Talk:Timothy Blackstone

GA nom

Few small points -

• Can the "Ascendancy" section be renamed? It covers biography after Early Life to his death.
• He could not have been president of the Joliet Railroad in 1961.
• I suppose this is as exhaustively researched and sourced as possible, no? It would be nice to have some expansion on some topics (esp Zionism), but it looks like you've been plundering the archives for biographical info as it is.

Chubbles 03:15, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

• • I added the citation for the 1861 date. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio) 14:51, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Changed title, but not sure what was desired. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio) 14:51, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
  • I will try to add a few details. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio) 14:51, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

My contention was not that he couldn't have been president in 1861, but that he couldn't have been president in 1961. Chubbles 17:12, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

GA Review--on hold

GA review (see here for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   a (fair representation): b (all significant views):

5. It is stable.

   

6. It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.

   a (tagged and captioned): b lack of images (does not in itself exclude GA): c (non-free images have fair use rationales):

7. Overall:

   a Pass/Fail:

The section on Zionism is problematic: the source is dubious and the logic leap (he "funded" his cousin, so he is by association a Zionist). He may well have been a Zionist, but the sources are not sufficient to make that claim. Either source it better (more verifiably and reliably) or remove for now. Then I can pass it as a GA. Argos'Dad 20:56, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

GA

This article meets the criteria for WP:GA and has been listed there. Argos'Dad 03:48, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Timothy Blackstone GA Reassessment

This discussion is transcluded from Talk:Timothy Blackstone/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the reassessment.

GA Sweeps: On hold

As part of the WikiProject Good Articles, we're doing Sweeps to determine if the article should remain a Good article. I believe the article currently meets the majority of the criteria and should remain listed as a GA. However, in reviewing the article, I have found there are several issues that needs to be addressed.

1. The images needs alt text. See WP:ALT for instructions.

   Done.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 07:21, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

2. There are a few dead links that should be fixed. The Internet Archive might be able to help.

   Fixed.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 06:41, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

3. There are multiple single sentences or very brief paragraphs. Either expand on these or incorporate them into other paragraphs.

   Done.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:18, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

4. This isn't required for GA, but it would be helpful for this biography to include persondata (see WP:PERSONDATA).

   Done.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 01:43, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

5. The second and third sentences in the lead start off with "He also...". Reword to remove the duplication.

   Addressed, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:24, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

6. The lead should be expanded to touch on all of the sections to better summarize the article. For further clarification, see WP:LEAD.

   O.K.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:18, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

7. "The family is descended from William Blaxton, who arrived in New England in the seventeenth century.[4] William Blackstone is a distant cousin." The average reader may not know who Blaxton and Blackstone are, so a brief explanation clause would be helpful for each.

   Done.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 20:59, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

8. "He only worked on the NY&NH for a year..." Before using this acronym, list it in parenthesis after the first occurrence.

   Done, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:24, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

9. "...his only foray into elected office. After leaving office..." To improve the flow of these sentences, consider rewording the second occurrence of office (maybe "politics"?).

   Done, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:33, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

10. "When the system was reorganized, he was named president of the board of directors for the company. John Drake also served on the Board of Directors." Fix the linking/capitalization of the BoD.

    Addressed, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:37, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

11. "Although Blackstone served with the Alton Railroad for more than a quarter century, he refused a salary." Is there any information on if had another source of income?

    I have rearranged the text so his presidency of the Union Stock Yards follows this point. Also in the subsequent paragraph, it notes that he owned stock in the railroad. So he was an investor in the company he refused a salary from.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:05, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

12. "In 1868, Blackstone married Isabella Farnsworth Norton, the daughter of a successful businessman from Norwich, Connecticut." This could use a citation.

    Done, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:24, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

13. When was the mansion built?

    Don't know, but added 19th century to remind the reader.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:19, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

14. "This two story ground level ground-level..." -> "The two-story ground level..."

    Done, Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:24, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

15. The "Support for Zionism" section is unsourced. It should also be expanded if it is going to be a stand-alone section.

    I have merged this section and added the best ref I could find without access to the biographical book.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 22:19, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

16. If possible see if there any new available sources for further expanding the article.

    I have expanded what I could.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:52, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I will leave the article on hold for seven days, but if progress is being made and an extension is needed, one may be given. If no progress is made, the article may be delisted, which can then later be renominated at WP:GAN. I'll contact all of the main contributors and related WikiProjects so the workload can be shared. Once the above issues are addressed, I'll help do a final copyedit of the article. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. --Happy editing! Nehrams2020 (talk • contrib) 03:55, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

GA Sweeps: Kept

Good work addressing the issues. I went through and made some minor changes, please review my edits. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good Article. Continue to improve the article making sure all new information is properly sourced and neutral. It would be beneficial to update the access dates for the online sources. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I have updated the article history to reflect this review. --Happy editing! Nehrams2020 (talk • contrib) 23:41, 31 January 2010 (UTC)