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Whipple, William

(Encyclopedia)Whipple, William, 1730–85, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Kittery, Maine. Whipple, who had been a sea captain, was a merchant of Portsmout...

Warren, Mercy Otis

(Encyclopedia)Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728–1814, American writer, b. Barnstable, Mass.; sister of James Otis and wife of James Warren, who was speaker of the Massachusetts house of representatives. An ardent patriot,...

Safire, William L.

(Encyclopedia)Safire, William L. săfˈīrˌ [key], 1929–2009, American journalist and speechwriter, b. New York City as William Safir. A former reporter and public-relations executive, he became a speechwriter (...

White, William

(Encyclopedia)White, William, 1748–1836, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1765. He was ordained in England in 1772, returning to become assist...

Jay, William

(Encyclopedia)Jay, William, 1789–1858, American jurist and reformer, b. New York City; son of John Jay. For most of the period from 1818 to 1843 he served as judge of the county court of Westchester co., N.Y. An ...

Gillette, William

(Encyclopedia)Gillette, William jəlĕtˈ [key], 1853–1937, American actor and dramatist, b. Hartford, Conn. His New York debut in Mark Twain's Gilded Age (1877) was shortly followed by his own first play, The Pr...

Ladd, William

(Encyclopedia)Ladd, William, 1778–1841, American pacifist, b. Exeter, N.H., grad. Harvard, 1797. He commanded sailing vessels until the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he retired to a farm in Maine. In 1820 he ...

Updike, Daniel Berkeley

(Encyclopedia)Updike, Daniel Berkeley ŭpˈdīkˌ [key], 1860–1941, American printer and historian of typography, b. Providence, R.I. At the Merrymount Press, which he founded in 1893 in Boston, his stated purpos...

Cosgrave, William Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cosgrave, William Thomas kŏzˈgrāv [key], 1880–1965, Irish statesman; father of Liam Cosgrave. A member of Sinn Féin, he fought in the Easter Rebellion (1916) and was sentenced to life imprisonme...

Green, William

(Encyclopedia)Green, William, 1872–1952, American labor leader, president of the American Federation of Labor (1924–1952), b. Coshocton, Ohio. He rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America, of...