Template:Did you know nominations/David B. Gillespie

David B. Gillespie

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• ... that David Gillespie was the first person granted a document in the nature of a diploma from the University of North Carolina?

• Source: Battle, Kemp Plummer (1907). History of the University of North Carolina: from its Beginning to the Death of President Swain, 1789–1868 (PDF). Vol. I. Raleigh, North Carolina: Edwards & Broughton Printing Company. p. 77 – via the Wikimedia Foundation.

• ALT1: ... that the first person granted a document in the nature of a diploma from the University of North Carolina was David Gillespie? Source: Battle, Kemp Plummer (1907). History of the University of North Carolina: from its Beginning to the Death of President Swain, 1789–1868 (PDF). Vol. I. Raleigh, North Carolina: Edwards & Broughton Printing Company. p. 77 – via the Wikimedia Foundation.
• ALT2: ... that David Gillespie was the chief surveyor to Andrew Ellicott on the commission to determine the thirty-first parallel? Source: Holmes, Jack D. L. (April 1966). "The Southern Boundary Commission, the Chattahoochee River, and the Florida Seminoles, 1799". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 44 (4): 312–337. JSTOR 30147229.
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Created by Aneirinn (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has less than 5 past nominations.

Aneirinn (talk) 08:43, 5 July 2024 (UTC).

•  : Article is new enough, and long enough, and predominantly soured with public domain content so no apparent copyright issues. However, I find none of the hooks interesting to a wide audience (an increasingly common issue with DYK). And despite the article title, no reliable sources seem to use the middle initial "B.": where does this come from? And spot checking sources, Battle 1890 does not seem to have a page 170, nor mention David Gillespie anywhere. --Animalparty! (talk) 16:32, 7 July 2024 (UTC)
  • Oops I used the wrong book as the source. The source I was using had combined the two books in one pdf and I had missed that. Also, concerning his middle name, I suppose you are saying that "Death at Red Springs". The Weekly Star. Vol. XXIX. Wilmington, North Carolina: North Carolina Newspapers, Digital North Carolina. June 10, 1898. p. 1. is not a reliable source for this? If so, could you please clarify if that is correct? Aneirinn (talk) 18:55, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

If that newspaper obit (including its earlier printing on June 5, 1898) is the only source using "B", and no scholar has used it since, then it's most likely a one-off error (typos, misspellings, and incorrect info is common in short obits from the time): note there was a Dr. David B(ryson) Gillespie of Bladen County who died in 1905 mentioned in NC newspapers, and may have caused conflation. Find a Grave uses the middle B, but it's an unreliable user-generated source and the tombstone image does not corroborate it. Since David Gillespie (politician) already exists, David Gillespie (surveyor) or David Gillespie (American politician) may be more appropriate titles in line with predominant form of name. --Animalparty! (talk) 19:40, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

Now that the corrections have been made, I don't see anything that should be holding this up. I find the hypothesis given about his middle name plausible. Dr. David Bryson Gillespie (February 24, 1815–January 2, 1905), who attended the Medical College of South Carolina, was a son of Major David Gillespie. I also find it plausible that the writer of that obituary wrote 'Major' David B. Gillespie for a reason, and that Major David named his son after himself, which would have them both having a middle name starting with a 'B'. This point of contention is not really an issue; however, I find it hard to believe that people would find the initial proposal or ALT1 dull or uninteresting. It is significant and interesting that, according to Kemp P. Battle, Major David Gillespie was the first person granted a document in the form of a diploma from the University of North Carolina, the oldest public university in the United States. This would also make David Gillespie the first person in the United States to receive a document in the form of a diploma from a public university. If more alternative hooks are necessary, I'm willing to provide additional options.

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