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

Your search returned 158 results in 112 document sections:

Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Abercrombie, James, 1706- (search)
Abercrombie, James, 1706- military officer; born at Glassaugh, Scotland, in 1706. In 1746 he became a colonel in the British army; was made major-general in 1756, lieutenant-general in 1759, and general in 1772. He came to America in 1756, where he held the chief military command until the arrival of Lord Loudoun. After the departure of that officer, Abercrombie resumed the command. In July, 1758, he attacked Ticonderoga (q. v.) with a large force, but was repulsed with a loss of about 2,000 men. He was succeeded by General Amherst in September following; returned to England in 1759, and became a member of Parliament, wherein he advocated the obnoxious measures that led to the War of the Revolution in 1775. He died April 28, 1781, while Governor of Stirling Castle. military officer; son of Gen. James Abercrombie. He had served on the staff of General Amherst, in America, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the British army in March, 1770. While leading the British G
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Aitken, Robert, 1734-1802 (search)
Aitken, Robert, 1734-1802 Publisher; born in Scotland in 1734; arrived in Philadelphia in 1769; was a practical printer, and published the Pennsylvania magazine, or American monthly Museum, from January, 1775, to June, 1776. He was a warm Whig, and was thrown into prison after the British took possession of Philadelphia, late in 1777. He very narrowly escaped the horrors of a British prison-ship in New York. He issued the first American edition of the Bible in 1782, by which he lost considerable money. He is supposed to have been the author of a paper entitled An inquiry concerning the principles of a commercial system for the United States. He died in Philadelphia in July, 1802.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Alexander, James, 1690-1756 (search)
Alexander, James, 1690-1756 An active public man in the province of New York, to which he emigrated from Scotland in 1715, where he was born in 1690. He had fled from Scotland because of his peril there as an adherent of the Young Pretender. He was accompanied by William Smith, afterwards chief-justice of the province and its historian. He was made surveyor-general of New Jersey and New York. was secretary of the latter colony, and attained eminence in the profession of the law. As attoScotland because of his peril there as an adherent of the Young Pretender. He was accompanied by William Smith, afterwards chief-justice of the province and its historian. He was made surveyor-general of New Jersey and New York. was secretary of the latter colony, and attained eminence in the profession of the law. As attorney-general of the province and occupant of other important positions, he became distinguished. He was one of the able counsel who defended the freedom of the press in the person of John Peter Zenger in 1735. Because of the part which he took in that famous trial he was arbitrarily excluded from the bar, but was reinstated in 1737. He was associated with Franklin and others in founding the American Philosophical Society. He was the father of William Alexander, known as Lord Stirling, a gene
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Alexander, William, 1726-1783 (search)
Alexander, William, 1726-1783 Called Lord Stirling, military officer: born in New York City in 1726; was a son of Secretary Alexander of New Jersey. His mother was the widow of David Provoost, a wealthy merchant of the city of New York. Attached to the commissariat of the army, he attracted the notice of General Lord Stirling. Shirley. and was for three years his aide-de-camp and private secretary. He went to England and Scotland in 1755, and before his return he prosecuted his claim to the earldom of Stirling, but was unsuccessful. He spent much of his fortune in the matter. It was generally believed that he was the rightful heir to the title and estates, and he assumed the title of Lord Stirling, by which he was ever afterwards known in America. When the quarrel with Great Britain began in the colonies Lord Stirling espoused the cause of the patriots. In 1775 he was appointed a colonel, and in March, 1776, was commissioned a brigadier-general in the Continental army.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Alexander, Sir William, 1580-1640 (search)
