by David Barton
Daniel Boone (1734-1820; Virginia, Kentucky) Frontiersman, expert hunter, trapper, fighter, and public official; served with George Washington in the French and Indian War (1755); explored Florida (1765); explored Kentucky (1767); brought first division of settlers into Kentucky where they founded Boonesborough (1775); captured by the Shawnees and adopted by their chief (1778); was Major in the militia; served in the Virginia legislature (1781, 1787); purchased many tracts of land, but began losing them due to carelessness in preparing the titles (1785); by 1798-99, had lost all of his Kentucky land and moved west of St. Louis, Missouri; was given 845 acres from Spain, but when the United States made the “Louisiana Purchase” (1803) he was dispossessed from that land, again due to an improper title; regained the land by act of Congress (1814); spent his last years mostly at a son’s home.
Elias Boudinot (1740-1821; New Jersey) Attorney, public official, author, and philanthropist; converted to Christianity during the Great Awakening and was baptized by the Rev. George Whitefield; received a classical education and studied law under Richard Stockton (who would become a signer of the Declaration) at Princeton; (interestingly, Richard Stockton married his sister in 1755 and he married Stockton’s sister in 1762); admitted to the bar (1760); member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton (1772-1821); member of the New Jersey Assembly (1775); Commissary General of Prisoners for the Continental Army, where he organized the care of American prisoners and even spent $30,000 from his own pocket in the process (1776-1779); member of the Continental Congress (1778-79, 1781-84) where he served as its president (1782-83); signed the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain (1783); member of the U. S. House of Representatives (1789-95) where he helped frame the Bill of Rights; published the Age of Revelation in rebuttal to Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason (1790); first attorney admitted to the Supreme Court bar (1790); Director of the U. S. Mint under Presidents Washington, Adams, and Jefferson (1795-1805); member of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1811); member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1812); helped found and served as the first president of the American Bible Society (1816-21); president of the New Jersey Bible Society (1818); published A Star in the West (1816) in which he attempted to prove that the American Indians were the ten lost tribes of Israel.
James Bowdoin (1726-1790; Massachusetts) Public official; graduated from Harvard (1745); member of the General Court of Massachusetts (1753-56); member of the Executive Council of Massachusetts (1757-74); selected as delegate to the Continental Congress, but because of his poor health, John Hancock attended in his place (1774); member of the State Executive Council (1775-77); president of the State constitutional conventional (1779-80); founder and first President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780); Governor (1785-87); delegate to the State convention to ratify the federal Constitution and influential in securing its ratification (1788); Bowdoin College, founded in 1794, is named for him.
William Bradford (1755-1795; Pennsylvania) Attorney, jurist, soldier, theologian, and public official; graduated from Princeton as a close friend of James Madison (1772); studied theology under the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon (1776); Captain in the Continental Army (1776) and then Colonel (1777); survived the infamous winter at Valley Forge (1777-78); admitted to the bar (1779); Attorney General of Pennsylvania (1780-91); justice on the Supreme Bench of Pennsylvania (1791); appointed as U. S. Attorney General by President George Washington (1794).
Louis Brandeis (1856-1941; Kentucky) Attorney and jurist; attended Harvard Law School during the time that Law Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell was replacing the study of constitutional law with the case-law study method; appointed to the Supreme Court by President Woodrow Wilson (1916-39); many of the positivistic concepts in use by courts today were introduced or popularized by Justice Brandeis, including the application of the Bill of Rights to the States via the Fourteenth Amendment, a constitutional right to privacy, and the evolution of legal standards and principles.
David Brearly (1745-1790; New Jersey) Attorney, jurist, soldier, and public official; educated at Princeton but did not graduate; studied law and admitted to the bar (circa 1767); was so outspoken for the cause of America that he was arrested for high treason by Great Britain but was later freed by a mob of citizens; Lieutenant-Colonel of New Jersey militia (1776-79); member of the State constitutional convention (1776); Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1779); one of the compilers of the Episcopal prayer book (1786); delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the federal Constitution (1787); presided over the State ratification convention for the federal Constitution (1788); presidential elector (1789); U. S. District Judge (1789-90).
