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

Your search returned 10 results in 9 document sections:

Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Agricultural societies. (search)
These were city institutions, and not composed of practical farmers. They dealt with facts and theories. The majority of husbandmen then did not hear nor heed their appeals for improvements. But finally the more intelligent of that class of citizens became interested, and a convention of practical farmers in the District of Columbia, held in 1809, resulted in the formation of the Columbian Agricultural Society for the Promotion of Rural and Domestic Economy. They offered premiums; and their fair, held in May, 1810, is believed to be the first exhibition of its kind in this country. Elkanah Watson (q. v.) founded the Berkshire (Mass.) Agricultural Society in 1810, and there was a grand Agricultural fair and cattle show at Pittsfield in September, 1811. It was the first of the county fairs held in this country. From that time until now there has been, at first a gradual, and then a rapid, increase in such institutions; and now they exist in every State and Territory of the Union.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Bartlett, William Francis, 1840-1876 (search)
Bartlett, William Francis, 1840-1876 Military officer; born in Haverhill, Mass., Jan. 6, 1840; was graduated at Harvard in 1862. He entered the volunteer army as captain in the summer of 1861; was engaged in the battle of Ball's Bluff (q. v.), and lost a leg in the siege of Yorktown in 1862. He was made colonel of a Massachusetts regiment in November, 1862, and took part in the capture of Port Hudson in 1863. In the siege of Petersburg (1864) he commanded a division of the 9th Corps, and at the explosion of the mine there he was made prisoner, but exchanged in September. In 1865 he was brevetted major-general of volunteers. He died in Pittsfield, Mass., Dec. 17, 1876.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Easton, James, 1763- (search)
Easton, James, 1763- Military officer; born in Hartford, Conn.: became a builder, and settled in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1763. Active in business and strong in intellect, he became a leader in public affairs there, and was chosen to a seat in the Massachusetts Assembly in 1774. He was also colonel in the militia, and held the position of leader of the minute-men of that town. When the expedition to assail Ticonderoga was organized in western Massachusetts, Colonel Easton joined Allen andllect, he became a leader in public affairs there, and was chosen to a seat in the Massachusetts Assembly in 1774. He was also colonel in the militia, and held the position of leader of the minute-men of that town. When the expedition to assail Ticonderoga was organized in western Massachusetts, Colonel Easton joined Allen and Arnold in accomplishing the undertaking, and it was he who bore the first tidings of success to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. He died in Pittsfield, Mass.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Expositions, industrial. (search)
able Mechanics' Association in Boston, and the Maryland Institute in Baltimore. These four organizations early began holding annual expositions, or fairs, as they were then called, and have since continued to do so. Numerous other mechanics' institutes were soon afterwards organized in various cities, and these for various periods imitated the exposition features of the older organizations. The American agricultural fair dates from 1810, when Elkanah Watson succeeded in gathering, in Pittsfield, Mass., an exposition, or fair, of articles allied to agricultural life. Now nearly every State and Territory in the country has its agricultural society, which gives annual expositions of the products of the farm and dairy, with a variety of other features deemed necessary to popularize the undertaking. Some of the most noteworthy State agricultural fairs began to diminish in interest about the time of the first International or World's Fair held in London in 1851, and to this form of ex
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Marquand, Henry Gurdon 1819- (search)
Marquand, Henry Gurdon 1819- Capitalist; born in New York, April 11, 1819; was educated at Pittsfield, Mass.: engaged in the real estate, banking, and railroad business. He has been greatly interested in the work of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of which he has been president for many years, and to which he has made many costly gifts, including a collection of bronzes valued at $50,000; bonds representing a value of $50,000; and a priceless collection of paintings by Van Dyke, Rubens, Gainsborough, Velazquez, Turner, Franz Hals, Hogarth, Van der Meer, and other old masters. He also built a chapel and (with Robert Bonner) a gymnasium (cost $20,000) for Princeton University, and with his brother presented a pavilion to Bellevue Hospital, New York City.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Miller, William 1782-1849 (search)
Miller, William 1782-1849 Founder of the sect of Millerites, or Adventists (q. v.); born in Pittsfield, Mass., Feb. 5, 1782; was mainly self-taught during his leisure moments while working on a farm. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was a recruiting officer, and later a captain in the army. During his early manhood he lead and advocated the teachings of Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Hume. Subsequently he was converted to Christianity, and joined a Baptist church. He became a deep student of the Old Testament prophecies, which convinced him that Christ would reappear to judge the world between the years 1831 and 1844. Churches were thrown open to him everywhere, and multitudes flocked to hear his interpretation of prophecy. When the time set by Father Miller, as he was popularly called, for the second advent of Christ had expired, the majority of his followers, about 50,000, did not give up their faith in the speedy coming of the Saviour. On April 25, 1845, a convention
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Nicolay, John George 1832- (search)
Nicolay, John George 1832- Author; born in Essingen, Bavaria, Feb. 26, 1832; learned the printer's trade in the office of the Free press, Pittsfield, and subsequently became its editor and proprietor. In 1860-65 he was private secretary of President Lincoln; in 1865-69 United States consul at Paris, France; and in 1872-87 marshal of the United States Supreme Court. He is the author of The outlook of rebellion; the biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln in the Encyclopaedia Britannica; many magazine articles; and with John Hay (q. v.), Abraham Lincoln: a history (10 volumes), and Abraham Lincoln, complete works.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ticonderoga, operations at (search)
d their possession, became subjects of earnest consultation among patriots. The subject was talked of in the Connecticut legislature after the affair at Lexington, and several gentlemen formed the bold design of attempting their capture by surprise. With this view, about forty volunteers set out for Bennington to engage the cooperation of Ethan Allen, a native of Connecticut, and the leader of the Green Mountain boys (q. v.). He readily seconded their views. They had been joined at Pittsfield, Mass., by Colonels Easton and Brown, with about forty followers. Allen was chosen the leader after the whole party reached Castleton, at twilight, on May 7. Colonel Easton war chosen to be Allen's lieutenant, and Seth Warner, of the Green Mountain Boys, was made third in command. At Castleton Colonel Arnold joined the party. He had heard the project spoken of in Connecticut just as he was about to start for Cambridge. He proposed the enterprise to the Massachusetts committee of safety, a
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Volk, Stephen Arnold Douglas 1856- (search)
Volk, Stephen Arnold Douglas 1856- Artist; born in Pittsfield, Mass., Feb. 23, 1856; studied in Italy in 1871-73; was the pupil of Gerome in Paris in 1873-75; and was elected to the Society of American Artists in 1880. His works include The Puritan Maiden; The Puritan captives; Accused of witchcraft, etc.