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Penn, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Penn, Thomas, 1702–75, colonial proprietor of Pennsylvania, b. Bristol, England; son of William Penn. Coming to Philadelphia, he managed (1732–41) the proprietary rights he inherited with his brot...

Chalmers, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Chalmers, Thomas chäˈmərz, chôˈ– [key], 1780–1847, Scottish preacher, theologian, and philanthropist, leader of the Free Church of Scotland. His preaching and his interest in philanthropic wo...

Sully, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sully, Thomas, 1783–1872, American painter, b. England. Having come to the United States as a child, he first studied with his brother Lawrence, a miniaturist, and later for a brief time with Gilber...

Bray, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bray, Thomas, 1656–1730, English clergyman and philanthropist. In 1696 he was selected by the bishop of London as his commissary to establish the Anglican church in Maryland. Bray recruited missiona...

Pynchon, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Pynchon, Thomas pĭnˈchən [key], 1937–, American novelist, b. Glen Cove, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1958. Pynchon is noted for his amazingly fertile imagination, his wild sense of humor, and the teeming...

Mont-Saint-Jean

(Encyclopedia)Mont-Saint-Jean môN-săN-zhäN [key], village, Walloon Brabant prov., central Belgium, on a height S of Waterloo. The British resisted the French onslaught there at the end of the Waterloo campaign (...

Thomas of Erceldoune

(Encyclopedia)Thomas of Erceldoune ûrˈsəldo͞onˌ [key], fl. 1220?–1297?, Scottish seer and poet, also known as Thomas the Rhymer and Thomas Learmont. Evidence of his existence is founded on the mention of his...

Bridget, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bridget, Saint, 453?–523?, Irish holy woman. She is often called St. Brigid, St. Bride, or St. Bridget of Kildare. Little is known of her, but she did found a great monastery at Kildare. She is buri...

Saint Paul

(Encyclopedia)Saint Paul, city (1990 pop. 272,235), state capital and seat of Ramsey co., E Minn., on bluffs along the Mississippi River, contiguous with Minneapolis, forming the Twin Cities metropolitan area; inc....

Heyward, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Heyward, Thomas, 1746–1809, political leader and soldier in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near Charleston, S.C. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress...

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