Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) vigilantes vĭjĭlănˈtēz [key], members of a vigilance committee. Such committees were formed in U.S. frontier communities to enforce law and order before a regularly constituted government could b...

(Encyclopedia) Robertson, Pat (Marion Gordon Robertson), 1930–2023, American evangelist and politician, b. Lexington, Va. The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson...

(Encyclopedia) Shirley, William, 1694–1771, colonial governor in British North America, b. England. He became a lawyer and in 1731 emigrated to Massachusetts. In 1741 he became governor of Massachusetts. He oppose...

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Martha, 1731–1802, wife of George Washington, b. New Kent co., Va. The daughter of John Dandridge and Frances Jones Dandridge, she first married (1749) Daniel Parke Custis. She bore him ...

(Encyclopedia) Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick, 1884–1951, American politician, b. Grand Rapids, Mich. He was editor and publisher of the Grand Rapids Herald from 1906 to 1928, when he was appointed to fill a U.S. Sen...

(Encyclopedia) Herbert, A. P. (Sir Alan Patrick Herbert), 1890–1971, English author and member of Parliament. He was a regular contributor to the comic magazine Punch from 1910 until his death. Herbert served in P...

(Encyclopedia) Chanel, Coco (Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel) shənĕlˈ [key], 1883–1971, French fashion designer b. Saumur. She established a millinery shop in Deauville in 1909, founded her first house of couture ther...

(Encyclopedia) Moses, Robert, 1888–1981, U.S. public official, b. New Haven, Conn. He was appointed (1919) by Alfred E. Smith to the committee to study and revamp New York state government machinery, became (1924)...

(Encyclopedia) Göttingen götˈĭng-ən [key], city, Lower Saxony, central Germany, on the Leine River. It is ...

(Encyclopedia) Masham, Abigail, Lady măshˈəm [key], d. 1734, favorite of Queen Anne of England. Her maiden name was Abigail Hill. A plain, intelligent person, she became (1704) bedchamber woman to the queen throu...