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Preston, John Smith

(Encyclopedia)Preston, John Smith, 1809–81, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. near Abingdon, Va. He practiced law at Abingdon and Columbia, S.C., but made his fortune operating a Louisiana sugar p...

Harris, Abram Lincoln

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Abram Lincoln, 1899–1963, American economist, b. Richmond, Va. He headed the economics department at Howard Univ. (1936–45) and taught at the Univ. of Chicago (1946–63). Starting from a ...

Gravely, Samuel Lee, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Gravely, Samuel Lee, Jr., 1922–2004, U.S. naval officer, the first African American to hold the rank of admiral, b. Richmond, Va. Joining the Naval Reserves in 1942, he became (1944) the first Afric...

MacNally, Leonard

(Encyclopedia)MacNally, Leonard, 1752–1820, Irish political informer. A lawyer, he joined the United Irishmen and defended many of their members in court. His clients, however, were invariably convicted, and afte...

Byrd, William, 1652–1704, English planter in colonial Virginia

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1652–1704, English planter in early Virginia. He came to America as a youth and took up lands he had inherited on both sides of the James River, including the site that would later be...

Francis, David Rowland

(Encyclopedia)Francis, David Rowland, 1850–1927, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1896–97), b. Richmond, Ky. He established a large grain business in St. Louis, entered politics, and served (1885–89) as mayor ...

Ercole de' Roberti

(Encyclopedia)Ercole de' Roberti ārkôˈlā dā rōbĕrˈtē [key], 1456?–1496, Italian painter of the Ferrarese school. He probably began his career by assisting Francesco Cossa in the decoration of the Schifan...

McBain, Howard Lee

(Encyclopedia)McBain, Howard Lee, 1880–1936, American political scientist, b. Toronto, Ont., grad. Richmond (Va.) College, 1900, Ph.D. Columbia, 1907. After teaching at George Washington and Wisconsin universitie...

Duval, William Pope

(Encyclopedia)Duval, William Pope do͞ovôlˈ, –vălˈ [key], 1784–1854, American frontiersman, territorial governor of Florida (1822–34), b. near Richmond, Va. He went to Kentucky as a young man, studied law...

Crawford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, Thomas, 1813–57, American sculptor, b. New York City. He was apprenticed to a wood carver and later worked for a firm of tombstone cutters. He achieved his first success with decorations f...