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Acton

(Encyclopedia)Acton, town (2020 pop. 24,021), Middlesex co., E Mass., NW of Boston; settled c.1680, inc. 1735. Among its manufactures are electrical machinery, chemicals, prefabricated houses, and preci...

Pelham, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Pelham, Peter pĕlˈəm [key], c.1695–1751, American engraver and painter, b. England; stepfather of John Singleton Copley. After studying and practicing in England, Pelham settled (c.1728) in Bosto...

Scituate

(Encyclopedia)Scituate sĭchˈo͝owāt, –wĭt [key], town (1990 pop. 16,786), Plymouth co., SE Mass., on the Atlantic coast about midway between Boston and Plymouth; settled c.1630, inc. 1636. It is a residential...

Needham

(Encyclopedia)Needham nēdˈəm [key], town (1990 pop. 27,557), Norfolk co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston; founded 1680, set off from Dedham and inc. 1711. Although largely residential, paper products, electronic eq...

Massachusetts

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Massachusetts măsəcho͞oˈsĭts [key], most populous of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by New York (W), Vermont and New Hampshire (N), the Atlantic Ocean (E, S...

Dole, Nathan Haskell

(Encyclopedia)Dole, Nathan Haskell, 1852–1935, American author, b. Chelsea, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1874. After teaching in New York and in New England, he worked as a newspaperman in Boston, San Francisco, and Phi...

McCloskey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)McCloskey, Robert (John Robert McCloskey) məklŏˈskē [key], 1914–2003, American writer and illustrator of children's books, b. Hamilton, Ohio. He studied at the Vesper George Art School, Boston, ...

Frothingham, Octavius Brooks

(Encyclopedia)Frothingham, Octavius Brooks frŏᵺˈĭnghəm [key], 1822–95, American clergyman and writer, b. Boston. While a Unitarian minister in Salem (1847–55) he came under the influence of Theodore Parke...

Rimmer, William

(Encyclopedia)Rimmer, William, 1816–79, American sculptor and writer, b. Liverpool, England. He was brought up in the United States and after working as a cobbler in Brockton, Mass., at the age of 30 began the st...

Copley, John Singleton, American portrait painter

(Encyclopedia)Copley, John Singleton kŏpˈlē [key], 1738–1815, American portrait painter, b. Boston. Copley is considered the greatest of the American old masters. He studied with his stepfather, Peter Pelham, ...