1857 in the United States

::James Buchanan (D-Pennsylvania) (starting March 4) - Vice President: ::*vacant* (until March 4) ::John C. Breckinridge (D-Kentucky) (starting March 4) - Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland) - Speaker of the House of Representatives: ::Nathaniel P. Banks (American-Massachusetts) (until March 4) ::James Lawrence Orr (D-South Carolina) (starting December 7) - Congress: [34th](34th-united-states-congress) (until March 4), [35th](35th-united-states-congress) (starting March 4) #### State governments ::data[format=table] | Governors and lieutenant governors | |---| | | :: ## Events ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/JamesBuchanan_crop.jpg" caption="March 4: [[James Buchanan]] becomes the 15th U.S. president"] :: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/John_C_Breckinridge-04775-restored.jpg" caption="[[John C. Breckinridge]] becomes the 14th U.S. vice president"] :: - January 9 – The 7.9 [Fort Tejon earthquake](1857-fort-tejon-earthquake) affects Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (*Violent*). - February 3 – The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, D.C., becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf. - March 4 – James Buchanan is sworn in as the 15th president of the United States, and John C. Breckinridge is sworn in as the 14th vice president. - March 6 – *Dred Scott v. Sanford*: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Blacks are not citizens and slaves cannot sue for freedom, driving the country further towards the American Civil War (the ruling is not overturned until the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868). - March 12 – Elizabeth Blackwell opens a hospital, the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. - May 25 – Flying Eagle cent released for circulation. - May 26 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners. - July 18 – The Utah Expedition leaves Fort Leavenworth, effectively beginning the Utah War. - August 24 – Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company suspends payments, leading to the Panic of 1857. - September 11 – Mountain Meadows massacre in Utah. - September 12 – The sinks off the coast of North Carolina, killing 425 people and sending large quantities of gold to the bottom. - October 1 – Eviction of last residents of Seneca Village to make way for New York City's Central Park is completed. - October 13 – Panic of 1857: New York banks close and do not reopen until December 12. This has an impact in Europe also. ### Undated - The seat of government of Iowa is moved from Iowa City to modern-day Des Moines. - The Mormons abandon the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada. - Maryland politician William Daniel proposes the Local Option for prohibition. ### Ongoing - Bleeding Kansas (1854–1860) - Third Seminole War (1855–1858) - Utah War (1857–1858) ## Births ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/William_Howard_Taft.jpg" caption="[[William Howard Taft"] :: - January 6 – Milward Adams, orchestra and theatre manager born in Lexington, Kentucky.(died [1923](1923-in-the-united-states)) - January 11 – William Gentles, U.S. Army private, known for killing Crazy Horse (died [1878](1878-in-the-united-states)) - February 1 – Lucy Wheelock, early childhood education pioneer within the kindergarten movement (died [1946](1946-in-the-united-states)) - February 7 – Benjamin Eli Smith, editor of reference books (died [1913](1913-in-the-united-states)) - February 13 – Almanzo Wilder, writer (died [1949](1949-in-the-united-states)) - March 6 – George Dayton, businessman, founder of Target Corporation (died [1938](1938-in-the-united-states)) - March 7 – Genevieve Stebbins, performer of the Delsarte system of expression (died [1934](1934-in-the-united-states)) - March 20 – Benjamin F. Shively, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1909 to 1916 (died [1916](1916-in-the-united-states)) - March 21 - Charles Ellis Johnson, photographer (died [1926](1926-in-the-united-states)) - Hunter Liggett, general (died [1935](1935-in-the-united-states)) - April 22 – Paul Dresser, songwriter (died [1906](1906-in-the-united-states)) - May 17 – Mary Devens, pictorial photographer (died [1920](1920-in-the-united-states)) - May 19 – John Jacob Abel, pharmacologist (died [1938](1938-in-the-united-states)) - June 8 – Lawrence Marston, actor, playwright and film director (died [1939](1939-in-the-united-states)) - June 10 – Caroline Louise Dudley (Mrs. Leslie Carter), stage actress (died [1937](1937-in-the-united-states)) - June 20 – Mary Gage Day, physician (died [1935](1935-in-the-united-states)) - July 1 – Martha Hughes Cannon, politician (died [1932](1932-in-the-united-states)) - July 30 - Lucy Bacon, California Impressionist painter (died [1932](1932-in-the-united-states)) - Thorstein Veblen, economist (died [1929](1929-in-the-united-states)) - August 8 – Henry Fairfield Osborn, geologist, paleontologist and eugenist (died [1935](1935-in-the-united-states)) - September 13 – Milton S. Hershey, chocolate manufacturer (died [1945](1945-in-the-united-states)) - September 14 – Julia Platt, embryologist and politician (died [1935](1935-in-the-united-states)) - September 15 – William Howard Taft, 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930 (died [1930](1930-in-the-united-states)) - October 7 – George P. McLean, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1911 to 1923 (died [1932](1932-in-the-united-states)) - October 17 – Mary Abbott, golfer (died [1904](1904-in-the-united-states)) - October 24 – Ned Williamson, baseball player (died [1894](1894-in-the-united-states)) - November 5 – Ida Tarbell, investigative journalist (died [1944](1944-in-the-united-states)) - December 1 – Samuel M. Ralston, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1923 to 1925 (died [1925](1925-in-the-united-states)) - December 2 - J. Frank Allee, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1903 to 1907 (died [1938](1938-in-the-united-states)) - Charles E. Rushmore, businessman, attorney, namesake of Mount Rushmore (died [1931](1931-in-the-united-states)) - December 4 – Julia Evelyn Ditto Young, poet and novelist (died [1915](1915-in-the-united-states)) ## Deaths - February 16 – Elisha Kane, Arctic explorer (born [1820](1820-in-the-united-states)) - May 1 – Stephen Adams, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1852 to 1857 (born [1807](1807-in-the-united-states)) - May 26 – James Bell, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1855 to 1857 (born [1804](1804-in-the-united-states)) - June 19 – Alexander Twilight, educator and minister, first African-American known to have earned a bachelor's degree from an American college or university (Middlebury College, 1823) (born [1795](1795-in-the-united-states)) - July 4 – William L. Marcy, 21st Secretary of State from 1853 to 1857 (born [1786](1786-in-the-united-states)) - August 29 – Stephen Cassin, United States Navy officer (born [1783](1783-in-the-united-states)) - September 15 – John Henderson, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1839 to 1845 (born [1797](1797-in-the-united-states)) - October 7 – Louis McLane, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1827 to 1829 (born [1786](1786-in-the-united-states)) - October 10 – Thomas Crawford, sculptor (born [1814](1814-in-the-united-states)) - October 20 – John Diamond, minstrel dancer (born [1823](1823-in-the-united-states)) - October 27 – John Blennerhassett Martin, painter, engraver and lithographer (born [1797](1797-in-the-united-states)) - December 24 – Robert C. Nicholas, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1836 to 1841 (born [1793](1793-in-the-united-states)) - Jasper Grosvenor, financier (born [1794](1794-in-the-united-states)) - Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault, planter and landowner (born [1800](1800)) ## References ## References 1. {{Cite EB1911 2. ["Biography of Milward Adams"](http://www.onlinebiographies.info/il/cook/adams-m.htm). *Chicago, Cook County, Il Biographies*. 3. ["Olympedia – Mary Abbott"](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/18139). ::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1857_in_the_United_States) and is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the [article history page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1857_in_the_United_States?action=history). ::