William Henry Seward
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Artists David and Judith Rubin

William Henry Seward, also, Artists David and Judith Rubin. , The Seward statue is a memorial commissioned by the family of Suzanne Geis Kolterman, who was a lifelong resident of Seward County. This memorial commemorates the 150th anniversary of the City of Seward, Seward County, and the State of Nebraska-celebrated in 2017., William Henry Seward is considered to be among the most important Secretaries of State in the history of the United States, serving under both Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Seward, one of Lincoln's closest advisors during the Civil War, helped ensure that Europe did not recognize the Confederacy as a sovereign nation. In 1867, Seward successfully negotiated the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million-about two cents an acre. Seward also served two terms of office as Governor of New York., Sculptor David Rubin has Seward "gesturing toward the Court House, acknowledging and promoting the place of government in a community, a state, and a country, which is especially pertinent and meaningful in Seward with their widely recognized 4th of July Celebration.", David and Judith Rubin, brother and sister, created a similar Seward statue to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Cession between Secretary Seward and the Russian diplomat Edouard de Stoeckl, securing the Russian Territories for the United States of America, which is located in Juneau, Alaska., In 2016 the Alaska statue, sculpted in New York, traveled through Seward on its way to Juneau. A group of Seward residents saw the statue and met sculptor David Rubin and commissioned a second statue for the community. The statue differs somewhat from the first version: the patina is darker, the head is raised and at a straighter angle, and there is no treaty, which allows the cape to have a more graceful and uninterrupted line. , The Rubins decided to sculpt Seward with the scar on his jaw, which he received from the bowie knife of Lewis Paine in an assassination attempt the same night John Wilkes Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln.