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Orlan P. Whitcomb

American politician (1834-1898)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ51792141
Source-derived summary

Orlan Pliny Whitcomb (December 18, 1831 – February 7, 1898) was an American farmer and politician who served as the third state auditor of Minnesota from 1873 to 1882 as a member of the Republican Party.

Whitcomb was born in Granville, New York. He settled in Rochester, Minnesota Territory on a farm in 1855. He served as county treasurer from 1861 to 1869. Whitcomb served as Minnesota State Auditor from 1873 to 1882. He died in Mankato, Minnesota.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Orlan P. Whitcomb” as american politician (1834-1898). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1831, 1898, 1873, 1882—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1831-12-18. The account is most persuasive where Orlan, Whitcomb and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician (1834-1898). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

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 Mar 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q51792141. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1831, 1898, 1873 and 1882.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. 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
Verify next

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 “Orlan P. Whitcomb”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Orlan P. Whitcomb primary sources, Orlan P. Whitcomb archive and Orlan 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 “Orlan P. Whitcomb”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Orlan P. Whitcomb” 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.