Biography

Nicholas Bogart was born into slavery on December 24, 1801, in the State of New York. In 1839, the Seward family employed Nicholas as their coachman and later their gardener. He worked for the Sewards for many years, mainly in the employ of William Henry Seward throughout his political career in Auburn and Washington, D.C.

Nicholas Bogart was an active member of the Auburn community. He worked as a sexton at the Frist Baptist Church, and he was on the board of trustees for the “African School” in Auburn. While William Seward was Governor, Nicholas was also appointed a delegate to attend black conventions in both Albany and Troy. The community revered Nicholas as “one of the oldest and best known colored men in this State and a man of almost national reputation during the slavery agitation.” Nicholas likely played an important role in the Underground Railroad because he provided a unique link between the black community, freedom seekers, and the Seward family.

Nicholas married Harriet C. Hayes who also worked for the Seward family. Harriet already had two sons from her previous marriage, Lewis and Willis. Nicholas and Harriet had three more children, Sarah, Frances, and Harriet Bogart. Sarah and Frances both died at a young age. After the death of their daughter Harriet, in 1860, at the age of 22, they took care of their granddaughter, Mary Simpson, in Auburn, New York.

Harriet died in 1888 at the age of 78, and Nicholas died five years later on February 15, 1893, at the age of 92.