Samuel May Williams has been listed as one of the History good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Here is the current text for the "Legacy" section: "His contributions in the areas of finance and business greatly aided the Republic of Texas. He was among the founders of Galveston, Texas[7] and is considered the founder of the Texas Navy.[8] The house he built in 1839 is on the National Register of Historic Places."
There are currently two sections: "Biography" and "Legacy." The whole article is a biography, so the "Biography" is a redundant section name. The first sentence ("His contributions...") is opinion without supporting evidence. I will find evidence for his contributions to the Republic of Texas and add it to the article. There is much material from good sources, so it won't be difficult.
Sentences 2 and 3 can be moved to other parts of the article.
So I propose to restructure the article by deleting the sections "Biography" and "Legacy," then elevating all of the current subsections to main sections, and adding sections as needed. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:36, 7 November 2014 (UTC)oldsanfelipe
Done My earlier edits of this page cited articles with*out* specifying page numbers, only a page range for the entire article. I also used chapter references instead of page references for a book I cited. I am inserting shorter page ranges to make this easier to follow for readers and other editors. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 14:53, 21 August 2018 (UTC) Edited once by Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 16:02, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
The section "After the Austin Colony" currently reads, "Early in 1834, he co-founded the partnership of McKinney & Williams, setting up a warehouse at Brazoria, then relocated to Quintana, at the mouth of the Brazos River. The firm operated small steamboats on the Brazos and used its warehouse to manage transfer of freight to and from the larger ships operating on the Gulf of Mexico." (Bold added.) This is supported by Nichols (1952). Henson (1976) at p. 50 writes, "He and Thomas F. McKinney had entered a partnership as commission merchants (probably early in 1833)...." Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 13:46, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
The article currently supports place of burial with Find-A-Grave, which is not an WP:RS because its content is user-generated without editorial control. This is something I used a few years ago. I am trying to clean up some of my messes and looking for a good source. Trinity Episcopal Church in Galveston [1] has a web site with a database for burial, but it runs like molasses. It times out each time. I will find a better source or delete the content soon. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 22:11, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
The article currently reads, "He moved to New Orleans around 1815, where he worked as a bookkeeper." (Nichols (1952), 190.) Henson (1976) at p. 6 says, "Just when Williams returned to the United States is unknown....late in 1818 Sam Williams was in Washington, D.C." Also, "Williams lived in New Orleans in 1819...." (p. 7) The brief second paragraph in Early life may need a total re-write. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 17:35, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
@ Oldsanfelipe: (and anyone else interested) I have access to the Cartwright book at my library. Nichols published a 331-page biography in 1956, which I found by trying to replace that findagrave citation. Unfortunately, the closest copy of that one is 176 miles away. The citation can also be replaced by Southwestern Historical Quarterly - Volume 56 - Page 210 and Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Galveston, Texas, 1841-1953: A Memorial History by William Manning Morgan, Anson Jones Press, 1954, should you have access to them. 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 17:15, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
Williams owned slaves. I am not sure about the appropriate way to talk about it. However, given the details of his family life, it seems wrong not to mention it. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 14:09, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
Any thoughts about how the article meets the B-standard?
1. "The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations."
2. "The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies."
3. "The article has a defined structure."
4 "The article is reasonably well-written."
5. "The article contains supporting materials where appropriate."
6. "The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way." Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 01:15, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 02:37, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
@ Mz7: @ Jo-Jo Eumerus: @ Nikkimaria: Here is a fresh thread for y'all.
The following image is at the Commons: File:Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Texas $1.00 (one dollar) private scrip (8519862080).jpg. Since we are dealing with a bank note, its publication date is unclear. The note was most likely issued in the 1850s, but does that mean it was published at that time? So I have no idea what counts for publication of a bank note in copyright. The Commons's explanation of rights of this image is also unclear to me. In what manner might this image be used on the Samuel May Williams page? He founded the bank that issued this note, so it would be a very helpful visual aid for a part of the article where such aids are lacking. Thanks, Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:39, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
If you think these are appropriate, I have uploaded a few images:
One more:
78.26: It is not supposed to make a difference, but it may help to first attain GA before trying for FA. What do you think? Would you like to co-nominate the article? I have nominated Charles Morgan (businessman), which is currently under review. Shortly it should either pass or fail, but I am trying to keep my plate clear in case I need to respond to questions. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:16, 10 September 2018 (UTC)
GA toolbox |
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Reviewing |
Reviewer: Kaiser matias ( talk · contribs) 16:47, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
Will take a look at this one.
