Talk:William H. West (policeman)

Inaccuracy in article. Franklin Pierce was also arrested as a sitting president
https://www-independent-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/franklin-pierce-1391121.html?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fpresidents%2Ffranklin-pierce-1391121.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1:9A37:77C8:4DBA:35D6:191E:412F (talk) 06:28, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * He was arrested, but released when his identity became known. Doesn't explicitly state that this happened during his time in office, I am checking for more sources ATM. Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  16:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm finding stuff that this happened in 1853, the same year he took office, but nothing to positively confirm this event did or didn't happen in the 2 months prior to his inauguration. If this claim does bear out, it affect the DYK too much, a former slave Civil War vet turn policeman arresting a president in Reconstruction South is still an interesting tidbit, given both the current climate re: POTUS' and the law and also race and policing. Thanks,L3X1  ◊distænt write◊  16:32, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * So I'm starting to find mention of this happening post-inauguration, but the sources don't look so reliable. Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  16:52, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * What, the "Presidential Pet Museum" isn't reliable? EEng 20:16, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Redirect list
William H. West (police officer) William H West (policeman) William West (policeman) william h. west (policeman) william h west (policeman) william h west (police officer) william west (policeman) Officer William West Officer William H West Officer William H. West Officer william h west Officer william h. west William H. West (Soldier) William H West (soldier) William West (soldier) william h. west (soldier) William h west (soldier) William West (Soldier) william west (soldier) William Henry West (police officer) William Henry West (policeman) william henry west (policeman) william henry west (police officer)

Sourcing

 * The WaPO article is behind a paywall, so if anyone needs the text of it, email me. Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  23:12, 16 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Is that this, or something else? EEng 20:11, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Pinging . Before I ransack 50 bios of Grant at the library I'd like to know if this article you're talking about names a source or can otherwise narrow things down for me. EEng 03:12, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry for the delay, yes, that linked WaPo articles leads me to believe a historical primary record exists due to this wording The story of his arrest — confirmed a few years ago by Cathy L. Lanier, who was then the District’s police chief(my emphasis). That sentence in paragraph 8 links to a WTOP article quotes the police chief as saying “The metropolitan police department actually stopped and cited Ulysses S. Grant three times for speeding,” she says.. I don't understand why a police chief would state something as if it were a fact if they didn't have some method to prove, which was why I was musing about FOIAs in the below subsection. TBH I have no idea if any police department kept extensive arrest record in the 1870s, and if they would have been preserved. But I reasoned that if the Dutch can remember to pay on a bond for 300 years it might be within the realm of possibility that original proof exits for Grant's arrest at the hands of West. Other than the sources mentioned in the article, I know of no other ones, a query put out on Twitter has received only likes, no actual material or pointers on where to find this. Thanks for your time, Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  03:55, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
 * (So to be clear, we are talking about just one Post article, the one I linked above.) I don't understand why a police chief would state something as if it were a fact if they didn't have some method to prove – Police chiefs tell loose, entertaining stories about long ago just like everyone else. Because of the special nature of this assertion I'm willing to go to some lengths to smoke it out if it exists somewhere, but I'm not hopeful. Once you start checking you see this story has been kicking around a long time, and some people have put substantial effort into it, with no indication at all of solid sourcing, just 20th-c stories apparently coming from West. The ghostofdc link I'm adding to the bulletlist below is especially good, and makes it even more likely there's no primary source to be found. In particular, ghostofdc seems to have already done one of the things I was going to do (and will do anyway nonetheless), which is to search historical newspapers for stories about West or about West + Grant. That does offer one glimmer of hope: one of the images (on the right, near the bottom) is "NEGRO POLICEMAN SUSPENDED -- Man Who Arrested President Grant a Disorderly Conduct Prisoner", dated 1901. That's the first thing I've found earlier than the 1908 Evening Star spread. Just to be clear, I'm not saying I disbelieve the truth of the Grant story (I'm 50-50 at this point), rather I'm just not sanguine about finding sourcing we can use. EEng 05:03, 19 December 2018 (UTC) P.S. see "On the trail" below.


 * https://wtop.com/news/2012/10/dc-police-once-arrested-a-us-president-for-speeding/
 * https://dcist.com/story/12/10/04/dc-police-once-gave-the-president-a/ Quotes "John F. Marszalek, the executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Collection at Mississippi State University": "The story goes..." (which is a bad sign)
 * https://www.amazon.com/Significa-Irving-Wallace/dp/0517669641 dcist points to this. Says that "seizing the horse's bridle, West "was dragged half a block before he could stop the animal", impounded Grant's buggy, Grant had to walk home, buggy returned to White House the next day. No sources. Apparently derived from a Parade Magazine column, "Arresting the President" (?).
 * Washington Evening Star article, 1908
 * https://ghostsofdc.org/2014/03/04/ulysses-grant-arrested-speeding/ This is a key source
 * Grant's own memoirs don't cover his presidency

Worry
If we don't come up with better sourcing, I think we're in trouble. Given the sources we have now, at best we can only report this as a story West told. <b style="color: red;">E</b><b style="color: blue;">Eng</b> 23:19, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * IIRC, doesn't the police department have a record of this event, which we could get via FOIA? perhaps? Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  00:59, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Where do you recall seeing that mentioned? While it's conceivable some such record exists (e.g. File:Police Blotter Listing the Assassination of President Lincoln - NARA - 301678.tif) I think you're projecting an image of modern process onto a time much less regimented. What worries me most is Marszalek (above) saying, "The story goes"; if there was primary evidence for this he wouldn't have put it that way. <b style="color: red;">E</b><b style="color: blue;">Eng</b> 04:46, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
 * FOIA would not apply to such ancient records. If there's a record, it's in a museum somewhere. However, there's certainly no such record. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 19:43, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