Alexander, Sir William, 1580-1640 Patentee of Nova Scotia, and a poet and court favorite, to whom James I. and Charles I. were much attached. He was born at Menstrie, Scotland, in 1580. He became the author of verses when he was fourteen years old, and was cherished by Scotchmen as a descendant of the Macdonalds. His Aurora contained more than one hundred sonnets, songs, and elegies which displayed the effects of ill-requited love. When the Council for New England perceived the intentioted the order of Baronets of Nova Scotia, the title to be conferred upon purchasers of large tracts of land there. He also gave the proprietor the privilege of coining base copper money. In 1626 Sir William was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, Keeper of the Signet in 1627, Commissioner of the Exchequer in 1628, also Lord of Canada. In 1630 he was created Viscount Stirling, and in 1633 Earl of Stirling and Viscount of Canada. In 1628 the Council for New England gave him a grant of t
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Balcarres, Alexander Lindsay, Earl, (search)
Balcarres, Alexander Lindsay, Earl, British military officer; born in Scotland in 1752; served three years in America under Carleton and Burgoyne, and was captured with the latter at Saratoga. At the battle of Hubbardton, where he was wounded, thirteen balls passed through his clothes. He was made major-general in 1793; lieutenant-governor of Jamaica in 1794; general in 1803; and subsequently one of the representative peers from Scotland. He died in London, March 27, 1825. Balcarres, Alexander Lindsay, Earl, British military officer; born in Scotland in 1752; served three years in America under Carleton and Burgoyne, and was captured with the latter at Saratoga. At the battle of Hubbardton, where he was wounded, thirteen balls passed through his clothes. He was made major-general in 1793; lieutenant-governor of Jamaica in 1794; general in 1803; and subsequently one of the representative peers from Scotland. He died in London, March 27, 1825.
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), Bankruptcy laws, past and present. (search)
laim that it will accomplish all that it was intended to do by the mere threat of possible procedure. Therein is its chief merit to the business world. Experience will prove whether it is a boon or bane. But our hysterical Congressmen shall be able now to sleep oa nights; for under this law there can be by the rich no grinding the face of the poor. What is a preference? This is a comparatively recent development of the law of bankruptcy. The earliest regulation is that of 1690, in Scotland, which annulled preferences made within two months of bankruptcy. The common law permitted preferences, and debts in favor of wives and female relatives in general were a refuge frequently found by the failing debtor. It is not likely that the chattel mortgage method of preference was then understood; that is the product of our higher civilization. But, for centuries, scandals without number and frauds on creditors by the multitude have flowed from the too gentle policy of the law in thi
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Barclay, Robert, 1648-1690 (search)
Barclay, Robert, 1648-1690 Author; born in Gordonston, Scotland, Dec. 23, 1648. At the age of nineteen, he embraced the principles of the Society of Friends. In 1670 he vindicated them from false charges in a pamphlet entitled Truth cleared of calumnies. He also published, in Latin and English, An apology for the true Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and preached by the people called, in scorn, Quakers. Barclay dedicated it to King Charles, with great modesty and independence, and it was one of the ablest defences of the doctrines of his sect. His writings attracted public sympathy to his co-religionists. The first remonstrance of Friends against war was put forth by Barclay in 1677, entitled a Treatise on universal love. Barclay made many religious journeys in England, Holland, and Germany with William Penn, and was several times imprisoned on account of the promulgation of his doctrines. Charles II. was Barclay's friend through the influence of Penn, and ma
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bennett, James Gordon, 1795-1872 (search)
Bennett, James Gordon, 1795-1872 Founder of the New York Herald; born in New Mill, Scotland, Sept. 1, 1795; died in New York. June 1, 1872. Intending to enter upon the ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, he studied theology in Aberdeen some time, but, abandoning the intention, he went to British America, arriving at Halifax. N. S., in 1819, where he taught school. He made his way to Boston, where he became a proof-reader, and in 1822 he went to New York, and thence to Charleston, where he made translations from the Spanish for the Charleston Courier. Returning to New York he became proprietor (1825) of the New York Courier, but did not succeed. After various editorial and journalistic adventures in New York and Pennsylvania. Mr. Bennett. in May, 1835. began the pubication of the New York Herald. His method was a new departure in journalism. The Herald obtained an immense circulation and advertising patronage. The profits of the establishment, at the time James Gor