author
S. J. (Silvanus Jackson) Quinn
b. 1837
Best known for writing a detailed early history of Fredericksburg, Virginia, this 19th-century local historian preserved the story of the city from its colonial beginnings through the early 1900s. His work remains the book most closely associated with his name.
1 Audiobook
The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia
by S. J. (Silvanus Jackson) Quinn
About the author
Born in 1837, S. J. Quinn is identified in library and public-domain records as Silvanus Jackson Quinn. He is credited as the author of The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, a book published in 1908 with the involvement of Fredericksburg's Common Council.
That book is the main reason Quinn is still remembered today. It set out to gather the city's story in one place, covering Fredericksburg's development over several centuries and preserving local people, events, and institutions in a single historical account.
Memorial records indicate that Quinn died in 1910. While not much biographical detail is easy to confirm from major literary sources, the surviving record shows him as a figure closely tied to Fredericksburg's civic memory and historical record.