Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rush, Richard, 1780–1859, Amercian statesman and diplomat, b. Philadelphia; son of Benjamin Rush. He studied law and became (1811) attorney general of Pennsylvania, resigning the same year to become...

(Encyclopedia) Cain, James Mallahan, 1892–1977, American novelist, b. Annapolis, Md., grad. Washington College, 1910. He taught journalism (1924–25), wrote political commentaries for the New York World (1924–3...

(Encyclopedia) McHenry, James, 1753–1816, American political leader, b. Ireland. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1771 and, after studying medicine under Benjamin Rush, served as a surgeon in the Continental Army i...

(Encyclopedia) Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 1764–1839, American political leader and soldier, called the Patroon, b. New York City. He spent some years managing his property, which included most of the present-day Alb...

(Encyclopedia) Ward, Edgar Melville: see Ward, John Quincy Adams. ...

(Encyclopedia) Hölderlin, Friedrich frēˈdrĭkh hölˈdərlĭn [key], 1770–1843, German lyric poet. Befriended and influenced by Schiller, Hölderlin produced, before the onset of insanity at 36, lofty yet subje...

(Encyclopedia) Howard, Sidney Coe, 1891–1939, American dramatist, b. Oakland, Calif., grad. Univ. of California, 1915, and studied under George Pierce Baker at Harvard. His first successful play was They Knew What...

(Encyclopedia) Wilson, Benjamin, 1721–88, English portrait painter and electrician who opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Newton's gravitational-opti...

(Encyclopedia) Scott, Winfield, 1786–1866, American general, b. near Petersburg, Va. Although vain and pompous (he was called “Old Fuss and Feathers”), Scott was also generous, fair-minded, considerate of h...

(Encyclopedia) Bache, Richard, 1737–1811, American merchant, b. Yorkshire, England. He came to New York City in 1765 to join an older brother in the mercantile business. Bache soon moved to Philadelphia in the int...