1847 in the United States explained
Events from the year 1847 in the United States.
Incumbents
John Wesley Davis (D-Indiana) (until March 4)
Robert Charles Winthrop (W-Massachusetts) (starting December 6)
Events
January–March
- January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol, the Colt Walker, to the U.S. government for the Texas Rangers.
- January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.
- January 16 – John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
- January 17 – Saint Anthony Hall is founded at Columbia University in New York City.
- January 30 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.
- February 5 – A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party. These California bound emigrants became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and some have resorted to cannibalism to survive.
- February 22 – Mexican–American War – The Battle of Buena Vista: 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.
- March 1 – The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.
- March 9 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz in the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by U.S. military forces.
- March 28 – The Massachusetts Donation of 1847 for Ireland sails from Boston on USS Jamestown.
- March 29 – Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
April–June
July–September
October–December
Undated
Ongoing
Births
-
- January 16 - John Cutting Berry, physician and missionary (died 1936)
- January 23 - Elijah Bond, lawyer and inventor (died 1921)
- January 28 - William V. Allen, United States Senator from Nebraska from 1893 till 1899. (died 1924)
- February 2 - Charles H. Baker, politician (died 1919)
- February 11 - Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman (died 1931)
- February 26 - William A. B. Branch, politician (died 1910)
- March 2 - Blanche Butler Ames, First Lady of Mississippi (d. 1939)
- March 13 - Francis S. White, United States Senator from Alabama from 1914 till 1915. (died 1922)
- March 18 - William O'Connell Bradley, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1895 till 1899. (died 1914)
- March 21 - Oscar Bielaski, Major League Baseball player (died 1911)
- March 27 - Warren Ives Bradley, children's author (died 1868)
- March 29 - John D. Works, United States Senator from California from 1911 till 1917. (died 1928)
- April 13 - J. Thompson Baker, politician from New Jersey (died 1919)
- May 25 - John Green Brady, 5th Governor of the District of Alaska from 1897 till 1906 (d. 1918)
- June 8 - Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States, (died 1907)
- June 26 - Daniel V. Asay, iceboat racer (died 1930)
- June 29 - Brother Azarias, educator (d. 1893)
- July 4 - James Anthony Bailey, circus ringmaster (d. 1906)
- July 19 - Oliver Ernesto Branch, politician (d. 1916)
- August 12 - William Rankin Ballard, businessman (d. 1929)
- September 5 - Jesse James, American outlaw, guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from Missouri. (died 1882)
- September 10 - Franklin Bartlett, politician (died 1909)
- September 11 - Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (died 1921)[1]
- September 23 - Victoria Woodhull, American leader of the woman's suffrage movement (died 1927)
- September 30 - James Taliaferro, United States Senator from Florida from 1899 till 1911. (died 1934)
- October 18 - Emma Elizabeth Brown, author and artist (unknown year of death)
- October 23 - Gottfried Blocklinger, admiral (died 1930)
- October 31 - Wendell P. Bowman, army major general (died 1928)
- November 7 - Melvin O. Adams, attorney and railroad executive (died 1920)
- November 10 - Frederick Arthur Bridgman, artist (died 1928)
- November 23 - Joseph Ackroyd, politician, member of the New York State Senate (died 1915)
- December 21 - Fletcher S. Bassett, founder of the Chicago Folk-Lore Society (died 1893)
- December 30 - John Peter Altgeld, 20th governor of Illinois (died 1902)
- December 31 - Wilson S. Bissell, politician, United States Postmaster General (died 1903)
Deaths
See also
Notes and References
- Book: McHenry, Robert. Liberty's Women. Springfield. G. & C. Merriam. 1980. 442. 978-0-87779-064-8.
