author
Jesse William Weik
1857–1930
Best remembered as William Herndon’s collaborator on one of the earliest major biographies of Abraham Lincoln, he helped preserve firsthand stories and documents that shaped Lincoln scholarship for generations. He also wrote his own books on Lincoln, bringing a reporter’s eye and a collector’s passion to American history.
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 Indiana in 1857, Jesse William Weik became closely associated with the study of Abraham Lincoln after meeting William H. Herndon in Springfield, Illinois. Working with Herndon, he helped gather interviews, letters, and recollections that fed into Herndon’s Lincoln, an influential early life of the 16th president.
Weik did more than assist behind the scenes. He went on to write and edit books of his own about Lincoln, including The Real Lincoln: A Portrait, and became known as a careful collector of Lincoln papers and memories. His work helped save source material that might otherwise have disappeared, giving later historians a richer record to work with.
He died in 1930, but his name remains tied to some of the foundational efforts to document Lincoln’s life. For listeners interested in how history is assembled from witnesses, documents, and patient research, Weik stands out as one of the early caretakers of Lincoln’s story.