Mary Towne Easty (1634 - 1692)

Convicted of practicing witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. There are twenty benches in the memorial, one for each of the victims actively put to death (not counting those who died in prison).  Family links:  Parents:  William Towne (1598 – 1673)  Joanna Blessing Towne (1594 – 1682)  Spouse:  Isaac Esty (1627 – 1712)  Children:  Joseph […]

Claude Duval (1970 - 1670)

Outlaw. A famed Highwayman, he was born in Normandy, France, and came to England under the service of the Duke of Richmond, soon becoming a highway thief. He is as notorious for his daring robberies as he is for his gallantry. He is said to have held up a coach in which a lady and […]

Montague John “M.J.” Druitt (1857 - 1888)

Folk Figure. A lawyer, avid sportsman including a talented cricket player, and a private teacher, Druitt was one of the many persons to be suspected to be killer ‘Jack The Ripper.’ The killer terrrorized the Whitechapel area of London, England, in 1888, murdering street prostitutes. The killer was known to have murdered 5 victims and […]

Bill Doolin (1970 - 1896)

Outlaw. The exact date of his birth has been lost over time and the date of his death, while not a true controversy, is listed as August 25th as often as August 24th, but the year is definitely 1896. At the age of 23, he left his sharecropping family in Arkansas and moved to the […]

Thomas “The Black Donnellys” Donnelly (1854 - 1880)

Members of a mystery-shrouded family known as the ‘Black Donnellys’ and believed, in Canadian folklore, to have been been the source of ‘bad luck’ that befell the town of Lucan, Ontario. The family feuded with townfolk for 33 years before one fateful night when their homestead was burned to the ground, taking many members of […]

(1970 - 1970)

Members of a mystery-shrouded family known as the ‘Black Donnellys’ and believed, in Canadian folklore, to have been been the source of ‘bad luck’ that befell the town of Lucan, Ontario. The family feuded with townfolk for 33 years before one fateful night when their homestead was burned to the ground, taking many members of […]

Bridget “The Black Donnellys” Donnelly (1858 - 1880)

Members of a mystery-shrouded family known as the ‘Black Donnellys’ and believed, in Canadian folklore, to have been been the source of ‘bad luck’ that befell the town of Lucan, Ontario. The family feuded with townfolk for 33 years before one fateful night when their homestead was burned to the ground, taking many members of […]

Edward Laurence “Ned” Doheny, Jr (1893 - 1929)

Businessman.  Son of oil tycoon  Edward L. Doheny.  He has been called “The Bagman of Teapot Dome” for his role in the 1920s political controversy,  but is chiefly remembered today for his mysterious demise.  Doheny was born in Los Angeles.  His parents divorced when he was six and his mother committed suicide in 1901 after […]

David Owen Dodd (1846 - 1864)

Civil War Confederate Folk Figure. He was known as the “Boy Martyr of the Confederacy”. A native of Lavaca County, Texas, he relocated with his family to Arkansas during his formative years. At the commencement of the Civil War in 1861, the Dodd family was settled in Little Rock where young David was in studies […]

Jeane Dixon (1904 - 1997)

Folk Figure. She gained fame for alledged psychic abilities. Some of her most famous predictions were the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, and that Ronald Reagan would one day be President of the United States. She also wrote a series of books, including “My Life and Prophecies” in 1968; “Reincarnation […]

John Herbert Dillinger (1903 - 1934)

John Dillinger Career Criminal. John Dillinger was made an outlaw hero during the depths of the Depression by Americans mired in financial ruin, loss of hope and simply frustrated by desperation brought on by the times.  He was hardly a “Robin Hood” figure envisioned by the public.  John was a cold-blooded killer.  In one year, […]

Thomas DeSimone (1950 - 1979)

Mobster. DeSimone worked under mob boss Paul Vario, and was a friend and associate of Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill, of “Goodfellas” fame. He was portrayed in the movie (as Tommy DeVito) by Joe Pesci. DeSimone was involved in various criminal activities, including the infamous Lufthansa heist in December 1978. He disappeared the week after […]

Albert Henry DeSalvo (1931 - 1973)

Serial Killer.  Known as the “Boston Strangler” for at least 11 murders of women around the Boston area.  He often tied a bow from the strangling cord around the woman’s neck as a “signature.”  He was also called “The Measuring Man” and “The Green Man” by the media for his numerous rapes, said to number […]

Roy Albert DeMeo (1942 - 1983)