William Brennan (1906-1997; New Jersey) Attorney and jurist; was the second of eight children of an Irish-Catholic Democratic immigrant family; his father shoveled coal in a brewery and later became a labor leader and municipal reformer; Brennan graduated with honors from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ranked high in his law class at Harvard (1931); admitted to the bar (1931); entered and remained in private practice for a number of years; appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court by President Dwight Eisenhower (1956-90); Brennan believed that the Constitution’s meaning should evolve to fit the changing standards of society; he struck down school prayer, upheld flag desecration, and upheld abortion.
John Brooks (1752-1825; Massachusetts) Physician, soldier, and public official; became a medical apprentice (1766); early involved in the cause of American Independence and was present with the Minutemen at the Battle of Lexington (1775); Lieutenant-Colonel in the Continental Army (1777); associated with General Baron von Steuben in the introduction of a system of tactics at the Battle of Monmouth (1778); delegate to the State convention that ratified the federal Constitution (1788); Governor (1816-22); president of the Middlesex County Bible Society.
Jacob Broom (1752-1810; Delaware) Farmer, surveyor, businessman, public official, and philanthropist; educated at home; prepared military maps for General George Washington prior to the Battle of Brandywine (1777); held numerous local political positions throughout his life; member of the State legislature (1784-86, 1788); delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the federal Constitution (1787); Wilmington’s first Postmaster (1790-92); chairman of the board of Delaware Bank.
James Brown (1766-1835; Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana) Attorney, soldier, diplomat, and public official; attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee College) and William and Mary; admitted to the bar (circa 1788); began practice in Frankfort, Kentucky; commanded a company of sharpshooters in an expedition against the Indians (1789); secretary to the Governor (1792); Secretary of the New Orleans Territory (1804); U. S. District Attorney of New Orleans Territory (circa 1805); U. S. Senator from Louisiana (1812-17, 1819-23); appointed Minister to France by President James Monroe (1823-29); vice-president of the American Bible Society.
Warren Burger (1907-1995; Minnesota) Attorney and jurist; worked as an insurance salesman and took extension courses from the University of Minnesota for two years; studied law at night at St. Paul and graduated with high honors (1931); member of a St. Paul law firm and also part of the College faculty until 1953; Assistant Attorney General under President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953); appointed to the U. S. Federal Court of Appeals for Washington, D. C. by President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1955); appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon to succeed Earl Warren; served as its fifteenth Chief Justice (1969-86); would be considered a moderate, or at times a conservative, but was often in the minority; during his tenure the Court made controversial rulings on the issues of abortion, affirmative action, welfare rights, and separation of church and state.
Rev. Matthias Burnet (1749-1806; New York) Clergyman; graduated from Princeton (1769); received his license to preach and pastored the Presbyterian church in Jamaica, Long Island (1775-85); pastored the Congregational church in Norwalk, Connecticut (1785-1806); enjoyed a lengthy, su
ccessful, and influential career as a minister, and many of his sermons were published and distributed.
Rev. Aaron Burr (1715-1757; New Jersey) Presbyterian clergyman and college president; father of Aaron Burr and son-in-law of Jonathan Edwards; graduated from Yale with highest honors and won a scholarship for advanced work in the classics (circa 1734) but underwent a marked religious experience which turned him to theological study; licensed to preach (1736); called to the First Church of Newark and became involved in extensive religious revivals during the Great Awakening; named one of seven trustees of Princeton (1746); elected the second president of the college (1748-57).
James Burrill, Jr. (1772-1820; Rhode Island) Attorney, jurist, and public official; graduated from Rhode Island College – now Brown University (1788); studied law and admitted to the bar (1791); State Attorney-General (1797-1813); member of the General Assembly (1813-16) and Speaker of the House (1814-16); Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Rhode Island (1816); U. S. Senator (1817-20); president of the Providence Auxiliary Bible Society.
Charles Caldwell (1772-1853; Kentucky) Physician, educator, and author; completed his medical education in the University of Pennsylvania under Benjamin Rush and began his medical practice (1793); served as a military surgeon during the squashing of the Whiskey Rebellion (1794); wrote much concerning the War of 1812; was a founder of the Medical Department of Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky (1819); first Professor at Louisville Medical Institute (1837-49); titled “the first introducer of true medical science into the Mississippi Valley”; medical career spanned sixty years during which he authored some two hundred works.
James T. Callender (1758-1803; England, Virginia) Political pamphleteer; British Messenger at Arms (1792) but because of his pamphlet, The Political Progress of Britain, he was indicted for sedition and called a fugitive and outlaw (1793); fled to America and wrote the History of the United States (1796) in which he “uncovered” the intimate affairs of Alexander Hamilton; for remarks about President John Adams he was tried under the Sedition Law, sentenced, and fined; President Thomas Jefferson secured his release, but after the U. S. government refused to meet his monetary demands he accused Jefferson of dishonesty, cowardice, and gross personal immorality. As a result of intoxication, Callender drowned in three feet of water.
Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675; England) The second Lord Baltimore. The charter for Maryland was originally intended for his father but was subsequently issued to him, giving him authority as Lord Proprietor with the rights of a feudal sovereign; he never visited Maryland himself, but sent an expedition there under the direction of his brother.
Charles Calvert (1637-1715; England) The third Lord Baltimore, and second proprietor of the province of Maryland.
Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938; New York) Attorney and jurist; attended Columbia College and Law School and began his law practice in New York City; member of the New York Court of Appeals (1914-32) and its Chief Judge (1926-32); appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover (1932-38); he advocated judicial positivism and sociological jurisprudence.
Charles Carroll (1737-1832; Maryland) Farmer and public official; educated in France and Bohemia (1748-54); studied law in France and in London (1754-57); returned to Annapolis (1765); member of the Committee of Correspondence (1774); member of the State Council of Safety (1775); helped draft the Maryland Constitution (1776); member of the Continental Congress (1776-78) where he signed the Declaration of Independence (1776); selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) but did not attend; U. S. Senator (1789-92) where he helped frame the Bill of Rights; opposed the War of 1812; at his death, he was the longest lived and last surviving signer of the Declaration and was considered the wealthiest citizen in America; he was the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration.
Daniel Carroll (1730-1796; Maryland) Public official; cousin of Charles Carroll; his older brother John was the first Roman Catholic Bishop in America; Carroll was educated at Flanders (1742-48); little is known of his life between 1753-81; member of the Continental Congress (1781-83); signed the Articles of Confederation (1781); delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the federal Constitution (1787); U. S. Senator and helped draft the Bill of Rights (1789-91).
Richard Caswell (1729-89; North Carolina) Attorney, soldier, and public official; born in Maryland to a merchant father; moved to Raleigh (1746); deputy surveyor of the colony (1750); clerk of the Court of Orange County (1752-54); studied law, admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Hillsboro, North Carolina (1754); member of the colonial House of Delegates (1754-71) and served as its speaker the last two years; military commander at the Battle of Alamance (1771); member of the Continental Congress (1774-76); commanded the patriots at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge (1776); Colonel of the North Carolina Rangers (1776-77); Brigadier-General (1776); president of the State constitutional convention (1776); Governor (1776-80, 1785-88) and served without pay (1776-78); commanded the North Carolina troops at the Battle of Camden (1780); Major-General in the State militia (1780); Comptroller-General of the militia (1782); member and Speaker of the State senate (1782-84); selected as delegate to the Constitutional Convention but did not attend (1787); member of the State convention to ratify the federal Constitution (1789); member and speaker of the State House (1789).
Cato (Marcus Porcius Cato) (95-46 B.C.; Rome) Distinguished Roman philosopher; fought in the ranks against Spartacus; became a military tribune (67); obtained a provincial appointment in Asia.
Rev. William Ellery Channing (1780-1842; Rhode Island) Unitarian clergyman; graduated from Harvard (1798); opponent of slavery due to his firsthand observations of it; acquired a reputation as a preacher of remarkable power when he was installed as minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston (1803-42); his opposition to Calvinism led him to became an early advocate and spokesman for the Unitarian movement; published a sermon entitled Unitarian Christianity which outlined its fundamental beliefs at that time (1819).
