Background
He was born Johann Georg Nicolay in Essingen, Rhenish Bavaria. In 1838, he immigrated to the United States with his father and attended school in Cincinnati.
( A landmark of Civil War History, The Campaigns of the C...)
A landmark of Civil War History, The Campaigns of the Civil War series was originally published in 1881, and has often been reprinted in facsimile editions. The series still remains of interest to historians for its eye-witness accounts of political and military events, as well as its portrayals of the soldiers and statesmen who waged the conflict. The Outbreak of Rebellion is the first of 12 volumes in this series to be produced in audiobook format by Audio Americana. John G. Nicolay was private secretary to Abraham Lincoln in Illinois and followed the president-elect to Washington D.C. where he continued to serve President Lincoln throughout the war. While modern historians may find Nicolay's objectivity occasionally wanting, especially in his vociferous condemnation of the southern "conspiracy", his contemporary account of the secession of South Carolina, the surrender of Fort Sumter, and the retreat from Bull Run provide the sort of vivid, first-person recollections that make The Outbreak of Rebellion an enduring classic, and the Campaigns of the Civil War series a cornerstone of Civil War literature.
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He was born Johann Georg Nicolay in Essingen, Rhenish Bavaria. In 1838, he immigrated to the United States with his father and attended school in Cincinnati.
Educated in common schools. Learned printer’s trade in office of Free Press, Pittsfield, Illinois. Later became its publisher, editor and proprietor.
He later moved to Illinois, where he edited the Pike County Free Press at Pittsfield, and became a political power in the state. Then he became assistant to the secretary of state of Illinois. While in this position, he met Abraham Lincoln and became his devoted adherent.
In 1861, Lincoln appointed Nicolay as his private secretary, which was the first official act of his new administration.
Nicolay served in this capacity until Lincoln"s death in 1865. Shortly before his assassination, Lincoln appointed Nicolay to a diplomatic post in France.
After the death of the President, Nicolay became United States Consul at Paris, France (1865-1869). Foreign some time after his return to the United States, he edited the Chicago Republican.
He was Marshal of the United States Supreme Court (1872–1887).
In 1881, Nicolay wrote The Outbreak of the Rebellion. Nicolay and John Hay, who had worked alongside Nicolay as assistant secretary to Lincoln, collaborated on the official biography of the 16th President. lieutenant appeared in The Century Magazine serially from 1886 to 1890 and was then issued (1890-1894) in book form as ten volumes, together with the two-volume Complete of Abraham Lincoln.
The resulting biography is a definitive resource on Lincoln and his times.
Nicolay and Hay also edited Lincoln"s in twelve volumes (1905). Finally, Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln was published by Helen Nicolay in 1912.
Death
Poor health had forced Nicolay to resign as Marshal of the Supreme Court, and he suffered from a wide range of ailments in his final years. He died at home of unspecified causes on September 26, 1901.
He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the city.
In the 1992 documentary Lincoln, the German-born Nicolay is voiced by the Austrian-born actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the 1988 National Broadcasting Company mini-series Lincoln based on Gore Vidal"s book, Nicolay is portrayed by actor Richard Travis. In the 2012 film Lincoln, Nicolay is portrayed by Jeremy Strong.
In the 2015 documentary film The Gettysburg Address, Nicolay is portrayed by actor William Fichtner.
( A landmark of Civil War History, The Campaigns of the C...)
Both Nicolay and Hay were members of long standing in the society.
Married Therena Bates, June 15, 1865 (died, 1885).