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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Doty, James Duane, 1799-1865 (search)
Doty, James Duane, 1799-1865 Governor; born in Salem, N. Y., in 1799; studied law and settled in Detroit; member of the Michigan legislature in 1834, and there introduced the bill which provided for the division of Michigan and the establishment of the Territories of Iowa and Wisconsin. He aided in founding Madison, Wis., which city was made the capital of the State through his efforts. He held a seat in Congress in 1836-41 and 1849-53; governor of Wisconsin in 1841-44; and was appointed1799; studied law and settled in Detroit; member of the Michigan legislature in 1834, and there introduced the bill which provided for the division of Michigan and the establishment of the Territories of Iowa and Wisconsin. He aided in founding Madison, Wis., which city was made the capital of the State through his efforts. He held a seat in Congress in 1836-41 and 1849-53; governor of Wisconsin in 1841-44; and was appointed governor of Utah in 1864. He died in Salt Lake City, Ut., June 13, 1865.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Dow, Lorenzo, 1777-1834 (search)
Dow, Lorenzo, 1777-1834 Clergyman; born in Coventry, Conn., Oct. 16, 1777; was ordained in the Methodist ministry; went as a missionary to Ireland in 1799 and 1805; introduced camp-meetings into England; and through a discussion which resulted from these the Primitive Methodist Church was organized. On account of his eccentricities he was nicknamed Crazy Dow. He died in Georgetown, D. C., Feb. 2, 1834.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Duer, William, 1747-1799 (search)
Duer, William, 1747-1799 Statesman; born in Devonshire, England, March 18, 1747; in 1767 was aide to Lord Clive in India; came to America, and in 1768 purchased a tract of land in Washington county, N. Y.; became colonel of the militia, judge of the county court, member of the New York Provincial Congress, and of the committee of safety. He was one of the committee that drafted the first constitution of the State of New York (1777), and was a delegate in Congress in 1777-78; and he was secretary of the Treasury Board until the reorganization of the finance department under the national Constitution. He was assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Hamilton until 1790. Colonel Duer married (1779) Catharine, daughter of Lord Stirling. He died in New York City, May 7, 1799.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Du Pont, ÉLeuthere Irenee, 1771-1834 (search)
Du Pont, ÉLeuthere Irenee, 1771-1834 Scientist; born in Paris, France, June 24, 1771; son emigrated to the United States in 1799; bought a tract of land near Wilmington, Del., where he established the powder works, which have since been maintained by the Dupont (modern form) family. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 31, 1834.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Eaton, William, -1811 (search)
Eaton, William, -1811 Military officer; born, in Woodstock, Conn., Feb. 23, 1764; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1790; entered the Continental army at the ageof sixteen; and was discharged in 1783. In 1797 he was appointed American consul at Tunis, and arrived there in 1799. He acted with so much boldness and tact that he secured for his country the freedom of its commerce from attacks by Tunisian cruisers. He returned to the United States in 1803; was appointed naval agent of the United States for the Barbary States, and accompanied the American fleet to the Mediterranean in 1804. He assisted Hamet Caramelli, the rightful ruler of Tripoli, in an attempt to recover his throne, usurped by his brother. Soon afterwards Eaton returned to the United States, and passed the remainder of his life at Brimfield. For his services to American commerce the State of Massachusetts gave him 10,000 acres of land. The King of Denmark gave him a gold box in acknowledgment of his services
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Edmonds, John worth, 1799-1874 (search)
Edmonds, John worth, 1799-1874 Lawyer; born in Hudson, N. Y., March 13, 1799; graduated at Union College in 1816; admitted to the bar in 1819; elected to the New York Assembly in 1831, and the New York Senate in 1832; became a circuit judge in 1845, and was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1852. He was the author of Spiritualism; Letters and tracts on spiritualism, besides a number of law books. He died in New York City, April 5, 1874.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Education. (search)
Education. Popular education made rapid progress in the United States during the nineteenth century. In 1776 there were seven colleges in the English-American colonies, and the common schools were few and very inferior. At the end of the school year, 1898-99, the population of the country was estimated at 76,000,000, of which 20 1/2o per cent. was enrolled in the public elementary and high schools, or 15,138,715; and the total in all schools, elementary, secondary, and higher, both public and private, was 16,738,362. Of the total enrolment, 10,389,407 were in average daily attendance in the public schools. There was a total of 415,660 teachers (males, 131,793; females, 283,867), to whom $128,662.880 was paid in salaries. All public-school property had a value of $524,689,255. The, receipts of the school-year were $194,998,237; the expenditures, exclusive of payments on bonded debts, $197,281,603. The expenditure per capita of population was $2.67, and the average daily expe
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Electricity in the nineteenth century. (search)
In the preceding century we find no evidences of the application of electricity to any useful purpose. Few of the more important principles of the science were then known. Franklin's invention of the lightning-rod was not intended to utilize electric force, but to guard life and property from the perils of the thunder-storm. Franklin's kite experiment confirmed the long-suspected identity of lightning and electric sparks. It was not, however, until the discovery by Alexander Volta, in 1799, of his pile, or battery, that electricity could take its place as an agent of practical value. Volta, when he made this great discovery, was following the work of Galvani, begun in 1786. But Galvani in his experiments mistook the effect for the cause, and so missed making the unique demonstration that two different metals immersed in a solution could set up an electric current. Volta brought to the notice of the world the first means for obtaining a steady flow of electricity. The simp
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807 (search)
Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807 Ll.D., jurist; born in Windsor, Conn., April 29, 1745; Oliver Ellsworth. graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1766; was admitted to the bar in 1771; practised in Hartford, Conn.; and was made State attorney. When the Revolutionary War was kindling he took the side of the patriots in the legislature of Connecticut, and was a delegate in Congress from 1777 to 1780. He became a member of the State council, and in 1784 was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. Judge Ellsworth was one of the framers of the national Constitution, but, being called away before the adjournment of the convention, his name was not attached to that instrument. He was the first United States Senator from Connecticut (1789-95), and drew up the bill for organizing the Judiciary Department. In 1796 he was made chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and at the close of 1799 he was one of the envoys to France. He died in Windsor, Nov. 26, 1807.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Essex, the, (search)
Essex, the, A frigate of 860 tons, rated at thirty-two guns, but actually carried forty-six; built in Salem, Mass., in 1799. On June 26, 1812, under command of Capt. David Porter, she left Sandy Hook, N. J., on a cruise, with a flag at her masthead bearing the significant words, free-trade and sailors' rights. He soon captured several English merchant vesels, making trophy bonfires of most of them on the ocean, and their crews his prisoners. After cruising southward several weeks in disguise, capturing a prize now and then, he turned northward, and chased a fleet of English transports bearing 1,000 troops to Halifax, convoyed by a frigate and a bomb-vessel. He captured one of the transports, and a few days afterwards (Aug. 13) fell in with the British armed ship Alert, Capt. T. L. P. Langhorne, mounting twenty 18-pounder carronades and six smaller guns. the Essex was disguised as a merchantman. the Alert followed her for some time, and at length opened fire with three cheer
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