Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Potter, Henry Codman, 1835–1908, American Episcopal bishop, b. Schenectady, N.Y., son of Alonzo Potter. He was ordained a priest in 1858 and served in churches in Troy, N.Y., and Boston before he be...

(Encyclopedia) Claiborne, Craig, 1920–2000, American food journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author, b. Sunflower, Miss., studied École Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switz. After settling in New York and writ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, William, c.1730–1813, last royal governor of New Jersey; illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. He grew up in Philadelphia, served in King George's War, and was (1754–56) comptroller of ...

(Encyclopedia) Javits, Jacob Koppel, 1904–86, American political leader, b. New York City, LL.B., New York Univ., 1927. He and his brother, Benjamin A. Javits (1894–1973), developed a flourishing legal practice....

(Encyclopedia) Ruggles, Samuel Bulkley, 1800–1881, American public figure, b. New Milford, Conn. He was a successful lawyer in New York City, but between 1831 and 1851 gave up his practice to devote himself to pub...

(Encyclopedia) Schouten, Willem Cornelis vĭlˈəm kôrnāˈlĭs skhouˈtən [key], 1567?–1625, Dutch navigator. In 1615 he sailed from Texel island, Holland, in command of an expedition whose objective was to eva...

(Encyclopedia) draft riots, in the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 w...

(Encyclopedia) Patroon painters, group of portraitists active in colonial New York from 1715 to 1730. Their work embodied the first clearly American style. The Patroon painters served the Dutch families of New York,...

(Encyclopedia) Harlem River, navigable tidal channel, 8 mi (12.9 km) long with Spuyten Duyvil Creek, in New York City, SE N.Y., separating Manhattan from the Bronx. Connecting the Hudson and East rivers, it is a shi...

(Encyclopedia) runner or stolon, slender, creeping stem capable of taking root where its nodes touch the ground and thereby producing new shoots. The runner itself usually dies at the end of the season, leaving inde...