Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Creswell, John Angel James

(Encyclopedia)Creswell, John Angel James, 1828–91, U.S. Postmaster General (1869–74), b. Port Deposit, Md. He was a lawyer, U.S. Representative (1863–65), and U.S. Senator (1865–67), but his important work ...

James, Henry, American novelist and critic

(Encyclopedia)James, Henry, 1843–1916, American novelist and critic, b. New York City. A master of the psychological novel, James was an innovator in technique and one of the most distinctive prose stylists in En...

Wilson, James, American jurist

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, James, 1742–98, American jurist, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near St. Andrews, Scotland. He studied at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and, after emigrating to Pe...

Hamilton, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Patrick, 1504?–1528, Scottish Protestant martyr. While at St. Andrews, he was suspected of Lutheran sympathies. He fled (1527) to Germany, where, during his short stay, he met Luther and M...

Liberty party

(Encyclopedia)Liberty party, in U.S. history, an antislavery political organization founded in 1840. It was formed by those abolitionists, under the leadership of James G. Birney and Gerrit Smith, who repudiated Wi...

Saumarez, James Saumarez, baron de

(Encyclopedia)Saumarez, James Saumarez, baron de sŏmˈərĕz [key], 1757–1836, British admiral, b. Guernsey. He entered the navy in 1770 and attained command of a vessel in 1778. He was with Admiral George Rodne...

Craig, Sir James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Craig, Sir James Henry, 1748–1812, British soldier, governor of Canada (1807–11), b. Gibraltar. He served in the British army from 1763, fighting in the American Revolution and later holding posts...

Keith, James Francis Edward

(Encyclopedia)Keith, James Francis Edward, 1696–1758, Scottish field marshal of Prussia; brother of George Keith, 10th earl marischal [marshal] of Scotland. He participated in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and in...

Whistler, James Abbott McNeill

(Encyclopedia)Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 1834–1903, American painter, etcher, wit, and eccentric, b. Lowell, Mass. Whistler was dismissed from West Point for insufficient knowledge of chemistry and from the ...

Browse by Subject