Fun Facts Friday: John George Nicolay

John George Nicolay (26, February, 1832 – 26 September, 1901) served as the private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, and co-authored his biography with John M. Hay.

Books by or about John George Nicolay*

1. John George Nicolay was born as Johann Georg Nicolai in Essingen, Germany (the Kingdom of Bavaria at the time).
2. At the age of six, young Mr. Nicolai and his father immigrated to the United States, Cincinnati, Ohio to be exact.
3. Moving to Pittsfield, Illinois, Mr. Nicolay edited the Pike County Free Press which is what gave him political power.
4. Becoming the assistant to the secretary of state of Illinois, he met Abraham Lincoln who appointed him as his private secretary in 1861.
5. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Nicolay served as the American Consul in Paris, France and then Marshall of the Supreme Court of the United States.
6. Together with John M. Hay, also a private secretary to President Lincoln. Together they published the President Lincoln’s autobiography in The Century Magazine serially from 1886 to 189. The publications were collected into a 10 volume biography of the President called Abraham Lincoln: A History.
7. In 1881 he published The Outbreak Of Rebellion: Campaigns Of The Civil War a memoir from his unique vantage points in the White House, sharing many momentous moments, as well as the nation’s traumas with the President.
8. In 1894, Mr. Nicolay published a collection of Lincoln’s writings.
9. John George Nicolay was a founding member of the Literary Society of Washington in 1874. The society was meant to be a group of friends who met for “literary and artistic improvement and entertainment”.
10. In the 1992 Documentary Lincoln, Mr. Nicolay is voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Books by or about John George Nicolay*

Zohar – Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account