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Transylvania Company

(Encyclopedia)Transylvania Company, association formed to exploit and colonize the area now comprising much of Kentucky and Tennessee. Organized first (Aug., 1774) as the Louisa Company, it was reorganized (Jan., 1...

Penn, John, 1740?–1788, political leader in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Penn, John, 1740?–1788, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Caroline co., Va. A lawyer, Penn moved (1774) to North Carolina and was (1775–77,...

Yucatán, peninsula, North America

(Encyclopedia)Yucatán yo͞okətănˈ [key], peninsula, c.70,000 sq mi (181,300 sq km), mostly in SE Mexico, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. It comprises the states of Yucatán, Campeche, and ...

Helms, Jesse Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Helms, Jesse Alexander, 1921–2008, U.S. senator from North Carolina (1973–2003), b. Monroe, N.C. He served in the navy, chiefly as a recruiter, during World War II. A local radio broadcasting exec...

Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de

(Encyclopedia)Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de lo͞oˈkäs väsˈkāth dā īlyōnˈ [key], c.1475–1526, Spanish explorer. He emigrated in 1502 to Santo Domingo, where he became a public official. In 1521, Francisco Go...

Regulator movement

(Encyclopedia)Regulator movement, designation for two groups, one in South Carolina, the other in North Carolina, that tried to effect governmental changes in the 1760s. In South Carolina, the Regulator movement wa...

Hooper, William

(Encyclopedia)Hooper, William, 1742–90, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Boston. He became a lawyer and moved (1764) to Wilmington, N.C. Hooper served on ...

Raleigh

(Encyclopedia)Raleigh rôlˈē, rälˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 207,951), state capital, and seat of Wake co., central N.C.; the site was selected for the capital in 1788, and the city was laid out and inc. 1792. I...

Lumbee

(Encyclopedia)Lumbee, descendants of Native Americans whose language belonged to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The ancestors of the Lumbee occupi...

Henderson, Richard, American colonizer in Kentucky

(Encyclopedia)Henderson, Richard, 1735–85, American colonizer in Kentucky, b. Hanover co., Va. An associate justice of the North Carolina superior court (1769–73), Henderson was long interested in Western lands...