Marquis James (August 29, 1891,

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

– November 19, 1955) was an American journalist and author, twice awarded the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for his works ''The Raven: A Biography of

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

'' and ''The Life of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

''.

Early life and education

Marquis James was born on August 29, 1891, in Springfield, Missouri, the fifth child and only son of Houstin James (December 18, 1844, Pike Co., Ohio – August 18, 1908, Enid, Oklahoma), a lawyer, and Rachel Leo Marquis (July 14, 1848, Jay Co., Indiana – May 22, 1930, Enid, Oklahoma), a schoolteacher (daughter of Dr. James Marquis and Mary Cosner). Houstin, a Civil War veteran, participated in both the

Land run of 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Muscogee, Creek and Seminole peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part ...

and the

Land Run of 1893 Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

.Rockwell, Stella, ed., ''Garfield County, Oklahoma, 1907–1982, Vol. I'', Garfield Historical Society, Josten's Publishing Company, Topeka, Kansas. 1982., pp. 330–331 While unsuccessful in 1889, Houstin successfully staked a claim southeast of

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

in the 1893 run and moved his family there. Marquis James was educated at East Hill School and Central, and graduated

Enid High School Enid High School (EHS) is a public tertiary school in Enid, Oklahoma, U.S., operated by the Enid Public Schools school district. With a student body of about 2035 in grades 9-12, Enid High School has a matriculation rate of about 65 percent. Some ...

in 1910. He attended one year of college at Oklahoma Christian University (later

Phillips University Phillips University was a private university Enid, Oklahoma. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1998. It was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It included an undergraduate college and a graduate seminary. The university wa ...

Career

During high school Marquis James helped found the ''Quill'', Enid's student newspaper. He became a reporter for ''Enid Events'' at 14. James worked for many of the local papers including ''Wave Democrat'', ''Enid Morning News'', and the ''Enid Daily Eagle''. He also sent Enid related articles to the ''Wichita Eagle'' and ''The Oklahoman''.Brown, Gary
''James Marquis Chronological Biography''
Enid History.org, 2004 Following high school he worked at various newspapers across the country, including as a rewrite editor for the ''New York Tribune'' in 1916. From 1916 to 1918, Marquis James appeared with short stories and serials in the '' Chicago Ledger''. James served as an Army captain in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in France from 1917 to 1919. Following his military service, he became National Director of Publicity for the American Legion and worked on the staff at the ''American Legion Monthly'' from 1923 to 1932. James also contributed work to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', occasionally using the pseudonym "Quid".

Personal life and death

James married fellow reporter Bessie Williams Rowland in 1914. The two collaborated on children's books based on James' Pulitzer Prize–winning biographies. They had one daughter, Cynthia. After 38 years of marriage, James and Rowland divorced in 1952. James married Jacqueline Mary Parsons in 1954.Vickery, Paul S.,
James, Marquis (1891-1955)
", ''Oklahoma Encyclopedia of History & Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society Marquis James died suddenly at the age of sixty-four of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on November 19, 1955. He was working on a biography of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

at the time of his death. The Public Library of Enid and Garfield County dedicated the Marquis James room to him in 1964 which contains artifacts relating to James' life and career; in 2016 the library was designated a National Literary Landmark in his honor.

Bibliography

Books

* * * * * *Combined edition of ''Andrew Jackson : the border captain'' and ''Andrew Jackson : portrait of a president'', for which he was awarded the 1938

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

. * * ''Alfred I. DuPont, The Family Rebel'' (1941) * ''Biography of a Business, 1792-1942'' (1943) * ''The Cherokee Strip: A Tale of an

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Boyhood'' (1945) * ''The Metropolitan Life: A Study in Business Growth'' (1947) * ''Merchant Adventurer: The Story of W.R. Grace'' (completed 1948, published 1993) * ''The Texaco Story, The First Fifty Years: 1902-1952'' (1953) * ''Biography of a Bank: The Story of Bank of America'', with his wife Bessie R. James (1954)

Articles

* * Profile of

Alice Roosevelt Longworth Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Lo ...

. * * * * * * Profile of John H. Craige. * * * Topic: Mayor

John Hylan John Francis Hylan (April 20, 1868January 12, 1936) was the 96th Mayor of New York City (the seventh since the consolidation of the five boroughs), from 1918 to 1925. From rural beginnings in the Catskills, Hylan eventually obtained work in Brook ...

. * Topic: Scopes Trial. * * * * * * Topics:

Astor Place Riot Astor may refer to: People * Astor (surname) * Astor family, a wealthy 18th-century American family who became prominent in 20th-century British politics * Astor Bennett, a character in the Showtime television series ''Dexter'' * Ástor Piazzoll ...

, Edward Z. C. Judson * Topics:

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

, railroads, folklore.

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - James, Marquis
* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Marquis 1891 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American biographers American male biographers American business writers American economics writers 20th-century American historians The New Yorker people Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Writers from Enid, Oklahoma Enid High School alumni 20th-century American male writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters