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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Cooper, miles 1735-1785 (search)
Cooper, miles 1735-1785 Clergyman; born in England in 1735; graduated at Oxford University in 1761, and came to America the next year, sent by Archbishop Seeker as an assistant to Dr. Samuel Johnson, president of King's College. He succeeded Johnson as president in 1763. He was an active Tory when the Revolution broke out, and was reputed one of the authors, if not the author, of a tract entitled A friendly address to all reasonable Americans. Alexander Hamilton was then a pupil in the college, and he answered the pamphlet with ability. Cooper became very obnoxious to the Whigs, and a public letter, signed Three millions, warned him and his friends that their lives were in danger. On the night of May 10 a mob, led by Sons of Liberty, after destroying or carrying guns on the Battery, proceeded to drive him from the college. He succeeded in escaping to a British vessel, and sailed for England. He commemorated this stirring event by a poem printed in the Gentleman's magazine
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Creighton, John Orde 1785-1838 (search)
Creighton, John Orde 1785-1838 Naval officer; born in New York City about 1785; entered the navy in 1800; served with Preble in the expedition to Tripoli; was on the Chesapeake when she was attacked by the Leopard in 1807; was first lieutenant on the President during her fight with the Little Belt in 1811; and commanded the Rattlesnake in 1813. He was promoted captain in 1816; commanded the Brazilian squadron in 1829-30; and died in Sing Sing, N. Y., Oct. 13, 1838. Creighton, John Orde 1785-1838 Naval officer; born in New York City about 1785; entered the navy in 1800; served with Preble in the expedition to Tripoli; was on the Chesapeake when she was attacked by the Leopard in 1807; was first lieutenant on the President during her fight with the Little Belt in 1811; and commanded the Rattlesnake in 1813. He was promoted captain in 1816; commanded the Brazilian squadron in 1829-30; and died in Sing Sing, N. Y., Oct. 13, 1838.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Dane, Nathan, 1752-1835 (search)
Dane, Nathan, 1752-1835 Jurist; born at Ipswich, Mass., Dec. 27, 1752; graduated at Harvard in 1778. An able lawyer and an influential member of Congress (1785-88), he was the framer of the celebrated ordinance of 1787. He was a member of the Massachusetts legislature several years, and was engaged to revise the laws of the State (1799), and revise and publish the charters (1811) which had been granted therein. Mr. Dane was a member of the Hartford Convention (see Hartford) in 1814. His work entitled A. General abridgment and digest of American law, in 9 large volumes (1823-29), is a monument of his learning and industry. He founded the Dane professorship of law in Harvard University. He died in Beverly, Feb. 15, 1835.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), David, Jean Baptist, 1761-1841 (search)
David, Jean Baptist, 1761-1841 Clergyman; born in France, in 1761; educated at the Diocesan Seminary of Nantes; became a priest in 1785; came to the United States in 1792; and was superintendent of missions in lower Maryland. He was the first priest in America to establish spiritual retreats for the laity. In 1806 he accepted a professorship in the College of St. Mary's; in 1810 went West and founded the St. Thomas Theological Seminary in Bardstown, Ky.; and in 1823 secured a charter from the Kentucky legislature raising the institution he had founded to the grade of a university. He died in Bardstown, Ky., in 1841.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), De Lancey, Oliver, 1708-1785 (search)
De Lancey, Oliver, 1708-1785 Military officer; born in New York City, Sept. 16, 1708; brother of Judge De Lancey; for many years a member of the Assembly and Council, also a colonel of the provincial troops, and when the Revolution broke out he organized and equipped, chiefly at his own expense, a corps of loyalists. In 1777 he was appointed a brigadier-general in the royal service. His military operations were chiefly in the region of New York City. At the evacuation of that city in 1783 he went to England. He died in Beverley, England, Nov. 27, 1785. Military officer; born in New York City in 1752; educated abroad; entered the British army in 1766, and rose to major in 1773; was with the British army in Boston during the siege in 1775-76, and accompanied it to Nova Scotia. He returned with it to Staten Island in June, and commanded the British cavalry when the army invaded Long Island in August, which formed the advance of the right column. To him General Woodhull s
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Dickinson, John, 1732-1808 (search)
