Western Literary Figure. Born on August 23, 1810, in Aldie, Virginia, he was an orator most noted for writing yarns of rural frontier life under the pen name “Pete Whetstone”. After some time at West point, he studied law and became a lawyer in 1825. He entered into Arkansas politics, but after he killed Governor John Pope’s nephew in a duel that originated with Noland’s criticism of the governor, he left the territory. He returned to Arkansas politics in 1836 and was chosen to carry the new state constitution to Washington. He then became Arkansas’s representative in the literary movement and became a reporter for the New York Spirit of the Times, in 1836. As a reporter of horse races and other sporting events, he became focused in his fictional character “Pete Whetstone”, who spun yarns about Arkansas hunting, politics and life in general. As the national audience grew, he became a celebrity for his original and humorous publishcations. Although he never received any financial gain for his writings, he was a popular a national figure. He died from tuberculosis at age 57 in Little Rock, Arkansas. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Parents:  William Noland (1775 – 1855)  Catharine Callender Noland (1775 – 1849)  Spouse:  Lucretia Elizabeth Ringgold Keatts (1819 – 1860)*  Children:  Lewis Berkeley Noland (1844 – 1870)*  Siblings:  Frances Callender Noland Berkeley (1797 – 1855)*  Charles Fenton Mercer Noland (1810 – 1858)  Callender St. George Noland (1816 – 1875)* *Calculated relationship