Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Horn)

(Encyclopedia)Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Horn) ăthˈərtən [key], 1857–1948, American writer, b. San Francisco. She wrote a series of historical novels about California, which include The Californians (1898),...

Payne, Sereno Elisha

(Encyclopedia)Payne, Sereno Elisha sərēˈnō [key], 1843–1914, American legislator, b. Hamilton, N.Y. He was admitted to the bar (1866), practiced at Auburn, N.Y., and was active in Republican politics. He serv...

Coxe, Tench

(Encyclopedia)Coxe, Tench kŏks [key], 1755–1824, American political economist, b. Philadelphia. He entered his father's mercantile business in 1776, but after 1790, when he became assistant to Alexander Hamilton...

Winthrop, John, 1638–1707, colonial governor of Connecticut

(Encyclopedia)Winthrop, John (Fitz-John Winthrop), 1638–1707, American colonial governor of Connecticut, b. Ipswich, Mass.; son of John Winthrop (1606–76). He is commonly called Fitz-John Winthrop to distinguis...

Blair, Francis Preston, 1821–75, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Francis Preston, 1821–75, American political leader and Union general in the Civil War, b. Lexington, Ky., son of Francis Preston Blair (1791–1876). A St. Louis lawyer, Blair led the Free-S...

Ames, Fisher

(Encyclopedia)Ames, Fisher, 1758–1808, American political leader, b. Dedham, Mass.; son of Nathaniel Ames. Admitted to the bar in 1781, he began political pamphleteering and by a speech in the Massachusetts conve...

Bradford, William, 1663–1752, British printer in the American colonies

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, William, 1663–1752, British pioneer printer in the American colonies. Born in Leicestershire, England, he served an apprenticeship under a London printer before emigrating in 1685 to Phila...

Monroe, James

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, James, 1758–1831, 5th President of the United States (1817–25), b. Westmoreland co., Va. In 1816 Monroe obtained the presidential nomination and was easily elected. During his first admi...

Native American Church

(Encyclopedia)Native American Church, Native American religious group whose beliefs blend fundamentalist Christian elements with pan–Native American moral principles. The movement began among the Kiowa about 1890...

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...