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Ledyard, William

(Encyclopedia)Ledyard, William lĕdˈyərd [key], 1738–81, American Revolutionary officer, b. Groton, Conn. In 1781, as commander of Fort Griswold (near Groton), he refused to surrender, despite threats of massac...

Wotton, William

(Encyclopedia)Wotton, William, 1666–1727, English scholar. He is best known for his Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1694), a defense of contemporary learning written in response to an essay by Sir W...

Byrde, William

(Encyclopedia)Byrde, William. For persons thus named, use Byrd, William.

Savery, William

(Encyclopedia)Savery, William sāˈvərē [key], 1721–87, American cabinetmaker. He is believed to have lived in Philadelphia from c.1740. Savery is noted for his artistic and original interpretation of 18th-cent...

Rockefeller, William

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, William, 1841–1922, American financier, b. Tioga co., N.Y.; brother of John D. Rockefeller. He joined (1865) his brother in the oil-refining business. William was a successful stock mar...

Carey, William

(Encyclopedia)Carey, William, 1761–1834, English Baptist missionary and Orientalist, one of the first Protestant missionaries to India. He helped found the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792 and shortly thereafte...

Combe, William

(Encyclopedia)Combe, William ko͝om, kōm [key], 1741–1823, English satirist and miscellaneous writer, b. Bristol. His writing was mainly hack work, issued anonymously to avoid seizure of the proceeds by his many...

Caslon, William

(Encyclopedia)Caslon, William kăzˈlən [key], 1692–1766, English type designer, b. Worcestershire. He worked first in London as an engraver of gunlocks, then set up his own foundry in 1716. The merits of Caslon...

Jasper, William

(Encyclopedia)Jasper, William, c.1750–79, American Revolutionary soldier, b. South Carolina (possibly near Georgetown). He joined William Moultrie's regiment early in the Revolution (1775), was made sergeant, and...

George William

(Encyclopedia)George William, 1597–1640, elector of Brandenburg (1619–40). Mild and irresolute, he was a Calvinist, yet he ruled a Lutheran people. He failed to turn the strategic position of Brandenburg to adv...