Reuben Gold Thwaites
| Reuben Gold Thwaites | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 15, 1853 Dorchester, Massachusetts |
| Died | October 22, 1913 (aged 60) Madison, Wisconsin |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | President of the American Library Association, Editor of the Wisconsin State Journal |
Reuben Gold Thwaites (May 15, 1853 – October 22, 1913) was an American historical writer.
Thwaites was born in 1853 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His parents were William George and Sarah Bibbs Thwaites, who had moved to Dorchester in 1850 from Yorkshire, England. The family moved to Omro, Wisconsin in 1866 where Reuben worked on the farm, studied college-level coursework and reported for the Oshkosh Times. In 1874-75 he studied English Literature, Economic History and International Law at Yale University. Thwaites studied at Yale as a special student, and beyond that never formerly studied at the collegiate level, although later in his life he was awarded an LLD from the University of Wisconsin.
From 1876 to 1886, Thwaites was managing editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, at Madison. In 1885 he became Assistant Corresponding Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and when Lyman Draper retired as Secretary 1887, Thwaites was appointed to succeed him. While leading the historical society he edited volumes XI-XIX of the Wisconsin Historical Collections , The Jesuit Relations, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, and Original Journals of Lewis and Clark. He also authored a number of papers and monographs including a biography of Daniel Boone, a biography of Father Marquette, and a history of colonial North America.
Thwaites is credited with raising the scholarship surrounding the Lewis and Clark expedition to a new level. Previous to the editions that were published under his leadership, general knowledge as well as serious scholarship were for the most part hampered by legend. Thwaites discovered and uncovered various additional original sources, including the journal of Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the expedition. By including these disparate sources and tying them together in a cohesive set of volumes, the nature and importance of the expedition became more generally recognized.
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