Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Robinson, John

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, John, 1576?–1625, English nonconformist pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers in Holland. In 1592 he entered Cambridge; in 1597 he received a fellowship and was ordained. Soon thereafter he became...

Gorton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Gorton, Samuel, c.1592–1677, Anglo-American religious leader, founder of Warwick, R.I., b. near Manchester, England. Seeking religious freedom, he emigrated to America (1637) but, because of his uno...

Fitch, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Fitch, Thomas, c.1700–1774, colonial governor of Connecticut, b. Norwalk, Conn. A lawyer, Fitch was an assistant in the colony (1734–35, 1740–50). The assembly elected him deputy governor in 175...

Red River Settlement

(Encyclopedia)Red River Settlement, agricultural colony in present Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota. It was the undertaking of Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of Selkirk. Wishing to relieve the dispossessed and impov...

Martin, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Josiah, 1737–86, British colonial governor, b. West Indies. An army officer, he had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel when he was appointed governor of North Carolina in 1771. He estab...

Calvert, George, 1st Baron Baltimore

(Encyclopedia)Calvert, George, 1st Baron Baltimore, c.1580–1632, English colonizer of North America. In 1606 he became private secretary to Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, then a secretary of state. His advance ...

Roanoke Island

(Encyclopedia)Roanoke Island, 12 mi (19 km) long and 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, NE N.C., off the Atlantic coast between Croatan (W) and Roanoke (E) sounds in the Outer Banks. Manteo is the chief town, and tourism and fish...

sea pansy

(Encyclopedia)sea pansy, fleshy, leaf-shaped colony of marine organisms belonging to the genus Renilla in the same phylum as the jellyfish. The colony consists of a stalk formed by a large organism called a primary...

Esnambuc, Pierre Belain d'

(Encyclopedia)Esnambuc or Énambuc, Pierre Belain d' both: pyĕr bəlăN dānäNbükˈ [key], 1585–1636, French pioneer in the West Indies. Seeking to recoup his family fortune by privateering in the West Indies,...
 

Browse by Subject