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James F. Gookins

American artist (1840–1904)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ27898883 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Farrington Gookins (December 30, 1840 – May 23, 1904) was an American artist. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, where his father, Samuel Gookins, was a lawyer and judge. He attended Wabash College but his education was interrupted by the outbreak of the American Civil War. He joined the 11th Indiana Volunteers under Lew Wallace. During his war service he produced several sketches that were published in Harper's Weekly.

After the war he moved to Chicago to pursue art, moved to Europe for a time to study, and then returned to the United States and opened an art school in Indianapolis. Later in life he was involved in organizing the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, "designed the lakefront plans for the 1893 Colombian Exposition," and worked as a civil engineer. He died of a "stroke of apoplexy" in New York City.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James F. Gookins” as american artist (1840–1904). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Gookins and American.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1840, 1904, 1893—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1840-12-30. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Gookins and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James F. Gookins”, the useful work is to connect “american artist (1840–1904)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27898883. VIAF identifies the subject as 180144782952625045815. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1840, 1904 and 1893.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James F. Gookins”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James F. Gookins primary sources, James F. Gookins archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James F. Gookins”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James F. Gookins” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.