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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...

Robert of Jumièges

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Jumièges zhümyĕzhˈ [key], fl. 1037–52, Norman churchman in England, b. Normandy. As abbot of Jumièges he won the favor of Edward (later Edward the Confessor) during Edward's exile in ...

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...

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...

Sprat, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sprat, Thomas, 1635–1713, English author, bishop of Rochester and dean of Westminster. His poem on the death of Oliver Cromwell was published in Dryden's Miscellany (1659). Sprat is best remembered ...

Lansing, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Lansing, Robert, 1864–1928, U.S. Secretary of State (1915–20), b. Watertown, N.Y. An authority in the field of international law, he founded the American Journal of International Law in 1907 and r...