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Ross, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Alexander, 1783–1856, Canadian fur trader and pioneer, b. Scotland. He went to Canada in 1805, taught school in Upper Canada, and in 1810 left for Oregon as a clerk in John Jacob Astor's Pacif...

Leisler, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Leisler, Jacob līsˈlər [key], 1640–91, leader of an insurrection (1689–91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealth...

Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón

(Encyclopedia)Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón, 1921–92, Argentinian composer and player of the bandoneón (a large accordionlike instrument), b. Mar del Plata. He spent much of his childhood in New York, returned (1...

Miller, Alfred Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Alfred Jacob, 1810–74, American artist, b. Baltimore, studied under Thomas Sully and in Europe. In 1837 he joined an expedition to the American West and was probably the first artist to depi...

Forrest, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Forrest, Edwin, 1806–72, American actor, b. Philadelphia. He was the first national idol of the American theater. He appeared at 14 as Young Norval in John Home's Douglas and gained experience suppo...

Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant, known as the “financier of the American Revolution,” and signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Liverpool, England. Morris emigrated to Ameri...

Riis, Jacob August

(Encyclopedia)Riis, Jacob August rēs [key], 1849–1914, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and social reformer, b. Denmark. He immigrated to the United States in 1870. In 1877 he became a police reporter f...

American art

(Encyclopedia)American art, the art of the North American colonies and of the United States. There are separate articles on American architecture, North American Native art, pre-Columbian art and architecture, Mexi...

Gibson, John, American frontiersman

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, John, 1740–1822, American frontiersman, b. Lancaster, Pa. After taking part in the capture (1758) of Fort Duquesne (renamed Fort Pitt) in the French and Indian War, he became a trader with t...

Lowell, John, American jurist

(Encyclopedia)Lowell, John, 1743–1802, American jurist, b. Newburyport, Mass. He became (1762) a lawyer and later served in the provincial assembly (1776, 1778), in the state constitutional convention (1779–80)...