Birney
Birney names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Birney WILLIAM, an American lawyer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
WILLIAM, an American lawyer, born in Madison co., Ala., May 28, 1819; was educated in Paris; took part in the Revolution of 1848; and was appointed, on public competition, Professor of English Literature in the College at Bourges, France. In 1861 he entered the United States army as a private, and was promoted through all the grades to brevet Major-General. In 1863-1865 he commanded a division. He was attorney for the District of Columbia, and after 1874 practiced law in Washington. He wrote "Life and Times of James G. Birney," "Plea for Civil and Religious Liberty," etc. He died Aug. 14, 1907.
Birney DAVID BELL, an American military officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DAVID BELL, an American military officer, born in Huntsville, Ala., May 29, 1825; son of James Gil lespie Birney; studied law in Cincinnati, and, in 1848, began practice in Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Union army; in the summer of 1861 was commissioned Colonel of the 23d Pennsylvania Volunteers; and was promoted Major-General, May 23, 1863. He distinguished himself in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and 'Gettysburg. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 18, 1864.
Birney JAMES GILLESPIE, an American statesman and publicist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JAMES GILLESPIE, an American statesman and publicist, born at Danville, Ky., Feb. 4, 1792. Though a Southern planter, he emancipated his slaves and became a prominent antislavery leader in the South, proprietor and editor of the anti-slavery journal, "The Philanthropist," etc. He was candidate of the Liberty Party for President in 1840 and 1844. He wrote "Ten Letters on Slavery and Colonization," "Addresses and Speeches," "American Churches the Bulwark of American Slavery." He died at Perth Amboy, N. J., Nov. 25, 1857.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The dates and offices Collier's gave in 1921 still stand, but the emphasis has shifted sharply. Collier's tells you William Birney rose "from a private to brevet Major-General" without mentioning what he is now best known for: raising seven regiments of United States Colored Troops in Maryland in 1863, including men he freed from Baltimore's slave pens. James Gillespie Birney, filed here as a "statesman and publicist" whose 1840 and 1844 Liberty Party runs are noted in passing, is now argued over mainly for the 1844 result in New York, where his few thousand votes are widely held to have cost Henry Clay the presidency and put Polk in the White House. The mob destruction of his Cincinnati press, The Philanthropist, in 1836 has likewise become a standard episode in histories of free speech and abolition.
Written for this edition, 2026.