author
Jesse William Weik
1857–1930
Best known for helping shape one of the earliest major biographies of Abraham Lincoln, this Indiana writer and lawyer devoted much of his life to collecting, preserving, and interpreting Lincoln's story. His work with William H. Herndon helped influence how generations of readers came to understand Lincoln.
2 Audiobooks
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 2 (of 2)
by William Henry Herndon, Jesse William Weik
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2)
by William Henry Herndon, Jesse William Weik
About the author
Born in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1857, Jesse William Weik studied at Indiana Asbury University, later known as DePauw University, and was admitted to the bar while still a young man. Early in his career he worked in Springfield, Illinois, where he met William H. Herndon, Abraham Lincoln's former law partner.
That connection shaped the rest of his literary life. Weik collaborated closely with Herndon on Herndon's Lincoln, an influential biography that drew on interviews, letters, and memories from people who had known Lincoln. Sources on the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project note that Weik wrote much of the manuscript, showing how central he was to the finished work.
He went on to remain an active Lincoln researcher and writer, publishing works such as The Real Lincoln and Side-Lights on Lincoln. Remembered today as a careful collector of Lincoln material as well as a biographer, he played an important part in preserving the raw memories and documents that helped define Lincoln scholarship in its early years.