American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Samuel Provoost (February 26, 1742-September 6, 1815) was the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York and the first Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, elected April 25, 1789, and appropriated a salary by Congress. On April 30, 1789, Bishop Samuel Provoost conducted the service following George Washington's Inauguration at St. Paul's Chapel, attended by the President, his staff and all the leaders of the new government. Bishop Samuel Provoost also officiated the memorial service for George Washington at St. Paul's Chapel, December 31, 1799. On Sunday, July 15, 1787, Right Reverend, Doctor Samuel Provoost preached the first ordination sermon in St....

John Langdon (June 26, 1741-September 18, 1819) was a merchant, soldier and a signer of the United States Constitution. He was a U.S. Senator, 1789-1801, and Governor of New Hampshire, 1805-08, 1810-11. A sixth generation American, he was the first citizen of considerable wealth to put himself and his fortune in jeopardy during the Revolution. He not only supplied arms and money to the Continental Army, but fought as a colonel in the militia as well. John Langdon considered slothfulness the same as infidelity, as he stated in a speech before Congress: <There was evidence in New Hampshire of an "infidel...

Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741-June 17, 1775) was an American revolutionary patriot and physician. He sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride to Lexington, warning of the British advance. He graduated from Harvard in 1759, and became a physician in Boston in 1764. His brother, John Warren, founded Harvard Medical School. Dr. Joseph Warren was elected President pro-tempore of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, April of 1775, and was commissioned as a major general in the Continental Army. Joseph Warren was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and the Bunker Hill Memorial was erected where he fell. On...

Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741-June 19, 1811) was an attorney, jurist and politician. The son of an Anglican clergyman, he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, served as the Chief Justice of the State of Maryland, 1791, and was appointed by George Washington as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1796-1811. In the case of Runkel v. Winemiller, 1799, Justice Chase gave the court's opinion: <Religion is of general and public concern, and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people. By our form of government,...

Nathaniel Freeman (March 28, 1741-September 20, 1827) was a jurist, soldier and politician. He served as Brigadier General of the Militia, 1781-93, a member of the Massachusetts state legislature, and served Massachusetts as a representative to Congress, 1795-99. He served as a judge of Probate for 47 years and as a judge of Common Pleas for 30 years. In 1802, Judge Nathaniel Freeman gave a charge to the Massachusetts Grand Jury: <The laws of the Christian system, as embraced by the Bible, must be respected as of high authority in all our courts and it cannot be thought improper for...