On February the 28th,1844, American President Tyler and a large party sailed down the Potomac on the man-of-war Princeton to see Commodore Stockton's ship Peacemaker throw its 200-pound balls. The Peacemaker exploded and many people were killed, among them two members of the Cabinet, Abel Upshur, Secretary of State, and Thomas Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy. The President narrowly escaped. Research Peacemaker Disaster
Aaron Burr was an American lawyer and politician. He was born in 1756 at Newark, New Jersey and died in 1836. After graduating from Princeton in 1772 he joined the army at the outbreak of the revolution and served in Arnold's expedition through Maine to Canada, afterwards rising to the rank of colonel. He was a Republican Senator for New York from 1791 until 1797 and later a member of the New York Assembly. He was Vice-President to Thomas Jefferson from 1801 to 1805, having achieved the same number of votes for President as Thomas Jefferson, but having not been chosen for President by the House of Representatives which preferred Thomas Jefferson. In 1804 he fought a duel with Hamilton which resulted in Hamilton being mortally wounded. After retiring from the position of Vice-President he allegedly plotted the formation of an independent state in the Southwest, and was arrested and charged with treason, but was acquitted and subsequently left the USA for Europe, returning some years later to obscurity and poverty. Research Aaron Burr
Abel Pupshur was an American jurist and politician. He was born in 1790 and died in 1844 in the Princeton accident. He was a member of the Virginia Legislature from 1834 to 1826, a Judge of the General Court of Virginia from 1826 to 1841, and a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1829. He was Secretary of the Navy in Tyler's Cabinet from 1841 to 1843, and Secretary of State from 1843 to 1844, when he was killed on board the Princeton. He wrote an important exposition of the Staterights theory of the American Constitution. Research Abel Upshur
Alexander Johnston was an American jurist and historian. He was born in 1849 and died in 1889. He was admitted to the bar in 1876. He was professor of jurisprudence and political economy at Princeton from 1883 to 1889. He was an enthusiastic student of American history and published a 'History of American Politics', 'Representative American Orations', 'History of the United States for Schools', and a history of Connecticut. Research Alexander Johnston
Archibald Alexander Hodge was an American missionary. He was born in 1823 and died in 1886. The son of Charles Godge, he was a missionary in India, and afterwards professor of theology at Alleghany, Pennsylvania, and at Princeton in 1878. He wrote several theological works. Research Archibald Hodge
Arnold Guyot was a Swiss geographer and meteorologist. He was born in 1807 and died in 1884. He studied theology at Berlin, then took up natural science, and became professor of history and physical geography in the Academy of Neufchatel. He shared in Agassiz's investigations of glacier phenomena of the Alps. He went to America from Switzerland in 1848, delivered lectures in Boston, which afterwards appeared under the title Earth and Man,.and was a professor at Princeton from 1854 to 1884, and became eminent as a promoter of geographical and meteorological science. Research Arnold Guyot
Arthur St Clair was a British soldier and politician. He was born in 1734 and died in 1818. He went to America in 1758. He served under General Amherst at Louisbourg, and distinguished himself at Quebec. Joining the American cause, he accompanied General Sullivan in the expedition to Canada in 1776. He commanded a brigade at Trenton and Princeton. He was appointed major-general and succeeded General Gates at Ticonderoga, which he surrendered in 1777. He fought at Yorktown. He represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787, and was Governor of the Northwest Territory from 1789 to 1802. Research Arthur St Clair
Calamity Jane (real name Martha Jane Burke) was an American frontierswoman. She was born in 1852, possibly at Princeton, Missouri and died in 1903. Renowned for her riding and shooting skills, she was nicknamed 'Calamity' on account of her reputation of threatening 'calamity' upon any man who tried to court her. Research Calamity Jane
Charles Cornwallis (Lord Cornwallis) was a British soldier and the first marquess of Cornwallis. He was born in 1737 and died in 1805. He served in the Seven Years' War. He took his seat in Parliament and favoured the Americans during the preliminary troubles. Having been made lieutenant-general he was sent to America in 1776, fought in the Battle of Long Island, and pursued George Washington's army through New Jersey. He was defeated at the Battle of Princeton, decided the victory of Brandywine in 1777, and served at Germantown and Monmouth. Having been appointed to the command of the Southern army he overwhelmed Gates at Camden in 1780, but in his contest with Greene he was worsted, although he won a technical victory at Guilford Court House in 1781. Then followed his campaign in Virginia against Lafayette, the siege of his army in Yorktown, and its surrender to the Franco-American troops on October the 17th 1781. As Governor-General of India, from 1786 until 1793 and in 1805, he rendered valuable military and administrative services. He was also lord-lieutenant of Ireland, from 1798 until 1801, at the epoch of the Union. Research Charles Cornwallis
Charles Hodge was an American theologist. He was born in 1797 at Philadelphia and died in 1878. He graduated at Princeton College in 1815, and was professor of theology at Princeton from 1822 to 1878, founded the Princeton Review which he edited until it was combined with the Presbyterian Quarterly in 1871. He was author of a 'Systematic Theology', and of great influence upon Presbyterian theological thought. Research Charles Hodge
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Peacemaker Disaster