Kaiser matias (
talk) 16:47, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
That should be it. I'll take another look once the above is addressed though, just to make sure nothing was missed. Kaiser matias ( talk) 18:31, 14 September 2019 (UTC)
@ Kaiser matias, 78.26, and PGNormand: Hi Kaiser matias: I am now posting as Oldsanfelipe2. I am one of the GA-nominators for Samuel May Williams. A serious illness forced me into a long hiatus. When I was ready to return, I had forgotten my password and was not able to reset it. Thank you for working with User:78.26, who is a fine editor and administrator. I am proud of the work I did on this article, but it would not have even been nomination-worthy without the assistance of 78.26. I also have a shoutout for PGNormand, who had the patience to dig through SMW's involvement with Free masonry. Henson mentions this, but I was not willing to do additional research to include this in the article. In my opinion, this is Wikipedia working as it should, as a collaboration which improves content. Sincerely, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 17:23, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
Upon closer inspection, PGNormand's edits to the article have been unhelpful. I do not have access to most of the sources cited, but I have just checked two citations, and neither support the accompanying text. The standards of Wikipedia require that we use only content that we can support through reliable secondary sources. So far the edits I have checked failed to do this in a radical way. Thus I am deleting all content from the Freemasonry section.
Here are the unsupported statements:
The reliability of Wikipedia is based not just on the citation of reliable secondary sources, but that the text we write is true to those sources. I am truly embarrassed that I took this article to Peer Review and was just about to submit it as a FAC. I did not check the sources (and I even missed the typo) in the Freemasonry section. PGNormand, at the risk of sounding condescending, if you don't understand WP:VERIFIABLE, I will explain it the best I can. Better yet, there are more experienced editors that you can ask at Teahouse. Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 18:51, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
Sorry. Those paragraphs were excerpts from a paper I wrote about a year ago, which is heavy with endnotes. I see that the Lightfoot article, which was a PDF on-line, has been taken down from the website where I found it. That is the problem with using on-line sources. But, if I had used the published source, the 1943 annual Proceedings of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas, I know you couldn't find it. As a librarian at a Masonic library, I have access to hard copies of those Proceedings, but I understand that most others will not. That is why I posted the on-line source, which is now taken down.
The citation of the article on San Felipe de Austin was simply to support the statement that the town was burned. Dr. Carter's book, "Masonry in Texas," is readily available at most major libraries in Texas. The Duncan book about Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 only shows one date because he received all three degrees on that date. You'd have to dig into the archives of that lodge to see the original records. The Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas, 1837-1857, Vol. I, shows that Williams succeeded Branch T. Archer as Grand Master of Masons in Texas in December 1839. The Ruth Nichols article in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly (p. 210), cited under "Further Reading," states that Willams was "an ardent Mason and Knight Templar, one of the founders of the order in Texas" (so I'm not just making all this up). Also, the Williams biography by Margaret Swett Henson, which is surprisingly not cited under "Further Reading," supports much of the above. I should have cited Henson (pages 82 and 161) to support the statement that Williams received the Masonic degrees and the Knight Templar orders in New York.
Williams founded the first Royal Arch Chapter in Texas, the first Knight Templar Commandery in Texas, as well as Harmony Lodge No. 6 in Galveston. So, his interest in Freemasonry was a substantial part of his life. Further, Williams served as the third Grand Master of Texas Masons, the first presiding officer of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas, as well as the Grand Commander of Knights Templar in Texas. Simply removing the entire section on Freemasonry leaves a gaping hole in the biography of a man who was so important to the creation of Freemasonry in Texas. But then, it's only Wikipedia.
Coincidentally, on Saturday, 8 Feb 2020, I will present my paper on Samuel May Williams to a group of New York Masons who are meeting in Washington, DC.
I am sorry that I am not more proficient in meeting the requirements of Wikipedia. But, it seems to me that it would be better to have volunteers that assist in getting sections like this up to speed, rather than simply deleting them. PGNormand ( talk) 23:04, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
I'm copying these questions so we can keep the larger discussion in one area, and in particular I hope PGNormand can help with the first query:
First, what was the main purpose of Williams' New York/Washington D.C. journey in 1835? Had he gone there specifically for his Freemasonry initiation, or was he there for business purposes and participated in the Freemasonry rituals on the side? The sources may not say, but for me this is a hole in the narrative. I know very, very little about Freemasonry, but isn't that an awfully quick ascension through the ranks? If so, was it because he had accomplished much for Freemasonry already in Texas, or did he possibly buy his way up?
