O. W. (Oscar William) Coursey

Born in 1873 and active in the early twentieth century, Oscar William Coursey was an American author whose work ranged widely across fiction, history, biography, and reference books. Reliable library and public-domain records connect him with titles including History and Geography of the Philippine Islands (1903), The Woman with a Stone Heart (1914), The Philippines and Filipinos (1914), and Literature of South Dakota (1916/1917).

Coursey is especially associated with South Dakota. His published work includes multiple volumes of Who's Who in South Dakota and Literature of South Dakota, suggesting a writer deeply involved in documenting the state's public figures and literary culture. A Wikisource author page also identifies him as a war veteran, which fits the public record around his life and interests.

He died in 1946. Today, he is remembered less as a single-book novelist than as a notably energetic compiler and author whose books preserved regional history, civic material, and literary life for later readers.