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Williamsburg

(Encyclopedia)Williamsburg, historic city (1990 pop. 11,530), seat of James City co., SE Va., on a peninsula between the James and York rivers; settled 1632 as Middle Plantation, laid out and renamed 1699, inc. 172...

Jennys

(Encyclopedia)Jennys, family of American painters, fl. 1770–1810. Little is known of the Jennys family. William Jennys and his son Richard painted portraits in Massachusetts and Connecticut. These are classed as ...

Schwab, Charles Michael

(Encyclopedia)Schwab, Charles Michael shwäb [key], 1862–1939, American steel magnate, b. Williamsburg, Pa. He started as a stake driver in Andrew Carnegie's steelworks and rose to become (1897) president of the ...

Campbell, William

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, William, 1745–81, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Augusta co., Va.; brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. He fought in Lord Dunmore's War (1774) and helped expel the royal governor from Will...

Tazewell, Littleton Walter

(Encyclopedia)Tazewell, Littleton Walter tăzˈwəl [key], 1774–1860, American politcal leader, b. Williamsburg, Va., grad. College of William and Mary, 1792. He was admitted (1796) to the bar, practiced law in V...

Chase, William Merritt

(Encyclopedia)Chase, William Merritt, 1849–1916, American painter, b. Williamsburg, Ind., studied in Indianapolis and in Munich under Piloty. In 1878 he began his long career as an influential teacher at the Art ...

Randolph, Peyton

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Peyton, c.1721–1775, American political leader, first president of the Continental Congress, b. Williamsburg, Va. After a general education at the College of William and Mary, he studied l...

Hallam, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Hallam, Lewis hălˈəm [key], c.1714–1756, Anglo-American actor and manager of the first professional theatrical company in the United States. He arrived from England with his company in 1752 and o...

Thorndike, Edward Lee

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Edward Lee thôrnˈdīk [key], 1874–1949, American educator and psychologist, b. Williamsburg, Mass., grad. Wesleyan Univ., 1895, and Harvard, 1896, Ph.D. Columbia, 1898. Appointed instru...

ghost town

(Encyclopedia)ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old build...

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