Jesse W. Weik (1857 - 1930) was one of the earliest Lincoln scholars, and in the attached three page article he delved deeply into Lincoln's life in order to understand Lincoln and the thoughts behind his famous speech at Gettysburg:
"In preparation for Herndon and Weik's Life of Lincoln (1889), he visited every place in Illinois, Indianan and Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln lived; examined the records of all the lawsuits in which Lincoln was engaged, and talked to everyone he could find who knew Lincoln. For thirty years and more he has made a special study of the sources, written and unwritten, of the personal history of President Lincoln".
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