Also, Oldsanfelipe2 mentions on my talk page and the peer review that Williams gets very little respect from Texas historians and locals (although he has a statue at the Hall of State, as mentioned in the article). I think a paragraph should be added to the "Death and legacy" section which addresses this, at the least we should include Cartwright's note regarding the resentment held by Galveston folk. Why? I think this would help the "comprehensive" part of the article. From a historical standpoint the article covers Williams very well, but if possible there should be more material on his legacy, i.e. would the Texas revolution have succeeded without his involvement (pro/con), more about why he was disliked because of the land grants and his association with the Monclova government.
Can we give more context the the motivations of those seeking to dissolve Williams' bank?
Did Williams suffer (or prosper) financially regarding his bank following the post-1857 climate?
78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 16:18, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
Is there any way to tell the date of the Williams house photo? I doubt it appears that way today, so it would be nice to say "Williams house pictured in 19xx" 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 19:50, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
Is there anything here that isn't found in Henson's other works? 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 22:03, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
@ PGNormand:@ 78.26:: I restored all of the text from the Freemasonry section, though I moved it under the Personal life section. I think I have cleaned up most of the WP:OR, but I there is still one source I have not looked at. I tried to avoid rephrasing, since I am unfamiliar with the subject matter. I am going to let this version of the article linger for awhile, just in case there are objections. Best, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 21:43, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
@ Oldsanfelipe2: Thank you for adding the effect the court battles had on Williams, personally. I think the relevant paragraph should be tweaked. It's all factually accurate, but he paragraph starts with "Early in 1859" which was the date of the court decision, of course. However, to the causal reader it may appear that Williams' death was a result of this decision, when in fact the decision came after his death. Is there perhaps a way to re-order the paragraph, or perhaps indicate that Williams forecast the disastrous (for himself had he lived, and for his bank) decision? 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 17:56, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
@ 78.26: @ Kaiser matias: I finally listed Samuel May Williams as a FAN: Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Samuel May Williams/archive1. Please note the changes in the Freemasonry and Death and legacy sections. Thanks for your excellent criticisms and suggestions for improving the article. Best, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 10:53, 28 February 2020 (UTC)
@ Mike Christie: Thanks for your careful reading and review of Samuel May Williams at FAC. I am currently unable to respond to your comments in a substantive manner, but I understand the need to archive the nomination and work on the article outside the FAC process. I would welcome any assistance with improving the article going forward. Thanks again for your work. Sincerely, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 14:48, 9 May 2020 (UTC)
Samuel May Williams has been listed as one of the History good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Here is the current text for the "Legacy" section: "His contributions in the areas of finance and business greatly aided the Republic of Texas. He was among the founders of Galveston, Texas[7] and is considered the founder of the Texas Navy.[8] The house he built in 1839 is on the National Register of Historic Places."
There are currently two sections: "Biography" and "Legacy." The whole article is a biography, so the "Biography" is a redundant section name. The first sentence ("His contributions...") is opinion without supporting evidence. I will find evidence for his contributions to the Republic of Texas and add it to the article. There is much material from good sources, so it won't be difficult.
Sentences 2 and 3 can be moved to other parts of the article.
So I propose to restructure the article by deleting the sections "Biography" and "Legacy," then elevating all of the current subsections to main sections, and adding sections as needed. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:36, 7 November 2014 (UTC)oldsanfelipe
Done My earlier edits of this page cited articles with*out* specifying page numbers, only a page range for the entire article. I also used chapter references instead of page references for a book I cited. I am inserting shorter page ranges to make this easier to follow for readers and other editors. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 14:53, 21 August 2018 (UTC) Edited once by Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 16:02, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
The section "After the Austin Colony" currently reads, "Early in 1834, he co-founded the partnership of McKinney & Williams, setting up a warehouse at Brazoria, then relocated to Quintana, at the mouth of the Brazos River. The firm operated small steamboats on the Brazos and used its warehouse to manage transfer of freight to and from the larger ships operating on the Gulf of Mexico." (Bold added.) This is supported by Nichols (1952). Henson (1976) at p. 50 writes, "He and Thomas F. McKinney had entered a partnership as commission merchants (probably early in 1833)...." Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 13:46, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
The article currently supports place of burial with Find-A-Grave, which is not an WP:RS because its content is user-generated without editorial control. This is something I used a few years ago. I am trying to clean up some of my messes and looking for a good source. Trinity Episcopal Church in Galveston [1] has a web site with a database for burial, but it runs like molasses. It times out each time. I will find a better source or delete the content soon. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 22:11, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
The article currently reads, "He moved to New Orleans around 1815, where he worked as a bookkeeper." (Nichols (1952), 190.) Henson (1976) at p. 6 says, "Just when Williams returned to the United States is unknown....late in 1818 Sam Williams was in Washington, D.C." Also, "Williams lived in New Orleans in 1819...." (p. 7) The brief second paragraph in Early life may need a total re-write. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 17:35, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
@ Oldsanfelipe: (and anyone else interested) I have access to the Cartwright book at my library. Nichols published a 331-page biography in 1956, which I found by trying to replace that findagrave citation. Unfortunately, the closest copy of that one is 176 miles away. The citation can also be replaced by Southwestern Historical Quarterly - Volume 56 - Page 210 and Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Galveston, Texas, 1841-1953: A Memorial History by William Manning Morgan, Anson Jones Press, 1954, should you have access to them. 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 17:15, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
Williams owned slaves. I am not sure about the appropriate way to talk about it. However, given the details of his family life, it seems wrong not to mention it. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 14:09, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
Any thoughts about how the article meets the B-standard?
