William "Cush" Quesenbury was born August 21, 1822, in Crawford County, Arkansas. In 1839, he began to write for newspapers in Van Buren, Arkansas. In the 1840s, he studied under the painter, John Mix Stanley, and began a career in drawing sketches, caricatures, and cartoons. Quesenbury fought in the Mexican War in 1846, after which he returned to Arkansas to teach. He started his own newspaper in Fayetteville in 1853, the "South West Independent," which lasted until 1857. In 1860, he took over the Fayetteville newspaper, "Arkansian" for Elias Boudinot, who moved to Little Rock to become the editor for the "True Democrat." When the Civil War began, Quesenbury fought for the Confederacy with Albert Pike in Indian Territory. He moved to Texas following the war but returned to Arkansas in 1876, eventually relocating to Neosho, Missouri, in 1880. He died on August 31, 1888.
This collection contains correspondence and literary works of William Quesenbury.
- Correspondence (Reel MG00207)
- 1888 January 18: William Quesenbury, Neosho, Missouri, to Elias Boudinot
- Literary works
- Circa 1860: "Kansas," Article addressed to "friend Wheeler" about "bleeding Kansas" and signed Javelin
- 1876 July 4: "And Others," Article in answer to Mr. Turner's July 4, 1876, address in Alma
- 1876 July 4: "To the Mexican Veteran"
- 1876 December 25: Poem, "Carrier's Address to the Readers of the Western Independent"
- Undated: "A Card"
