Thurlow Weed papers

Thurlow Weed was born in Cairo, New York in 1797. He was the son of Joel Weed and Mary Weed. His father was a poor farmer resulting in Thurlow Weed only attending school briefly. Thurlow Weed held various jobs starting at the age of eight. Some of these jobs include working at a blacksmith's, the printer's or on Hudson River boats. When his family moved to central New York, Weed became apprenticed to a printer. He served a short time as a soldier in the War of 1812.

Due to his experience as an apprentice to a printer, Weed became the foreman of the Albany Register in 1817. Weed was interested in politics early in his career and started to become more active in the 1820s. In 1821, Weed moved to Rochester to be the editor of the Rochester Telegraph. In 1822, Weed married Catherine Ostrander of Cooperstown. Together they had four daughters and one son.

Thurlow Weed was a supporter of DeWitt Clinton as well as was involved in the election of 1824 with John Quincy Adams. Thurlow Weed, himself, was elected to the Assembly in 1824. In 1825, Weed became part owner of the Rochester Telegraph due to financial troubles the paper was experiencing.

When the anti-Masonic movement grew in New York around 1825, Weed became an active member of the Anti-Masonic Party. Weed tried to align anti-Masonic politics with the National Republican organization supporting John Quincy Adams in 1828.

After Masons forced him out of the Rochester Telegraph, Weed became an active member of the Whig organization. In 1829, Weed was elected again to the Assembly. In 1830, Weed founded the paper called the Albany Evening Journal to support anti-Masonry.

Thurlow Weed was a major supporter of economic development. This included banking, internal improvements and Henry Clay's American System. Weed was a political manager and manipulator. He used patronage, favors and the press on behalf of the Whig party. Weed was an idealist and humanitarian but remained a pragmatist and shunned unpopular positions that jeopardized victory on election day.

During his political career, he allied himself with William H. Seward, a leading New York Whig. In 1838, Weed was influential in Seward's election as governor of New York State. After this political victory, Weed supported the presidential runs of Whigs William Henry Harrison in 1840 and Zachary Taylor in 1849. In 1852, Weed strongly opposed Millard Fillmore's nomination by the Whigs for re-election. Weed then took a pause from politics and enjoyed an extended trip to Europe for over a year.

The Whig Party had split over the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1864 when Weed returned. The Republican Party was formed by members of the Whig party opposed to the Act. Weed became a Republican along with his friend Seward. Weed supported Seward's re-election to the Senate in 1854 and the Republican nomination of John C. Fremont for President in 1856. In 1860, Weed helped manage William H. Seward's unsuccessful campaign for the Republican presidential nomination against Abraham Lincoln.

After that defeat, Weed, along with Seward became supporters of Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, Seward became Lincoln's Secretary of State. During this time Weed was send to England as a special agent as a propagandist for the United States. Weed's job was to work with journalists and public leaders to counteract Confederate journalistic originality abroad.

After Lincoln's death in 1865, Weed's influence in the Republican Party slowly declined. Factors that led to this decline were his conservative views on emancipation as well as supporting Andrew Johnson's reconstruction policy. In Weed's mind, the Emancipation Proclamation was too radical and controversial which went against the consensus of administration. Aligning himself with conservative Andrew Johnson against the Radical Republicans would end his political career.

During the end of the Civil War, Weed sold his paper, retired from politics and moved to New York City. Weed briefly edited a newspaper and still took part in politics but never held another elective or party office or exerted a strong influence as he had in the past. In 1882, Weed died in New York City.