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Wilson, James Grant

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, James Grant, 1832–1914, American biographer and man of letters, b. Scotland. He was brought to the United States in 1833. After journalistic work in Chicago and service in the Union army in ...

White, Richard Grant

(Encyclopedia)White, Richard Grant, 1821–85, American journalist, writer, and Shakespearean scholar, b. New York City. He had a varied career and was at different times music critic and coeditor (1851–59) of th...

Claiborne, William

(Encyclopedia)Claiborne, William klāˈbərn [key], c.1587–c.1677, Virginia colonist, b. Westmorland co., England. He emigrated to Virginia in 1621 as official surveyor and then served as secretary of state (1626...

Richardson, William Adams

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, William Adams, 1821–96, American jurist and U.S. secretary of the Treasury, b. Tyngsboro, Mass. Admitted to the bar in 1846, he helped to codify the statute law of Massachusetts in 1855....

English, William Hayden

(Encyclopedia)English, William Hayden, 1822–96, U.S. Congressman (1853–61), b. Scott co., Ind. A lawyer, he entered politics and served in the House of Representatives (1853–1861). In 1858, when the terms und...

Duer, William

(Encyclopedia)Duer, William do͞oˈər, dyo͞oˈ– [key], 1747–99, political leader in the American Revolution and financier, b. Devonshire, England. He served for a time as aide-de-camp to Robert Clive in India...

Fitzwilliam, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 1526–99, lord deputy of Ireland. He acquired (1547) land in Ireland by a grant of Edward VI. Although a Protestant, he was loyal to Queen Mary I, and she appointed him keep...

Sommer, William

(Encyclopedia)Sommer, William, 1867–1949, American painter and lithographer, b. Detroit. He was apprenticed as a lithographer and studied drawing with Julius Melchers in Detroit and drawing and painting in Munich...

Collins, William

(Encyclopedia)Collins, William, 1721–59, English poet. He was one of the great lyricists of the 18th cent. While he was still at Oxford he published Persian Ecologues (1742), which was written when he was 17. Uns...

Langland, William

(Encyclopedia)Langland, William, c.1332–c.1400, putative author of Piers Plowman. He was born probably at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes and may have gone to school at Great Malvern Priory. Although he took minor...