Excerpt from Biographical Sketches of Lyman C. Draper and Mortimer Melville Jackson Probably no historical student within the basin of the Mississippi is so generally known among men of letters as Lyman C. Draper, LL. D., cor responding secretary of the State Historical Soci ety of Wisconsin.1 While his reputation thus 'far has been chiefly that of a collector and editor of materials for history, rather than a writer, his work is quite as famous in its way as though his contributions to standard literature had been more numerous. Occupying a position quite unique in 'american scholarship, and regarded as an oracle on western topics among historical specialists the country over, but little is popularly known of Dr. Draper's personality - as to what sort of man this tireless worker is, what his methods are, his manner or his physical characteristics. Indeed, or so retiring a disposition is he, of so modest a demeanor and of so shrinking a habit, that it is given to but few of his townsmen admirers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.