Secretary Seward was nearly knifed to death in his bedroom on April 14, 1865 — his bloodied bedsheet is still on display.
33 South Street, Auburn, NY 13021
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Adults $15; seniors/AAA/military $12; students $8; children under 6 free. Haunted History Tour specialty rate: $18/person, groups of 6–16 by appointment.
Access
Limited Access
Multi-story historic home with stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1816 · National Historic Landmark · Lincoln Assassination Night · Underground Railroad · Alaska Purchase Negotiator
Judge Elijah Miller completed the two-story brick Federal-style house at 33 South Street around 1816 as his primary residence in Auburn. His son-in-law William H. Seward married Frances Miller in 1824 and moved in, and the house remained his anchor through decades in Albany and Washington. Seward expanded the structure significantly, adding a two-story tower and wing in 1847 and another wing after the Civil War.
Among the craftsmen involved in early construction was a young carpenter named Brigham Young, later the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a fact documented in local historical records. The basement kitchen also served as a waystation on the Underground Railroad; Seward was a committed antislavery politician and used his position and household to aid freedom-seekers traveling north.
Seward served as governor of New York from 1839 to 1842, as U.S. senator from 1849 to 1861, and as Secretary of State from 1861 until 1869 — the only cabinet member to serve under both Lincoln and his successor Andrew Johnson. He negotiated the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia, a transaction derided at the time as 'Seward's Folly.'
On the night of April 14, 1865, Seward was bedridden at 33 South Street after a severe carriage accident five days earlier. Lewis Powell, one of John Wilkes Booth's co-conspirators, forced his way into the house claiming to deliver medicine, bludgeoned Seward's son Frederick, and stabbed William Seward multiple times in the face and neck. A metal splint from Seward's jaw injury is credited with deflecting a killing blow. Seward survived; five people in the household sustained injuries that night.
The house remained in the family until 1951. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and is now operated as a house museum, with the attack-night bedroom and its displayed artifacts — including the bloodied bedsheet — among the centerpiece objects.
Sources
The Seward House Museum does not position itself as a traditional haunted attraction, but the 'Haunted History Tours' it has offered are grounded in the house's documented dark history rather than folkloric invention. The tour guides visitors through Victorian funeral practices observed by the Seward family, true-crime stories from Auburn's past, and the specific events of April 14, 1865.
That night, the bedroom where William Seward lay in a metal jaw-splint after his carriage accident became the scene of a coordinated assassination attempt. Lewis Powell's Bowie knife opened a five-inch gash in Seward's face and neck while daughter Fanny and nurse Sergeant George Robinson watched. The bedsheets were soaked with blood. One section of that cloth is preserved under glass in the museum today — the most physically immediate relic of the Lincoln-era conspiracy on public display anywhere.
Staff accounts reported to the Haunted History Trail of New York State describe cold drafts near the upstairs bedroom and sounds attributed to the house settling that have been interpreted, in the context of the room's history, as something less mundane. The museum's approach is archival and journalistic — the documented record of that night is disturbing enough without embellishment, and the tour treats it accordingly.
Notable Entities
Hour-long guided tour through the Seward family home, including the second-floor bedroom where William Seward was attacked on the night of April 14, 1865. The museum preserves an original bedsheet stained with Seward's blood from that attack alongside the family's personal collection of documents, furnishings, and Underground Railroad–related artifacts.
Specialty group tour featuring Victorian funeral practices, Seward family lore, Auburn true crime, and a walk to the gates of Fort Hill Cemetery. Groups of 6–16; minimum two weeks' advance notice required. $18 per person.
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