THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NAMES
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NAMES
WILLIAM PACA
(1740-1799) Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Member of the Continental
Congress from Virginia.
CHARLES PADDOCK
(1900-1943) Olympic sprinter in 1920 who won the 100 meters. Newspaperman
with Star-News Publishing, Pasadena. Navy Captain killed in 1943 near Sitka.
IGNACE PADEREWSKI
(1860-1941) Polish pianist and Minister of Foreign affairs.
JOHN PAGE
(1743-1808) Governor of Virginia 1802-1805. Congressman 1789-1797.
THOMAS NELSON PAGE
(1853-1922) Diplomat, author. Ambassador to Italy 1913-1919.
WILLIAM HINES PAGE
(1855-1918) Journalist, diplomat. Editor of The Atlantic Monthly. Ambassador to
Great Britian 1913.
WILLIAM TYLER PAGE
(1811-1885) Potrait painter and imitator of Titian.
EDWARD PAINE
(1746-1826) Revolutionary War Soldier who purchased 1000 acres and colonized
the site of present day Painesville, Ohio, 1798.
ROBERT TREAT PAINE
(1731-1814) Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Boston.
THOMAS PAINE
(1737-1809) Pamphleteer, agitator. Wrote “Common Sense” 1776.
A. MITCHELL PALMER
(1872-1936) Congressman from Pennsylvania 1909-1915. U.S. Attorney General
1919-1921.
ALICE F. PALMER
(1855-1902) Educator. President of Wellesley College 1879.
JOEL PALMER
(1810-1881) Oregon pioneer and legislator. Superintendant of Indian Affairs for
Oregon 1853-1857.
JOHN M. PALMER
(1817-1900) Govemor of Illinois 1869-1873. Senator from Illinois 1891-1897.
KEITH PALMER
(1906-1943) Correspondent for “Newsweek” killed by Japanese in South Pacific.
NATHANIEL B. PALMER
(1799-1877) Sea captain, explorer. Discovered Palmerland in the Antarctic 1820.
WILLIAM J. PALMER
(1836-1909) Union soldier. First president of the Denver @ Rio Grande R.R. 1880.
Organizer of the Colorado Coal and Iron Co.. Developer of Colorado Springs.
FRANK PARK
(1864-1925) Congressman from Alabama 1913-1925.
JOHN R. PARK
(????-????) Educator.
FRANCIS W. PARKER
(1837-1902) First Director, School of Education University of Chicago 1901-1902.
JOHN M. PARKER
(1863-1939) Cotton factor. Governor of Louisiana 1920-1924.
JOSIAH PARKER
(1751-1810) Revolutionary soldier. Congressman from Virginia 1789-1801.
SAMUEL PARKER
(1789-1866) Congregational clergyman and missionary to Oregon 1835-1836.
THEODORE PARKER
(1810-1860) Unitarian clergyman, publisher, author in Boston.
FRANCIS PARKMAN
(1823-1893) Historian. Published account of journey over the Oregon Trail 1846.
VERNON L. PARRINGTON
(1871-1929) Historian. Professor of English University of Washington 1908-1929.
ROBERT PARROT
(1804-1877) Ordinance manufacturer. Invented the rifled cast-iron cannon 1861.
LOUIS PASTEUR
(1822-1895) Chemist, bacterioligist. Discoveries are too numerous to enumerate.
GEORGE F. PATTEN
(1787-1869) Shipbuilder. Founder Bath, Maine, shipyard 1820.
MARY PATTEN
(1837-1861) Wife of Clipper ship captain who, when he died at sea, navigated
the ship around Cape Horn to California. Patten Hospital at King’s Point named
for her.
WILLIAM PATTERSON
(1752-1835) Shipbuilder, industrialist. Director of the Baltimore and Ohio R.R..
SYLVESTER PATTIE
(1782-1828) Pioneer and pathfinder from Kentucky. Led first party in into
California over southern trails 1828. First American buried in California soil.
JAMES K. PAULDING
(1788-1860) Secretary of the Navy 1838-1841.
HENRY C. PAYNE
(1843-1904) Postmaster General 1902-1904.
JOHN BARTON PAYNE
(1855-1935) Secretary of Interior 1920.
JOHN HOWARD PAYNE
(1791-1852) Actor, dramatist. Author of “Home Sweet Home” 1823.
CHARLES WILSON PEALE
(1741-1827) Potrait painter. Naturalist. Revolutionary War patriot. Best known
for his paintings of Washington – having painted 7 of them from life.
RICHMOND MUMFORD PEARSON
(1805-1877) Chief Justice North Carolina Supreme Court 1858-78.
ROBERT E. PEARY
(1856-1920) Arctic explorer credited with being the first to reach the
North Pole 1909. This ship is credited with being the fastest ship ever
built, taking only 63 hours to complete at Richmond, California, in 1942.
CLARENCE F. PECK
(1904-1942) Merchant seaman. Lost in the torpedoing of the “S.S. Carrabulle” in
1942 in the Gulf of Mexico.
R. F. PECKHAM
(1827-1896) Pioneer jurist in California 1840s. Settled in San Jose where he
established a woolen mill. Served as district attorney and county judge.
RUFUS W. PECKHAM
(1838-1909) Supreme Court Justice 1896-1909.
E. A. PEDEN
(1868-1923) Food Administrator during World War I.
NORMAN O. PEDRICK
(1875-1942) President of Mississippi Shipping Co. 1937. Established the Delta
Shipbuilding Company in New Orleans, of which he was president.
WILLIAM PEFFER
(1831-1912) Senator from Kansas 1891-1897.
BENJAMIN PEIXOTTO
(1834-1890) Lawyer, diplomat, journalist. Jewish activist.
WILLIAM D. PENDER
(1834-1863) Confederate general from North Carolina.
GEORGE H. PENDLETON
(1825-1889) Congressman from Ohio 1857-1865. Senator 1879-1885
WILLIAM N. PENDLETON
(1809-1883) Episcopal clergyman, educator. Confederate general.
WILLIAM E. PENDLETON
(????-????) Prominent in Mexican War and the winning of California. Later
settled in New Orleans, and became a shipbuilder and owner.
ARTHUR A. PENN
(1880-1941) Writer, composer. Mostly of comic operas.
JOHN PENN
(1740-1788) Revolutionary patriot from Virginia. Member of the Continental
Congress. Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
WILLIAM PEPPER
(1843-1898) Physician, educator. President of University of
Pennsylvania 1880-1890.
WILLIAM PEPPERELL
(1696-1759) From Maine, he served as a Major General in the Indian Wars.
HARRY PERCY
(1901-1942) United Press War correspondent, died in Cairo of malaria 1942.
ALBINO PEREZ
(????-1837) Early Spanish govemor of New Mexico 1835-1837. Established first
public school. Beheaded in 1837 “Rebellion at Rio Arriba”.
I. B. PERRINE
(1861-1943) Idaho pioneer. Tireless sponsor of irrigation and fruit growing.
GEORGE CLEMENT PERKINS
(1839-1923) Shipowner, banker. Founder of the Pacific Coast S.S. Co. 1855.
Governor of California 1880-1883. U.S. Senator from California 1893-1915.
JACOB PERKINS
(1766-1849) Inventor of the high pressure boiler for engines.
ARTHUR L. PERRY
(1830-1905) Economist. Apostle of free trade, textbook writer.
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY
(1785-1819) Naval officer who, while a commander during the War of 1812, flew
the flag “Don’t Give Up The Ship”.
WALTER F. PERRY
(1911-1942) Merchant seaman lost on the “S.S. John Winthrop”, in the North
Atlantic 1942, torpedoed by German submarine.
FRANK O. PETERSON
(????-1943) Merchant seaman lost on the “S.S. James W. Marshall” when bombed
by Germans, while at anchor Gulf of Salerno in 1943.
JAMES J. PETTIGREW
(1828-1863) Confederate general killed at Gettysburg.
FRANCIS W. PETTYGROVE
(1812-????) Oregon pioneer from Maine 1843. With Asa Lovejoy founded Portland
in 1845. They flipped a coin to decide name of town – either after Boston,
Mass. or Portland, Ma.
JAMES D. PHELAN
(1861-1930) Mayor of San Francisco. U.S. Senator from California 1915-1921.
WILLIAM LYON PHELPS
(1865-1943) Literary critic. English professor at Yale.
WENDELL PHILLIPS
(1811-1884) Lawyer, orator, reformer, from Boston.
FRANK D. PHINNEY
(????-????) Printer, missionary to Burma.
WILLIAM PHIPS
(1650-1694) First Royal Governor of Massachusetts 1692.
ANDREW PICKENS
(1739-1817) Revolutionary War general from South Carolina. Congressman.
MARY PICKERSGILL
(1776-1857) Baltimore housewife that made flags for merchant ships. She made
the oversize flag for Fort McHenry that is immortalized in The Star Spangled
Banner. 1814. Her house still stands in downtown Baltimore.
TIMOTHY PICKERING
(1745-1829) Secretary of War 1795. Secretary of State 1795-1797.
Senator from Massachusetts 1803-1811. Congressman 1811-1817.
GEORGE E. PICKETT
(1825-1875) Confederate general from Virginia.
PIO PICO
(1801-1885) Last Mexican governor of California 1846.
CHARLES PIEZ
(1866-1933) Director of the Emergency Food Corp. 1917-1919.
ZEBULON PIKE
(1779-1813) Soldier, explorer. Mainly in the Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico
area. Pike’s Peak is named for him.
JOHN S. PILLSBURY
(1823-1901) Flour manufacturer. Governor of Minnesota 1876.
CHARLES C. PINCKNEY
(1746-1825) Presidential candidate from South Carolina 1804 and 1808.
THOMAS PINCKNEY
(1750-1828) Governor of South Carolina 1787-1789. Congressman 1797-1801.
Minister to Great Britain 1792-1795.
MOLLY PITCHER
(1754-1832) Real name MacCauley. Revolutionary War heroine at Battle of
Monmouth where she served as gunner after her husband was killed in the action.
MAHLON PITNEY
(1858-1924) Congressman from New Jersey 1895-1899. Justice of the Supreme Court
1912-1922.
KEY PITTMAN
(1872-1940) Senator from Nevada 1912-1940.
HENRY L. PITTOCK
(1836-1919) Oregon pioneer publisher 1852. Published the Morning Oregonian,
Portland Evening Telegram, Sunday Oregonian.
HENRY B. PLANT
(1819-1899) Railroad and steamship operator along East Coast. This ship
launched as the “Harald Torsvik” for the Norwegian government.
POCHAHONTAS
(1595-1617) Indian princess credited with saving the life of John Smith 1608.
Later married John Rolph 1616 and went to England.
EDGAR ALLAN POE
(1809-1849) Poet, critic, short story writer from Baltimore.
JOHN P. POE
(????-????) Lawyer. Made nomination speech at 1904 Democratic Convention in
St. Louis for Davis. Founder law firm of John P. Poe and Sons, Baltimore.
Codified Public General Laws of Maryland 1905.
GEORGE POINDEXTER
(1779-1853) Governor of Mississippi 1820-1821. Congressman. Senator 1830-1835.
JOEL R. POINSETT
(1779-1851) Congressman from South Carolina 1821-1825. First U.S. Minister to
Mexico 1825. Secretary of War 1837.
JAMES K. POLK
(1795-1849) llth President of the United States. From North Carolina.
LEONIDAS POLK
(1806-1865) Episcopal clergyman and Confederate general.
THOMAS POLLOCK
(1902-1943) Educator. Head of English department New York University 1941.
GEORGE POMUTZ
(1827-1894) Union soldier who distinguished himself at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and
Savannah. At end of war was appointed Consul General to Russia.
GEORGE A. POOLE
(1885-1943) Merchant seaman on “S.S. Gulfstate” when it was sunk off of the
Florida Keys 1943.
JOHN A. POOR
(1808-1871) Railroad official who established railroads in Maine and lower
Canada. Published “The American Railroad Journal”.
GEORGE A. POPE
(1844-1918) Captilist associated with the American Bycicle Co.
President of the National Association of Manufacturers 1913-1917.
JOHN RUSSELL POPE
(1874-1937) Architect of Jefferson Memorial and the National Art Gallery.
