Talk:Charlie Bassett

Recent article move

I don't believe the recent renaming of this article from "Charlie Bassett" to "Charles E. "Charlie" Bassett" is helpful. According to naming articles, "It is sometimes necessary to add distinguishing information, often in the form of a description in parentheses after the name. Generally, article titles are based on what the subject is called in reliable sources." The nickname doesn't fall within this guideline. Furthermore, article names should meet five criteria: recognizability, naturalness, precision, conciseness, and consistency. This title fails all of these five.

A search for "Charles E. Bassett" reveals many hits, while a search for "Charles E. "Charlie" Bassett" turns up no results that exactly match that pattern. The reliable sources refer to him as "Charles E. Bassett", "Charles Bassett", or "Charles Bassett lawman". The article title "Charles Bassett (lawman)" is much more informative and disambiguates this article from three other individuals with the same name. Unless an editor can suggest a good reason not to, I will rename this article and move it to "Charles Bassett (lawman)" in the next day or two. — btphelps ^{(talk to me) (what I've done)} 20:02, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Recent edits

Jack Demattos, thanks for reaching out to me on my talk page about this article. I understand you feel a little ownership about this article and are upset at some bold edits made by another editor. It can be upsetting when your hard-won words are shot full of holes by another editor. I've certainly felt that way on a number of occasions. You asked me to look at the editor's changes to your contributions. I don't have time to look at every detail, but let me review the first three paragraphs. In your original description of his birth and early life, you wrote:

On December 12, 1841 Benjamin Bassett married 15-year-old Julia H. Norton in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their marriage produced six children. Benjamin and Julia would raise their family at a tiny house at 107 Smith Street in New Bedford. Their first child, Eugene K. was born in 1842 followed by a daughter Sarah in 1844. Another daughter, Sophia, was born in 1846

On Saturday, October 30, 1847, Julia Norton Bassett gave birth to a son called Charles E. Bassett. The boy was called "Charlie" from the beginnng. Charlie's younger brother, Benjamin Franklin Bassett was born almost two years later to the very day on October 31, 1849. The final Bassett child, Harriet was born during 1854.

The marriage of Benjamin and Julia Bassett came to an end in 1865, when Benjamin was last listed in the New Bedford city directory. It is not known if they ever actually divorced. By 1865, Benjamin Bassett and his seventeen-year-old son Charlie had both relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

WikiDan61 condensed the above to this:

Bassett was born in Bedford, Massachusetts on October 30, 1847 to Julia Norton Bassett and Benjamin Bassett. He was the fourth of six children. Bassett's parents split up in 1865; Charlie left Bedford with his father, relocating to Philadelphia.

In this instance, I think the condensed version is preferred. I've underlined the extraneous, unneeded detail in your first three paragraphs and indicated why I would have made similar edits (in parentheses):

On December 12, 1841 Benjamin Bassett married 15-year-old Julia H. Norton in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their marriage produced [had] six children. Benjamin and Julia would raise their family at a tiny house at 107 Smith Street in New Bedford. Their first child, Eugene K. was born in 1842 followed by a daughter Sarah in 1844. Another daughter, Sophia, was born in 1846. (non-encyclopedic -- the article is about Charlie Basset, not his parents, not his siblings.)

On Saturday, October 30, 1847, Julia Norton Bassett gave birth to a son called Charles E. Bassett [was born]. The boy was called "Charlie" from the beginnng. Charlie's younger brother, Benjamin Franklin Bassett was born almost two years later to the very day on October 31, 1849. The final Bassett child, Harriet was born during 1854. (non-encyclopedic -- Unneeded detail. The article is not about his siblings.)

The[ir] marriage of Benjamin and Julia Bassett came to an end[ed] in 1865, when Benjamin was last listed in the New Bedford city directory. It is not known if they ever actually divorced. By 1865, Benjamin Bassett and his seventeen-year-old son Charlie had both relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (non-encyclopedic -- Don't mention the source in the content, just in the reference. WP is an encyclopedia, not a magazine. original research -- The source only lists them in the 1865 directory. That's a fact. Anything beyond that is interpretation of the facts.)

I hope you can see the reasons why your three paragraphs were condensed into one. I understand since you've written a book on this topic that you are an authority, but WP is a collaborative project, and no one owns any article.

That's all I have time for right now. I know there was a lot more content cut. I think some of it that you have since restored may have some merit, but for example, the fact that Charlie witnessed the "The Richardson-Loving Gunfight" is pretty immaterial. And language like "It has been alleged that Charles E. Bassett spent the period between late 1865 and early 1873 drifting around the West" would be better attributed to the source.

Unfortunately, you've dug yourself into a bit of a hole by the language and tone you've used when you took offense at someone's edits. You're much less likely to incur sympathy and find support when you attack other editors. Like you, editors have feelings and are less likely to cut you some slack. Under those circumstances, when they see a bunch of content that contains numerous issues, they are more likely to take a broad sword to it rather then negotiate the prickly path with tweezers and scissors to selectively extract the quality info from your contributions.

I hope this helps you understand WP writing style and why the content you contributed was modified. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to heed the advice of other editors on your personal talk page to study quality biographical articles and the WP style guidelines. — btphelps ^{(talk to me) (what I've done)} 20:22, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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