George Cruikshank

George Marcus Cruikshank (born March 15, 1852 near Lexington, Kentucky – died September 15, 1936) was an educator, newspaper editor, and historian.

Cruikshank was the son of Marcus Cruikshank, a Confederate congressman and mayor of Talladega, and his wife, the former Matilda Chrisman. He was raised in Talladega and completed his studies there with a bachelor of arts degree, and remained to teach in the county schools.

In 1883 he moved to Birmingham to become editor of the Birmingham Chronicle and married the former Mary R. Smith on October 7, 1887. In 1890 he relocated to Washington, D. C. to superintend the house folding room (from whence Congressional mail was sent). He resigned in 1893 when he was appointed Assistant Postmaster of Birmingham. After his four year term he became editor of the Birmingham Ledger, which he built from a small publication to become one of the larger papers in the South. The Ledger was purchased by The Birmingham News in 1918.

Cruikshanks' A History of Birmingham and its Environs was published in two volumes in 1920. He was a Master Mason, a member of the Alabama Press Association and the Birmingham Press Club, as well as the Commercial Club of Birmingham. He was president of the Birmingham Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He and his wife had two children, Mary and Marcus.

Cruikshank died in 1936 and is buried at Grand Bay Cemetery in Mobile County.

References

• Dubose, Joel Campbell (1904) Notable men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical 2 Volumes. Atlanta, Georgia: Southern Historical Association
• Causey, Donna (April 27, 2009) "Cruikshank, George Marcus (1852 - 1936)". Alabama Pioneers