The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

Quinn, S. J. (Silvanus Jackson), 1837-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6
Word count
745K words
Chapters
75

Tags

English Originals World History Human GeographyHistorical ReappraisalLocal HistoryCity ChroniclesArchives ArrangementLocal MemoryFredericksburgSocial ObservationFolk CustomsAmerican South

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia by S. J. QuinnAuthor: Quinn, S. J. (Silvanus Jackson), 1837-,Language: English, Class: F206: United States local history: The South. South Atlantic States, Release Date: Dec 10, 2012

Editor's review

This is a local history of Fredericksburg, Virginia, by Sylvanus J. Quinn, combining chronological and thematic chapters to trace the city's founding, administrative evolution, notable figures, and public life. The appeal of local history lies in its details: street names, institutions, families, and events are interwoven, letting readers see the texture of local society in the American South through one city. Written in an earlier era, the book reflects the typical interests of nineteenth-century local chronicles, emphasizing persons and institutional development while lacking the analytical concerns of modern historiography; it is therefore better read as source material than as settled interpretation. For genealogists, local-archive enthusiasts, and urban historians it is a usable store of leads; general readers can sample chapters on the Civil War era and the city's growth. The Project Gutenberg edition's searchability for names and places is its chief advantage over print.

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Reading tips

  1. Skim the table of contents and index first, then read closely around the people, institutions, or periods that interest you.
  2. Use search to compile names and places and build your own reading trail.
  3. Read alongside modern scholarship on Southern urban history, noting the biases of early chronicles.
  4. No need to read cover to cover; read by topic and note page references for sources as you go.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
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  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
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  11. 11
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  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
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  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
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  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75

FAQ

Is this a comprehensive history or a compilation of materials? It is closer to a traditional local chronicle: centered on the city's development, people, and public affairs, with both chronological and thematic chapters. It is less continuous than a modern history but contains a wealth of specific, verifiable information and is best used as a reference collection.
The author wrote long ago—what should I watch for when citing it? Early local histories often mix rumor, family memory, and the author's own stance, and some facts need cross-checking. When citing specific people and events, compare against official archives or later local-history scholarship rather than treating a single account as definitive.
Is the English original difficult for non-specialists? The language is generally plain, but names of people, places, and old institutions are dense and sentences are often long. Familiarize yourself with the city's basic geography and historical periods before diving into chapters; don't try to memorize every unfamiliar name—look them up as needed.
Is the e-edition suitable for genealogical verification? It works well as a starting point for leads. Full-text search makes it easy to locate surnames and place names and quickly find relevant passages; but formal genealogical conclusions should still be checked against original archives, church records, and government registers rather than relying on the chronicle alone.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Quinn, S. J. (Silvanus Jackson), 1837- Author · 1837

S. J. Quinn (full name Silvanus Jackson Quinn, born 1837) was an English-language author whose life and nationality are poorly documented in public sources; only his birth in 1837 can be confirmed. One work by him is held in the collection, The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia. On its subject, this is a local history of Fredericksburg, Virginia, belonging to the nineteenth-century tradition of local and urban history writing, which typically chronicles a town's founding, administrative development, people and events in chronological order. Given the limited information, his writing style and influence cannot be described in detail, and readers should treat the book as a reference source for the history of that city.