Adler, George J. (1821–24 August 1868), philologist, was born in Leipzig, Germany, the son of John J. Adler. His mother’s name is unknown. He immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve and later graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1844 at New York University. He was appointed professor of modern languages there in 1846, and by 1847 he had published two textbooks on German language....
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Adler, George J. (1821-1868), philologist
James M. Prichard
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Allibone, Samuel Austin (1816-1889), lexicographer and librarian
Martin J. Manning
Allibone, Samuel Austin (17 April 1816–02 September 1889), lexicographer and librarian, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family record is sketchy; genealogical records indicate that Allibone’s parents were probably William Allibone and Mary Smith, a descendant of Pennsylvania’s first English settlers. Little is known about Allibone’s early years or of his education except that he was a bibliophile from an early age. He married Mary Henry, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia merchant and philanthropist, who helped him in his library work; the couple had one child. Allibone worked in the mercantile business and then for the Insurance Company of North America in Philadelphia. His first printed work, ...
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Bartlett, John (1820-1905), editor, publisher, and lexicographer
John J. Doherty
Bartlett, John (14 June 1820–03 December 1905), editor, publisher, and lexicographer, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of William Bartlett and Susan Thacher. Bartlett’s love of words manifested itself at an early age: at three years he was reciting verses from the Bible; by nine he had read it from cover to cover. Educated in Plymouth’s public schools, he left school at the age of sixteen. Soon after, he took a job at a bookbinding company that was then associated with the University Book Store serving Harvard University in Cambridge. His copious memory and love of books soon had the university faculty and students using him as a ready reference tool. “Ask John Bartlett” was the frequent answer to most questions. To help his memory, Bartlett began keeping a notebook of common phrases and quotations....
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Bloomfield, Maurice (1855-1928), philologist
Mark J. Connelly
Bloomfield, Maurice (23 February 1855–13 June 1928), philologist, was born in Bielitz, Austria, the son of Solomon Bloomfield and Bertha Jaeger. In 1859 the family emigrated to the United States, took up residence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and shortly thereafter moved to Chicago, Illinois. There Bloomfield received his early education and entered the University of Chicago in 1871. After three years he decided to continue his studies at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and earned his B.A. there and then his M.A. in 1877. While attending Furman, Bloomfield became interested in Oriental studies (Indology) while under the sway of biblical scholar Crawford H. Toy, and he subsequently took up Sanskrit and comparative philology at Yale (1877–1878) under ...
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Bolling, George Melville (1871-1963), classical philologist and linguist
E. Christian Kopff
Bolling, George Melville (13 April 1871–02 June 1963), classical philologist and linguist, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of William Nicholls Bolling and Hannah Lamb Bonham. Bolling’s teacher, master Hellenist Basil L. Gildersleeve, described him as “a gentleman by birth and breeding.” The Bollings and Lambs traced their ancestors back to seventeenth-century Virginia....
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Child, Francis James (1825-1896), philologist and editor
Benjamin Franklin
Child, Francis James (01 February 1825–11 September 1896), philologist and editor, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph Child, a sailmaker, and Mary James. After attending the Boston Latin School, he matriculated at Harvard College; he ranked first in his class and was elected class orator. Following his graduation in 1846, he became a tutor in mathematics at his alma mater and then, in 1848, in history and political economy. Also in 1848 he published his edition of ...
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Davis, Charles Henry Stanley (1840-1917), physician, philologist, and Orientalist
James T. Goodrich
Davis, Charles Henry Stanley (02 March 1840–07 November 1917), physician, philologist, and Orientalist, was born in Goshen, Connecticut, the son of Timothy Fisher Davis, a physician, and Moriva Hatch. Davis received his early education in the public school system of Meriden, Connecticut, and later through a private tutor, Dr. William Baker. In 1864 he entered the University of Maryland, where he began studies in medicine. He received an M.D. in 1866 from the University of the City of New York. He then undertook postgraduate work in Boston, Massachusetts, and during this period began the publication (1866) of the ...
