In 1905, Paul Elder published Wilbur Nesbit’s An Alphabet of History, a large-format volume of verse for adults. In contrast to some other humorous verse issued by Elder, Nesbit’s poetry has survived the last century in fine shape to be appreciated by the modern reader.
Wilbur D. Nesbit was born in Xenia, Ohio in 1871. He started as a printer before becoming a reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Cedarville Herald. Nesbit spent the rest of his career in journalism, writing for newspapers in Muncie, Indianapolis, and Baltimore before moving to Chicago. He wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune called “A Line o’ Type or Two,” and was later on the staff of the Chicago Evening Post. Along the way he began composing poetry. Nesbit was also in demand as a toastmaster, and was a long-time member of the “Forty Club,” a Chicago version of San Francisco’s Bohemian Club. Nesbit wrote a history of the Forty Club in 1912.
Nesbit’s best known work was a short patriotic poem “Your Flag and My Flag,” first published in the Baltimore American in 1902. It was described as having “a ring of national sentiment that rivals the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ itself.”1The National Magazine, Boston, May 1917, p304-5.. The poem was frequently recited in schoolrooms, and also at political conventions and Congressional sessions.
The delightful drawings are by the artist Ellsworth Young (1866-1952), who in addition to book and magazine illustrations, was a noted landscape painter and poster artist. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later worked for the Works Progress Adminitration (WPA) during the Depression.
Updated 2025-12-20
- 1The National Magazine, Boston, May 1917, p304-5.