1847 in the United States

::Robert Charles Winthrop (W-Massachusetts) (starting December 6) - Congress: [29th](29th-united-states-congress) (until March 4), [30th](30th-united-states-congress) (starting March 4) #### State governments ::data[format=table] | Governors and lieutenant governors | |---| | | :: ## 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 - May 7 – The American Medical Association (AMA) is founded in Philadelphia. - June 1 – Zeta Psi fraternity of North America is founded at New York University. - June 10 – The *Chicago Tribune* begins publication. ### July–September - July 1 – The United States issues its first postage stamps, featuring George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. - July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City. - July 29 – The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States. - August 12 – U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Lake Chalco and Lake Xochimilco in Mexico - August 20 – U.S. troops defeat Mexican troops in Valencia, Mexico ### October–December - October 31 – Theta Delta Chi is founded as a social fraternity at Union College, Schenectady, New York. - November 29 – The Whitman massacre: Oregon missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and eleven others are killed in the Oregon Country by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, starting the Cayuse War. ### Undated - The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town. - The candy Necco Wafers are first produced as "hub wafers" in New England, an origin of the candy industry. - Hardware business Orgill is established in Memphis, Tennessee. ### Ongoing - Mexican–American War (1846–1848) ## Births - January 11 - Alpheus Michael Bowman, politician and businessman (died [1913](1913-in-the-united-states)) - Marion McKinley Bovard, academic administrator, 1st president of the University of Southern California (died [1891](1891-in-the-united-states)) - January 16 – John Cutting Berry, physician and missionary (died [1936](1936-in-the-united-states)) - January 23 – Elijah Bond, lawyer and inventor (died [1921](1921-in-the-united-states)) - January 28 – William V. Allen, United States Senator from Nebraska from 1893 till 1899. (died [1924](1924-in-the-united-states)) - February 2 – Charles H. Baker, politician (died [1919](1919-in-the-united-states)) - February 11 – Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman (died [1931](1931-in-the-united-states)) - February 26 – William A. B. Branch, politician (died [1910](1910-in-the-united-states)) - March 2 – Blanche Butler Ames, First Lady of Mississippi (d. [1939](1939-in-the-united-states)) - March 13 – Francis S. White, United States Senator from Alabama from 1914 till 1915. (died [1922](1922-in-the-united-states)) - March 18 – William O'Connell Bradley, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1895 till 1899. (died [1914](1914-in-the-united-states)) - March 21 – Oscar Bielaski, Major League Baseball player (died [1911](1911-in-the-united-states)) - March 27 – Warren Ives Bradley, children's author (died [1868](1868-in-the-united-states)) - March 29 – John D. Works, United States Senator from California from 1911 till 1917. (died [1928](1928-in-the-united-states)) - April 13 – J. Thompson Baker, politician from New Jersey (died [1919](1919-in-the-united-states)) - May 25 – John Green Brady, 5th Governor of the District of Alaska from 1897 till 1906 (d. [1918](1918-in-the-united-states)) - June 8 – Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States, (died [1907](1907-in-the-united-states)) - June 26 – Daniel V. Asay, iceboat racer (died [1930](1930-in-the-united-states)) - June 29 – Brother Azarias, educator (d. [1893](1893-in-the-united-states)) - July 4 – James Anthony Bailey, circus ringmaster (d. [1906](1906-in-the-united-states)) - July 19 – Oliver Ernesto Branch, politician (d. [1916](1916-in-the-united-states)) - August 12 – William Rankin Ballard, businessman (d. [1929](1929-in-the-united-states)) - September 5 – Jesse James, American outlaw, guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from Missouri. (died [1882](1882-in-the-united-states)) - September 10 – Franklin Bartlett, politician (died [1909](1909-in-the-united-states)) - September 11 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (died [1921](1921-in-the-united-states)) - September 23 – Victoria Woodhull, American leader of the woman's suffrage movement (died [1927](1927-in-the-united-states)) - September 30 – James Taliaferro, United States Senator from Florida from 1899 till 1911. (died [1934](1934-in-the-united-states)) - October 18 – Emma Elizabeth Brown, author and artist (unknown year of death) - October 23 – Gottfried Blocklinger, admiral (died [1930](1930-in-the-united-states)) - October 31 – Wendell P. Bowman, army major general (died [1928](1928-in-the-united-states)) - November 7 – Melvin O. Adams, attorney and railroad executive (died [1920](1920-in-the-united-states)) - November 10 – Frederick Arthur Bridgman, artist (died [1928](1928-in-the-united-states)) - November 23 – Joseph Ackroyd, politician, member of the New York State Senate (died [1915](1915-in-the-united-states)) - December 21 – Fletcher S. Bassett, founder of the Chicago Folk-Lore Society (died [1893](1893-in-the-united-states)) - December 30 – John Peter Altgeld, 20th governor of Illinois (died [1902](1902-in-the-united-states)) - December 31 – Wilson S. Bissell, politician, United States Postmaster General (died [1903](1903-in-the-united-states)) ## Deaths - January 19 – Charles Bent, first civilian governor of the New Mexico territory (born [1799](1799-in-the-united-states)) - January 30 – Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, wife of Edgar Allan Poe (born [1822](1822-in-the-united-states)) - May 1 – Jesse Speight, United States Senator from Mississippi (1845–1847) (born [1795](1795-in-the-united-states)) - July 22 – Henry W. Edwards, United States Senator from Connecticut (1823–1838) (born [1779](1779-in-the-united-states)) - August 6 – Henry M. Ridgely, United States Senator from Delaware (1827–1829) (born 1779) - November 1 – Jabez W. Huntington, United States Senator from Connecticut (1840 –1847) (born [1788](1788-in-the-united-states)) - November 29 – Narcissa Whitman, pioneer missionary (born [1808](1808-in-the-united-states)) ## References ## References 1. McHenry, Robert. (1980). "Liberty's Women". *G. & C. 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