Nicolay, John George (1832-1901), an American newspaperman, served as President Abraham Lincoln’s private secretary from 1860 to 1865. With John Kay, Nicolay wrote Abraham Lincoln: A History (1890), a 10-volume biography. He also served as United States consul in Paris from 1865 to 1869 and as marshal of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1872 to 1887. Nicolay was born in Essingen, Bavaria (now part of Germany), on Feb. 26, 1832. He came to the United States in 1838. He became editor of a Pittsfield, Illinois, newspaper in 1854. Nicolay became a U.S. citizen in 1870. He died on Sept. 26, 1901.
