Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Watson, Thomas Edward, 1856–1922, American political leader, b. Columbia co., Ga. A successful lawyer, he practiced in Thomson, Ga., before serving (1882–83) in the state legislature and as a Farm...

(Encyclopedia) Trist, Nicholas Philip, 1800–1874, American diplomat, b. Charlottesville, Va. He attended West Point, studied law under Thomas Jefferson, whose granddaughter he married, and was private secretary to...

(Encyclopedia) Gaines, Edmund Pendleton, 1777–1849, U.S. army officer, b. Culpeper co., Va.; brother of George Strother Gaines. He spent his boyhood in Tennessee and at the age of 22 joined the U.S. army. He surve...

(Encyclopedia) 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 ...

(Encyclopedia) spoils system, in U.S. history, the practice of giving appointive offices to loyal members of the party in power. The name supposedly derived from a speech by Senator William Learned Marcy in which he...

(Encyclopedia) Hamilton, Andrew, 1676?–1741, colonial American lawyer, defender of John Peter Zenger, b. Scotland. He practiced law in Maryland and then Pennsylvania, where he became (1717) attorney general and he...

(Encyclopedia) Lloyd Webber, Andrew, 1948–, British theatrical composer. A member of a successful musical family, he began composing musicals as a teenager; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968) was ...

(Encyclopedia) Stern, Andrew L., 1950–, American labor leader, b. West Orange, N.J., grad., Univ. of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1971). A charismatic and frequently controversial reformer, he became a significant figure i...

(Encyclopedia) Calhoun, John Caldwell kălˌho͞onˈ [key], 1782–1850, American statesman and political philosopher, b. near Abbeville, S.C., grad. Yale, 1804. He was an intellectual giant of political life in his...

(Encyclopedia) Grove, Andy (Andrew Stephen Grove) [key], 1936–2016, American computer-industry executive, b. Budapest, Hungary, as András István Gróf, immigrated to the United States 1957, Ph.D. Univ. of Calif...