THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NAMES
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NAMES
PIERRE L’ENFANT
(1754-1825) French engineer and Revolutionary soldier. Designed
city of Washington, D.C.
ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE
(1855-1925) Governor of Wisconsin 1901-1906. Congressman 1885-1891.
Senator 1906-1925.
NICHOLAS D. LABADIE
(1802-1867) Canadian surgeon and ex-priest who fought in the Texas War.
LUCIEN LABAUDT
(1880-1943) Paris born painter who later went to San Francisco and did
the murals decorating the Coit Tower, Court House, and Beach Chalet in
Golden Gate Park. Killed in India during World War II while on assignment
for “Time” magazine.
PIERRE LACLEDE
(1724-1778) Trader who founded St. Louis in 1764.
CARL E. LADD
(1888-1943) U.S. educator in agricultural affairs.
WILLIAM S. LADD
(1826-1893) Banker who came to Portland, Oregon in 1851, and established first
bank north of San Francisco.
JOHN LAFARGE
(1835-1910) Painter and worker in stained glass.
JOSEPH R. LAMAR
(1857-1916) Justice of the Supreme Court 1911.
LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR
(1825-1893) Congressman and Senator from Georgia. Secretary of the Interior.
Supreme Court Justice 1887 – 1893.
MIRABEAU B. LAMAR
(1798-1859) Fought in Texas War of Independence and later became President of
Texas 1838-1841.
DANIEL S. LAMONT
(1851-1905) Secretary of War 1893-1897. Vice-president of the Northern Pacific
Railroad. Close associate of James J. Hill.
ARCHBISHOP LAMY
(1814-1888) Catholic clergyman who served in Ohio and New Mexico. Became
Archbishop of Santa Fe 1875.
SAMUEL LANCASTER
(1864-1941) Engineer responsible for the the Columbia River Highway.
EDWARD LANDER
(1816-1907) Chief Justice of Washington Territory Supreme Court 1853.
FRANKLIN K. LANE
(1864-1921) Secretary of the Interior 1913.
HARRY LANE
(1865-1917) Senator from Oregon 1913-1919.
HENRY S. LANE
(1811-1881) Congressman from Indiana. Senator 1861-1867.
JAMES H. LANE
(1814-1866) Congressman from Indiana 1853-1855. Senator from Kansas 1861-1866.
JOSEPH LANE
(1801-1881) Mexican War hero. Governor of Oregon Territory 1849-1850. Senator
from Oregon 1859-1861.
WILLIAM C. LANE
(1789-1863) Physician. First Mayor of St. Louis 1823. Governor of New Mexico
Territory 1852.
WILLIAM H. LANE
(1902-1942) Merchant seaman. Lost on the “S.S. Hampton Roads” when
off of Cuba in 1942.
JOHN LANGDON
(1741-1819) Member of the Continental Congress from New Hampshire.
Governor of New Hampshire 1805-1811. Senator 1789-1791.
SAMUEL P. LANGLEY
(1834-1906) Scientist, aviation research pioneer.
CHARLES H. LANHAM
(1900-1942) Merchant seaman lost on the “S.S. Naeco” when torpedoed off North
Carolina in 1942.
SIDNEY LANIER
(1842-1881) Poet, musician, critic. Confederate Army officer.
ROBERT LANSING
(1864-1928) U.S. Secretary of State 1915-1920.
INCREASE A. LAPHAM
(1811-1878) Canal builder and engineer. Responsible for the Weather Bureau
being established in 1869.
JACQUES LARAMIE
(????-1821) Pioneer trapper, probably born in Canada, who entered Wyoming
1819. Laramie, Wyoming is named for him.
RING LARDNER
(1885-1933) Journalist, author.
THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN
(1802-1858) Activist in securing California from the Mexicans.
PETER LASSEN
(1793-1859) California pioneer killed by Indians 1859. Mt. Lassen named
BENJAMIN H. LATROBE
(1764-1820) Architect, engineer. Responsible for many of the fine buildings in
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
JOHN H. B. LATROBE
(1803-1891) Inventor. Worked with Samuel Morse in development of telegrapk
W. C. LATTA
(1850-1935) Professor of Agriculture at Purdue University and farm leader of
Indiana for over half a century. Directed Farmer’s Institutes in Indiana
1889-1923.