1. "The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations."
2. "The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies."
3. "The article has a defined structure."
4 "The article is reasonably well-written."
5. "The article contains supporting materials where appropriate."
6. "The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way." Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 01:15, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 02:37, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
@ Mz7: @ Jo-Jo Eumerus: @ Nikkimaria: Here is a fresh thread for y'all.
The following image is at the Commons: File:Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Texas $1.00 (one dollar) private scrip (8519862080).jpg. Since we are dealing with a bank note, its publication date is unclear. The note was most likely issued in the 1850s, but does that mean it was published at that time? So I have no idea what counts for publication of a bank note in copyright. The Commons's explanation of rights of this image is also unclear to me. In what manner might this image be used on the Samuel May Williams page? He founded the bank that issued this note, so it would be a very helpful visual aid for a part of the article where such aids are lacking. Thanks, Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:39, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
If you think these are appropriate, I have uploaded a few images:
One more:
78.26: It is not supposed to make a difference, but it may help to first attain GA before trying for FA. What do you think? Would you like to co-nominate the article? I have nominated Charles Morgan (businessman), which is currently under review. Shortly it should either pass or fail, but I am trying to keep my plate clear in case I need to respond to questions. Oldsanfelipe ( talk) 19:16, 10 September 2018 (UTC)
GA toolbox |
---|
Reviewing |
Reviewer: Kaiser matias ( talk · contribs) 16:47, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
Will take a look at this one.
Kaiser matias (
talk) 16:47, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
That should be it. I'll take another look once the above is addressed though, just to make sure nothing was missed. Kaiser matias ( talk) 18:31, 14 September 2019 (UTC)
@ Kaiser matias, 78.26, and PGNormand: Hi Kaiser matias: I am now posting as Oldsanfelipe2. I am one of the GA-nominators for Samuel May Williams. A serious illness forced me into a long hiatus. When I was ready to return, I had forgotten my password and was not able to reset it. Thank you for working with User:78.26, who is a fine editor and administrator. I am proud of the work I did on this article, but it would not have even been nomination-worthy without the assistance of 78.26. I also have a shoutout for PGNormand, who had the patience to dig through SMW's involvement with Free masonry. Henson mentions this, but I was not willing to do additional research to include this in the article. In my opinion, this is Wikipedia working as it should, as a collaboration which improves content. Sincerely, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 17:23, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
Upon closer inspection, PGNormand's edits to the article have been unhelpful. I do not have access to most of the sources cited, but I have just checked two citations, and neither support the accompanying text. The standards of Wikipedia require that we use only content that we can support through reliable secondary sources. So far the edits I have checked failed to do this in a radical way. Thus I am deleting all content from the Freemasonry section.
Here are the unsupported statements:
The reliability of Wikipedia is based not just on the citation of reliable secondary sources, but that the text we write is true to those sources. I am truly embarrassed that I took this article to Peer Review and was just about to submit it as a FAC. I did not check the sources (and I even missed the typo) in the Freemasonry section. PGNormand, at the risk of sounding condescending, if you don't understand WP:VERIFIABLE, I will explain it the best I can. Better yet, there are more experienced editors that you can ask at Teahouse. Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 18:51, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
Sorry. Those paragraphs were excerpts from a paper I wrote about a year ago, which is heavy with endnotes. I see that the Lightfoot article, which was a PDF on-line, has been taken down from the website where I found it. That is the problem with using on-line sources. But, if I had used the published source, the 1943 annual Proceedings of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas, I know you couldn't find it. As a librarian at a Masonic library, I have access to hard copies of those Proceedings, but I understand that most others will not. That is why I posted the on-line source, which is now taken down.
