Herbert Quick Explained

Herbert Quick
Office:27th Mayor of Sioux City, Iowa
Term Start:January 1, 1898
Term End:January 1, 1900
Predecessor:J. M. Cleland
Successor:A. H. Burton
Birth Date:23 October 1861
Spouse:Ella Corey
Birth Name:John Herbert Quick
Birth Place:Steamboat Rock, Iowa, U.S.
Death Place:Columbia, Missouri, U.S.

John Herbert Quick (October 23, 1861 – May 10, 1925) was an American writer and politician.

Biography

Born October 23, 1861, near Steamboat Rock, Grundy County, Iowa, to Martin and Margaret Coleman Quick, he was afflicted with polio as a child. He married Ella Corey in 1890.[1]

When he was eight, Quick's family moved to Grundy Center, where he lived until 1880. Around that time he became a teacher, an occupation he followed until he became the mayor of Sioux City in 1898. In 1908 he was the associate editor of Robert LaFollette's Weekly Magazine, in Madison, Wisconsin. From 1909 to 1916 he was the editor of the magazine Farm and Fireside, published in Springfield, Ohio.[2]

Quick established a law firm in Sioux City, where he practiced for 19 years.[3] He also became a businessman and later served as the 27th Mayor of Sioux City, Iowa from 1898 to 1900.[4] An historical marker, Herbert Quick Ravine, can be found in Sioux City. The plaque reads "Named in Memory of Herbert Quick. Statesman, Writer, Mayor of Sioux City. He Knew and Loved the Prairie's of Iowa, 1861-1925."[5]

His best known works are the Midland Trilogy of Vandemark's Folly (1922), The Hawkeye (1923), and The Invisible Woman (1924).[6] The fictional stories describe the life of an Iowa pioneer.[6]

An early environmentalist, his best known non-fiction work was On Board the Good Ship Earth (1913). He also wrote an autobiography, One Man's Life (1925).[6]

Quick's 1906 comic novel, Double Trouble, or, Every Hero His Own Villain was the basis for a 1915 silent film produced by D.W. Griffith, directed by Christy Cabanne, and starring Douglas Fairbanks in one of his earliest film roles.[7]

Quick died on May 10, 1925, in Columbia, Missouri.[8]

Legacy

The John Herbert Quick House near Berkeley Springs, Morgan County, West Virginia, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[9] [10] The Herbert Quick Schoolhouse, a historical, one-room schoolhouse, is in Grundy Center, Iowa.[11]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Longden . Tom . Quick Biography . Des Moines Register . 24 November 2002 . B.1 . 23 October 2011.
  2. Book: Ehrlich . Eugene and Gorton Carruth . The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States . 1982 . Oxford University Press . New York.
  3. Web site: Famous Iowans, Hubert Quick . July 12, 2019 . Des Moines Register . July 12, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190712173446/https://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/herbert-quick . dead .
  4. Web site: Herbert Quick. IMDb.
  5. Web site: Herbert Quick Ravine Historical Marker . VanSteenwyk . Ruth. November 19, 2019.
  6. K. . A. G. . Dec 1926 . Reviewed Works: Vandemark's Folly, The Hawkeye, The Invisible Woman, One Man's Life . American Speech . 2 . 3 . 153–155 . Sep 18, 2023 . Duke University Press. 452465 .
  7. Book: American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929. John T. Soister. McFarland. 2012. 978-0-7864-8790-5. 158–160.
  8. News: Herbert Quick Dies After Brief Illness . . Columbia, Missouri . 14 . 1925-05-11 . 2020-07-23 . Newspapers.com.
  9. Web site: National Register of Historic Places, West Virginia - Morgan County, Quick, John Herbert, House.
  10. Web site: Coolfont Manor House . Washington Heritage Trail.
  11. News: Celebrating 150 years of history: Rededication ceremony to be held at Herbert Quick Schoolhouse . The Grundy Register . Sep 25, 2019.