Joseph V. Horn (1970 - 1941)

Businessman. The son of the owner of a surgical supply company, he grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and established a restaurant business. Advertizing for a partner, Horn met and hired  Frank Hardart in 1886. Hardart introduced the French-drip coffee that is generally credited with the firm’s early success, and additional restaurants were opened. In the […]

Joseph Wapner (1919 - 2017)

Joseph Albert Wapner was born on November 15, 1919, in Los Angeles to Jewish parents. His father, Max Wapner, an attorney, immigrated to California from Romania, while his mother, Fannie (née Friedman), was from Russia. He had a younger sister, Irene. Wapner attended Hollywood High School and dated actress Lana Turner once while in high […]

Joseph Ward (1838 - 1889)

US Statesman, Educator, Theologian. Joseph Ward received his theological training at Phillips Academy in Andover Massachusetts, Brown Universtity in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Andover Theological Seminary. Soon after finishing his schooling, he accepted a missionary church assignment, and formed the Congregational Church of Dakota in Yankton, South Dakota. Recognizing the need for formal learning […]

Joseph Wesley Harper (1801 - 1870)

Publisher. Along with his brothers James, Fletcher and John, he founded Harper and Brothers Publishing, which is today Harper Collins, the 5th largest publisher in the world.  Family links:  Children:  Elizabeth Harper Landon (1829 – 1888)* *Calculated relationship

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 […]

Joseph William Bettendorf (1864 - 1933)

Businessman. Co-founder, along with his brother, William, of the Bettendorf Axle Compnay, whose Bettendorf Truck revolutionized the railroad industry. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named for the Bettendorf brothers. (bio by: Dustin Oliver)  Family links:  Parents:  Michael Bettendorf (1836 – 1917)  Catherine Reck Bettendorf (1837 – 1926)  Spouse:  Elizabeth Ohl Bettendorf (1865 – 1941)* […]

Joseph William Moon (1850 - 1919)

Carriage and automobile manufacturer. A photographer by trade for 2 years, Joseph then bought and sold buggies before going into the livery business. He then organized the Moon Bros. Carriage Company, a wholesale manufacturer of carriages and later became the president of the Moon Motor Car Company. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)  Family links:  Parents:  Alva […]

Joseph Winchester Robinson (1846 - 1891)

Businessman, Founder.  In 1882, Robinson left Waltham, Massachusetts, where he had operated a dry goods business, for California, intending to develop orange groves in Riverside. Upon arrival he took an interest in the retail business in the small community of Los Angeles and sensing that the area would grow, and that the rough-and-tumble general stores […]

Joseph Wright Alsop (1910 - 1989)

Journalist. Educated at Harvard University, he has a newspaper journalism career that thirty-seven years, obtained a following beginning with his reportage of the 1934 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy with the “Flying Tigers”.  Known for being a powerbroker through his varied political connections, as well […]

Josephine Baker (1906 - 1975)

Josephine Baker Singer, entertainer. Easily the most successful Black woman of her time, Josephine was born Freda Carson into poverty in St. Louis, Missouri. Her ticket out was her comedic and dance abilities, which powered her rise to early American fame on Broadway. Tiring of performing in demeaning minstrel reviews, she jumped at the chance of a […]

Josephine Dillon (1884 - 1971)

Drama Coach,  Actress.  The first wife of  Clark Gable.  The daughter of prominent attorney  Henry Clay Dillon,  she was born in Denver and raised in Long Beach,  California.  After graduating from Stanford University in 1908,  she pursued an unremarkable stage career and then set up an acting studio in Portland,  Oregon,  in 1923.  There she […]

Josephine Dunn (1906 - 1983)

Josephine Dunn (May 1, 1906 – February 3, 1983) was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s. Born in New York City, Dunn began her career in Hollywood with a small role alongside Thelma Todd in the 1926 film Fascinating Youth. Dunn became associated with what would become known as the “Algonquin Round Table”, […]

Josephine Earp (1860 - 1944)

Josephine Earp (1860 – December 19, 1944) was the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp, a famed Old West lawman and gambler. She met Wyatt in 1881 in the frontier boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, when she was living with Johnny Behan, sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. Josephine was born in New York to a Prussian […]

Josephine Hill (1899 - 1989)

Actress. She began her career as a member of Gus Edwards’ legendary vaudeville troupe and appeared in a 107 films between 1917 to 1933. Her major genres were action westerns and she was regarded as one of the best horsewomen in the film business. Among her credits are “The Voice on the Wire” (1917), “The […]

Josephine Hull (1877 - 1957)

