Family, Friends and Close Associates of Helen Nicolay
John G. Nicolay
from the Helen Nicolay Collection
Therena Bates Nicolay
Library of Congress
John Hay, Secretary of State, former secretary to Abraham Lincoln
Mr. Hay was as close to Helen Nicolay as could be without being a blood relative and treated her like a daughter or niece.
Wikimedia Commons
William Taft, US President
Helen Nicolay was distantly related to Mr. Taft and they attended the same church, All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC
Wikimedia Commons
Elisabeth Tibbott
Throughout the decades of the close friendship between Helen and Elisabeth, they wrote long letters to one another.
self portrait, courtesy of the Tibbott family
Jay Linn Torrey
Attorney who drafted Bankruptcy Act, almost US Vice-President under McKinley, initiated "Rough Rider" movement in build up to Spanish-American War. Mr. Torrey and Helen Nicolay were cousins on her mother's side of the family.
Library of Congress
Alice Fletcher
Anthropologist and archeologist who studied native Americans in the West, a friend of the Nicolay family.
Wikimedia Commons
Ainsworth Rand Spofford
Librarian of Congress 1864-1897
Mr. Spofford and John Nicolay were close friends and associates. When John Nicolay died, Helen moved in with the Spoffords.