Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Cage (Tennessee)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was nomination withdrawn as the article now contains a much stronger notability claim and better sourcing than it did at the time of nomination. Bearcat (talk) 16:30, 29 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

William Cage (Tennessee)[edit]

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

Delete. Completely unsourced biography of a person notable only as "Speaker of the House" in the unofficial provisional legislature of a proposed U.S. state that never actually became a real state. While that might be valid grounds for an article if he could actually be sourced over WP:GNG for it, it's not an automatic WP:NPOL pass in the absence of any valid sourcing. Bearcat (talk) 12:29, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. Bearcat (talk) 12:30, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Not notable enough for a standalone article. He is already mentioned in the State of Franklin article. Ramaksoud2000 ^{(Talk to me)} 23:36, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. Ramaksoud2000 ^{(Talk to me)} 23:36, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. Ramaksoud2000 ^{(Talk to me)} 23:36, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Keep - There is a lot of coverage of Cage, some decently in-depth. The best source, I think, is a one page biography of him on page 313 of History of the Lost State of Franklin by Samuel Cole Williams Press of the Pioneers, New York, 1933 [1] Smmurphy^(Talk) 23:48, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

A 200-word blurb in a book that's over 300 pages long is a strong source to you? Bearcat (talk) 04:23, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I don't ask for much, I guess. I updated the article, for what it is worth. Smmurphy^(Talk) 04:43, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Subject isn't notable. Changing to Keep as the subject meets NPOL. I read History of the Lost State mentioned above. I also found this, this, and this. I don't see general notability. He perhaps served in the Continental Army as a Major, moved to his home in Tennessee (Franklin), and for a brief period was the proposed Speaker of the House for a state that never existed. There's not enough to write a real biography. Perhaps someday an historian will write a study about him ~~but right now, I can't see the point of this article existing. Chris Troutman (talk) 00:27, 21 December 2016 (UTC)~~ Chris Troutman (talk) 01:18, 28 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Possible keep -- I think you are all being too negative. I do not know about the subject, but I gather we have RS on him. Alright, the state was not actually created, but its shadow legislature apparently existed and met. Sure, it is only a stub, but WP has lots of stubs. Peterkingiron (talk) 18:41, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Article now has sources. As per the article, "He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives (then called the House of Commons) in 1783 and 1784." This satisfies WP:NPOL#1. The article further states, "Cage took a central role in the [Franklin] movement, and was appointed treasurer and elected speaker of the lower house of the first assembly of the provisional state, serving from August 1784–June 1785." This also satisfies WP:NPOL#1. Wikipedia's role for our readers is to provide reliably sourced information as is available. Unscintillating (talk) 22:43, 27 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, st170e^talk 23:59, 27 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.