The result was keep. Just a few words on Stevie is the man!'s comment that "these guidelines is that they are widely ignored" in connection with WP:BEFORE. There is no requirement that the nominator, or anybody else, actually attempt to improve the article, only that they look for sources. WP:BEFORE is certainly not ignored by AfD admin closers. If suitable sources are found then the article is generally kept, regardless of its current state. The only cases where a deletion of a sourcable article occurs is if the article is so bad (such as outright advertising) that the consensus of the debate is that it could only be improved by blowing it up and starting over Spinning Spark 09:27, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
Apparently entirely non-notable member of a probably notable family. Both William Burke Belknap (1811–1884) and Belknap Inc. have entries, for example, in John E. Kleber (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville, as does Morris Burke Belknap, father of the first William; but this William Burke Belknap does not. It is not clear which of them the privately printed memoir relates to. Justlettersandnumbers ( talk) 08:39, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
Keep[[User: Mitzi.humphrey ( talk) 00:57, 23 August 2014 (UTC)]] I am the writer of the article and, yes, I do have a COI if you consider that the subject William Burke Belknap, my husband's grand uncle, is a COI case. I have refrained from adding to the article partly because I am not sufficiently familiar with Wikipedia procedures for discussion and partly because I thought I was not supposed to make changes while the article was being considered for deletion. Yes, I do have software access to old newspapers, including the Courier-Journal and think that with help, I could flesh out the article with numerous newspaper and website citations. I think that Land O' Goshen Farm, horsebreeding of the Kentucky saddlebred horse, academic career, philanthropy, political office, and Belknap Hardware Co. are all important aspects of this man's history. Mitzi.humphrey ( talk) 00:57, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
Keep I added a clipping I made searching Newspapers.com, which asserts notability. I think with some work, sources for an acceptable article could be found. I am One of Many ( talk) 07:29, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
William B. Belknap of Louisville, Kentucky, chairman of the committee on inheritance taxes, gave a progress report on the subject. At present, he declared, state inheritance tax laws are in very much of a muddle. The committee, he declared, was not at all yet a unit on any proposed solution and the difficulties, and he invited suggestions from members of the association.
William Belknap, a horse breeder of Kentucky, uses color movies of his horses to sell them to far-away prospects.
William B. Belknap, former State legislator who acted as chairman of the meeting called by 21 civic and industrial leaders, told the audience he believed 'you express the sentiment of a large section of the American people.'
...organized by the American Legislators' Association...
The North Oldham Lions Club was given a 25-acre park in 1973 which was to be preserved as community park in memory of William Belknap. The property included two buildings (one for a small business and the other for community meetings and gatherings)...
Before Interstate 71....other popular stops along the road for Derby in Oldham County were the...Goshen Gardens (now owned by the North Oldham Lions Club)...Goshen Gardens, owned by William Belknap...
Belknap, who was also a Kentucky state legislator and chair of the NTA Inheritance Tax Committee, advocated federal estate tax repeal combined with the adoption of uniform state inheritance tax statutes.59
"Sheep school draws hundreds of farmers"...conducted by the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Accredited Purebred Breeders' Association opened this morning at the farm of William Belknap, near Goshen. Mr. Belknap's flock includes Southdowns and Ryelands...Record 657863. 07/29/1930. Leader.
The first interstate legislative assembly, convened in Washington...Left to right: William B. Belknap of Louisville, Ky...the President...Associated Press Photo
And so on. What makes someone notable for our purposes is having extended in-depth coverage of that person's actions and achievements in numerous independent reliable sources. This person doesn't seem to have any achievements, so seeking that extensive coverage may be a vain exercise.
A question: if this person had been in, let us say, Bulgaria, would these mentions (university graduate, involved in local politics, photographed with the president, chairman of the local sheep-farmers' association, etc.) have made him seem important enough to merit an article?