GEORGE POPHAM
(1550-1608) Settled in Maine 1607 at mouth of the Kennebec.
FITZ-JOHN PORTER
(1822-1901) Union general in the Civil War. Charged with the Union defeat at
the Second Battle of Bull Run.
GEORGE B. PORTER
(1791-1834) Governor of Michigan Territory 1831.
JAMES M. PORTER
(1793-1862) Jurist, politician. First president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
Founded Lafayette College in Pennsylvania 1826.
STEPHEN G. PORTER
(1869-1930) Congressman from Pennsylvania 1911-1930.
C. W. POST
(1854-1914) Breakfast food manufacturer. Anti-union militant. A life long fink.
WILEY POST
(1890-1935) Aviator. Made record breaking flight around the world in 1931.
Killed in crash at Pt. Barrow, Alaska, along with Will Rogers in 1935.
CHARLES D. POSTON
(1825-1902) Explorer, author. First delegate to Congress from Arizona 1864.
ARAM J. POTHIER
(1854-1928) Governor of Rhode Island elected seven times.
NEILS POULSON
(1843-1911) Architect, philanthropist. Manufacturer of ornamental metal work
GEORGE H. POWELL
(1872-1922) Horticulturist. Authority on preservation of fruit.
JOHN W. POWELL
(1834-1902) Soldier, geologist, teacher. Explorer in Far West.
THOMAS C. POWER
(1839-1923) Senator from Montana 1889-1896.
JULIEN POYDRAS
(1746-1824) Born in France, came to New Orleans 1768. Poet, planter, public
servant, merchant, philanthropist.
HAROLD I. PRATT
(1877-1939) Captilist, philanthropist from Brooklyn. Treasurer of
Pratt Institute.
IRVING W. PRATT
(1838-????) Oregon educator. Portland Superintendant of Schools 1891-1896.
EDWARD PREBLE
(1761-1807) Naval officer. Merchant seaman who was posted to the Navy in 1796
and commanded the U.S.S. Constitution in the war with Tripoli in 1804.
WILLIAM PITT PREBLE
(1783-1857) Jurist, railroad executive from Maine.
GEORGE D. PRENTICE
(1802-1870) Editor of the Louisville Daily Journal.
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
(1796-1859) Historian born in Massachusetts.
ANDREW W. PRESTON
(1846-1924) President of the United Fruit S.S. Corp. 1899-1924.
JOHN C. PRESTON
(1922-1944) Merchant seaman on the “S.S. Maiden Creek” when it was sunk off of
Algeria 1944.
JAMES H. PRICE
(1882-1943) U.S. Attorney General. Governor of Virginia 1937-1942.
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
(1733-1804) Unitarian theologian in Pennsylvania. Scientist, educator.
MORTON PRINCE
(1854-1929) Physician and phsychologist specializing in neurology and
psychotherapy.
JOHAN PRINTZ
(1592-1663) Governor of New Sweden (Delaware) 1642.
REDFIELD PROCTOR
(1831-1908) Governor of Vermont 1878-1880. Secretary of War 1889-1891. Senator
from Vermont 1901-1908.
WILLIAM PROUSE
(????-????) Mormon who discovered gold in Nevada in 1850 at Gold Creek, while
traveling with the Orr party to California. Did not exploit the discovery and
little is known of him except that in later years he settled in the
Salt Lake area.
EMILIAN PUGACHEV
(1726-1775) Russian Cossack proclaimed Peter III and led rebellion against
Catherine III 1773. Built as the “Louis Agassiz” and assigned to the USSR.
CASIMIR PULASKI
(1748-1779) Polish patriot who fought in our Revolutionary War.
JOSEPH PULITZER
(1847-1911) Bought St. Louis Dispatch 1878 and merged it with the
St. Louis Post. It later became the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
GEORGE M. PULLMAN
(1831-1897) Contractor and manufacturer of railroad cars. Strongly anti-union.
MICHAEL PUPIN
(1858-1935) Physicist. Worked with long distance telephone development and
later with radio transmissions.
ISRAEL PUTNAM
(1718-1790) Revolutionary War General.