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Du Ponceau, Pierre Étienne (1760-1844), scholar and lawyer
Gerard W. Gawalt
Du Ponceau, Pierre Étienne (03 June 1760–01 April 1844), scholar and lawyer, was born in St. Martin, Isle of Ré, France, the son of a French army officer. He was trained first for the military, which he had to abandon because of poor eyesight, and then for the Roman Catholic priesthood by Benedictine monks at St. Jean Angely and at the Episcopal College in Poitou. After 1775 Du Ponceau served as a secretary and assistant to minor government officials in Paris and to the philologist Count de Gebelin. He came to the United States in 1777 as secretary and nominal military aide to Prussian army officer Baron ...
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Elwyn, Alfred Langdon (1804-1884), philanthropist and author
Harold Farwell
Elwyn, Alfred Langdon (09 July 1804–15 March 1884), philanthropist and author, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the son of Thomas Elwyn and Elizabeth Langdon, occupations unknown. His maternal grandfather, John Langdon, was the first continental governor of New Hampshire and presiding officer of the first U.S. Senate. Reared amid affluence and the socially prominent, Alfred graduated from Harvard as Langdon Elwyn in 1823. He then attended lectures by Dr. Gorham in Boston and other noted physicians in Europe (1826–1829), returning for formal medical study at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received his degree in medicine in 1831. In 1832 he married Mary Middleton Mease. They had two children....
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Follett, Wilson (21 March 1887–07 January 1963), author and editor
Robert L. Gale
Follett, Wilson (21 March 1887–07 January 1963), author and editor, was born Roy Wilson Follett in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Charles William Follett, a worker in a jewelry-manufacturing shop, and Cordelia Adelaide White Follett, a former teacher. After attending public schools in North Attleboro, he was an exemplary student at Harvard College, earning his B.A. in 1909, with a major in English and valuable study under ...
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Frank, Tenney (1876-1939), historian of ancient Rome and philologist
J. Linderski
Frank, Tenney (19 May 1876–03 April 1939), historian of ancient Rome and philologist, was born in Clay Center, Kansas, the son of Oliver Frank and Caroline Danielson, farmers. He received his A.B. in classics and geology (1898) and his M.A. in classics (1899) from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in classics (1903) from the University of Chicago. In 1907 he married Grace Edith Mayer, who became a noted scholar in Romance philology. They had no children. He pursued his studies on a sabbatical at the Universities of Göttingen and Berlin in 1910–1911....
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Friedlaender, Israel (1876-1920), professor and Semitics scholar
Baila R. Shargel
Friedlaender, Israel (08 September 1876–05 July 1920), professor and Semitics scholar, was born in Włodawa, Poland, the son of Pinḥas Friedlaender, a cattle dealer, and Gittel Ehrlich. He was raised in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, in comfortable circumstances in a traditional yet enlightened Jewish household. In early childhood Friedlaender acquired an almost verbatim knowledge of the Hebrew Bible as well as of the corpus of rabbinic literature. Studying with a private tutor, he also mastered the German language and its literary classics....
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Funk, Isaac Kauffman (1839-1912), publisher and reformer
Lloyd J. Graybar
Funk, Isaac Kauffman (10 September 1839–04 April 1912), publisher and reformer, was born near Clifton, Ohio, the son of John Funk and Martha Kauffman, farmers. Funk graduated from Wittenberg College in 1860 and from its theological seminary the following year. He subsequently held pastorates at Lutheran churches near Moreshill, Indiana, and in Carey, Ohio, before moving to St. Matthews’ English Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, New York, where he remained the longest. In 1863 he married Eliza Thompson; they had two children. The year after his wife’s death in 1868 he married her sister, Helen G. Thompson. The couple had one son....
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Gibbs, Josiah Willard (1790-1861), philologist
Benjamin R. Foster
Gibbs, Josiah Willard (30 April 1790–25 March 1861), philologist, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Henry Gibbs, a merchant, and Mercy Prescott. He graduated from Yale College in 1809 and then taught school in Salem. In 1811 he was appointed a tutor at Yale. During this time he was also studying theology; he received his license to preach in 1814. In 1815 he went to Andover Theological Seminary, where he resided in the home of ...