I accept the criticism that, when reverting a mass of non-encyclopaedic COI additions, I also removed a valid reference to this character having been at Yale; I apologise for that. I do not accept suggestions that I should have fixed the article WP:BEFORE listing it here. The fix for this page is deletion; I didn't add any sources as there weren't any to add. Please note that as I mentioned above, I believe that the other, famous, William Burke Belknap might merit an article here, as might the hardware store, if only because of the peculiar incompetence that led to its demise. Justlettersandnumbers ( talk) 19:35, 1 September 2014 (UTC)
The result was keep. Just a few words on Stevie is the man!'s comment that "these guidelines is that they are widely ignored" in connection with WP:BEFORE. There is no requirement that the nominator, or anybody else, actually attempt to improve the article, only that they look for sources. WP:BEFORE is certainly not ignored by AfD admin closers. If suitable sources are found then the article is generally kept, regardless of its current state. The only cases where a deletion of a sourcable article occurs is if the article is so bad (such as outright advertising) that the consensus of the debate is that it could only be improved by blowing it up and starting over Spinning Spark 09:27, 6 September 2014 (UTC)
Apparently entirely non-notable member of a probably notable family. Both William Burke Belknap (1811–1884) and Belknap Inc. have entries, for example, in John E. Kleber (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville, as does Morris Burke Belknap, father of the first William; but this William Burke Belknap does not. It is not clear which of them the privately printed memoir relates to. Justlettersandnumbers ( talk) 08:39, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
Keep[[User: Mitzi.humphrey ( talk) 00:57, 23 August 2014 (UTC)]] I am the writer of the article and, yes, I do have a COI if you consider that the subject William Burke Belknap, my husband's grand uncle, is a COI case. I have refrained from adding to the article partly because I am not sufficiently familiar with Wikipedia procedures for discussion and partly because I thought I was not supposed to make changes while the article was being considered for deletion. Yes, I do have software access to old newspapers, including the Courier-Journal and think that with help, I could flesh out the article with numerous newspaper and website citations. I think that Land O' Goshen Farm, horsebreeding of the Kentucky saddlebred horse, academic career, philanthropy, political office, and Belknap Hardware Co. are all important aspects of this man's history. Mitzi.humphrey ( talk) 00:57, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
Keep I added a clipping I made searching Newspapers.com, which asserts notability. I think with some work, sources for an acceptable article could be found. I am One of Many ( talk) 07:29, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
William B. Belknap of Louisville, Kentucky, chairman of the committee on inheritance taxes, gave a progress report on the subject. At present, he declared, state inheritance tax laws are in very much of a muddle. The committee, he declared, was not at all yet a unit on any proposed solution and the difficulties, and he invited suggestions from members of the association.
William Belknap, a horse breeder of Kentucky, uses color movies of his horses to sell them to far-away prospects.
William B. Belknap, former State legislator who acted as chairman of the meeting called by 21 civic and industrial leaders, told the audience he believed 'you express the sentiment of a large section of the American people.'
...organized by the American Legislators' Association...
The North Oldham Lions Club was given a 25-acre park in 1973 which was to be preserved as community park in memory of William Belknap. The property included two buildings (one for a small business and the other for community meetings and gatherings)...
Before Interstate 71....other popular stops along the road for Derby in Oldham County were the...Goshen Gardens (now owned by the North Oldham Lions Club)...Goshen Gardens, owned by William Belknap...
Belknap, who was also a Kentucky state legislator and chair of the NTA Inheritance Tax Committee, advocated federal estate tax repeal combined with the adoption of uniform state inheritance tax statutes.59
"Sheep school draws hundreds of farmers"...conducted by the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Accredited Purebred Breeders' Association opened this morning at the farm of William Belknap, near Goshen. Mr. Belknap's flock includes Southdowns and Ryelands...Record 657863. 07/29/1930. Leader.
The first interstate legislative assembly, convened in Washington...Left to right: William B. Belknap of Louisville, Ky...the President...Associated Press Photo
And so on. What makes someone notable for our purposes is having extended in-depth coverage of that person's actions and achievements in numerous independent reliable sources. This person doesn't seem to have any achievements, so seeking that extensive coverage may be a vain exercise.
A question: if this person had been in, let us say, Bulgaria, would these mentions (university graduate, involved in local politics, photographed with the president, chairman of the local sheep-farmers' association, etc.) have made him seem important enough to merit an article?
I accept the criticism that, when reverting a mass of non-encyclopaedic COI additions, I also removed a valid reference to this character having been at Yale; I apologise for that. I do not accept suggestions that I should have fixed the article WP:BEFORE listing it here. The fix for this page is deletion; I didn't add any sources as there weren't any to add. Please note that as I mentioned above, I believe that the other, famous, William Burke Belknap might merit an article here, as might the hardware store, if only because of the peculiar incompetence that led to its demise. Justlettersandnumbers ( talk) 19:35, 1 September 2014 (UTC)