Seymour, Horatio << SEE mohr, huh RAY shee `oh` >> (1810-1886), was a leading Democratic politician in New York from the 1840’s to the 1860’s. As governor of New York in 1863 and 1864, he became a leading Copperhead—that is, a Northern opponent of President Abraham Lincoln’s administration during the American Civil War. Seymour protested Lincoln’s restriction of civil liberties during the war. He also opposed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the North’s military draft. However, he was loyal to the North and raised troops for the war to fill New York’s quota. Also, when a riot against the draft broke out in New York City in 1863, Seymour sent in troops to stop it.
Seymour was born on May 31, 1810, in Onondaga County, New York. He briefly practiced law in Utica, and he served as mayor of the city in 1842 and 1843. Seymour was governor of New York in 1853 and 1854 as well as in 1863 and 1864. In 1868, Seymour received the Democratic nomination for the presidency. He lost the election to Ulysses S. Grant. Seymour died on Feb. 12, 1886.
See also New York City draft riots of 1863.
