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Seward, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Seward, William Henry, 1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y. In 1861, Seward became Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, and many expected him to be the real power in th...

Colton, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Colton, Walter kōlˈtən [key], 1797–1851, American editor, writer, and clergyman, b. Rutland co., Vt. He became a naval chaplain in 1831. His books Ship and Shore (1835), A Visit to Constantinople...

Bacon, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509–79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this office through ...

Harold Harefoot

(Encyclopedia)Harold Harefoot, d. 1040, king of the English (1037–40), illegitimate son of Canute and Ælfgifu of Northampton. On his father's death (1035) he disputed the succession of his half-brother Harthacan...

Gelsenkirchen

(Encyclopedia)Gelsenkirchen gĕlˌzənkĭrkhˈən [key], city, North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, a port on the ...

Bascom, Henry Bidleman

(Encyclopedia)Bascom, Henry Bidleman băsˈkəm [key], 1796–1850, American Methodist minister and college president, b. Hancock, N.Y. At the age of 17 he became a preacher in the Ohio Methodist Conference and was...

Thóroddsen, Jón

(Encyclopedia)Thóroddsen, Jón yōn tōˈrôtsĕn [key], 1818–68, Icelandic novelist and poet. He studied law in Copenhagen intermittently from 1841 to 1850, fought in the Danish army, and after his return to Ic...

Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of

(Encyclopedia)Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of, name of the church founded (1830) at Fayette, N.Y., by Joseph Smith. The headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its members, now numbering about 5.7 mi...

Baird, Spencer Fullerton

(Encyclopedia)Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823–87, American zoologist, b. Reading, Pa., grad. Dickinson College, 1840. He was professor of natural history at Dickinson from 1846 to 1850. While at the Smithsonian In...

Benton, Thomas Hart, U.S. Senator

(Encyclopedia)Benton, Thomas Hart, 1782–1858, U.S. Senator (1821–51), b. Hillsboro, N.C. Benton moved to Tennessee in 1809, was admitted to the bar in 1811, and served (1809–11) in the state senate. In 1815, ...