Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 - June 21, 1893) was an American tycoon, politician and founder of Stanford University. He was born in Watervliet, New York, one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. Stanford's ancestors settled in the Mohawk Valley of New York around 1720. He attended Clifton Liberal Institute, in Clifton, New York, and studied law at Cazenovia Seminary in Cazenovia, New York and later in Albany. Wikipedia
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