On the trail

 * "NEGRO POLICEMAN SUSPENDED: Man Who Arrested President Grant a Disorderly Conduct Prisoner". The Washington Post; Jun 30, 1901; pg. 11: "He gained notoriety soon after his appointment by arresting President U. S. Grant for riding horseback on a pavement." (A pavement in this context is what Americans today call a sidewalk.) This seems like good news for us, but it's not: the story as it's being told nowadays, apparently based on the 1908 Washington Post article, is that Grant was stopped/arrested/cited/whatever for speeding on the street in a carriage, not riding horseback on a sidewalk. This is a serious red flag for a legend, but I'll keep at it, at least for now. <b style="color: red;">E</b><b style="color: blue;">Eng</b> 05:15, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
 * It's apocrypha. Interesting, and illuminates an American value (justice over station), but it's not a real event. Check the Ulysses S. Grant talk page, where I discuss the news media blowing up this fable like it's a truth. I think the this article should be deleted for lack of notability and the story can be told on Grant's main page, but should be clearly marked as likely untrue. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 19:41, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
 * "CITY NEWS IN BRIEF" Washington Post; Sep 12, 1915; The Washington Post; pg. 19: "William H. West, colored, former member of the police force, died Tuesday at his home, 909 Fourth street northwest. On one occasion he arrested President Grant for riding across a pavement on horseback. He was commended by the President. He has been retired for the last ten years." Pavement again.
 * "POLICEMEN AND POLITICS. Officers Who Indulged in a Wrangling Discussion Sharply Rebuked." Washington Post, Sep 26, 1884; pg. 1. (No mention of Grant incident.)

West’s later career at DC policeman.
Multiple article about West’s career after the Grant arrest are a silver via Chronicling America. An additional section of this Wikipedia article would be helpful. The articles show greater scrutiny of West by supervisors and even a hostile workplace atmosphere is this post Reconstruction/Jim Crow period after 1876. Articles appear in both white and black newspapers. Thus article needs to be centered on West not Grant. Also additional details of West’s civil war service shoulf be added. JTaylorF (talk) 17:37, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
 * WP:SOFIXIT. <b style="color: red;">E</b><b style="color: blue;">Eng</b> 17:44, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

Another photo
...at, but I don't see where it comes from and I worry a bit about authenticity. <b style="color: red;">E</b><b style="color: blue;">Eng</b> 18:21, 31 December 2018 (UTC)

This story has all the hallmarks of apocrypha
Three decades later someone tells a story and there are no records. The wording, flow, and fable like lesson in the story all point to apocryphal origin. This should be clearly addressed in the article. It is very unlikely a real event. I posted the same concern on the Ulysses S. Grant talk page, but mentioned that the apacryphal story should be mentioned, like how the Washington Cherry Tree story should be mentioned too on George Washington. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 19:27, 23 March 2023 (UTC)


 * And to add a meta issue if we make consensus that this is apocrypha, does this person then make notability requirements to even have his own article? He has no other notable events around his life. Additionally, he is the sole source of the story, which was very likely a lie... 76.178.169.118 (talk) 19:33, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Why do you say that he is the sole source of the story? This article claims that the police logbook of the incident still exists and can be viewed by the public. Bruce leverett (talk) 03:21, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The source doesn't actually say that, it just says he was cited three times for speeding. The only police logbook mentioned is the one relevant to the Lincoln assassination. I have posted something at Talk:Arrest of Ulysses S. Grant. Pharos (talk) 21:23, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I had to take some time here to rethink, and I even put in an email to that source (the DCist) asking how the story "all checks out", but they have not replied. I'm back where I was. I don't see that source citing anything, and the mention of the logbook is in reference to the day Lincoln was assassinated. If there's evidence of this, the logbook sounds promising, but no one I see mentioned the story cites the DC metro police logbook. Actually, if the logbook was the source, there wouldn't be any waffling on the date of the event. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 20:10, 4 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Why would it be a lie? West had no reason to lie, in fact, he had a good reason not to since it looked bad to arrest the sitting president. -- Rockstone Send me a message!  07:57, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Notoriety, money, senility... If it's not a true story then it was a lie, unless you want to place it in some kind of weird middle ground. West definitely told the story to that 1908 newspaper. Besides, a lack of apparent motive for West to lie about it does nothing to address the lack of evidence that it happened. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 20:14, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

Should not be a separate article
This person is only notable in the context of the Grant arrest, what mention there is of him there should be enough. Should this be made into a redirect? ValarianB (talk) 15:08, 4 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think a mention on Grant's page, maybe, but the severe lack of notability and decent sources indicates this page has little reason to exist, if at all. 76.178.169.118 (talk) 20:06, 4 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I disagree, there is a wealth of period newspaper articles about West, see, and there is abundant historical context interesting to the encyclopedia reader that wouldn't really fit in a Grant-oriented article. Pharos (talk) 15:57, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I also disagree that it should be deleted, but I do agree that more sources should be added.3Kingdoms (talk) 02:23, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
 * then feel free to, um, add them? ValarianB (talk) 11:39, 12 April 2023 (UTC)