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Corcoran, William Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Corcoran, William Wilson kôrˈkərən [key], 1798–1888, American financier, philanthropist, and art collector, b. Georgetown, D.C. After becoming a successful banker, he retired in 1854 and devoted...

Russell, Lord William

(Encyclopedia)Russell, Lord William, 1639–83, English statesman; younger son of the 1st duke of Bedford. He entered Parliament in 1660. Contempt for the dissolute court and fear of Roman Catholicism and of France...

Godwin, William

(Encyclopedia)Godwin, William, 1756–1836, English author and political philosopher. A minister in his youth, he was, however, plagued by religious doubts and gave up preaching in 1783 for a literary career. His E...

Caxton, William

(Encyclopedia)Caxton, William, c.1421–91, English printer, the first to print books in English. He served apprenticeship as a mercer and from 1463 to 1469 was at Bruges as governor of the Merchants Adventurers in...

Pittsburgh, University of

(Encyclopedia)Pittsburgh, University of, main campus at Pittsburgh; private with some state support; coeducational; chartered and opened as an academy 1787, called Western Univ. of Pennsylvania 1819–1908. It oper...

Farlow, William Gilson

(Encyclopedia)Farlow, William Gilson, 1844–1919, American botanist, b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1866. His chief contributions were made in the study of cryptogamic and parasitic plants. Many eminent botanists recei...

Bartlett, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Bartlett, William Henry, 1800–1854, English painter and illustrator. After four visits to the United States, Bartlett illustrated a book, American Scenery (1840), with panoramic vistas of the Americ...

Channing, William Ellery

(Encyclopedia)Channing, William Ellery, 1780–1842, American Unitarian minister and author, b. Newport, R.I. At 23 he was ordained minister of the Federal St. Congregational Church in Boston, where he served until...

Coddington, William

(Encyclopedia)Coddington, William, 1601–78, one of the founders of Rhode Island, probably b. Boston, England. He came to America in 1630 as an officer of the Massachusetts Bay Company and was its treasurer from 1...

McAdoo, William Gibbs

(Encyclopedia)McAdoo, William Gibbs măkˈədo͞o [key], 1863–1941, American political leader, U.S. secretary of the treasury (1913–18), b. near Marietta, Ga. The son of a prominent Georgia jurist, McAdoo becam...