The citation of the article on San Felipe de Austin was simply to support the statement that the town was burned. Dr. Carter's book, "Masonry in Texas," is readily available at most major libraries in Texas. The Duncan book about Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 only shows one date because he received all three degrees on that date. You'd have to dig into the archives of that lodge to see the original records. The Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas, 1837-1857, Vol. I, shows that Williams succeeded Branch T. Archer as Grand Master of Masons in Texas in December 1839. The Ruth Nichols article in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly (p. 210), cited under "Further Reading," states that Willams was "an ardent Mason and Knight Templar, one of the founders of the order in Texas" (so I'm not just making all this up). Also, the Williams biography by Margaret Swett Henson, which is surprisingly not cited under "Further Reading," supports much of the above. I should have cited Henson (pages 82 and 161) to support the statement that Williams received the Masonic degrees and the Knight Templar orders in New York.
Williams founded the first Royal Arch Chapter in Texas, the first Knight Templar Commandery in Texas, as well as Harmony Lodge No. 6 in Galveston. So, his interest in Freemasonry was a substantial part of his life. Further, Williams served as the third Grand Master of Texas Masons, the first presiding officer of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas, as well as the Grand Commander of Knights Templar in Texas. Simply removing the entire section on Freemasonry leaves a gaping hole in the biography of a man who was so important to the creation of Freemasonry in Texas. But then, it's only Wikipedia.
Coincidentally, on Saturday, 8 Feb 2020, I will present my paper on Samuel May Williams to a group of New York Masons who are meeting in Washington, DC.
I am sorry that I am not more proficient in meeting the requirements of Wikipedia. But, it seems to me that it would be better to have volunteers that assist in getting sections like this up to speed, rather than simply deleting them. PGNormand ( talk) 23:04, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
I'm copying these questions so we can keep the larger discussion in one area, and in particular I hope PGNormand can help with the first query:
First, what was the main purpose of Williams' New York/Washington D.C. journey in 1835? Had he gone there specifically for his Freemasonry initiation, or was he there for business purposes and participated in the Freemasonry rituals on the side? The sources may not say, but for me this is a hole in the narrative. I know very, very little about Freemasonry, but isn't that an awfully quick ascension through the ranks? If so, was it because he had accomplished much for Freemasonry already in Texas, or did he possibly buy his way up?
Also, Oldsanfelipe2 mentions on my talk page and the peer review that Williams gets very little respect from Texas historians and locals (although he has a statue at the Hall of State, as mentioned in the article). I think a paragraph should be added to the "Death and legacy" section which addresses this, at the least we should include Cartwright's note regarding the resentment held by Galveston folk. Why? I think this would help the "comprehensive" part of the article. From a historical standpoint the article covers Williams very well, but if possible there should be more material on his legacy, i.e. would the Texas revolution have succeeded without his involvement (pro/con), more about why he was disliked because of the land grants and his association with the Monclova government.
Can we give more context the the motivations of those seeking to dissolve Williams' bank?
Did Williams suffer (or prosper) financially regarding his bank following the post-1857 climate?
78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 16:18, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
Is there any way to tell the date of the Williams house photo? I doubt it appears that way today, so it would be nice to say "Williams house pictured in 19xx" 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 19:50, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
Is there anything here that isn't found in Henson's other works? 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 22:03, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
@ PGNormand:@ 78.26:: I restored all of the text from the Freemasonry section, though I moved it under the Personal life section. I think I have cleaned up most of the WP:OR, but I there is still one source I have not looked at. I tried to avoid rephrasing, since I am unfamiliar with the subject matter. I am going to let this version of the article linger for awhile, just in case there are objections. Best, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 21:43, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
@ Oldsanfelipe2: Thank you for adding the effect the court battles had on Williams, personally. I think the relevant paragraph should be tweaked. It's all factually accurate, but he paragraph starts with "Early in 1859" which was the date of the court decision, of course. However, to the causal reader it may appear that Williams' death was a result of this decision, when in fact the decision came after his death. Is there perhaps a way to re-order the paragraph, or perhaps indicate that Williams forecast the disastrous (for himself had he lived, and for his bank) decision? 78.26 ( spin me / revolutions) 17:56, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
@ 78.26: @ Kaiser matias: I finally listed Samuel May Williams as a FAN: Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Samuel May Williams/archive1. Please note the changes in the Freemasonry and Death and legacy sections. Thanks for your excellent criticisms and suggestions for improving the article. Best, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 10:53, 28 February 2020 (UTC)
@ Mike Christie: Thanks for your careful reading and review of Samuel May Williams at FAC. I am currently unable to respond to your comments in a substantive manner, but I understand the need to archive the nomination and work on the article outside the FAC process. I would welcome any assistance with improving the article going forward. Thanks again for your work. Sincerely, Oldsanfelipe2 ( talk) 14:48, 9 May 2020 (UTC)