George Marcus Cruikshank (March 15, 1857 – September 15, 1936) was an American educator, newspaper editor, and historian active mostly in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He had political appointments on staff at Congress and as US Postmaster of Birmingham.

Early life, education and early career

George Marcus Cruikshank, born in

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles () is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

, was the son of Marcus Cruikshank and his wife. The family moved to Alabama, where George's father was elected as a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and later mayor of

Talladega, Alabama Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham. ...

. George was raised in Talladega and completed his studies there. Cruikshank taught for a time in the Talladega County schools and the Alabama School for the Blind.

Newspaper and political career

In 1883, Cruikshank moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

as editor of the '' Birmingham Chronicle''. He married in 1887. He and his wife had two children, Mary and Marcus. In 1890, Cruikshank moved to Washington, D.C., with an appointment as superintendent of the "folding room" of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, where all congressional mail was delivered. He resigned in 1893 to accept another political appointment as Postmaster of Birmingham and returned to Alabama. When his four-year term concluded, Cruikshank returned to newspapers as editor of the '' Birmingham Ledger'', which he developed as one of the larger newspapers in the South. The ''Ledger'' was acquired by ''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...

'' in 1920. Cruikshank's book, ''A History of Birmingham and its Environs'', was published in two volumes in 1920. He was a Master Mason, a member of the Alabama Press Association and the

Birmingham Press Club Birmingham Press Club is a press club based in the English city of Birmingham. Established in 1865, just six years after Concordia Press Club in Vienna, became the second oldest organisation of its type in the world. The club hosts a number of p ...

, as well as the Commercial Club of Birmingham. He was president of the Birmingham chapter of the

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

. Cruikshank died in 1936. He is buried at Grand Bay Cemetery in

Mobile County Mobile County ( ) is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the second most-populous county in the state after Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its po ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruikshank, George 1857 births 1936 deaths Writers from Lexington, Kentucky People from Talladega, Alabama Editors of Alabama newspapers Historians from Alabama People from Versailles, Kentucky Historians of Alabama Writers from Birmingham, Alabama 19th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American newspaper editors Alabama postmasters 20th-century American historians