f the state papers put forth by that body. Considering the resolution of independence unwise, he voted against it and the Declaration, and did not sign the latter document. This made him unpopular. In 1777 he was made a brigadier-general of the Pennsylvania militia. He was elected a representative in Congress from Delaware in 1779, and wrote the Address to the States put forth by that body in May of that year. He was successively president of the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania (1781-85), and a member of the convention that framed the national Constitution (1787). Letters from his pen, over the signature of Fabius, John Dickinson. advocating the adoption of the national Constitution, appeared in 1788; and another series, over the same signature, on our relations with France, appeared in 1797. Mr. Dickinson assisted in framing the constitution of Delaware in 1792. His monument is Dickinson College (q. v.), at Carlisle, Pa., which he founded and liberally endowed. He died i
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Duponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844 (search)
e 3, 1760; went to Paris in 1775, where he became acquainted with Baron Steuben, and accompanied him to America as his secretary. He was brevetted a captain (February, 1778), and assisted Steuben in the preparation of his system of military tactics for the use of the United States troops. From 1781 to 1783 he was secretary to Robert R. Livingston, then at the The old magazine at Williamsburg. head of the foreign office of the government; and then studying law, was admitted to practice in 1785, becoming eminent in the profession on questions of civil American Indians. In 1819 he published and international law. He finally devoted himself to literature and science, and made many valuable researches into the language and literature of the North a Memoir on the structure of the Indian Languages. When seventy-eight years of age (1838) he published a Dissertation on the Chinese language; also a translation of a Description of New Sweden. In 1835 the French Institute awarded him a pri
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Earle, Pliny, 1762-1832 (search)
Earle, Pliny, 1762-1832 Inventor; born in Leicester, Mass., Dec. 17, 1762; became connected with Edward Snow in 1785 in the manufacture of machine and hand cards for carding wool and cotton. Mr. Earle had first made them by hand, but afterwards by a machine of his own invention. Oliver Evans (q. v.)had already invented a machine for making card-teeth, which produced 300 a minute. In 1784 Mr. Crittenden, of New Haven, Conn., invented a machine which produced 86,000 cardteeth, cut and bent, in an hour. These card-teeth were put up in bags and distributed among families, in which the women and children stuck them in the leather. Leicester was the chief seat of this industry, and to that place Samuel Slater (q. v.)of Rhode Island, went for card clothing for the machines in his cotton-mill. Hearing that Pliny Earle was an expert card-maker, he went to him and told him what he wanted. Mr. Earle invented a machine for pricking the holes in the leather—a tedious process by hand —a
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Elbert, Samuel, 1743-1788 (search)
Elbert, Samuel, 1743-1788 Military officer; born in Prince William parish, S. C., in 1743; was made captain of a grenadier company in 1774; joined the Revolutionary army in 1776. He led an expedition into East Florida in April, 1778, and took Fort Oglethorpe; afterwards displayed great bravery in the assault on Savannah in December, 1778. He was captured by the British in the engagement at Brier Creek, March 3, 1779; afterwards was exchanged and re-entered the American army; was brevetted brigadier-general, Nov. 3, 1783; became governor of Georgia in 1785. He died in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 2, 1788.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ellery, William, 1727-1820 (search)
Ellery, William, 1727-1820 A signer of the Declaration of Independence; born in Newport, R. I., Dec. 22, 1727; graduated at Harvard in 1747; became a merchant in Newport; and was naval officer of Rhode Island in 1770. He afterwards studied and practised law at Newport, and gained a high reputation. An active patriot, he was a member of Congress from 1776 to 1785, excepting two years, and was very useful in matters pertaining to finance and diplomacy. He was especially serviceable as a member of the marine committee, and of the board of admiralty. During the occupation of Rhode Island by the British he suffered great loss of property, but bore it with quiet cheerfulness as a sacrifice for the public good. He was chief-justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island, and in 1790 collector of the revenue at Newport. Mr. Ellery was a strenuous advocate of the abolition of slavery. He died in Newport, Feb. 15, 1820.
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