The Biographer

Richard Henry Lee

Early Life Richard Henry Lee, a descendant from an ancient and distinguished family in Virginia, was born in Westmoreland county, of that province, on the twentieth of January, 1732. As the schools of the country for many years furnished but…
Read More

Brigadier General Henry Knox

“…Our political machine, composed of thirteen independent sovereignties, have been perpetually operating against each other and against the federal head ever since the peace. The powers of Congress are totally inadequate to preserve the balance between the respective States, and…
Read More

Captain John Paul Jones

Early Life John Paul (afterwards known as John Paul Jones) was born at Arbigland, in the Parish of Kirkbean, and in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, on 6 July 1747. Born John Paul, his father of the same name was…
Read More

Thomas Jefferson

Overview Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3d PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. As the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he is probably the most conspicuous champion of political and spiritual freedom in his country’s…
Read More

John Jay

“Let it be remembered that civil liberty consists, not in a right to every man to do just what he pleases, but it consists in an equal right to all citizens to have, enjoy, and do, in peace, security and…
Read More

Thomas Hutchinson

Hutchinson was born in Boston. He showed remarkable aptitude for business early on, and by the time he was 24 had accumulated considerable property in trading ventures on his own account.
Read More

Patrick Henry 1736-1799

Early years Henry was born in Studley, Hanover County, Virginia on May 29, 1736. His father was John Henry, an immigrant from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who had attended King’s College, Aberdeen before immigrating to the Colony of Virginia in the 1720s.…
Read More

John Hancock 1737-1793

Overview A signature to the declaration of independence, without reference to general views, was, to each individual, a personal consideration of the most momentous import. It would be regarded in England as treason, and expose any man to the halter…
Read More

Major General Nathanael Greene 1742-1786

Early Years Nathanael Greene was born on 27 July 1742 (Old Style) in Potowomut, Rhode Island.  The Gregorian Calendar, which is used today, was not adopted in England or her colonies until 1752.   Prior to that year, March was considered…
Read More

Simon Girty 1741-1818

Simon Girty (1741 – February 18, 1818) was an American colonial of Scots-Irish ancestry who served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution. He was portrayed as a villain in many early history…
Read More

Joseph Galloway 1731-1803

Joseph Galloway was born near West River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and moved with his father to Pennsylvania in 1749, where he received a liberal schooling. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and began practice in Philadelphia. Galloway was…
Read More