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Drew, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Daniel, 1797–1879, American railroad speculator, b. Carmel, N.Y. He became a cattle dealer in early life and by 1834 was successful enough to engage in the steamboat business on the Hudson, wh...

Marbut, Curtis Fletcher

(Encyclopedia)Marbut, Curtis Fletcher märˈbət [key], 1863–1935, American geologist, b. Verona, Mo., grad. Univ. of Missouri (B.S., 1889) and Harvard (M.A., 1844). As professor of geology at the Univ. of Missou...

Mother Goose

(Encyclopedia)Mother Goose, name associated with nursery rhymes. Most English nursery rhymes have been ascribed to Mother Goose. The origin of the name is still a matter of dispute. Some trace it to a French collec...

Schurman, Jacob Gould

(Encyclopedia)Schurman, Jacob Gould shûrˈmən [key], 1854–1942, American educator and diplomat, b. Freetown, Prince Edward Island. His education was completed in London, Edinburgh, and, as Hibbert fellow, in He...

Fisk, James

(Encyclopedia)Fisk, James, 1834–72, American financial speculator, b. Pownal, Vt. In his youth he worked for a circus and as a wagon peddler of merchandise. During the Civil War he became wealthy purchasing cotto...

Fletcher v. Peck

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher v. Peck, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1810, involving the Yazoo land fraud. The court ruled that an act of the Georgia legislature rescinding a land grant was unconstitutional be...

Báthory

(Encyclopedia)Báthory bäˈtôrē [key], Pol. Batory, Hungarian noble family. Stephen Báthory, 1477–1534, a loyal adherent of John I of Hungary (John Zápolya), was made (1529) voivode [governor] of Transylvani...

Davis, Benjamin Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Benjamin Oliver, 1877–1970, American general, b. Washington, D.C. After studying (1897–98) at Howard Univ., Davis served as a lieutenant in the Spanish-American War and in 1899 enlisted in ...

Westford

(Encyclopedia)Westford, town (1990 pop. 16,392), Middlesex co., NE Mass., a suburb of the greater Boston area; settled 1653, set off from Chelmsford and inc. 1729. Although chiefly residential, there are apple orch...

Omaha, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Omaha ōˈməhä, –hô [key], Native Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They, with the Ponca, migrated from t...
 

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