Quesenbury Family Papers

Collection — Box: Small Manuscript Collections Box 7

Identifier: MC 1003

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The materials in this collection include a scrapbook consisting of a series of newspaper articles about William Minor Quesenbury published in the Arkansas Gazette in 1932 and 1940. Two photographs, taken in 1940, of original sketches drawn by Quesenbury in the 1870s, are also included, along with a portrait of Emily Lynch, a resident of Van Buren in the 1870s who married a member of the Quesenbury family. An undated courtship note to Emily signed by "Mr. Cush," a page of clippings from the Van Buren Press, circa 1853, and other unidentified clippings concerning the Quesenburys completes the collection.

Dates

circa 1853-1950s

Creator

Quesenbury family (Family)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

William Minor Quesenbury (1822-1888) was a teacher, poet, editor, soldier, and artist from Crawford County, Arkansas. He was born to a large family near Van Buren and after attending the local schools enrolled in St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Kentucky. Quesenbury served in Archibald Yell's regiment during the Mexican War and then moved to Fort Smith around 1847. He taught for a brief period at Cane Hill College, Washington County, and finally settled in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he established a newspaper, the South West Independent in 1853. His newspaper lasted until 1857, and two years later he again resumed his career as an editor for the Arkansaian, a Fayetteville newspaper owned by James Pettigrew and Elias C. Boudinot. During the Civil War, Quesenbury served in the Confederate army under the command of Albert Pike and spent most of his service in the Indian Territory and Texas. He died at Neosho, Missouri in 1888.

Extent

.2 Linear Feet (2 folders)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

The collection consists of two folders, housed in a box with other smaller manuscript collections.

Acquisition Information

The Quesenbury Family Papers were donated to Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries in 1989 through Chessie D. Quesenbury of Little Rock, Arkansas.