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Gould, Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gould, Jay, 1836–92, American speculator, b. Delaware co., N.Y. A country-store clerk and surveyor's assistant, he rose to control half the railroad mileage in the Southwest, New York City's elevate...

Hoover, J. Edgar

(Encyclopedia)Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar Hoover), 1895–1972, American administrator, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), b. Washington, D.C. Shortly after he was admitted to the bar, he enter...

Abiah

(Encyclopedia)Abiah əbīˈə [key], in the Bible, variant of Abijah. 1 Wife of Hezron. 2 Second son of Samuel. ...

Elkanah

(Encyclopedia)Elkanah ĕlˈkānə, ĕlkāˈnə [key], in the Bible. 1 Husband of Hannah and father of Samuel. 2 Head of a Levitical family. 3 Officer of Ahaz's household. 4 Doorkeeper of the Ark of the Covenant. ...

Agag

(Encyclopedia)Agag āˈgăg [key], in the Bible. 1 King of the Amalekites who was defeated and spared by Saul, but killed by Samuel. 2 The allusion is not understood as it occurs in the Book of Numbers. ...

Mencken, H. L.

(Encyclopedia)Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis Mencken) mĕngˈkən, mĕnˈ– [key], 1880–1956, American editor, author, and critic, b. Baltimore, studied at the Baltimore Polytechnic. Probably America's most influen...

Dustin, Hannah

(Encyclopedia)Dustin, Hannah, b. 1657, d. after 1729, Colonial New England heroine. She was captured (1697) in a Native American raid on Haverhill, Mass., and taken up the Merrimack River to a place near modern Con...

Eben-ezer

(Encyclopedia)Eben-ezer ĕbˈən-ēˈzər [key] [Heb.,=stone of help], in the Bible. 1 Stone set up (near Shen) by Samuel to commemorate the victory over the Philistines. 2 Site of the battle where the Philistines ...

Hamilton College

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton College, at Clinton, N.Y.; coeducational; founded 1793 by Samuel Kirkland as Hamilton-Oneida Academy, chartered 1812 as Hamilton College. It was named for Alexander Hamilton. Originally a men...

Wheatley, Henry Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Wheatley, Henry Benjamin, 1838–1917, English bibliographer and antiquarian, a founder of the Early English Text Society and of the Index Society. Wheatley's work on the indexing of books, How to Mak...