Documents for "U.S. History: Biographies":

• Abercromby, James 1706-81, British general in the French and Indian Wars , b. Scotland. He arrived in America in 1756 and in 1758 replaced the earl of Loudoun as supreme British commander. After failing to take Ticonderoga from General Montcalm, Abercromby was replaced...

• Abrams, Creighton Williams 1914-74, U.S. military officer, b. Springfield, Mass. After graduating (1936) from West Point, he served with distinction during World War II, most notably as commander of the 37th Tank Battalion,...

• Abzug, Bella Savitsky 1920-98, U.S. politician, b. New York City. She helped found Women Strike for Peace (1961) and the reformist New Democratic Coalition (1968). Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New...

• Accault, Michel see Aco, Michel.

• Acheson, Dean Gooderham 1893-1971, U.S. Secretary of State (1949-52), b. Middletown, Conn. He was (1919-21) private secretary to Louis D. Brandeis, became a successful lawyer, and served (1933) as Undersecretary of the...

• Aco, Michel fl. 1680-1702, French explorer. He became La Salle's lieutenant, being favored by that explorer because of his courage, prudence, and wide acquaintance with Native American languages. When La Salle reached the mouth of the Illinois River on his famous voyage down the Mississippi, he sent Aco with two companions to explore the upper reaches of the Mississippi. One of the companions was Father...

• Adair, John 1757-1840, American pioneer in Kentucky, b. North Carolina. He went into the Kentucky country in 1786 and became famous as an Indian fighter and as a political leader. In the War of 1812 he was a...

• Adams, Abigail 1744-1818, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincy Adams , b. Weymouth, Mass. She was born Abigail Smith. A lively, intelligent woman, she was the chief figure in the social life of her husband's administration and one of the most distinguished and...

• Adams, Charles Francis 1807-86, American public official, minister to Great Britain (1861-68), b. Boston; son of John Quincy Adams. After a boyhood spent in various European capitals, he was graduated (1825) from Harvard and studied law under Daniel Webster. He practiced in Boston, looked after his father's business affairs,...

• Adams, Charles Francis 1866-1954, U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1929-33), b. Quincy, Mass.; grandson of Charles Francis Adams (1807-86). He practiced law for a brief period in Boston but for most of his life was connected with a wide variety of business enterprises in that city and elsewhere. Adams served in the cabinet...

• Adams, John 1735-1826, 2d President of the United States (1797-1801), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass., grad. Harvard, 1755. John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams , founded one of the most distinguished families...

• Adams, John Quincy 1767-1848, 6th President of the United States (1825-29), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass.; son of John Adams and Abigail Adams and father of Charles Francis Adams (1807-86). He accompanied his father on missions to Europe, gaining broad knowledge from study and travel—he even accompanied (1781-83) Francis Dana to Russia—before returning home to graduate (1787) from Harvard and study law. Washington appointed (1794) him minister to the Netherlands, and in his father's administration he was minister to...

• Adams, Samuel 1722-1803, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Boston, Mass.; second cousin of John Adams. An unsuccessful businessman, he became interested...

• Agnew, Spiro Theodore 1918-96, 39th Vice President of the United States (1969-73), b. Baltimore, Md. Admitted to the bar in 1949, he entered politics as a Republican and was elected (1961) chief executive of Baltimore...

• Ako, Michel see Aco, Michel.

• Alarcón, Hernando de fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. He was given command of a fleet that was supposed to support the land expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. In the summer of 1540 he sailed up the Gulf of California; proved definitely that Lower California was a peninsula, not an island; and discovered the Colorado River. He failed, however, to make...

• Albert, Carl Bert 1908-2000, U.S. Congressman (1947-76), b. McAlester, Okla. Admitted to the bar in 1935, Albert enlisted (1941) in the army as a private, served (1942-46) in the Pacific during World War II, and...

• Albright, Madeleine 1937-, American government official, b. Prague, Czechoslovakia, as Maria Jana Körbel. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1948, and she attended Wellesley College (B.A., 1959) and Columbia...

• Alden, John c.1599-1687, Puritan settler in Plymouth Colony. He came to America on the Mayflower and was prominent as assistant to the governor of the colony. He moved (c.1627) to Duxbury and there was neighbor...

• Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth 1841-1915, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, b. Foster, R.I. He rose in local politics as state assemblyman (1875-76) and U.S. Representative (1879-81) before he served as Senator (1881-1911)...

• Alexander, William known as Lord Stirling , 1726-83, American Revolutionary general, b. New York City. Although the House of Lords rejected his claim to succeed as the 6th earl of Stirling, in America he was generally considered a nobleman...

• Alger, Russell Alexander 1836-1907, U.S. secretary of war (1897-99), b. near Medina, Ohio. After moving to Michigan he engaged in the lumber business, in which he made a fortune. During the Civil War he rose from the ranks...

• Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr. 1950-, U.S. government official and judge, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006-), b. Trenton, N.J., grad. Princeton (A.B., 1972), Yale Law School (J.D., 1975). In 1977 he became an...

