Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pardo, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Pardo, Juan, fl. 1560s, Spanish officier and explorer. On the orders of Menéndez de Avilés, Pardo led two expeditions (1566–67, 1567–68) from the Spanish settlement of Santa Elena on Parris Isla...

state flowers

(Encyclopedia)state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national flower of the Un...

Horton, George Moses

(Encyclopedia)Horton, George Moses, c.1797–c.1883, African-American writer, b. near Raleigh, N.C. Born into slavery, he worked as a handyman at the Univ. of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he began writing a...

Rutledge, John

(Encyclopedia)Rutledge, John, 1739–1800, American jurist and political leader, 2d chief justice of the United States, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of Edward Rutledge. After studying law in London he began practic...

Yamasee

(Encyclopedia)Yamasee, Yamasi yĕmˈ– [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the late 16th cent., wh...

Jasper, William

(Encyclopedia)Jasper, William, c.1750–79, American Revolutionary soldier, b. South Carolina (possibly near Georgetown). He joined William Moultrie's regiment early in the Revolution (1775), was made sergeant, and...

Rainey, Joseph Hayne

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Joseph Hayne, 1832–87, first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, b. Georgetown, S.C. The son of a free man, he fled to the West Indies during the Civil War. Return...

Moores Creek National Battlefield

(Encyclopedia)Moores Creek National Battlefield, 88 acres (36 hectares), SE N.C.; est. 1926. The patriot victory over the Loyalists at Moores Creek Bridge on Feb. 27, 1776, prevented the intended British invasion o...

Theus, Jeremiah

(Encyclopedia)Theus, Jeremiah tho͞os, tois [key], c.1719–1744, American portrait painter, b. Switzerland. He emigrated to South Carolina as a child. By 1740, according to newspaper notices, he was painting portr...

Sevier, John

(Encyclopedia)Sevier, John səvērˈ [key], 1745–1815, American frontiersman and political leader. He was born near the site of New Market, Va., the town he founded in his young manhood. In 1773 he moved with his...