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James Urquhart

American politician (1822–1901)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 27, 2025
Entity authorityQ6144537 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Urquhart (March 15, 1822 – February 23, 1901) served three terms in the Washington Territory legislature. He was also elected to three terms as a county commissioner in Lewis County, Washington. He was a delegate to the Washington State Constitutional Convention. In 1873, he laid out the town of Napavine where he was Postmaster and ran the general store. He chose the town's name from the Indian word "napavoon" meaning small prairie.

Early life

Urquhart was born in Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland. Cromarty and the Black Isle had been the home of the Clan Urquhart since ancient times. He left Ross-shire as a teenager going first to Arbroath on the North Sea coast where he learned the merchant's trade in an uncle's store. He then moved on to Linlithgow where he worked on the new railroad that was being constructed, married a local girl by the name of Helen Muir, and started a family of his own.

Emigrant to America

In 1851 Urquhart left his growing family in Scotland and sailed to New York City.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James Urquhart” as american politician (1822–1901). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Urquhart and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1822, 1901, 1873, 1851—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1822-03-15. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Urquhart 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 Urquhart”, the useful work is to connect “american politician (1822–1901)” 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 Aug 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6144537. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1822, 1901, 1873 and 1851.

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.

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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  2. Expand the search: follow James Urquhart primary sources, James Urquhart 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.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James Urquhart” 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.