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Goodrich, Chauncey Allen (1790-1860), educator, clergyman, and lexicographer
Allen C. Guelzo
Goodrich, Chauncey Allen (23 October 1790–25 February 1860), educator, clergyman, and lexicographer, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Elizur Goodrich, a lawyer, judge, and mayor of New Haven, and Anne Willard Allen. He attended the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, passing from there in 1804 to “fitting” for college by Henry Davis. He entered Yale College in 1806 and joined the College Church by profession of faith in his sophomore year. At his graduation in 1810, he delivered an oration on “The Influence of Novelty.”...
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Gordon, Arthur Ernest (1902-1989), Latin epigraphist
Charles L. Babcock
Gordon, Arthur Ernest (07 October 1902–11 May 1989), Latin epigraphist, was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the son of Arthur Ernest Gordon, a storekeeper, and Susan Esther Porter. Growing up in modest circumstances, Gordon attended Dartmouth College (1919–1923) and, on the receipt of an A.B. in Latin, was sent on a Dartmouth fellowship to the American Academy in Rome (1923–1925). In 1924 he married Maddalena Belloni, with whom he had one child....
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Haldeman, Samuel Stehman (1812-1880), naturalist and philologist
W. Conner Sorensen
Haldeman, Samuel Stehman (12 August 1812–10 September 1880), naturalist and philologist, was born at Locust Grove, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry Haldeman, a businessman, and Frances Stehman (her name and Samuel’s middle name are sometimes spelled Steman or Stedman). Haldeman’s Swiss ancestors had acquired considerable property in the Susquehanna Valley and had occupied positions of prestige in Pennsylvania. His grandfather John B. Haldeman had been elected to the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and his great-great-grandfather Jacob Haldeman had been a member of the colony’s Committee of Safety during the Revolution. His great-grand-uncle Sir Frederick Haldimand had served as commander in chief of the British forces in Canada....
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Hepburn, James Curtis (1815-1911), medical missionary, oculist, and lexicographer
Sam Alewitz
Hepburn, James Curtis (13 March 1815–21 September 1911), medical missionary, oculist, and lexicographer, was born in Milton, Pennsylvania, the son of Samuel Hepburn, a lawyer, and Ann Clay, the daughter of the Reverend Slator Clay. Hepburn received his early education at home and at the Milton Academy. At the age of fourteen he matriculated as a junior in Princeton College, from which he graduated in 1832. He began his medical studies with Dr. Samuel Pollack of Milton, Pennsylvania, and then attended the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, from which he graduated with an M.D. in 1836. In 1835 he was awarded an A.M. by Princeton College....
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Krapp, George Philip (1872-1934), philologist and man of letters
Robert Martin Adams
Krapp, George Philip (01 September 1872–21 April 1934), philologist and man of letters, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second son of Martin Krapp and Louisa Addams. His father, a veteran of the Union armies, had been captured at Gettysburg and was mustered out by President ...
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Kurath, Hans (1891-1992), dialectologist and lexicographer
Dennis Wepman
Kurath, Hans (13 December 1891–02 January 1992), dialectologist and lexicographer, was born in Villach, Austria-Hungary, the son of Johann Kurath, a craftsman, and Anna Raimund. The Kuraths immigrated to the United States in 1907, settling in the large German community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Hans attended the German American Teacher's Seminary. A distinguished graduate of that school, the linguist Edward Prokosch, had become a professor of German at the University of Wisconsin, and the young Kurath began attending his classes in Madison. When Prokosch moved to the University of Texas in 1913, Kurath transferred to that school to maintain the contact and received his AB in German there the next year. He began his career as an instructor in German at Wisconsin, but the entry of the United States into World War I led the university to close the department; Kurath decided to continue his studies. He enrolled in the graduate school of the University of Chicago in 1918, and in 1919 he married Linda Eidel; the couple had one child....
