Labat, Jean Baptiste a French Roman Catholic missionary, was born at Paris in 1663. He joined the Dominicans in April, 1685, went as professor of philosophy to Nancy in 1687, and afterwards devoted himself exclusively to preaching. He landed at La Martinique Jan. 29, 1694, and was immediately put in charge of the mission at Macouba. While attending to his ecclesiastical duties, he made himself very useful in the colony as engineer, agriculturist, and even as diplomatic agent, and rendered great service against the English when they attempted taking the island in 1703. Most of his colleagues having died of yellow fever and other diseases brought on by the climate, he returned to Europe to seek for others, and arrived at Cadiz Oct. 9, 1705. He intended returning soon to the West Indies, but was sent to Rome by his superiors, and was retained there until 1709; he afterwards remained at Civita Vecchia until 1716, and finally returned to Paris, where he died, Jan. 6, 1738. He wrote Nouveau Voyage aux Iles de l'Amerique (Paris, 1722, 6 vols. 12mo; La Haye, 1724, 6 vols. 12mo; 1738, 2 vols. 4to; 2d ed. Paris, 1742, 8 vols. 12mo; transl. into Dutch, Amsterd. 1725. 4 vols. 12mo; German, Nuremb. 1783-87, 6 vols. 8vo), and some other historical and miscellaneous works. See Journal des Savants, Oct., Nov., and Dec. 1730; Echard, Script. ord. S. Domin. ii, 806; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 28:333.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More