JOHN LAURANCE
(1750-1810) Revolutionary War soldier and lawyer. Congressman from New York
1789-1793. Senator 1796-1800.
GEORGE A. LAWSON
(1918-1942) Merchant seaman lost aboard the “S.S. Menominee” when torpedoed
off the Virginia coast in 1942.
JAMES LAWSON
(1799-1880) Editor. Marine insurance expert.
JOHN LAWSON
(1674-1711) Author of “History of Carolina’. Explorer, surveyor general.
VICTOR F. LAWSON
(1850-1925) Owner of the Chicago Daily News. President of the Associated Press
1894-1900.
EARL LAYMAN
(????-1942) Merchant seaman killed when the “S.S. Stephen Hopkins” was sunk
by a German raider in the South Atlantic 1942.
JAMES EAGAN LAYNE
(????-1943) Merchant seaman lost on the “S.S. Esso Baton Rouge” when it was sunk
off the Azores.
EMMA LAZARUS
(1849-1877) Poet and author. Prominent defender of Judaism.
HOMER LEA
(1876-1912) Chinese Army general bom in Colorado. Stanford U. graduate.
JOSHUA A. LEACH
(1843-1919) Founder and first Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Fireman. Lived in Terre Haute, Indiana.
STEPHEN LEACOCK
(1868-1944) Canadian economist and author.
TOBIAS LEAR
(1762-1816) Consular officer. Best known for his work in Tunis and Algiers during
the days of the Barbary pirates.
THOMAS P. LEATHERS
(1816-1896) Steamboat operator on the Mississippi. Famous for being the Captain
on the “Natchez” in it’s race with the “Robert E. Lee” 1870.
WILLIAM LEAVITT
(1823-1911) Shipmaster from Portland, Me., who retired from sea in 1871 to work
as surveyor for American Bureau of Shipping.
JOSEPH LECONTE
(1823-1901) Physician and geologist. Professor University of California
1869-1896
FRANCIS L. LEE
(1734-1797) “Lightfoot’ Lee – Revolutionary War leader from Virginia and signer
of the Declaration of Independence.
JASON LEE
(1803-1845) Missionary and Oregon pioneer. Moved to Ft. Vancouver 1834.
JOSEPH LEE
(1862-1937) Social worker. Known as the “Father of the American Playground”.
RICHARD HENRY LEE
(1732-1794) Revolutionary statesman. Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Member of the First Continental Congress. Senator from Virginia 1789-1792.
THOMAS SIM LEE
(1745-1819) Governor of Maryland 1779-83; 1792-94.
WILLIAM G. LEE
(1859-1929) President of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainman 1909-28.
FITZHUGH LEE
(1835-1905) Confederate Army general. Governor of Virginia 1885.
HUGH S. LEGARE
(1797-1843) Congressman from South Carolina 1837-1839. Attorney General of the
United States 1841. Secretary of State 1843.
JOSEPH LEIDY
(1823-1891) Naturalist. Foremost Ameican naturalist of his time.
JEAN BAPTISTE LEMOYNE (BIENVILLE)
(1680-1767) French Canadian pioneer and explorer. Foumder of Mobile 1710, and
New Orleans 1718.
JOHN B. LENNON
(1850-1923) Labor leader and temperance reformer. Organized the Tailor’s Union
Treasurer of the A.F. of L. 1890-1917.
GEORGE LEONARD
(1742-1826) Active in the politics of New Brunswick post 1783.
THOMAS LEVALLEY
(????-1898) Born White Plains, N.Y. Crew member of the “S.S. Yankee” in
Spanish-American War and participated in 5 engagements including bombardment
of Calmanera, Cuba. Died of blood poisoning.
A. FRANK LEVER
(1875-1940) Congressman from South Carolina 1901-1919.
ARTHUR R. LEWIS
(1846-1930) Actor and theatrical manager in New York.
