Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

495 results found

Houston, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Houston, Samuel, 1793–1863, American frontier hero and statesman of Texas, b. near Lexington, Va. In 1836 Houston was elected the first president of the new Republic of Texas. The independence of ...

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant

(Encyclopedia)Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant bōˈrĭgärd [key], 1818–93, Confederate general, b. St. Bernard parish, La., grad. West Point, 1838. As engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott in the Mexican Wa...

Williams, William, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William, 1731–1811, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Lebanon, Conn. He served in the French and Indian War and held many public of...

Caldwell, Zoe

(Encyclopedia)Caldwell, Zoe (Zoe Ada Caldwell) zō [key], 1933–2020, Australian theater actress. From the late 1950s she played many Shakespearean roles first with England's Royal Shakespeare Company and then at ...

Harris, Isham Green

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Isham Green īˈshəm [key], 1818–97, American political leader, b. Franklin co., Tenn. Admitted to the bar in 1841, he was elected in 1847 to the Tennessee senate. Harris, a states' rights ...

Crump, Edward Hull

(Encyclopedia)Crump, Edward Hull, 1876–1954, American politician, Democratic boss of Tennessee, b. near Holly Springs, Miss. At first (1905–9) a municipal administrator in Memphis, Tenn., he was later mayor (19...

French Broad River

(Encyclopedia)French Broad River, 210 mi (338 km) long, rising in the Blue Ridge Mts., W N.C., and flowing N and then NW to Knoxville, E Tenn., where it joins with the Holston to form the Tennessee River. The Frenc...

Hall, Sir Peter Reginald Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Sir Peter Reginald Frederick, 1930–2017, British theatrical director, b. Bury St. Edmonds, grad. Cambridge, 1953. He directed several acclaimed plays at Cambridge, and one production was trans...

Brownlow, William Gannaway

(Encyclopedia)Brownlow, William Gannaway brounˈlō [key], 1805–77, U.S. politician, governor of Tennessee (1865–69), known as the “Fighting Parson,” b. Wythe co., Va. Brownlow won a large following in E Te...

White, Hugh Lawson

(Encyclopedia)White, Hugh Lawson, 1773–1840, American political leader, b. Iredell co., N.C. He moved (1787) to what is now E Tennessee and served in the wars against the Creek and Cherokee. He was (1793) secreta...