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Bulfinch, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bulfinch, Thomas, 1796–1867, American author, b. Newton, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1814. He wrote a series of works popularizing fable and legend, including The Age of Fables (1855), The Age of Chivalry...

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...

Wise, Henry Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Wise, Henry Alexander, 1806–76, American political leader and Confederate general in the Civil War, b. Accomac, Va. A lawyer, he was successively a Jackson Democrat, a Whig, and a Tyler Democrat in ...

Doniphan, Alexander William

(Encyclopedia)Doniphan, Alexander William dŏnˈĭfən [key], 1808–87, American lawyer and soldier, b. Mason co., Ky. He began (1830) to practice law in Lexington, Mo., and served three terms in the state legisla...

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...

Alexander III, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Alexander III, 1241–86, king of Scotland (1249–86), son and successor of Alexander II. He married a daughter of Henry III of England and quarreled with Henry, and later Henry's son Edward I, over ...