Wilbur D. Nesbit
{{short description|American poet}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Wilbur D. Nesbit
| image = Wilbur D. Nesbit of Md., 12-4-25 LCCN2016841481 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Nesbit in 1925
| pseudonym = Josh Wink
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date |1871|09|16}}
| birth_place = Xenia, Ohio
| death_date = {{death date and age|1927|08|20|1871|09|16}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois
| occupation = Poet and humorist
| language =
| nationality =American
| education =
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| notableworks = "Your Flag and My Flag"
| spouse =
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Wilbur Dick Nesbit (1871-1927), also known by the pen name Josh Wink, was an American poet and humorist. He is most known for his poem, "Your Flag and My Flag", which was popular during World War I. Throughout his career, he contributed his humor writing to many publications, including the Chicago Inter Ocean, Chicago Evening Post, Chicago Tribune, and Baltimore News-American.{{cite news |author= |title=Call for '30' Poet |url=https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/in-the-attic-with-wilbur-d-nesbit/ |newspaper=Sheboygan Press |location=Sheboygan, Wisconsin |date=23 August 1927 |access-date=19 January 2016}}
Personal life
Nesbit was born on September 16, 1871{{cite web |url=http://www.masonicdictionary.com/nesbit.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221225039/http://www.masonicdictionary.com/nesbit.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=December 21, 2005 |title=Wilbur D. Nesbit |author= |date=2008 |website=Masonic Dictionary |access-date=19 January 2016}} in Xenia, Ohio to John Harvey and Isabel (née Fichthrone) Nesbit.{{cite web |url=https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/in-the-attic-with-wilbur-d-nesbit/ |title=Indiana and Indianans: a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood |last1=Dunn |first1=Jacob Piatt |date=1919 |website=Ancestry |publisher=American Historical Society |access-date=19 January 2016}} His father was an American Civil War veteran and worked as a court bailiff. Nesbit spent most of his early life in Cedarville, Ohio.{{cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Ray |title=Cracker Barrel |url=https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/in-the-attic-with-wilbur-d-nesbit/ |newspaper=Xenia Daily Gazette |location=Xenia, Ohio |date=2 November 1972 |access-date=19 January 2016}}
He associated with freemasonry for much of his life.
Nesbit died on August 20, 1927 in Iroquois Hospital after collapsing on Chicago streets.
Career
Nesbit's first writings appeared in the Cedarville Herald.
He started out as a printer before becoming a reporter,{{cite news |author= |title=Famous Folk |url=https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/in-the-attic-with-wilbur-d-nesbit/ |newspaper=Cambridge Jeffersonian |location=Cambridge, Ohio |date=20 December 1906 |access-date=19 January 2016}} and moving to Anderson, Indiana in 1889. Here, Nesbit was an editor for the Anderson Times. He continued to move around to various cities, including Muncie, Indianapolis, and Baltimore. In Indianapolis, he worked in store advertising for a clothing merchant, and was on the ad staff for the Indianapolis Journal. During his time in Baltimore, Nesbit was a featured writer for the Baltimore News-American under the pen name, Josh Wink.{{cite news |last=Wink |first=Josh |date=25 April 1902 |title=Mary and the Meat Treast |url=https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/in-the-attic-with-wilbur-d-nesbit/ |newspaper=Bedford Gazette |location=Bedford, Pennsylvania |access-date=19 January 2016}}
In 1902, Nesbit moved to Chicago. He wrote for the Chicago Tribune, where his column was titled, "A Line O' Type or Two." Besides writing for the Tribune, he was also on the staff for the Chicago Evening Post.
File:Wilbur D. Nesbit House (8116448154).jpg
In Chicago, Nesbit worked at the Mahin (also spelled Makin) Advertising Company. After some time, Nesbit, along with William H. Rankin and other associates, bought out the company. It was renamed William H. Rankin Company. Nesbit was vice president of the company and the director of the copy staff.
Nesbit collaborated with cartoonist Clare Briggs. With Otto Harbach he co-authored the book to the 1911 Broadway musical The Girl of My Dreams.{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1910s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2021|isbn=9781538150283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LecZEAAAQBAJ|chapter= The Girl of My Dreams|page=90-92}}
His most well-known work is the poem, "Your Flag and My Flag". It appeared in the Baltimore American in 1902, and became popular during World War I. It was often recited in school classrooms.
Much of his work was published by Chicago publishers P. F. Volland Company{{cite web |url=http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/author/nesbit-wilbur/ |title=Nesbit Wilbur |author= |website=AbeBooks |access-date=20 January 2016}} and Frank K. Root & Co.{{cite web |url=https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/11596 |title=Let's Keep the Glow in Glory (And the Free in Freedom Too) |author= |website=JScholarship |access-date=20 January 2016}}
He was the commencement speaker at the 1923 commencement ceremony at Cedarville University.{{cite journal |url=http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/commencement_speakers/30/ |title=Commencement Speakers |author= |website=Cedarville University |date=8 June 1923 |access-date=19 January 2016}}
Selected works
Books
- Just Because of You. 1925. P.F. Volland Co. {{OCLC|17868851}}, later re-published by Wise-Parslow Co. {{OCLC|17163027}}
- Paths Of Long Ago. 1926. Reilly And Lee.
- Sermons in Song. 1929. P.F. Volland Co. {{OCLC|289980}}.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/289980 |title=Sermons in song |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=289980 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- Sermons in Song: Poems of Homely Philosophy. 1929. P.F. Volland Co. {{OCLC|228693560}}.{{cite book |url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/228693560 |title=Sermons in song: poems of homely philosophy |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=228693560 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- After Dinner Speeches and How to Make Them. 1927. Reilly & Lee. {{OCLC|1476993}}.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1476993 |title=After dinner speeches and how to make them |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=1476993 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- When a Feller Needs a Friend. With Clare Briggs. 1914. P.F. Volland & Co. {{OCLC|2106009}}.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2106009 |title=When a feller needs a friend |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=2106009 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- A Friend or Two. 1910. P.F. Volland Co.. {{OCLC|573879}}{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/573879 |title=A friend or two |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=573879 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- An Alphabet of History. 1905. Paul Elder and Co. Publishers. OCLC 612996833.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/612996833 |title=An alphabet of history |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=612996833 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
- The Trail to Boyland and Other Poems. 1904. The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers. {{OCLC|3746568}}.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3746568 |title=The trail to Boyland, and other poems |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=3746568 |access-date=20 January 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inauthors/view?docId=VAA9486&brand=ia-books |title=The trail to Boyland |author= |website=Indiana University |access-date=20 January 2016}}
Song
- Let's Keep the Glow in Old Glory (And the Free in Freedom Too). 1918. Lyricist. Frank K. Root & Co.. OCLC 17851703.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/17851703 |title=Let's keep the glow in Old Glory and the free in freedom too |author= |publisher=OCLC WorldCat |oclc=17851703 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
References
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External links
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
- {{Gutenberg author|id=40120}}
- [http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/an-alphabet-of-history-1905/ An Alphabet of History (1905) at Public Doman Review]
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Wilbur Dick Nesbit |birth=1871 |death=1927}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbit, Wilbur D.}}
Category:20th-century American poets
Category:People from Xenia, Ohio
Category:Writers from Evanston, Illinois