Josephine Hull was born January 3, 1877 as Mary Josephine Sherwood in Newtonville, Massachusetts, one of four children born to William H. Sherwood and Mary Elizabeth (“Minnie”) Tewkesbury; but would later shave years off her true age. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music and Radcliffe College, both in the Boston area. Josephine Hull made […]

Josephine Hutchinson (1903 - 1998)

She was born in Seattle, Washington. Her mother, Leona Roberts, was an actress best known for her role as “Mrs. Meade” in Gone with the Wind. Through her mother’s connections, Hutchinson made her film debut at the age of thirteen in The Little Princess, starring Mary Pickford. She later attended the Cornish School of Music […]

Josephine Powell (1919 - 2007)

Josephine Powell was born in New York City. Powell attended Cornell University, where she earned a BA in 1941. She also attended the New York School for Social Work at Columbia University where she received her Master’s degree in 1945. After her graduation, Powell left the United States to start working for the International Refugee […]

Josephine Premice (1926 - 2001)

Josephine Premice was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Thelomaine and Lucas Premice. Her parents were part of the Haitian aristocracy who fled Haiti after her father, Lucas Premice, who allegedly had claim to the title Count de Brodequin, was part of a failed rebellion to try to overthrow the dictator of the […]

Josette Day (1914 - 1978)

Josette Day (Paris, July 31, 1914 – Paris, June 27, 1978) was a French film actress. Born Josette Noëlle Andrée Claire Dagory, she began her career as an actress in 1919 at the age of five. Day was married in 1941 to famous French writer and director Marcel Pagnol, whom she met in January 1939. In 1946, […]

Josh Gibson (1911 - 1947)

The Negro leagues generally found it more profitable to schedule relatively few league games and allow the teams to earn extra money through barnstorming against semi-professional and other non-league teams. Thus, it is important to distinguish between records against all competition and records in league games only. For example, against all levels of competition Josh […]

Josh Ryan Evans (1982 - 2002)

Motion picture and television actor. His most prominent role was in the NBC soap opera, “Passions.” He also played a young grinch in Hollywood’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” (2000). He won two Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Male Scene. Josh Ryan Evans appeared on the TV Series “Ally McBeal,” “Poltergeist: The Legacy,” “7th […]

Joshua Chamberlain (1828 - 1914)

Joshua Chamberlain (born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914)was an American college professor from the State of Maine, who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general (and brevet major general). He is […]

Joshua Henry Jones (1856 - 1934)

President, Wilberforce University 1900-1908.

Joshua Lionel Cowen (1887 - 1965)

Inventor, Toy Train Manufacturer, Businessman. Born Joshua Lionel Cohen, he was the co-founder of the Lionel Manufacturing Company along with Harry C. Grant. The company later known as the Lionel Corporation, became one of America’s greatest commercial and marketing successes of the mid 20th century, as a leader and producer of electric toy trains. Over […]

Joshua Logan (1908 - 1988)

Joshua Logan began his Broadway career as an actor in Carry Nation in 1932. He then spent time in London, where he “stag[ed] two productions … and direct[ed] a touring revival of Camille”. He also worked as an assistant stage manager. After a short time in Hollywood, Logan directed On Borrowed Time on Broadway. The […]

Josiah Conder (1852 - 1920)

Architect. Originally from England, Conder was invited to Japan in 1977 to teach architecture. He trained most of the major Japanese architects of the Meiji era and designed buildings that included the Tokyo Imperial Museum, the Rokumeikan and the St. Nikolai Cathedral. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Josiah Conder (1852 - 1920)

Architect. Originally from England, Conder was invited to Japan in 1977 to teach architecture. He trained most of the major Japanese architects of the Meiji era and designed buildings that included the Tokyo Imperial Museum, the Rokumeikan and the St. Nikolai Cathedral. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Josiah Winslow (1629 - 1680)

Governor of Plymouth Colony. The son of Mayflower Pilgrim and Governor Edward Winslow, Josiah was educated at Harvard. In 1656 he succeeded Myles Standish as commander of the colony’s military forces. Winslow was Plymouth’s assistant governor from 1657 to 1673, and Plymouth’s Commissioner to the New England Confederation from 1658 to 1672. He became governor […]

Josie Arlington (1970 - 1914)

Folk Figure. New Orleans madam whose crypt was once believed to be haunted; it was rumored that the statue of the woman in front of the tomb would come to life and walk the cemetery grounds at night.  It was later discovered that a street light reflecting off the tomb gave it a reddish glow, […]

Josie Over (1942 - 1992)

Actress. Born in Long Beach, California, she moved to Oahu, Hawaii, in 1962 and soon was dancing in the Polynesian dance troop performing at The International Marketplace. Her skill at dancing, especially Tahitian, developed to the point of her winning Tahitian dancing contests and she even appeared on the cover of the Hawaiian Telephone Directory. […]