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Reeve, Tapping

(Encyclopedia)Reeve, Tapping, 1744–1823, American lawyer and jurist, b. Brookhaven, N.Y. In 1784 he opened his law school in Litchfield, Conn.; it was one of the first schools of law in the United States. Aaron B...

O'Neill, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Margaret (Peggy O'Neill), c.1796–1879, wife of John Henry Eaton, U.S. secretary of war under President Andrew Jackson. She was the daughter of a Washington tavern keeper and married John Ti...

King, Charles Bird

(Encyclopedia)King, Charles Bird, 1785–1862, American portrait painter, b. Newport, R.I. He studied under Edward Savage and with Benjamin West in London. His work, executed in Washington, D.C., included Native Am...

Dallas, Alexander James

(Encyclopedia)Dallas, Alexander James dălˈəs [key], 1759–1817, U.S. secretary of the treasury (1814–16), b. Jamaica, West Indies. He went (1783) to Philadelphia, practiced law, and was secretary of state (17...

Rhett, Robert Barnwell

(Encyclopedia)Rhett, Robert Barnwell, 1800–1876, American politician, b. Beaufort, S.C. His family changed its name from Smith to Rhett (after a colonial ancestor) in 1837. A lawyer, he was a state legislator, st...

nullification

(Encyclopedia)nullification, in U.S. history, a doctrine expounded by the advocates of extreme states' rights. It held that states have the right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstituti...

Rusk, Thomas Jefferson

(Encyclopedia)Rusk, Thomas Jefferson, 1803–57, American political leader, U.S. Senator from Texas (1846–57), b. Pendleton District, S.C. He studied law under John C. Calhoun and practiced in Clarksville, Ga., f...

Lance, Bert

(Encyclopedia)Lance, Bert (Thomas Bertram Lance), 1931–2013, American banker and public official, b. Gainesville, Ga. He was one of Jimmy Carter's closest advisers during the 1976 presidential campaign. After the...

Lenoir

(Encyclopedia)Lenoir lənôrˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 14,192), seat of Caldwell co., W N.C.; inc. 1851. A resort in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts., it manufactures medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, machiner...

Hunter, Robert Mercer Taliaferro

(Encyclopedia)Hunter, Robert Mercer Taliaferro tŏlˈəvər [key], 1809–87, American statesman, b. Essex co., Va. He was a U.S. Representative for Virginia (1837–43, 1845–47), serving as speaker from 1839 to ...