FRANCIS LEWIS
(1713-1802) Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New York. Member of
the Continental Congress.
MERIWETHER LEWIS
(1774-1809) Explorer and soldier of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804.
ROBERT ELLIS LEWIS
(1857-1941) Circuit judge from Missouri.
WILLIAM R. LEWIS
(1923-1943) Merchant seaman killed in the sinking of the “S.S.M.H. DeYoung” in
the South Pacific 1943.
ADOLPH LEWISOHN
(1849-1938) Philanthropist and art collector. Founder of the Montana Copper Co.
and mines in Tennessee and South America.
BJARNE A. LIA
(1907-1944) Merchant seaman lost on the “S.S. Bostonian” when damaged by
enemy action 1944. Awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal.
WILLIAM LIBBEY
(1855-1927) President of the Princeton Saving Bank in New Jersey.
JAMES LICK
(1796-1876) Piano maker, real estate investor. Left his estate for educational
purpose – notably the Lick Observatory.
JONAS LIE
(1880-1940) Norwegian born painter.
ALEXANDER LILLINGTON
(1643-1697) North Carolina officer in battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge during
Revolutionary War.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
(1809-1865) Sixteenth president of the United States.
JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
(1870-1944) Novelist. Specialized in tales of N.E. seaman and “downeasters”.
ROBERT T. LINCOLN
(1843-1926) Son of Abraham Lincoln. Secretary of War 1881.
JOHN LIND
(1853-1930) Congressman from Minnesota 1887-1893. Governor 1899-1901.
FRANK B. LINDERMAN
(1869-1938) Author who’s storys dealt with the Western Indians.
BEN B. LINDSEY
(1869-1943) Jurist and social reformer.
VACHEL LINDSAY
(1879-1931) Poet from Illinois.
HENRY D. LINDSLEY
(1872-1938) National Commander of the American Legion.
JOSHUA B. LIPPINCOTT
(1813-1886) Publisher. Founder of the J. B. Lippincott Publishers in 1836.
MEYER LISSNER
(1871-1930) Member U.S. Shipping Board 1921-1925.
GEORGE W. LIVELY
(????-????) Second mayor of Houston 1839.
SAMUEL LIVERMORE
(1732-1803) Congressman from New Hampshire 1789-1793. Senator 1793-1801.
MARY A. LIVERMORE
(1820-1905) Women’s Rights advocate and reformer from Boston.
BROCKHOLST LIVINGSTON
(1757-1823) Revolutionary War soldier. Member U.S. Supreme Court 1807-1823.
PHILIP LIVINGSTON
(1716-1778) Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Member of the Continental
Congress.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON
(1718-1775) New York legislator. Revolutionary patriot.
EDWARD LIVINGSTONE
(1764-1836) Congressman from New York 1795-1801. Mayor of New York City
1801-1803. Congressman from Louisiana 1823-1829. Senator 1829-1831. U.S.
Secretary of State 1831-1833. Minister to France 1833-1835.
BELVA LOCKWOOD
(1830-1917) First woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court 1879.
Also first woman to run for the presidency of the U.S. 1884 and 1888.
EDWARD L. LOGAN
(1875-1939) Boston born soldier who rose to rank of Brigadier. Served in
Massachusetts legislaure. President of National Guard Association of U.S. 1923.
JOHN A. LOGAN
(1826-1886) Union General. Congressman from Illinois 1859-1862; 1867-1871.
Senator 1871-1877; 1879-1886.
HENRY LOMB
(1828-1908) Optician. Co-founder of Bausch @ Lomb in 1853.
CAROLE LOMBARD
(1908-1942) Movie actress. K/lled in plane crash 1942 while on War Bond tour.
JACK LONDON
(1876-1916) Writer and novelist. War correspondent.
MEYER LONDON
(1871-1926) Congressman from New York 1915-1919; 1921-1923.
CHARLES C. LONG
(1842-1917) Correct name was Charles Chaille-Long. Lawyer and explorer.
Explored the upper Nile basin 1874. U.S. Consul in Eygpt and Korea.
CRAWFORD W. LONG
(1815-1878) Surgeon, pioneer anathesist.
