William Herbert Prescott
M, b. Oct 2, 1857, #5722
William Hickling Prescott1
M, b. May 4, 1796, d. Jan 28, 1859, #182
Family |
Susan Amory b. Oct 8, 1802, d. Oct 18, 1869 |
Children |
1. |
Catherine Hickling Prescott b. Sep 23, 1824, d. Feb 1, 1829 |
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2. |
William Gardner Prescott+ b. Jan 27, 1826, d. after 1863 |
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3. |
Elizabeth Prescott b. Jul 27, 1828 |
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4. |
William Amory Prescott b. Jan 25, 1830, d. Mar 13, 1867 |
Citations |
- Was tutored in Latin and Greek by the rector of Trinity Church in Boston and entered Harvard in 1811. In a bizarre accident, Prescott was blinded in the left eye by a crust of bread thrown in a dining-hall fracas. He abandoned plans to study law but went on to graduate in 1814 having earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
While traveling abroad the following year Prescott temporarily lost the sight in his right eye. With his vision permanently impaired, he aspired to the life of a gentleman-scholar. Prescott launched a career as a man of letters in 1821 with an essay on Byron that appeared in the North American Review. Over the next two decades he contributed regularly to the prestigious Boston literary journal. His most important articles and reviews, including seminal pieces on the theory and practice of historical composition, were later collected in Biographical and Critical Miscellanies (1845) and Critical and Historical Essays (1850). Under the influence of George Ticknor, a friend and mentor who taught European literature at Harvard, Prescott began learning Spanish in 1824. Engrossed by the history of Spain, he committed himself to tracing its development into a world power. Employing secretaries to read him manuscripts sent from Spanish archives, Prescott set about writing a work of sound scholarship that would also interest a general audience. A phenomenal memory allowed him to compose whole chapters in his mind during morning horseback rides. Later he recorded them on paper using a noctograph, a special stylus for the blind. More than a decade later he finished The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837), which enjoyed tremendous critical and popular success on both sides of the Atlantic. Prescott's fame gained him entry into Spanish intellectual circles, greatly facilitating research on his next book, History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843), a sweeping account of Cortés's subjugation of the Aztec people. Prescott devoted his final years to chronicling the decline of the Spanish empire. He published The Life of Charles the Fifth after His Abdication (1856), a continuation of William Robertson's The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles the Fifth (1769), but only managed to finish the first three volumes of The History of the Reign of Philip the Second (1855-58). William H. Prescott died of a stroke at his home in Boston on January 29, 1859. What is Prescott's influence among modern-day historians? It varies. "Prescott has come to be thought of as a Romantic historian, more devoted to highly colored, dramatic narrative than to careful analysis of the economic, social, and political life of his period," writes Harvard Magazine. But Prescott's books would hardly have survived if they amounted to no more than scene-painting. Indeed, the most striking thing about them today is their scrupulous historiography. Prescott invents nothing. His accounts of the old Spanish authors who were his sources, his effort always to weigh the evidence, and the measured, judicious tone this gives to his writing, are the most characteristic qualities of his books. However readers in different eras react to Prescott's characteristic blend of sober history and entertaining story, the place of his books among the American classics is secure. Prescott's "Conquests" are among the most widely read histories in the English language. Prescott certainly deserves to be celebrated as one of the principal figures in America's first great literary generation, and a great chronicler of Spanish history.
Sources: Random House Books author biography; Harvard Magazine (Winter 1996).
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William Hill Prescott
M, b. Aug 4, 1830, #2612
William Hiram Prescott
M, b. Dec, 1841, #2613
William Hiram Prescott1
M, b. May 16, 1822, d. Nov 16, 1844, #2614
Birth* |
May 16, 1822 |
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Death* |
Nov 16, 1844 |
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Citations |
- Note: son of Enos & Hannah Prescott; age 22y 6m Burial:
Old North Pembroke Cemetery Merrimack County New Hampshire, USA.
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William Joseph Prescott
M, b. Jul 27, 1868, d. Dec 30, 1920, #753
Family |
Wilemena A. Bittel b. Aug 31, 1864, d. Dec 28, 1922 |
Children |
1. |
Florence Bell Prescott b. Aug 20, 1894, d. circa Oct, 1970 |
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2. |
Ruth Annette Prescott b. Mar 27, 1899, d. Oct 30, 1925 |
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3. |
William Joseph Prescott b. Jul 6, 1903, d. Jun 11, 1958 |
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4. |
Adelaide Josephine Prescott b. Dec 29, 1905, d. circa 1930 |
William Joseph Prescott
M, b. Jul 6, 1903, d. Jun 11, 1958, #754
William Joseph Prescott
M, b. Jan 23, 1853, d. Jun 3, 1856, #5723
William Prescott Jr.1
M, b. Oct 19, 1762, d. Dec 8, 1844, #183
Family |
Catherine Greene Hickling b. Aug 1, 1767, d. May 17, 1852 |
Children |
1. |
William Hickling Prescott+ b. May 4, 1796, d. Jan 28, 1859 |
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2. |
Catherine Elzabeth Prescott b. Nov 12, 1799, d. Nov 13, 1901 |
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3. |
Edward Gordon Prescott b. Jan 2, 1804, d. Apr 11, 1844 |
Citations |
- A highly respected judge and philanthropist.
- [S1] Personal knowledge of Richard Prescott Bale, 12 Mar 2005, Comanded at Bunker Hill.
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William Prescott Knight of Driby
M, b. Dec 15, 1605, #7125