Talk:David S. Shellabarger/GA1

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Nominator: SafariScribe (talk · contribs) 14:44, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: PCN02WPS (talk · contribs) 23:18, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I think I'll have to quickfail this article on the grounds that the prose is of very poor quality and therefore in violation of quickfail criterion 1: It is a long way from meeting any one of the six good article criteria. In my judgement, the article does not come close to meeting criterion 1a, as the prose is not clear or understandable at many parts and grammar needs some work as well. I will still leave some comments should you wish to improve and renominate the article. PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 23:18, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Lead and infobox

• Don't need to have the "David S. Shellabarger" bit spelled out, the reader can conclude that he was called that because S. is his middle initial
• "in the 19th-century" → remove hyphen
• "the largest wheat flour mills in his country" → just say "in the United States"
• His death place and burial place don't need the counties, just link Red Bluff, California and Decatur, Illinois
• Don't use "USA" per MOS:USA; here, use "US" or "U.S."

Life

• "David S. was born on July 11, 1837, " → give full name, and cite after this sentence since the first cites in the section are two in a row several sentences later
• "Shellabarger from Keystone State of" → strange to use the state's nickname so formally. Just say Pennsylvania
• "The family name was derived also for a mountain in their neighborhood by his great great-grandfather" → several issues here: (1) "was derived also for a..." does not make sense; (2) "by his great great-grandfather" - who does "his" refer to? (3) why a hyphen on great-grandfather but not "great-great-grandfather"?
• "in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania" → Extend link to include ", Pennsylvania" as well
• "Isaac Shellabarger was a miller and his sons David's father" → don't throw the name out before first introducing him in relation to David. Also the fact that he was "his sons David's father" is redundant (and needs some punctuation)
• "and uncles Isaac and John thus continued the work" → where does "thus" come from? and what work?
• "His grandfather Isaac" → David's grandfather?
• "in 1763 was a miller" → needs comma after "1763"
• "He transferred his occupation" → what does it mean to transfer an occupation? He taught him and then stopped doing the work himself? Or did they work alongside each other?
• "helping his uncle who came to Macon, Illinois, doing his lumber business" → "helping his uncle...doing his lumber business" could be worded better
• "who in return agreed with the migration" → agreed with the migration as a concept? or agreed to move the family? or agreed to move David?
• "his siblings" → David's siblings or his father's siblings?
• "doing the lumber and wood business" → worded awkwardly
• "His father prepared him for the traveling since he would be the "man of the house"" → what does this mean and what is its relevance?
• "and when he reached" → "and when he arrived"?
• "Anne later died in" → did they both die in 1913?

Career

• "arrived in Decatur, Illinois in 1856" → comma after "Illinois" per MOS:GEOCOMMA
• " a farmer and miller from Pennsylvania" → we know this already
• "bought one-third milling interest" → what does this mean?
• "buy "The Great Western Mill"" → why is this in quotes?
• "Setting a standard for integrity" → reads like an advertisement - I'd suggest attributing this to a particular source
• "Furthermore, he was the first in Illinois..." → I think it would be a good idea to explain what these two things are
• "products; an annual business of $2,000,000" → comma, not semicolon
• "elevators; creating Shellabarger Elevator Co" → comma
• "bushels; more than half of which was fireproof" → comma
• "Their product was known as Shellabarger's Big "S"" → explain what this means
• Recommend using Prohibition in the United States rather than just Prohibition; also, what exactly was the relevance of Prohibition in their decision to switch products?
• "In 1930 they held the first patent" → comma after "1930"; did they obtain the patent in 1930 or by 1930?
• Remove link to Decatur
• Last sentence in this section in uncited

Streetcar and coal business

• "as President incorporated the Citizens' Street Railway Company" → lowercase "president" and reword so we know about the company before we know he was president of it
• "forming City Electric Railway Company and built the current" → tense change
• "In 1899 Shellabarger" → comma
• "which would sell to the" → "which sold to the" - and what did it sell?
• "also President of the Manufacturers and Consumers" → lowercase "president"
• "Since 1902, he acted as President and Director" → lowercase "president" and "director"; when did he cease in these positions? "Since 1902" makes it sound like he's still doing it today
• "for President" → lowercase
• "In 1872 he served as mayor" → In 1872, he was mayor..." - was this just a one-year term?
• "and President" → lowercase
• "Shellabarger was the first to respond" → sounds like an advertisement, recommend reword
• "raise $100,000" → add inflation equivalent

Article organization issues

• "Personal life and death" (the latter in particular) shouldn't come before his career
• Recommend something other than "Life" for the first section since the whole article is about his life
• "Streetcar and coal business" should be a level 3 header since that's also part of his career, as is the politics

I'll leave you with these notes if you wish to make the changes. Best of luck with this article in the future! PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 23:18, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.