JANE LONG
(1793-1880) “Mother of Texas”. Wife of Dr. James Long, who led expedition to
free Texas in 1819.
STEPHEN H. LONG
(1784-1864) Explorer, engineer. Did early work in Rocky Mountains 1820. Laid
out routes for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW
(1807-1882) Poet born in Maine. Professor at Bowdoin 1829-1835.
JAMES LONGSTREET
(1821-1904) Confederate general from South Carolina.
NICHOLAS LONGWORTH
(1782-1863) Horticulturist from New Jersey. Worked mainly with grape culture
and wine manufacture.
0RLAND LOOMIS
(1893-1943) Lawyer. Activist in Progressive Party politics in Wisconsin.
ELEAZER LORD
(1788-1871) Theological writer. President of the Erie Railroad 1833.
WILLIAM W. LORING
(1818-1886) A major general in the Confederate Army, from North Carolina.
AUGUSTUS P. LORING
(1856-1938) Lawyer from Boston.
JEAN LOUIS
(1690-1736) Merchant seaman from New Orleans who bequeathed his life savings
to the founding of the Charity Hospital of Louisiana.
TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE
(1743-1803) West Indies revolutionist.
ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY
(1832-1837) Abolitionist martyr from Maine. Shot in defense of his
printing press.
ROBERT S. LOVETT
(1860-1932) General counsel for the Southern Pacific R.R. and Union Pacific R.R.
OLIVER LOVING
(1813-1867 Early Texas cattleman. With John Durkee he made the first drive
north to Chicago from Texas in 1858. Killed by Indians 1867.
JULIETTE LOW
(1860-1927) From Savannah. Founder of the Girls Scouts of America 1912.
THADDEUS S. C. LOWE
(1832-1913) Aeronaut and meteorologist. Did aero photos from a balloon during
the Civil War.
AMY LOWELL
(1874-1925) Poet and critic.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
(1819-1891) Poet, educator. Foremost American man of letters. Ambassador to
Spain and Minister to Court of St. James.
JOSEPHINE SHAW LOWELL
(1843-1905) Philanthropist, reformer.
DANIEL H. LOWNSDALE
(1803-1862) Early Oregon settler. Built first tannery in N.W. Influential in the
development of Portland.
ROBERT LOWRY
(1830-1910) Confederate general from South Carolina. Governor of Mississippi
1882-1890.
DAVID LUBIN
(1849-1919) Agriculturist. Active fruit grower in early California.
ANTHONY F. LUCAS
(1855-1921) Austrian naval officer, geologist, engineer. Discovered the oil
deposits in Texas near Beaumont in 1901.
ROBERT LUCAS
(1781-1853) Governor of Ohio 1832. Governor of Iowa 1838-1841.
HENDERSON LUELLING
(1809-1878) Came across the Oregon Trail with an ox-cart of trees and
shrubs that he planted in the Portland area.
REBECCA LUKENS
(1794-1854) First women in the U.S. to engage in the iron industry.
GEORGE LUKS
(1867-1933) Painter from Pennsylvania.
CHARLES LUMMIS
(1859-1928) Journalist and author. Wrote of the New Mexico Indians.
BENJAMIN LUNDY
(1789-1839) Abolitionist, Quaker, anti-slavery agitator.
HORACE H. LURTON
(1844-1914) Confederate soldier. U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1910-1914.
THOMAS LYNCH
(1749-1779) Signer of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina anda
member of the Continental Congress.
CHATHAM C. LYON
(1850-1931) North Carolina jurist, from Bladen County.
MARY LYON
(1797-1849) Foumder of the Mount Holyhoke Seminary 1837.
MATTHEW LYON
(1750-1822) Revolutionary soldier. Congressman from Vermont 1797-1801.
Congressman from Kentucky 1803-1811.
RICHARD D. LYONS
(1921-1942) Merchant seaman lost in the sinking of the “S. S. Atlas”,
off the coast of Cape Lookout in 1942, by a German submarine.
THOMAS J. LYONS
(1894-1943) Union official. President of the New York State Federation of Labor.