Samuel Chase (1741-1811; Maryland) Attorney, jurist, and public official; son of an Anglican clergyman; mother died soon after his birth; educated at home by his father and then raised by his grandparents; studied law in Annapolis (1759); admitted to the bar (1761); member of the General Assembly of Maryland (1764-84); member of the Maryland Committee of Correspondence (1774); member of the Continental Congress (1774-78) where he signed the Declaration of Independence (1776); sent on a special mission to recruit Canadian resistance to the British (1776); judge of the Baltimore Criminal Court (1788); judge of the General Court of Maryland (1791); appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court by President George Washington (1796-1811); articles of impeachment filed against him for what would be considered judicial activism, or taking a political position in a judicial issue (1804); acquitted of all charges (1805) and remained on the Court until his death.
DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828; New York) Attorney and public official; graduated from Columbia College (1786); studied law three years and was admitted to the bar (1790); private secretary to the Governor (1790-95); member of the State Assembly (1798); member of the State Senate (1798-1802, 1806-11); delegate to the State constitutional convention (1801); U. S. Senator (1802-03) and introduced the Twelfth Amendment changing the manner in which the Vice-President of the United States was selected (1803); Mayor of New York City (1803-07, 1810-11, 1813-14); Governor of New York (1817-21, 1825-28); manager and vice-president of the American Bible Society (1816-27).
George Clinton (1739-1812; New York) Sailor, soldier, attorney, and public official; completed prep studies and went to sea (1758); officer in the French and Indian War (1758); Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas (1759); studied law and admitted to bar (circa 1762); District Attorney (1765); member of State Assembly (1768-75, 1800-01); served on the State Committee of Correspondence (1774); member of Continental Congress (1775-76); appointed Brigadier-General of militia (1775); voted for Declaration of Independence but unable t
o sign because of military duties (1776); Brigadier-General in the Continental Army (1777); Governor (1777-95, 1801-05); president of State ratification convention for the federal Constitution (1788); Attorney-General (1789); U. S. Senator (1791); Vice-President of the United States (1804-08); ran unsuccessfully for President, losing to James Madison (1808); known as the “Father of New York.”
Charles Carleton Coffin (1823-1896; Massachusetts) Journalist, author, and public official; gained fame under his pen-name, Carleton, and found a direction for his later writing by his success as a correspondent in the Civil War; made his first great success by his eyewitness account of Bull Run; installed the first electric fire-alarm system in Boston; a temperance advocate from both liquor and tobacco; his children’s books had a tremendous popularity; elected to the State Assembly (1884-85) and the State Senate (1890).
Rev. William Cogswell (1787-1850; New Hampshire, Massachusetts) Clergyman and educator; graduated from Dartmouth (1811); ordained to the ministry and became pastor of the South Church in Dedham, Massachusetts (1815); chosen as general agent of the American Education Society (1829); trustee of Andover Theological Seminary (1837).
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506; Italy) Sailor and explorer; he went to sea early in life; shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal (1476); made a number of voyages to Iceland, the Madeiras, etc. and began slowly formulating his ideas on sailing west in order to reach Cathay (China); from 1486-92, his plan to sail west was under consideration; permission and money were finally granted from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain; on August 3, 1492, the three-ship fleet – the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria – sailed; land was sighted in the Bahamas on October 12; Columbus disembarked on the island he named San Salvador and tarried only briefly; he discovered more islands, including Guadalupe, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica; his administration of the region was tyrannical, and some colonists returned to Spain to lodge complaints; in 1496, he returned to Spain; in 1498, he set out on his third voyage, landing this time on Trinidad; his governorship of Hispanola resulted in growing hostility among the natives and rebellion among his men, and in 1500 he was replaced as Governor; in 1502, he made his final voyage where, although he did not recognize it as such, he had discovered the mainland of Central America; beset by difficulties, his fleet disintegrated; became seriously ill, and returned to Spain (1504).