Seaton, William Wintson, editor of the Republican

William Winston Seaton (1785-1866) journalist, Mayor of Washington D.C., and Lincoln advisor, and Abraham W. Venable (1799-1876) U.S. Congressman and Confederate Congressman from North Carolina. The document is a deposition of Venable in a legal case being heard at Frankfort, Kentucky between Sarah Harris and Abijah Northle, et. al. Venable states that he is a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina, has known Richard H. Mosby of North Carolina for years, and that Mosby is a man of truth and character. The names James Lyon and Robert Nicholas are also mentioned. Given the handwriting, Venable appears to have written a great portion of the first part of the document. Seaton indicates that the deposition was taken in the Library Room of the Capitol. Seaton was raised in Virginia. His mother was a cousin of Patrick Henry. When 18, he became assistant editor of a Richmond paper. He next edited the Petersburg "Republican," but soon purchased the "North Carolina Journal," published at Halifax, N.C., then the capital of N.C. When Raleigh became the capital, he worked with the " Register," edited by Joseph Gales, Sr., whose daughter he married. In 1812 he moved to Washington D.C. and joined the " National Intelligencer," in company with his brother-in-law, Joseph Gales, Jr.. Their partnership lasted until Gale died in 1860. From 1812-20 Seaton and Gales were the exclusive congressional reporters as well as editors of their journal. Their reportings foreshadowed what is today known as the Congressional Record. The Intelligencer was Anti-British, and when the Capital was burned by Admiral Cockburn and his British rabble, Cockburn was especially ired at the Intelligencer and personally helped carry the printing material and library out into the street where it was destroyed. Both Seaton and Gales served as Mayors of Washington D.C. Seaton served as mayor from 1840-52. During his period as mayor, Abraham Lincoln served in the Congress. Lincoln consulted Seaton when he sought to introduce a compromise bill in the House regarding slavery in the District of Columbia that would placate conflicting antislavery and proslavery members of the Whig party. He had Seaton's support. When news leaked out oppossition from all sides broke out and Seaton withdrew his support. The bill was never introduced. Abraham Venable was the nephew of Abraham Bedford Venable, a U.S. Senator. He was born in Virginia, graduated from Hampden-Sidney College in 1816 and studied medicine. He graduated from Princeton College in 1819; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Prince Edward and Mecklenburg Counties, Va. He moved to North Carolina in 1829 and served as a U.S. Congressman from 1847-53. Later, he was a presidential elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket in 1860. He was a delegate from N.C. to the Provisional Confederate Congress in 1861 and was a Confederate Congressman from 1862-64. The document is also docketed and signed by John H. Hann, clerk of the U.S. Court in Kentucky form 1807-51.