Cruikshank family papers

The Cruikshank family was active in the political and newspaper arenas in the Talladega and Birmingham, Alabama.

Marcus Henderson Cruikshank (12 December 1826–10 October 1881) was a Confederate States of America politician who served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War. He was born in Autauga County, Alabama. He later served as the mayor of Talladega, Alabama. From 1864 to 1865, he was the representative from Alabama's fourth district in the Second Confederate Congress.

George Marcus Cruikshank (15 March 1857–15 September 1936) was an American educator, newspaper editor and historian. He was born in Versailles, Kentucky, but was raised in Talladega, Alabama. He completed his studies there and remained to teach in the Talladega County schools and the Alabama School for the Blind. In 1883, Cruikshank moved to Birmingham as editor of the "Birmingham Chronicle". He married in 1887 and, three years later, moved to Washington D. C. as superintendent of the folding room of the House of Representatives, where all congressional mail was delivered. He resigned in 1893 to accept his appointment as Postmaster of Birmingham. When his four year term concluded, he returned to newspapers as editor of the "Birmingham Ledger," which he cultivated into one of the larger newspapers in the South. The "Ledger" was acquired by "The Birmingham News" in 1920. He and his wife had two children, Mary and Marcus. Cruikshank died in 1936 and is buried at Grand Bay Cemetery in Mobile County