Organized Crime Figure. A member of the Gambino crime family, he was a loanshark, car thief, and killer who operated out of the Gemini Lounge in Flatlands, Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Beginning in the mid 1970s, he started dealing drugs and retagging stolen automobiles, accompanied by several neighborhood youths. He then became perhaps […]

Gratton Hanley “Grat” Dalton (1861 - 1892)

Outlaw.  Son of Lewis and Adeline Dalton, he was born near Lawrence, Kansas.  He had a brief career as a lawman.  While working as a deputy U.S. marshal, he got a bullet wound in his arm while attempting to arrest a suspect.  He soon got a bad reputation as a lawman, and he decided to […]

Emma Hart Willard (1787 - 1870)

Educator, Social Reformer. A pioneer in Women’s Rights and Education, she founded the first College for women, starting in Vermont, later moving it to Troy, New York. The educational standards she introduced influenced many educators to improve their school’s curriculum and started the movement to establish co-educational institutions. (bio by: Russ Dodge)  Family links:  Spouse: […]

Dr Wendell Phillips Whalum, Sr (1931 - 1987)

Leopold Zunz (1794 - 1886)

Scholar and writer who formed with friends, (including Abraham Geiger, qv), the ‘Society for the Science of Judaism’, one of the first attempts to study Judaism in the light of modern history and sociology and a forerunner of the Reform movement. (bio by: David Conway)

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917 - 2008)

Transcendental Meditation founder and developer. He originated the meditation technique and related programs and initiatives, including schools and a university with campuses in the United States and China. Born in India, with various years given for his birth: most frequently 1911, 1917, and 1918, and some sources state he was born on January 12 but […]

Gakkai Yoda (1970 - 1970)

Scholar of classical Chinese. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Tetsu Yasui (1970 - 1970)

Educator. As president of Tokyo Women’s Christian University, Yasui became the first woman in Japan to serve in such a capacity. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Tadao Yanaihara (1893 - 1961)

Tadao Yanaihara was a Japanese economist, educator and Christian pacifist. The first director of Shakai Kagaku Kenkyūjo (Institute of Social Science or Shaken) at the University of Tokyo, he studied at Toynbee Hall and School of Economics and Political Science (London School of Economics). Born in Ehime Prefecture, Yanaihara became a Christian under the influence […]

Elihu Yale (1649 - 1721)

Namesake and benefactor of Yale University.

Benjamin Fletcher Wright (1900 - 1976)

Educator, authority on constitutional law. He was the fifth president of Smith College (1949-1959), faculty member of University of Texas (1922-1926, 1960-1975) and Harvard University (1928-1949). He was chairman of Harvard government department (1942-1946) and committee on general education (1946-1949)He was a member of Harvard committee that prepared report “General Education In A Free Society” […]

Emma Willard (1787 - 1870)

In 1807, Emma Willard left Berlin and briefly worked in Westfield, Massachusetts, before accepting a job offer at a female academy in Middlebury, Vermont. She held the position of principal at the Middlebury Female Seminary from 1807 to 1809. However, she was unimpressed by the material taught there and opened a boarding school for women […]

Andrew Dickson White (1832 - 1918)

Educator / Ambassador.  He graduated from Yale University in 1853. He then spent three years in Europe studying, then returned to the University Of Michigan where he was a professor of History and English Literature.  He was the co-founder and 1st president of Cornell University – 1865-1885.  While at Cornell, White took leave to serve […]

Howard Primrose Whidden (1871 - 1952)

Longest serving Chancellor (now called President) of McMaster University of Toronto when he began his term (1923) and Hamilton, Ontario at the end of his term (1941). He was a Baptist minister, writer, educator, editor, politician (MP, Brandon, Manitoba, Unionist party 1917). His son, Howard Primrose Whidden became senior editor of Business Week magazine. Cause […]

Joe Ben Wheat (1916 - 1997)

Scholar and Author. Curator of Anthropology Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder (tenure: 1953-1986). Also served during the same time period as Assistant Professor of Natural History at the University of Colorado Museum. Wheat contributed to Mogollon and Anasazi, Plains Paleo-indian, and African Paleolithic archaeology. Also made contributions to the study of Southwestern […]

Joseph Wharton (1826 - 1909)

When he was 19, Joseph Wharton apprenticed with an accountant for two years and became proficient in business methods and bookkeeping. At 21, he partnered with his older brother Rodman to start a business manufacturing white lead. Wharton’s chemistry mentor, Martin Boye, had developed a method to refine cottonseed oil and the Wharton brothers tried […]

Dr Wendell Phillips Whalum, Sr (1931 - 1987)