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Browsing named entities in Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing). You can also browse the collection for 1761 AD or search for 1761 AD in all documents.

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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Alsop, Richard, 1761-1815 (search)
Alsop, Richard, 1761-1815 A witty poet and essayist; born in Middletown, Conn., Jan. 23, 1761. He is best known in literature as the principal author of a series of burlesque pieces, begun in 1791 and ended in 1805, entitled, in collective form, The echo. They were thus published in 1807. Dwight, Hopkins, and Trumbull were associated with Alsop in the production of The echo, which, from a work provocative of mirth, became a bitter political satirist of the Democratic party. He wrote a Monody on the death of Washington, in heroic verse, which was published in 1800. Alsop ranked among the Hartford wits at the close of the eighteenth century. He died in Flatbush, L. L., Aug. 20, 1815.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Balfour, Nisbet, 1743-1823 (search)
Balfour, Nisbet, 1743-1823 British military officer; born in Dunbog, Scotland. in 1743. He was a son of an auctioneer and bookseller in Edinburgh; entered the British army as an ensign in 1761; commanded a company in 1770; was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill in June, 1775. and again in the battle of Long Island. He was sent home with despatches after the capture of New York in 1776, and was brevetted major in November following. Served under Lord Cornwallis in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas; and was in command at Charleston in 1781, when he reluctantly obeyed the command of Lord Rawdon to execute Isaac Hayne (q. v.). He was then lieutenant-colonel. He was made colonel and aide-de-camp to his king in 1782. a major-general in 1793. lieutenant-general in 1798, and general in 1803. He died in Dunbog, Oct. 10, 1823.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Barre, Isaac, 1726-1802 (search)
Dublin. Isaac entered the British army at the age of twenty-one, and participated in the expedition against Louisburg in 1758. Wolfe was his friend, and appointed him major of brigade; and in May, 1759, he was made adjutant-general of Wolfe's army that assailed Quebec. He was severely wounded in the battle on the Plains of Abraham, by which he lost the sight of one eye. Barre served under Amherst in 1760; and was the official bearer of the news of the surrender of Montreal to England. In 1761 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and the same year he obtained a seat in Parliament, where he found himself in opposition to the ministry. For this offence he was deprived of his offices, given him as a reward for his services in America. He was the warm friend of the colonies, and made able speeches in Parliament in their favor. Barre was one of the supposed authors of the Letters of Junius. Strong in person, vigorous in mind, independent in thought and action, he was a dreaded opp
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bartram, William, 1739-1823 (search)
Bartram, William, 1739-1823 Naturalist; born in Kingsessing, Pa., Feb. 9, 1739. He engaged in business in North Carolina in 1761, and became a devoted student of natural history. Son of John Bartram, a distinguished botanist, and the founder of the first botanical garden in the United States. William accompanied his father, when the latter was seventy years of age, in a botanical excursion and exploration of east Florida, and resided some time on the banks of the St. John River, returning home in 1771. He was employed by Dr. Fothergill, of London, in 1773-78, in botanical explorations and collections in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Mr. Bartram was a member of the American Philosophical Society and other scientific associations in the United States and Europe. In 1790 he published an account of his travels in the Gulf region, in which he gave an account of the Creek. Choctaw, and Cherokee indians. Mr. Bartram made the most complete table of American ornithology prev
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Beaumarchais, Pierre Augutstin caron de, 1732- (search)
Beaumarchais, Pierre Augutstin caron de, 1732- Author; born in Paris, Jan. 24, 1732; the son of a watch-maker. In 1761 he purchased a commission as secretary to the King, a sinecure which conferred noble rank on its possessor, and the name of Beaumarchais, which he had assumed, was legally confirmed. Entering into mercantile speculations, he soon acquired a large fortune. He was the author of the famous play, the Barber of Seville. In September 1775, he submitted a memorial to the French monarch, in which he insisted upon the necessity of the French government's secretly aiding the English-American colonies; and as agent of his government he passed some time in England, where he became acquainted with Arthur Lee, which acquaintance led to diplomatic and commercial relations with the Continental Congress. He conducted the business of supplying the Americans with munitions of war with great ability, and afterwards became involved in a lawsuit with them. In 1784 he produced his
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Brant, Joseph, (search)
