American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Jonathan French (January 30, 1740-1809) was a pastor at South Church, Andover, 1772-1809, and was a trustee of Phillips Academy. He had served as a drummer during the Revolutionary War, and at Castle William in Boston Harbor. In June of 1746, French Duke of d'Anville sailed for New England, commanding the most powerful fleet of the time-70 ships with 13,000 troops, a full one half the French navy. He intended to recapture Louisburg, Nova Scotia, and destroy from Boston to New York, all the way to Georgia. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley declared a Day of Fasting on October 16, 1746,...

New Guide to the English Tongue (1740) was published first in England by Thomas Dilworth, a distinguished educator and textbook writer. The book's popularity grew in the Colonies, until, by 1765, it was universally adopted in the New England schools. The book contained spelling, reading and grammar lessons, "adorned with proper Scriptures." Its first lesson, having words only three letters long or less, stated: <No Man may put off the Law of God. The Way of God is no ill Way. My Joy is in God all the Day. A bad Man is a Foe to God.> 1740ET001 Noah Webster,...

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (December 14, 1739-August 7, 1817) was a French-born American economist and politician. Along with his son, Eleuthere Irenee, he founded the E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, 1802, near Wilmington, Delaware. They began to produce a higher quality gun- powder which caused their company, especially after the War of 1812, to grow rapidly, eventually becoming the industrial giant of DuPont Industries. Thomas Jefferson had commissioned DuPont de Nemours to survey and report on the status of American education in the early 1800's. He reported: <Most young Americans...can read, write and cipher. Not more than...

Sir William Herschel (November 15, 1738-August 25, 1822) was an English astronomer. He discovered the first planet since ancient antiquity in 1781 and desired to name it after King George III, though others wanted to give it his name, as Thomas Jefferson wrote from Paris to John Page, August 20, 1785: <You will find in these the tables for the planet Herschel, as far as the observations hitherto made...You will see...that Herschel was...the first astronomer who discovered it to be a planet.> 1738WH001 Born in German, William Herschel was a musician like his father, who was bandmaster in the Hanoverian...

Jacob Duche' (January 31, 1738-January 3, 1798) was the Anglican clergyman. At the request of the Continental Congress, opened the first session of Congress with prayer. As recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress, the first official act of Congress, immediately upon receiving the news that British troops had attacked Boston, was to open in prayer: <Tuesday, September 6, 1774. Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Duche' be desired to open the Congress tomorrow morning with prayers, at the Carpenter's Hall, at 9 o'clock.> 1738JD001 The 35th Psalm, the Psalter for September 7th, was read by Rev. Mr. Jacob Duche' in...