Weed, Thurlow (thûr`lō), 1797–1882, American journalist and political leader, b. Cairo, N.Y. After working on various newspapers in W New York, Weed joined the Rochester Telegraph and was influential as a supporter of John Quincy Adams. For a short time he published the Anti-Masonic Enquirer and as a leader of the Anti-Masonic party Anti-Masonic party, American political organization that rose after the disappearance in W New York state in 1826 of William Morgan. A former Mason, Morgan had written a book purporting to reveal Masonic secrets.
..... Click the link for more information. opposed Martin Van Buren. He wielded much political influence as editor of the Albany Evening Journal after 1830 and was a staunch opponent of the Albany Regency Albany Regency, name given, after 1820, to the leaders of the first political machine, which was developed in New York state by Martin Van Buren . The name derived from the charge that Van Buren's principal supporters, residing in Albany, managed the machine for him
..... Click the link for more information. . Becoming a Whig, Weed in 1840 helped secure the election of William H. Harrison as President. In 1844 he helped bring about the presidential nomination of Henry Clay, and in 1848 he backed Zachary Taylor. Though paying lip service to various reforms, notably the abolition of slavery, Weed was more at home with the problems of patronage and lobbying and came to be regarded as the silent boss of the Whig party. After the Whig party disintegrated over the slavery issue, Weed joined (1855) the new Republican party and worked in close cooperation with William H. Seward Seward, William Henry, 1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y.

Early Career

A graduate (1820) of Union College, he was admitted to the bar in 1822 and established himself as a lawyer in Auburn, N.Y.
..... Click the link for more information. . Seward was his close personal friend as well as political ally, and Weed carefully shepherded Seward's career as state legislator, governor of New York, and U.S. senator. He failed, however, to secure for Seward the Republican presidential nomination in 1860. Both Weed and Seward nevertheless came to be President Lincoln's staunch supporters. During the Civil War, Weed went on a special diplomatic mission to France and England. His political power in the Republican party was destroyed by his support of the Reconstruction policies of Andrew Johnson in 1866, and he was never again able to exert great political influence. His travels were turned to account in his Letters From Europe and the West Indies (1866).

Bibliography

See The Life of Thurlow Weed (2 vol., 1883–84, including his autobiography and a memoir by his grandson); biography by G. G. Van Deusen (1947, repr. 1969).

Weed, Thurlow

(born Nov. 15, 1797, Cairo, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 22, 1882, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist and politician. He worked on various newspapers in upstate New York and was a leader in the Anti-Masonic movement. He was the founding editor of the Albany Evening Journal (1830–63). He helped form the Whig Party in New York and was instrumental in William Seward's election as governor (1838) and in the presidential election of William H. Harrison (1840). He later became active in the Republican Party and was a staunch supporter of Pres. Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 he was sent to England to seek support for the Union.