Brant, Joseph, (Thay-en-da-ne-gen). Mohawk chief; born on the banks of the Ohio River in 1742. In 1761 Sir William Johnson sent him to Dr. Wheelock's school at Hanover. N. H., where he translated portions of the New Testament into the Mohawk language. Brant engaged in the war against Pontiae in 1763, and at Joseph Brant. the beginning of the war for independence was secretary to Guy Johnson, the Indian Superintendent. In the spring of 1776 he was in England; and to the ministry he expressed his willingness, and that of his people, to join in the chastisement of the rebellious colonists. It was an unfavorable time for him to make such an The Brant mausoleum. offer with an expectation of securing very favorable arrangements for his people, for the minstry were elated with the news of the disasters to the rebels at Quebee. Besides, they had completed the bargain for a host of German mercenaries, a part of whom were then on their way to America to crush the rebellion. They
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Brown, John, 1744- (search)
Brown, John, 1744- patriot; born in Sandisfield, Mass., Oct. 19, 1744; was graduated at Yale College in 1761; became a lawyer and active patriot; entered Canada in disguise (1774-75) to obtain information and secure the co-operation of the Canadians with the other colonists, and aided Ethan Allen in the capture of Ticonderoga. He was active with Montgomery in the siege of Quebec. In August, 1776, he was made lieutenant-colonel, and, on the morning of Sept. 18, 1776, he surprised the outposts of Ticonderoga, set free 100 American prisoners, captured four companies of British regulars, a quantity of stores and cannon, and destroyed a number of boats and an armed sloop. He left the service because of his detestation of Benedict Arnold, but continued to act with the militia. He was killed by Indians in the Mohawk Valley, Oct. 19, 1780. abolitionist; born in Torrington, Conn., May 9, 1800; hanged in Charlestown, Va., Dec. 2, 1859; was a descendant of Peter Brown of the May
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Canals. (search)
Canals. Gen. Philip Schuyler may justly be regarded as the father of the United States canal system. As early as 1761, when he was in England settling the accounts of Gen. John Bradstreet with the government, he visited the famous canal which the Duke of Bridgewater had just completed, and became profoundly impressed with the importance of such highways in the work of developing the internal resources of his own country. On his return, he urged the matter upon the attention of his countrymen. Meanwhile the active mind of Elkanah Watson (q. v.) had been deeply interested in the subject. In 1785 he visited Mount Vernon, where he found Washington engaged in a project for connecting the waters of the Potomac with those west of the Alleghany Mountains. He and General Schuyler projected canals between the Hudson River and lakes Champlain and Ontario, and in 1792 the legislature of New York chartered two companies, known, respectively, as the Western inland lock navigation Company a
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Chase, Samuel 1741- (search)
Chase, Samuel 1741- Jurist; born in Somerset county, Md., April 17, 1741; admitted to the bar in 1761; entered on practice at Annapolis, and soon rose to distinction. He was twenty years a member of the colonial legislature; was a strong opposer of the Stamp Act; a member of the Committee of Correspondence; and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774-79). In 1776 he was a fellow-commissioner of Franklin and Carroll to seek an alliance with the Canadians, and was efficient in changing the sentiments of Maryland in favor of independence, so as to authorize him and his colleagues to vote for the Declaration, which he signed. In 1783 Mr. Chase was sent to England, as agent for Maryland, to redeem a large sum of money intrusted to the Bank of England, $650,000 of which was finally recovered. From 1791 to 1796 he was chief-justice of his State, and was a warm supporter of the administrations of Washington and Adams. In the session of Congress in the early part of 1804, it was
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Choiseul, ÉTienne Francois, Duc De -1785 (search)
Choiseul, ÉTienne Francois, Duc De -1785 French statesman; born June 28, 1719; became a lieutenant-general in the army in 1759; and was at the head of the French ministry when, in 1761, cabinet changes in England threatened to diminish the power of that government. He was minister of foreign affairs, and in January, 1761, became minister of war, and annexed those departments to the marine. Like Pitt, he was a statesman of consummate ability. He was of high rank and very wealthy, and was virtually sole minister of France. When the British had despoiled France of her American possessions Choiseul eagerly watched for an opportunity to inflict a retaliatory blow; and he was delighted when he perceived that a rising quarrel between Great Britain and her American colonies foreshadowed a dismemberment of the British Empire. Choiseul determined to foster the quarrel as far as possible. He sent the Baron de Kalb to America in the disguise of a traveller, but really as a French emi
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