• Allen, Ethan 1738-89, hero of the American Revolution, leader of the Green Mountain Boys , and promoter of the independence and statehood of Vermont, b. Litchfield (?), Conn. He had some schooling and was proud of his deist opinions, which he later incorporated in Reason the Only Oracle of Man (1784). After fighting briefly in the French and Indian Wars , he interested himself in land speculation, and in 1770 he appeared as one of the proprietors in the New Hampshire Grants. He and his brothers, notably Ira Allen, became the leaders of the New England settlers and speculators in the disputed lands—inveterate enemies of the Yorkers (settlers under New York patents) and...

• Allen, Ira 1751-1814, political leader in early Vermont, b. Cornwall, Conn. He was the younger brother and the assistant of Ethan Allen. Although he was a member of the Green Mountain Boys , he took little part in their activities. His cool shrewdness, his adeptness in business matters, and his brilliant planning complemented the colorful vigor and rash violence of his brother. He...

• Allerton, Isaac c.1586-1659, Pilgrim settler in Plymouth Colony. Possibly a London tailor, he was a merchant in Leiden before going to America on the Mayflower. From 1626 to 1631, acting as the agent of Plymouth Colony , he was often in England. While there he bought up the rights of merchants in the enterprise and in 1630 secured a new patent for the colony. The terms of the new patent, however, were opposed by...

• Allison, William Boyd 1829-1908, U.S. Senator from Iowa (1873-1908), b. Ashland co., Ohio. He served (1863-71) in the House of Representatives and entered the Senate in 1873. One of the most influential Republican...

• Altgeld, John Peter 1847-1902, American politician, governor of Illinois (1892-96), b. Germany. He was taken by his immigrant parents to Ohio, where he grew up with little formal schooling. After service in the Union...

• Alvarado, Juan Bautista 1809-82, governor of Alta California (1836-42), b. Monterey, Calif. Out of the chaotic times in the neglected Mexican province of Alta California, Alvarado emerged as a brilliant politician. After a small but successful revolt in...

• Amadas, Philip 1550-1618, English navigator. With Arthur Barlowe he was sent by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 to explore the North American coast. Their favorable report on Roanoke Island, N.C., led to the...

• Ames, Fisher 1758-1808, American political leader, b. Dedham, Mass.; son of Nathaniel Ames. Admitted to the bar in 1781, he began political pamphleteering and by a speech in the Massachusetts convention that...

• Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron 1717-97, British army officer. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and in the early part of the Seven Years War. In 1758 he was sent to America as a major general to lead the Louisburg campaign in the last of the French and Indian Wars. The capture (1758) of the French fortress gave Britain her first important victory in the war, and Amherst replaced James Abercromby as supreme commander in America. The next year (1759), pushing northward from Albany, he took Crown Point and Ticonderoga, but he arrived too late to help General Wolfe take Quebec. He directed (1760) the capture of Montreal and returned (1763) to England. In the American Revolution, Amherst refused to command British troops in New England, but in 1778 he became...

• Amidas, Philip see Amadas, Philip.

• Anderson, Robert 1805-71, American army officer, defender of Fort Sumter , b. near Louisville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1825. He fought in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican wars and was promoted to major in 1857. In Nov., 1860, he took command of the U.S. force in the...

• André, John 1751-80, British spy in the American Revolution. He was captured (1775) by Gen. Richard Montgomery in the Quebec campaign but was exchanged and became adjutant general under Sir Henry Clinton...

• Andrew, John Albion 1818-67, Civil War governor of Massachusetts (1861-66), b. Windham, Maine. He practiced law in Boston, but his antislavery sympathies drew him into politics. He was one of the organizers of the...

• Andros, Sir Edmund 1637-1714, British colonial governor in America, b. Guernsey. As governor of New York (1674-81) he was bitterly criticized for his high-handed methods, and he was embroiled in disputes over...

• Anza, Juan Bautista de 1735-88, Spanish explorer and official in the Southwest and the far West, reputed founder of San Francisco, b. Mexico. Accompanied by Father F. T. H. Garcés and a small expedition, he opened...

• Applegate, Jesse 1811-88, American pioneer in Oregon, b. Kentucky. With his family he moved (1821) to Missouri, and there in 1843 he joined the "great emigration" of more than 900 people over the Oregon Trail—a trek pictured in his Day with the Cow Column in 1843 (ed. by Joseph Schafer, 1934, pub. with Recollections of My Boyhood by Applegate's nephew). A leader on the westward journey, he was elected (1845) a member of the legislative committee of the provisional government that ruled Oregon until it became (1849) a U.S...

• Appleseed, Johnny see Chapman, John.

• Argall, Sir Samuel d. 1626?, English ship captain, prominent in the early settlement of Virginia. He commanded a ship sent to Jamestown in 1609 and had charge of one of the ships Baron De la Warr brought to the...

• Armey, Dick (Richard Keith Armey) , 1940-, U.S. congressman, b. Cando, N.Dak. A Republican and former economics professor at North Texas State Univ., he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas in 1984. He...

• Armistead, George 1780-1818, American artillery officer distinguished in the War of 1812, b. Virginia. He took part in the capture of Fort George on the Niagara frontier but is better remembered as the defender of Fort...

• Armistead, Lewis Addison 1817-63, Confederate general, b. New Bern, N.C. He was commissioned (1839) in the U.S. army from Virginia but resigned when that state seceded. In the Gettysburg campaign , Armistead, commanding a brigade...

• Armstrong, John 1717?-1795, American pioneer, known as the "hero of Kittanning," b. Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. He laid out the town of Carlisle, Pa. In 1756 he led the expedition that destroyed Kittanning, a town of the Delaware on the Allegheny. Later he was a major general in...

• Armstrong, John 1758-1843, American army officer, U.S. Secretary of War (1813-14), b. Carlisle, Pa.; son of John Armstrong, "hero of Kittanning." In the American Revolution he was on the staff of Horatio Gates. In 1783, Armstrong wrote the "Newburgh Addresses," or "Newburgh Letters" ; these anonymously issued appeals urged the restive Continental officers to force Congress to pay salary arrears and adjust other grievances. General Washington denounced the appeals, and the...

• Arnold, Benedict 1741-1801, American Revolutionary general and traitor, b. Norwich, Conn. As a youth he served for a time in the colonial militia in the French and Indian Wars. He later became a prosperous trader. Early in the Revolution, his expedition against Fort Ticonderoga joined that of Ethan Allen , and the joint command took the fort. Arnold pushed on to the northern end of Lake Champlain, where he destroyed a number of ships and a British fort. In the Quebec campaign , he invaded Canada (1775) by way of the Maine forests. After a grueling march, the exhausted force reached Quebec. Richard Montgomery arrived from Montreal, and the two small armies launched an unsuccessful assault on Dec. 31, 1775. Arnold was wounded but continued the siege until spring, when Sir Guy Carleton forced him back to...

• Arnold, Henry Harley 1886-1950, American general, chief of the U.S. Army Air Forces (1942-46), known as "Hap" Arnold, B. Gladwyne, Pa., grad. West Point, 1907. Assigned (1911) to the aviation division of the Signal Corps, Arnold later served almost entirely with the air arm. He was chief of the Air Corps...

• Arthur, Chester Alan 1829-86, 21st President of the United States (1881-85), b. Fairfield, Vt. He studied law and before the Civil War practiced in New York City. In the war he was (1861-63) quartermaster general of...

• Ashcroft, John 1942-, American political figure, b. Chicago, grad. Yale Univ. (B.A., 1964), Univ. of Chicago School of Law (J.D., 1967). A conservative Republican, Ashcroft was Missouri state auditor (1975-76)...

• Ashe, John c.1720-1781, American Revolutionary general, b. Brunswick co., N.C. Speaker of the colonial assembly (1762-65) and a leader of the opposition to the Stamp Act, he was important to the patriot cause...

• Ashley, William Henry c.1778-1838, American fur trader and politician, b. Virginia. In 1820 he was elected lieutenant governor of Missouri. He sent fur-trading expeditions up the Missouri River to the Yellowstone in...

• Ashmun, Jehudi 1794-1828, U.S. agent to Liberia, b. Champlain, N.Y. After entering the Congregationalist ministry and spending a few years in teaching and editorial work, he was sent by the American Colonization Society to Liberia. He found the colony ridden with fever, short of supplies, and threatened by native attack. Ashmun with a handful of men repulsed the attacks, and for the next six years, despite severe...

• Aspin, Les (Leslie Aspin, Jr.), 1938-95, U.S. politician and government official, b. Milwaukee, Wis. Running as a Democrat opposed to the Vietnam War , he won election as a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin in 1970. Reelected 10 times, he served in the House until 1993. In 1985 he became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and in that...

• Atchison, David Rice 1807-86, U.S. Senator, b. Frogtown, Ky. A lawyer and politician in Missouri, he served in the Senate from 1843 to 1855. As a proslavery Democrat, Atchison was instrumental in having the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed. He is sometimes regarded as having been "president for a day" because he was president pro tempore of the Senate (and next in the line of succession after the departing president and vice president) when, for religious reasons, President-elect Zachary Taylor...

• Atkinson, Henry 1782-1842, American army officer, b. North Carolina. After service as a colonel in the War of 1812 , he was a commander in the West and led two expeditions (1819, 1825) to the Yellowstone River. He...

• Austin, Moses 1761-1821, American pioneer, b. Durham, Conn. After developing lead mines in SW Virginia, he went to inspect (1796-97) prospects in Missouri, then Spanish territory. In 1798 he founded Potosi, Mo...

• Austin, Stephen Fuller 1793-1836, American leader of colonization in Texas, known as the Father of Texas, b. Wythe co., Va.; son of Moses Austin. He grew up in Missouri, studied at Transylvania Univ. in Kentucky, served...

• Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de c.1475-1526, Spanish explorer. He emigrated in 1502 to Santo Domingo, where he became a public official. In 1521, Francisco Gordillo, sent by Ayllón to explore northward, seems to have landed in...

• Bacon, Nathaniel 1647-76, leader of Bacon's Rebellion in colonial Virginia. An aristocrat (he was kin to Francis Bacon, had been educated at Cambridge and Gray's Inn, and was a member of the governor's council), Bacon nevertheless became the champion...

• Bacon, Robert 1860-1919, American banker and government official, b. Jamaica Plain, Mass. He embarked upon a career in business and in 1894 accepted a partnership with J. P. Morgan and Company. He participated...

• Baer, George Frederick 1842-1914, American financier, b. Somerset co., Pa. Baer became legal adviser to J. Pierpont Morgan and held many posts as a key figure in the railroad-and-coal empire. He is remembered for his...

• Bainbridge, William 1774-1833, American naval officer, b. Princeton, N.J. An experienced sea captain, he joined (1798) the navy when war with France threatened. His ship, the Retaliation, was captured by two French frigates,...

• Baker, Howard Henry, Jr. 1925-, U.S. politician and public official, b. Huntsville, Tenn. As a moderate Republican senator (1966-87) from Tennessee, he gained (1973) national attention as a member of the Senate committee...

• Baker, James Addison, 3d 1930-, U.S. political leader, b. Houston, Tex. After graduating from Princeton Univ., he served in the U.S. Marines and earned a law degree from the Univ. of Texas. A successful corporate lawyer,...

• Baker, Newton Diehl 1871-1937, U.S. Secretary of War (1916-21), b. Martinsburg, W.Va. He practiced law and politics in Cleveland as a protégé of Tom L. Johnson. As city solicitor (1902-12) he opposed the powerful...

• Bakke, Allan see Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.

• Baldwin, Abraham 1754-1807, American political leader, b. Guilford, Conn. After serving as a chaplain in the American Revolution, he studied law and in 1784 was admitted to practice in Georgia. He was a member...

• Baldwin, Matthias William 1795-1866, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J. After earlier business successes, Baldwin became interested in steam-engine production and completed in...

• Ball, George Wildman 1909-94, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Des Moines, Iowa. Admitted to the bar in 1934, he served (1942-44) as counsel in the Lend Lease Administration and the Foreign Economic Administration. An...

• Ballinger, Richard Achilles 1858-1922, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1909-11), b. Boonesboro (now in Boone), Iowa. He was mayor of Seattle (1904-6) and commissioner of the General Land Office (1907-9); in 1909, Taft...

• Baltimore, Cecilius Calvert, 2d Baron see Calvert, Cecilius.

• Baltimore, Charles Calvert, 3d Baron see Calvert, Charles.

• Baltimore, George Calvert, 1st Baron see Calvert, George.

• Bancroft, Edward 1744-1821, spy in the American Revolution, b. Westfield, Mass. While living in London, he became a friend of Benjamin Franklin and in the Revolution began to operate as an American secret agent. He...

• Bankhead, John Hollis 1872-1946, American politician, b. Moscow, Ala.; brother of William Brockman Bankhead. He was elected to the Alabama legislature in 1903 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1931 until his death. Bankhead...

• Bankhead, William Brockman 1874-1940, U.S. Representative from Alabama (1917-40), b. Lamar co., Ala. Chairman of the House rules committee (1934-35), Democratic floor leader (1935-36), and Speaker of the House (1936-40), he...

• Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss 1816-94, American politician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Waltham, Mass. After serving in the Massachusetts legislature (1849-53), Banks entered Congress as a Democrat, was returned in...

• Baranov, Aleksandr Andreyevich 1747-1819, Russian trader, chief figure in the period of Russian control in Alaska. When his Siberian business faltered, Baranov accepted (1790) an offer to become managing agent of a Russian...

• Barkley, Alben William 1877-1956, Vice President of the United States (1949-53), b. Graves co., Ky. After being admitted (1901) to the bar, he served as prosecuting attorney (1905-9) and judge (1909-13) for McCracken...

• Barney, Joshua 1759-1818, American naval officer and privateer, b. Baltimore. He entered the navy early in the American Revolution, engaged in many feats of daring, and was captured by the British three times;...

• Barron, James 1768-1851, U.S. naval officer, b. Hampton, Va. Of a seafaring family, he served in the Virginia navy in the Revolution, entered the U.S. navy as a lieutenant in 1798, and held commands in the...

• Barry, John 1745-1803, U.S. naval officer in the American Revolution, b. Co. Wexford, Ireland. He went as a youth to Philadelphia, where he was a trader and a shipmaster. In the Revolution he commanded the brig...

• Bartlett, Josiah 1729-95, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Amesbury, Mass. He practiced medicine in Kingston, N.H., and was a delegate to the provincial...

• Bartlett, Robert Abram 1875-1946, American arctic explorer, b. Brigus, near St. John's, N.L., Canada. He accompanied Robert E. Peary on the expeditions of 1897-98 and 1905-6, and in 1908-9 he accompanied Peary to lat. 87°47′N and was the last white man from whom Peary parted to make his dash for the North Pole. Later he...

• Baruch, Bernard Mannes 1870-1965, U.S. financier and government adviser, b. Camden, S.C. He grew rich through stockmarket speculation before he was 30. In World War I he advised on national defense and was (1918-19)...

• Bate, William Brimage 1826-1905, U.S. politician and Confederate general, b. Castalian Springs, Tenn. He served in the Mexican War and was involved in Tennessee politics before entering the Confederate army in 1861. In...

• Bayard, James Asheton 1767-1815, U.S. Representative (1797-1803) and Senator (1805-13) from Delaware, b. Philadelphia. Admitted to the bar in 1787, he began practice at Wilmington, Del. Bayard, a prominent Federalist,...

• Bayard, James Asheton 1799-1880, U.S. Senator from Delaware (1851-64, 1867-69), b. Wilmington, Del.; son of James Asheton Bayard (1767-1815). His Unionist sentiments led him into the new Republican party, but he bitterly opposed the dominant radical Republicans and in 1864 he resigned. He was elected again, however, and...

• Bayard, Thomas Francis 1828-98, U.S. statesman, b. Wilmington, Del.; son of James Asheton Bayard (1799-1880). He began his law practice at Wilmington (1851). An active Democrat, Bayard was elected U.S. Senator (1869) to succeed his father and was reelected in 1875 and 1881. He became Secretary...

• Beale, Edward Fitzgerald 1822-93, American frontiersman, b. District of Columbia. During the Mexican War, Beale was in California, where he aided Stephen W. Kearny in the battle of San Pasqual by crawling through the lines with Kit Carson to get help. Later, during one of several trips across the continent, Beale was the first to bring east the news of the California gold strike. Appointed (1852) superintendent of Indian affairs in...

• Beame, Abraham David 1906-2001, American politician, mayor of New York City (1974-77), b. London. Beame, who grew up on New York's Lower East Side, was city budget director (1952-61). A Democrat, he was elected to two...

• Bean, Roy c.1825-1903, legendary American frontier judge, b. Mason co., Ky. He left Kentucky in 1847 to seek his fortune in California. Soon, however, he was managing a trading post in Chihuahua, Mexico. In...

• Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant 1818-93, Confederate general, b. St. Bernard parish, La., grad. West Point, 1838. As engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott in the Mexican War, he figured prominently in the taking of Mexico...

• Bedford, Gunning, Jr. 1747-1812, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. Settling in Delaware, Bedford became a member of the local legislature, attorney general (1784-89), and a delegate to the Continental Congress...

• Belknap, William Worth 1829-90, U.S. Secretary of War (1869-76), b. Newburgh, N.Y. After practicing law in Iowa, he served in the Civil War, was a division commander under Sherman in Georgia and the Carolinas, and became...

• Bell, John 1797-1869, American statesman, b. near Nashville, Tenn. A leading member of the Nashville bar, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1827-41), was speaker in 1834, and for a few weeks in...

• Bellomont, Richard Coote, earl of 1636-1701, colonial governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, b. Ireland. He arrived (1698) in New York at a time when a more unified administration of colonial affairs was being...

• Benjamin, Judah Philip 1811-84, Confederate statesman and British barrister, b. Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, of Jewish parents. His family moved (c.1813) to Wilmington, N.C., and finally settled (1822) in...

• Benson, Ezra Taft 1899-1994, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1953-61), b. Whitney, Idaho. An extension economist and marketing specialist at the Univ. of Idaho (1930-38) and executive secretary of the National...

• Bent, Charles 1799-1847, American frontiersman, b. St. Louis. He entered the fur trade of the Missouri River and became one of the mountain men. His interests turned to the Southwest, and he led expeditions on...

• Bent, William 1809-69, American frontiersman, b. St. Louis. One of the younger brothers of Charles Bent, he was for many years the manager of Bent's Fort , while Charles Bent lived mainly in Taos. William Bent was one of the most widely known and highly respected traders in the West. He scouted for Stephen W. Kearny and Sterling Price in the Mexican...

• Benton, Thomas Hart 1782-1858, U.S. Senator (1821-51), b. Hillsboro, N.C.

• Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr. 1921-2006, American political leader and U.S. secretary of the treasury (1993-94), b. Mission, Tex. He received a law degree from the Univ. of Texas in 1942 and served as a B-24 squadron commander...

• Berger, Victor Louis 1860-1929, American Socialist leader and Congressman, b. Austria-Hungary. After studying at the universities of Budapest and Vienna, he emigrated (1878) to the United States and settled in...

• Berkeley, Sir William 1606-77, colonial governor of Virginia. Appointed governor in 1641, he arrived in Virginia in 1642. Berkeley defeated the Native Americans and the Dutch, extended explorations, and encouraged...

• Berkman, Alexander 1870?-1936, anarchist, b. Vilna (then in Russian Lithuania). He emigrated to the United States c.1887. At the time of the Homestead, Pa., strike (1892) Berkman attempted to kill Henry Clay Frick , but succeeded only in wounding him. He served 14 years of a 22-year sentence imposed for this attack. His association with Emma Goldman , begun before his imprisonment, was resumed after his release. In 1917 they were arrested for obstructing the draft and in 1919 were deported to Russia. Disappointed in his hope of finding the...

• Berle, Adolf Augustus, Jr. 1895-1971, American lawyer and public official, b. Boston. Admitted to the bar in 1916, he served in World War I and was a member of the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference...

• Bernard, Sir Francis 1712-79, British colonial governor. He was educated at Oxford and was called to the bar in 1737. As colonial governor of New Jersey (1758-60), he did much to promote colonial solidarity and to...

• Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah 1862-1927, U.S. Senator from Indiana (1899-1911) and historian, b. Highland co., Ohio. He was admitted to the bar (1887) and practiced law (1887-99) in Indianapolis. As a Republican Senator, he...

• Bibb, William Wyatt 1781-1820, first governor of Alabama (1817-20), b. Amelia co., Va. Graduated in medicine from the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1801), he began practice in Petersburg, Ga. He was a state legislator, U.S...

• Bickerdyke, Mary Ann 1817-1901, Union nurse in the American Civil War, b. Mary Ann Ball in Knox co., Ohio. Generally called Mother Bickerdyke, she served throughout the war in the West and was beloved by the enlisted...

• Biddle, Clement 1740-1814, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Philadelphia. Early in the war, he helped organize the "Quaker Blues," a company of volunteers. He later served as deputy quartermaster general of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey militia, commissary general of forage under Nathanael Greene in the Carolina campaign,...

• Biddle, Francis Beverley 1886-1968, U.S. Attorney General (1941-45), b. Paris, France, of American parents. Secretary to Associate Justice O. W. Holmes (1912), he became a successful corporation lawyer. He served as...

• Biddle, James 1783-1848, U.S. naval officer and diplomat, b. Philadelphia. He became a midshipman in 1800. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was first lieutenant on the Wasp ; he later commanded the sloop Hornet. Sent out in the Ontario in 1817, he took formal possession of the Oregon country for the United States in 1818. Afterward he protected U.S. shipping in South American waters when the difficult times of the new Latin...

• Biddle, Nicholas 1750-78, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Biddle left the British navy in 1773. In the American Revolution he became captain in the patriot navy and daringly raided British shipping off the...

• Biddle, Nicholas 1786-1844, American financier, b. Philadelphia. After holding important posts in the American legations in France and England, he returned to the United States in 1807 and became one of the leading...

• Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de 1680-1768, colonizer and governor of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (on the site of Montreal), Canada; son of Charles le Moyne, sieur de Longueuil , and brother of Pierre le Moyne, sieur d' Iberville. A midshipman in the royal navy, he served gallantly in Iberville's last expedition into the Hudson Bay region in 1697 and the next year accompanied Iberville's colonizing expedition to the mouth...

• Bilbo, Theodore Gilmore 1877-1947, U.S. senator (1935-47), b. near Poplarville, Pearl River co., Miss. After study at the Univ. of Nashville (1897-1900) and Vanderbilt Univ. law school (1905-7), he was admitted (1908) to...

• Billy the Kid 1859-81, American outlaw, b. New York City. His real name was probably Henry McCarty; he was known as William H. Bonney. His family moved to Kansas and then to New Mexico when he was a child. He...

• Birkbeck, Morris 1764-1825, English pioneer in the United States. One of the most advanced agriculturists in England, he had a huge farm in Surrey. In 1817 he emigrated to the United States. He and another English...

• Black, Jeremiah Sullivan 1810-83, American cabinet officer, b. Somerset co., Pa. Admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1830, Black became a successful lawyer. As U.S. Attorney General (1857-60) under President Buchanan he...

• Blackbeard d. 1718, English pirate. His name was probably Edward Teach, Thatch, or Thach. He probably began as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), then turned pirate. In 1716-18 he...

• Blaine, James Gillespie 1830-93, American politician, b. West Brownsville, Pa.

• Blair, Francis Preston 1791-1876, American journalist and politician, b. Abingdon, Va. Through the Frankfort, Ky., journal Argus of Western America, which he edited with Amos Kendall , Blair was an ardent supporter of Andrew Jackson. At William T. Barry's suggestion, he traveled to Washington and established the Washington (D.C.) Globe in Dec., 1830, which exerted great political influence as the Jacksonian "court journal" until 1841. Along with Kendall, Blair also was one of the leading members of the Kitchen Cabinet. In Washington he also founded the Congressional Globe (now the Congressional Record  ), in which the daily proceedings of Congress were recorded. When James K. Polk became President, Blair, a Van Buren Democrat, was forced to sell his interest in the Washington Globe to Thomas Ritchie. Later, because of his antislavery views, Blair was one of the founders of the Republican party, and he presided over its first national convention in 1856. In 1865 he engineered...

