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William Edgar Culkin (October 15, 1860 – June 25, 1949) was an American newspaper editor, historian, and educator. He was raised in New York, and later moved to Minnesota, where he served on the Minnesota Senate between 1895 and 1898 as a Republican.

Early life

William Edgar Culkin was born in Oswego, New York, in 1860, where his early schooling took place. He emigrated to Minnesota in 1880, and he taught there for two years while continuing his studies. Culkin read law and was allowed to practice law from 1882, initially in Waverly, a town in Wright County. He was married in 1886 to Hannah Alice Young, and they soon settled in Buffalo, Minnesota. He and his wife had a son and three daughters. One, Margaret Culkin Banning, became a best selling author.

Career

Culkin was elected three times as county attorney of Wright County, beginning in 1886. He belonged to the Republican Party. Culkin was elected to District 38 of the state senate representing Sherburne and Wright counties during the 29th and 30th State Legislative Sessions, which ran from January 1895 to January 1898. He defeated the Democratic and Populist party candidate, David Murdock. He served on several committees, and was chair of the Geological and Natural History Survey committee. In late 1897, he became the Registrar of the United States Land Office, in Duluth.

Later life and death

Culkin was an associate editor of the Duluth Herald Newspaper early in the twentieth century. He became known as a local historian following his government career, and in 1922 was made the first president of the St. Louis County Historical Society. He died at Duluth in 1949 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Duluth, Minnesota.

Notes

1. ^ Member Record: Culkin, William Edgar; Minnesota Legislative Reference Library online; accessed October 2019
2. ^ The Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota; 1897; Minnesota Secretary of State; p. 608; accessed October 2019
3. ^ Culkin, William E. (1860-1949) | Archives and Special Collections; Kathryn A. Martin Library; University of Minnesota, Duluth; accessed October 2019

• 1860 births
• 1949 deaths
• American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
• 19th-century American lawyers
• Minnesota lawyers
• County attorneys in Minnesota
• Republican Party Minnesota state senators
• People from Wright County, Minnesota
• Politicians from Oswego, New York
• Editors of Minnesota newspapers
• 20th-century American newspaper editors
• 20th-century American historians
• 20th-century American male writers
• Local historians
• Historians of Minnesota
• American male non-fiction writers
• Historians from New York (state)
• 19th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature