Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee was one of the most widely recognized and respected figures of the American Civil War. A proud son of Virginia, he devoted his life to the service of his home state, even at the cost of breaking ties with the United States Army, where he had served with distinction for over three…
Read MoreAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln requires little introduction. Born in 1809 in Kentucky, he ascended from the obscurity of the frontier to the highest office in the land, navigating a path shaped by law, politics, and the sectional crisis of his time. As the 16th president of the United States, he bore the immense burden of leading the…
Read MoreJames Smith
“If the British administration should determine by force to effect a submission to the late arbitrary acts of the British Parliament, in such a situation, we hold it our indispensable duty to resist such force, and at every hazard to defend the rights and liberties of America.” So uttered James Smith at the Pennsylvania state…
Read MoreGeorge Clymer
In the fall of 1682, George Fitzwater and his family landed at New Castle, Delaware, after a two-month voyage across the Atlantic. They had joined William Penn and others aboard the ship Welcome, a small cargo vessel, 150 feet in length maximum. In cramped conditions, the roughly 100 future settlers of the Pennsylvania colony survived on salted…
Read MoreCaesar Rodney
Despite having much to be proud of, Caesar Rodney exhibited the most admirable of traits in service to his home state, Delaware, and the new nation he assisted in birthing—humility. His forbearing and patient qualities endeared him to his friends and his overall character of person is tainted not by even one recorded instance of…
Read MoreElizabeth Alexandra
Queen Elizabeth II had a strong Christian faith, evident throughout her life in her words and actions. As well as her formal role as ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’, which came with monarchy, her personal faith was evident even before she was crowned. ‘Pray for me … that…
Read MoreJohn Paul II
KAROL JÓZEF WOJTYŁA, elected Pope on 16 October 1978, was born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18 May 1920. He was the third of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska, who died in 1929. His elder brother Edmund, a physician, died in 1932, and his father, Karol, a non-commissioned officer in the army,…
Read MoreLillian Hunt Trasher
Lillian Hunt Trasher served as a Christian missionary in Assiout, Egypt, where she founded the country’s first orphanage; over a period of 50 years, she cared for approximately 10,000 needy children. Because of her contributions, she earned the nickname of “Mother” Thrasher. Lillian was born on September 27, 1887 in Jacksonville, Florida. She grew up…
Read MoreManasseh Cutler
Although he did not spend that much time in the state, Manasseh Cutler was a major figure in the settling of Ohio in the years after the American Revolution. Cutler was born on May 13, 1742, in Connecticut. Descended from a long line of clergymen, Cutler entered Yale to become an attorney and broke with…
Read MoreUlrich Zwingli
Other than Martin Luther, Heinrich Bullinger, and John Calvin, the most important early Reformer was Ulrich Zwingli. A first-generation Reformer, he is regarded as the founder of Swiss Protestantism. Furthermore, history remembers him as the first Reformed theologian. Though Calvin would later surpass Zwingli as a theologian, he would stand squarely on Zwingli’s broad shoulders. Less than…
Read More