• Blair, Francis Preston 1821-75, American political leader and Union general in the Civil War, b. Lexington, Ky., son of Francis Preston Blair (1791-1876). A St. Louis lawyer, Blair led the Free-Soil party in Missouri in 1848, served as state legislator (1852-56), and as Congressman (1857-59; June, 1860; 1861-62). In Congress he attacked...

• Blair, Montgomery 1813-83, U.S. Postmaster General (1861-64), b. Franklin co., Ky., son of Francis P. Blair (1791-1876). He resigned from the army in 1836 after serving against the Seminole and settled in St. Louis as the legal and political protégé of Senator Thomas H. Benton. A successful lawyer and mayor of St. Louis (1842-43), he moved to Washington, D.C., where he was the first U.S. solicitor in the Court of Claims and made many appearances before the U.S. Supreme...

• Bland, Richard Parks 1835-99, American statesman, b. near Hartford, Ky. He taught in rural schools in Kentucky and Missouri before he went to the gold fields of California in 1855. He was a prospector, miner, lawyer,...

• Blennerhassett, Harman 1765-1831, Anglo-Irish pioneer in America, an associate of Aaron Burr. Wealthy and gifted, he fell in love with and married his beautiful niece, Margaret Agnew. The couple was ostracized, and in 1796 Blennerhassett sold his estates and emigrated to the United States,...

• Bliss, Tasker Howard 1853-1930, American army officer and statesman, b. Lewisburg, Pa., grad. West Point, 1875. He was (1898) chief of staff to Gen. James H. Wilson in the Puerto Rico campaign of the Spanish-American...

• Bloomberg, Michael Rubens 1942-, American businessman and politician, mayor of New York City (2002-), b. Boston, Mass. Bloomberg studied at Johns Hopkins Univ. (B.S., 1964) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1966). Rising...

• Blount, James Henderson 1837-1903, American public official, b. Jones co., Ga. U.S. Representative from Georgia (1873-93), he was chosen by President Cleveland as a special commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands in 1893...

• Blount, William 1749-1800, American political leader, b. near Windsor, N.C. He served in the American Revolution and later became a legislator in North Carolina, a member of the Continental Congress (1782-83,...

• Blount, Winton Malcolm, Jr. 1921-, U.S. postmaster general (1969-71), b. Union Springs, Ala. A successful building contractor, he was (1946-68) president and chairman of the board of Blount Brothers Corp. After serving (1968)...

• Blunt, James Gilpatrick 1826-81, American physician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Hancock co., Maine. He practiced medicine in Ohio and later in Kansas, where he became associated with John Brown in antislavery...

• Blunt, Roy D. 1950-, U.S. politician, b. Niangua, Mo., grad. Southwest Baptist Univ. (B.A. 1970), Southwest Missouri State Univ. (M.A. 1972). A Missouri county clerk and elections offficer from 1973 to 1984, he...

• Bohlen, Charles Eustis 1904-74, American diplomat, born Clayton, N.Y. He entered (1929) the U.S. Foreign Service and undertook several consular assignments. A specialist in Russian affairs, Bohlen served as Russian...

• Bonaparte, Charles Joseph 1851-1921, U.S. cabinet official, b. Baltimore; grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte and Elizabeth Patterson. A lawyer and political leader in Baltimore, he identified himself with reform causes. President...

• Bond, Julian (Horace Julian Bond), 1940-, U.S. civil-rights leader, b. Nashville, Tenn. As a student at Morehouse College, he participated in sit-ins at segregated Atlanta restaurants. He was a founder (1960)...

• Boone, Daniel 1734-1820, American frontiersman, b. Oley (now Exeter) township, near Reading, Pa.

• Booth, John Wilkes 1838-65, American actor, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln , b. near Bel Air, Md.; son of Junius Brutus Booth and brother of Edwin Booth. He made his debut at the age of 17 in Baltimore, toured widely, and soon became a star, winning acclaim for his Shakespearean roles. Unlike the rest of his family, Booth was an ardent Confederate...

• Borah, William Edgar 1865-1940, U.S. Senator (1907-40), b. near Fairfield, Ill. Admitted to the bar in Kansas in 1887, after 1890 he became prominent in law and politics at Boise, Idaho. Shortly after election to the...

• Borden, Lizzie Andrew 1860-1927, American woman accused of killing her father and her step-mother, b. Fall River, Mass. The elder Bordens were hacked to death with an ax on Aug. 4, 1892. Although Lizzie Borden claimed...

• Boreman, Arthur Ingram 1823-96, first governor of West Virginia (1863-69), b. Waynesburg, Pa. A member (1855-61) of the Virginia house of delegates, Boreman opposed secession and presided over the Wheeling Convention of...

