William Culkin

William Edgar Culkin (October 15, 1860 – June 25, 1949) was an American newspaper editor, historian, and educator. He was raised in New York, and later moved to Minnesota, where he served on the Minnesota Senate between 1895 and 1898 as a Republican.

Early life William Edgar Culkin was born in Oswego, New York, in 1860, where his early schooling took place. He moved to Minnesota in 1880, and he taught there for two years while continuing his studies. Culkin read law and was allowed to practice law from 1882, initially in Waverly, a town in Wright County. He and his wife had a son and three daughters. One, Margaret Culkin Banning, became a best selling author. He became known as a local historian following his government career, and in 1922 was made the first president of the St. Louis County Historical Society. He died at Duluth in 1949 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Duluth, Minnesota.