John G. Nicolay

John G. Nicolay (1832–1901) was a German immigrant who met and became a trusted confidant of Abraham Lincoln while living in Illinois. In 1861, President Lincoln appointed Nicolay as his personal secretary. He served as United States Consul in Paris from 1865 to 1869 and was then appointed Marshal to the United States Supreme Court in 1872. His post in Washington allowed him both the access to sources and time necessary to collaborate with John Hay on their 10-volume Abraham Lincoln, A History, which was published in 1890. In 1894, Nicolay and Hay published a 2-volume edition of Lincoln’s papers.