• Boudinot, Elias 1740-1821, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Philadelphia. A lawyer of Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J., he took an active part in anti-British activities and was a member of the...

• Bouquet, Henry 1719-65, British army officer in the French and Indian Wars. A French Swiss, he came to America in 1756 and distinguished himself as second in command to Gen. John Forbes in the successful expedition (1758) against Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). In Pontiac's Rebellion he decisively defeated the Native Americans in a hotly contested battle at Bushy Run (Aug., 1763) near Pittsburgh. In 1764, Bouquet, on an expedition into the Ohio country, forced the Shawnee and...

• Boutwell, George Sewall 1818-1905, American politician, b. Brookline, Mass. He served seven terms in the Massachusetts legislature between 1842 and 1851, was elected governor for the years 1851-52 by a coalition of...

• Bowdoin, James 1726-90, American political leader, b. Boston. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court in 1753 and served until 1774. Illness prevented him (1774) from taking his place as a delegate to...

• Bowers, Eilley c.1827-1903, American frontier figure, b. Eilley Orrum in Scotland. She became a Mormon and moved (1855) to Nevada with her second husband. He returned (1857) to Salt Lake City, but she remained,...

• Bowie, James c.1796-1836, American frontiersman, b. Logan co., Ky. With his brother, Rezin, he engaged in land speculation in Louisiana and Arkansas. In Texas from 1828, Bowie became a leader of American...

• Bowles, Chester Bliss 1901-86, U.S. public official, b. Springfield, Mass.; grandson of Samuel Bowles (1851-1915). At first a journalist and an advertising man, Bowles was later (1942-43) head of the Connecticut Office...

• Boyd, Belle 1844-1900, Confederate spy in the Civil War, b. Martinsburg, Va. (now W.Va.). Operating (probably unofficially) in Martinsburg and Front Royal, she provided Gen. T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson with...

• Boyd, Louise Arner 1887-1972, American arctic explorer, b. San Rafael, Calif. She led a series of scientific explorations on the east coast of Greenland. The expedition of 1933, sponsored by the American Geographical...

• Bozeman, John M. 1835-67, American pioneer. A Georgian, he went to the gold fields of Colorado (1861) and Montana (1862). In the winter of 1862-63 he traveled with a companion from Bannack, Mont., to Colorado by a...

• Braddock, Edward 1695-1755, British general in the French and Indian War (see under French and Indian Wars ). Although he had seen little active campaigning before 1754, Braddock was reputed to have a good knowledge of European military tactics and was noted as a stern disciplinarian. He was promoted to...

• Bradford, Augustus Williamson 1806-81, Civil War governor of Maryland (1862-66), b. Bel Air, Md. As a delegate to the 1861 peace conference in Washington, he strongly pleaded for the Union and became the Union party candidate...

• Bradford, William 1590-1657, governor of Plymouth Colony, b. Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. As a young man he joined the separatist congregation at Scrooby and in 1609 emigrated with others to Holland, where, at...

• Bradley, Bill (William Warren Bradley), 1943-, American athlete and politician, b. Crystal City, Mo. He first gained wide attention as an All-America basketball player at Princeton. Graduating in 1965, he...

• Bradley, Omar Nelson 1893-1981, U.S. general, b. Clark, Mo. A graduate of West Point, he served in World War I and filled various army administrative and academic posts before assuming (1943) command of the 2d Corps in...

• Bradley, Tom (Thomas Bradley), 1917-98, African-American politician, b. Calvert, Tex. A sharecropper's son who became (1940) a Los Angeles police officer, he earned (1956) a law degree from Southwestern Law...

• Bradstreet, John c.1711-1774, British officer in the French and Indian Wars. A Nova Scotian, he was captured (1744) by the French and confined at Louisburg. After his exchange he described the weaknesses of the fortress, and in 1745 Sir William Pepperrell captured the stronghold. For his services in the expedition, Bradstreet was promoted to the rank...

• Bradstreet, Simon 1603-97, colonial governor of Massachusetts, b. Lincolnshire, England. He emigrated to New England in 1630 and was assistant in the Massachusetts Bay Company for 49 years (1630-79) and for part of...

• Brady, Samuel 1758-95, American frontiersman. He fought in several battles of the American Revolution but earned his name as a scout in the Ohio country under Daniel Brodhead and Anthony Wayne. His exploits were...

• Bragg, Braxton 1817-76, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Warrenton, N.C. A graduate of West Point, he fought the Seminole and in the Mexican War was promoted to lieutenant colonel for distinguished...

• Brannan, Samuel 1819-89, California pioneer, b. Saco, Maine. Converted to Mormonism, he edited a Mormon paper in New York City before leading a party of Mormons by sea from New York to California. In 1847 he...

• Braxton, Carter 1736-97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. King and Queen co., Va. He lived (1757-60) in England, returned to America, and served in the...

• Breckinridge, John