, and, of course, a thriving professional community. In the early years of the nineteenth century, one of the most respected members of the Bar was Judge Elijah Miller, who built a splendid mansion on one of Auburn's wide, tree-lined avenues. In 1823 Judge Miller took as his partner a young lawyer fresh from New York City: William Henry Seward. In 1824 Seward married Judge Miller's daughter, Frances, whom he had met several years earlier. From this time until his death, Seward made Judge Miller's house his home. Over the next half century, Seward led a distinguished career as a lawyer and politician holding the office of Governor of New York, U.S. Senator from New York, and Secretary of State in the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. Travel as he may, however, Seward always returned to the house in Auburn, where he died in 1870.

The house in which Seward spent his life still stands on its quiet street in Auburn and has changed very little over the past century and a half. One enters through a grand entry and is confronted by a majestic staircase that leads up to the second floor.