American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Francis Marion (February 26, 1732-February 27, 1795) was a Major-General in the Revolutionary War. His daring tactics and exploits earned him the nickname "Old Swamp Fox" by the British General Banastre Tarleton, who spent much time and energy vainly pursuing, but never apprehending him. "Marion's Brigade" was a volunteer force that could assemble at a moment's notice, and seemed, to the British, to be able to attack everywhere at once. Taking part in several important battles, and capturing many prisoners, General Francis Marion made communication impossible for the British troops in the Carolinas. Marion's grandfather, a French Protestant Huguenot who fled...

John Blair (October 1731-August 31, 1800) was a signer of the Constitution of the United States. He was elected to Virginia's Supreme Court of Appeals and was appointed a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1798, by President George Washington. John Blair was active in the Episcopal church in Williamsburg, Virginia. In a letter to his sister, at the time of her husband's death, John Blair expressed: <With much grief of my own and real sympathy for yours, I sit down to write you a Letter of Condolence on as great a Loss as could have befallen you...but an event no way contingent...

William Cowper (November 15, 1731-April 25, 1800) was an English poet who pioneered the English Romantic movement. His works include: Table Talk; Truth; Expostulations; On Receipt of My Mother's Picture; and The Castaway. His most renowned work, published in 1785, was The Task, which included his best-known poem, "The Diverting History of John Gilpin." He also completed a translation of Homer. In 1779, William Cowper published The Olney Hymns, which include: "Oh! for a Closer Walk with God," "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," and "God Moves in a Mysterious Way." In his work, The Task, 1785, William Cowper composed...

Richard Stockton (October 1, 1730-February 28, 1781) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the Continental Congress, 1776; an associate justice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1774-76; and a member of the Executive Council of New Jersey, 1768- 76. His son Richard was a U.S. Senator, 1796-99; and a U.S. Representative, 1813-15. Another son, Robert, served with prominence as a U.S. Naval officer in the War of 1812; helped freed slaves found the country of Liberia, West Africa in 1821; and conquered California, proclaiming it a U.S. Territory, on August 17, 1846. Robert...

Samuel West (March 3, 1730-September 24, 1807) was a Chaplain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was noted for greatly assisting General George Washington by deciphering a letter of treason from Dr. Benjamin Church intended for the British Admiral at Newport, Rhode Island. A graduate of Harvard, 1754, Samuel West was a member of the committee to frame the Constitution of Massachusetts, and a member of the Massachusetts Convention to adopt the U.S. Constitution. In July of 1776, as Dartmouth's minister, Samuel West spoke in Boston concerning the War for Independence: <Our cause is so just and good...