The celebrities of the colonial, revolutionary, and civil war periods in America were far different than those of today. Only people of significant achievement or oratorical prowess were found in the newspapers often enough and talked about frequently enough to become well known. Political figures, artists, writers, traveling preachers, and war heroes made up this class of people. Described below in chronological order by birth year are a few of the most significant celebrities from this time period.

John Smith: Born: 1580 Died: 1631 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was one of seven council members selected to govern the Jamestown colony (1607) Explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay region Elected president of the governing council (1608) Brought order to the colony and aided its survival through strong discipline Used his famous rule "He who does not work, will not eat."

William Penn:
Born: October 14, 1644
Died: July 30, 1718
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Received a land grant from England to pay off a debt owed to his father (1681)

  • Established the colony of Pennsylvania

• Allowed his colony to become a haven for persecuted religious sects, especially Quakers

Cotton Mather: Born: 1663 Died: 1728 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was instrumental in the Salem witch trials Wrote Wonders of the Invisible World about the trials

Jonathon Edwards:
Born: October 5, 1703
Died: March 22, 1758
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Wrote "A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God" (1738)

• Was a well know revivalist preacher during the Great Awakening

• Wrote The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God" (1741), "Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival" (1742), "A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections" (1746), and "The Life of David Brainerd" (1749) during the Great Awakening period

• Later wrote A Careful and Strict Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of that Freedom of Will . . ." (1754)

• Became president of the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University (1757)

Benjamin Franklin Born: January 17, 1706 Died: April 17, 1790 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Established a philosophical society and debating club called Junto (1727) Began a printing business in 1728 Published Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732 – 1757) Formed a “fire company” in Philadelphia (1735) Public printer for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland Very influential in Philadelphia Developed a wide variety of inventions including a very popular stove. Studied electricity and developed the lightning rod Made deputy post master of America (1753) Appointed to represent Pennsylvania in England (1764) Delegate to the Continental Congress Member of the committee to prepare the Declaration of Independence

George Whitefield: Born: 1714 Died: September 30, 1770 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was an influential preacher in the Great Awakening. Traveled around America and Europe to spread his religion.

Samuel Adams:
Born: September 22, 1722
Died: October 2, 1803
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Devised instructions for the Massachusetts committee to express the public opinion on England’s intention to tax the colonies (1763)

• Became a representative to the general court of Massachusetts (1765)

• Member of the committee chosen to request that British troops be removed from Boston following the Boston Massacre (1770)

• Member of the Continental Congress (1774 – 1781)

• Lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (1789 – 1794)

• Governor of Massachusetts (1794 - 1797)

George Washington Born: 1732 Died: 1799 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1759 – 1774) Elected to the first continental congress Served as commander in chief during the American Revolution (1775) Was elected president of the Constitutional Convention (1787) Was unanimously elected the first president of the United States (1789)

John Dickinson:
Born: December 1732
Died: February 14, 1808
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Wrote The late Regulations respecting the British Colonies on the Continent of America considered (1765)

• Member of the Continental Congress

• Wrote many political works including the Declaration of the United Colonies of North America (1775)

• Was the leading opponent to John Adams in debate over the Declaration of Independence (1776)

• President of Pennsylvania, then of Delaware

John Adams:
Born: October 19, 1735
Died:
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Was one of Massachusetts’s delegates to the Continental Congress

• Credited with suggesting that George Washington be appointed Commander in Chief of the American armies

• Served on the committee to prepare the Declaration of Independence

  • Adams supported the declaration strongly in the congress even though he did not write it.

• Member of the committee that met with Lord Howe and refused to accommodate the British

• Served as the American ambassador to England

• Elected first vice president of the United States, under President George Washington

• Elected president (1797)

Patrick Henry:
Born: May 29, 1736
Died: June 6, 1799
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Served in the Virginia house of burgesses

• Spoke in the house of burgesses defending his resolutions against the Stamp Act (1765)

• Demanded freedom and urged his fellow Virginians to prepare to fight with his famous “give me liberty or give me death” speech (1775)

• Served as a delegate to the Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention (1776)

• Became the governor of Virginia

Benjamin West: Born: Oct. 10, 1738 Died: March 11, 1820 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was the first American artist to be well known in Europe Appointed historical painter to the king (1772)

Thomas Jefferson Born: April 2, 1743 Died: July 4, 1826 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Became a member of Virginia’s house of burgesses (1769) Became a member of the first committee of correspondence (1773) Wrote “Summary View of the Rights of British America" (1774) Delegate to the Continental Congress Wrote the Declaration of Independence Appointed head of the department of state (1789) Elected vice president under John Adams (1797) Elected president (1801)

Abigail Adams:
Born: November 11, 1744
Died: October 28, 1818
Why she was famous (major accomplishments):

• Was the wife of John Adams

• She was also a talented letter writer.

  • Her letters were later published by her grandson in Letters of Mrs. Adams (1841) and Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams (1876).

Phyllis Wheatley:
Born: around 1753
Died: December 5, 1784
Why she was famous (major accomplishments):

• Was a slave that was taught to read and write

• Had her first poem published in the Newport Mercury (1767)

• Had a collection of poems published in London (1773)

• Wrote several poems to George Washington

  • He responded to one (1776)

Gilbert Stuart: Born: 1755 Died: 1828 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Was a famous portrait painter, sometimes referred to as the "Father of American Portraiture" Painted George Washington (1803-1805) Painted the Gibbs-Coolidge Set (1805) which is now the only remaining depiction of the first five presidents

Eli Whitney:
Born: December 8, 1765
Died: January 8, 1825
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Credited with the invention of the cotton gin (1793)
  
• Hired to produce 10,000 muskets for the U.S. army (1798)

Andrew Jackson: Born: March 15, 1767 Died: June 8, 1845 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Served as the judge advocate of the Davidson County militia (appointed 1791) Served as Tennessee’s delegate to the House of Representatives (1796) Was made a major general of the Tennessee militia (1802). Was made a major general of the United States Army (1814) Won the battle at New Orleans (1815) Seventh president of the United States

Asher Durand:
Born: 1796
Died: 1886
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Engraved the Declaration of Independence (1820 – 1823)
  
• Was involved in the organization of the New-York Drawing Association (1825) as well as the Sketch Club (1829)
  
• Was a well-known painter and sketcher or landscapes in the Hudson River School style
  
• Was considered the leader of American landscape painting

Sojourner Truth:
Born: 1797
Died: 1883

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was one of few African American women who preached at a Methodist camp (1827)
  
• Was an abolitionist speaker (late 1840s)
  
• Dictated her memoirs, titled The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, and had them published (1850)

Thomas Cole:
Born: 1801
Died: 1848

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was a well-known landscape artist of the Hudson River School
  
• His paintings included Falls of Kaaterskill (1826), The Departure (1837), and Genesee Scenery (1847)

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Born: 1803
Died: 1882
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Was a well-known transcendentalist author and lecturer.
  
• Wrote several essays including Nature (1836) and Self-Reliance (1841) and a few collections of essays including Essays (1841), Essays: Second Series (1844), and Representative Men (1850)
  
• Wrote numerous poems including “The Snow-Storm” (1834), “Concord Hymn” (1837), and “The Rhodora: On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?”
  
• Began “The Transcendental Club” (1836)
  
• Lectured at Harvard (1837 and 1838)

Fitz Hugh Lane:
Born: 1804
Died: 1865

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was a well-known painter in the Luminist school
  
• His works focused mainly on marine paintings both of nature and of harbors that showed a great deal of light.
  
• Was one of the first artists to use photography to aid his painting

Henry David Thoreau:
Born: 1817
Died: 1862

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was a well-known transcendentalist author.
  
• Wrote Walden (1854)
  
• Wrote essays including “Resistance to Civil Government,”
  “Slavery in Massachusetts,” and “A Plea for Captain John Brown” (1860)

John Kensett:
Born: 1816
Died: 1872

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was a well-known painter in the Luminist school
  
• Painted Mt. Washington from Sunset Hill (1850)

Frederick Douglass:
Born: 1818
Died: 1895
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Escaped from slavery (1838)
  
• Was a well-known orator, abolitionist, newspaper editor, and writer
  
• Became an agent of the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society (1841)
  Published three autobiographies: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855)
  
• Began publishing a newspaper called the North Star (1851)
  
• Met with President Lincoln to protest discrimination against African-American troops (1863)
  
• Became US marshal for the District of Columbia (1877)
  

Martin Heade:
Born: 1819
Died: 1904
Why he was famous (major accomplishments):

• Was a well-known artist in the Luminist style
  
• Exhibited his art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and at the National Academy of Design.
  
• Was most famous for his paintings of tropical birds and flowers and Eastern salt marsh landscapes

Ulysses S. Grant: Born: 1822 Died: 1885 Why he was famous (major accomplishments): Became brigadier general of volunteers (1861) Was promoted to major general of volunteers after defeating the Confederates at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson (1862) Was promoted to General-in Chief (1864) Wrote the terms of surrender for the Confederates at the end of the Civil War (1865) Became president of the United States (1868)

Sanford Gifford:
Born: 1823
Died: 1880

• Why he was famous (major accomplishments):
  
• Was a well-known landscape painter and sketcher in the Luminist style
  
• Exhibited his art at the Brooklyn Art Association and at the American Art Union
  
• Became a member of the National Academy of Design (1854)