1866 Historical Happenings

February 12 Washington, D.C.First formal observance of Lincoln’s birthday takes place at Capitol, with President Johnson in attendance.

May 10 New York CityThe first American Equal Rights Association formed at a meeting of the National Women’s Rights Convention.

July 30 Franklin, MassachusettsWork began on the construction of Dean Academy and at a special town meeting, Franklin voted to build three new schools. (see newspaper article August 17, 1866.)

August 20 Washington, D.C.In a proclamation today, President Johnson makes it official, declaring that the “insurrection” was finally ended and that “peace, order, tranquility and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole United States.”

December 21 Idaho TerritorySioux ambush and kill 80 near Idaho fort.On lands that have been reserved for them by treaty, a war party of Oglala Sioux led by Chief Red Cloud today ambushed and wiped out a military force of 80 men stationed at Fort Phil Kearney. The fort was recently constructed near the Powder River in order to protect the Bozeman Trail to the Western gold fields.

Ithaca, New York Ezra Cornell getting university started.Cornell who made his fortune in 1855, convinced New York State to use land obtained through the Morrill Land Grant Act for a new university. Cornell, 59, has been a state senator since 1863.

Detroit, Michigan J.B. Sutherland has built a refrigerated freight car. He claims it can be used to ship fresh fruit and vegetables from one end of the country to the other. The car is cooled by passing air through containers of ice at each end.

1867Historical Happenings

March 1 Nebraska becomes 37th State

April 9 Washington, D.C. U.S. purchases Alaska for $7.2 millionAfter an impassioned, three-hour speech by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, the vote to purchase Alaska from Russia was approved by a vote of 27 to 12 with six legislators absent. The total in favor of buying was one vote more than the two-thirds that is required for ratification. Many citizens express the feeling that the purchase by the United States of an “utterly useless” land of “perpetual snow” was an investment that only the insane would make. But its supporters are confident that this territory is some day going to be one of the nation’s greatest resources. The total cost of the territory comes to two cents an acre.

April 16 Franklin, MassachusettsGeorge M. Wadsworth summoned to serve on the Jury in Dedham Court.

November 20 Washington, D.C. House unit asks to impeach JohnsonCharging “high crimes and misdemeanors” the House Judiciary Committee has voted 5 to 4 to recommend impeachment proceedings against President Johnson. Most of the alleged crimes stem from Johnson’s action in ordering Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to resign.

December 4 Washington, D. C. Grange set up to aid farm recoveryA new organization called the National Grange has been formed to help farmers recover in the wake of the Civil War. The purpose of this organization is to disseminate information and train farmers in new techniques. Local chapters are to be called granges.

1868 Historical Happenings

January 16 Washington, D. C.Detroit fish dealer William Davis granted patent for his refrigerated railroad car.

February 24 Washington D. C. House of Representatives votes to impeach President JohnsonThe House of Representatives voted 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson for “high crimes and misdemeanors”.

February 25 Panama, Central AmericaFirst survey conducted for a canal linking Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

May 21 Chicago, IllinoisUlysses S. Grant nominated by Republicans for president.

May 25 Washington, D. C.Congress mandates eight-hour day for government employees.

May 26 Washington D.C. Senate Acquits President Andrew Johnson of all articles of impeachment.The vote, 35 to 19, was just one short of the two-thirds required for conviction and removal from office.

May 28 Franklin, MassachusettsThe construction of Dean Academy is complete and dedication ceremonies will be held today. (See related articles following May 28th diary entry.)

June 23 Milwaukee, Wisconsin A patent has been applied for by three local men for a machine that prints type, letter by letter, on a sheet of paper. The invention called a “typewriter” was built by three Milwaukee residents named C.C. Scholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule.

August 5 Moline, IllinoisJohn and Charles Deere incorporate their firm as Deere & Company.

October 13 Boston, Ma. While working for Western Union, Thomas A. Edison receives invention papers for electric vote recorder.

October 21 San Francisco, CaliforniaEarthquake causes more than $3 million damage.

November 13 Washington, D.C. Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War General, is elected President

1869 Historical Happenings

March 4 Washington, D.C.Ulysses S. Grant sworn in as 18th President

April 10 Washington, D. C.Amendment to Judiciary Act raises number of Supreme Court justices from seven to nine.

April 7 Cincinnati, Ohio, First Pro Baseball team, Red Stockings, to pay shortstop $1,400.The Red Stockings captain-shortstop, George Wright contracted for a salary of $1,400 for the season. The team, while playing amateur ball last year, were the first club to perform in uniforms that featured shortened pants known as knickerbockers.

May 10 Union Pacific railroad joining East to West is completed today. Now the trip from New York to San Francisco has been cut from three months to eight days.

May 24 ColoradoMajor John Wesley Powell begins exploration of the Grand Canyon.

May 28 Fossil Creek, KansasBand of Cheyenne Indians destroys section of Union Pacific Railroad.

June 8 Washington, D. C. Ives W. McGaffey granted patent for vacuum cleaner.

June 15 Boston, Ma. The Great Peace Jubilee Grandest concert celebrates peaceThe opening-day audience thrilled to the festival that was staged by “Musical Demonstrations.” It was organized to herald the “Restoration of Peace.” Held in the vast new Coliseum, built just for this purpose, the five day event is featuring a chorus of more than 10,000 and an orchestra of 1,000. The effect has been truly staggering as the sound of the unprecedented chorus washes over the audience in echoing waves.See George Wadsworth’s diary entry June 16 and related newspaper article.

1870 Historical Happenings

January 2 Brooklyn, New YorkConstruction begins on Brooklyn Bridge

January 10 Cleveland, OhioJohn D. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil Co. Standard Oil has a capitalization of $1 million and its president, John D. is only 31 years old but already is a commanding figure in the American oil industry.

January 23 Piegen Camp, MontanaU. S. Cavalry under command of Eugene M. Baker slaughters 173 Indians, almost all women and children.

April 27 Helena, MontanaJ.L. Compton and Joseph Wilson, guilty of robbery and murder, are last to be executed from “Hangman’s Tree”.

June WyomingUnion Pacific hires Chinese for $32.50 a month rather than pay whites $52. a month.

July 4 St. Louis, Missouri Robert E. Lee wins Mississippi Boat RaceThe Robert E. Lee docked here at 11:24 this morning, winning the great riverboat race with the Natchez. The powerful boat had completed a 1,100 mile trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans in three days, 18 hours and 14 minutes.

September 6 Laramie, Wyoming Terr. First woman’s vote castMrs. Louisa Swain today became the first woman in the nation to cast a legal ballot, voting under equal suffrage laws passed here last year.

1871 Historical Happenings

April 1 Boston, MassachusettsAlexander Graham Bell begins using his father’s system of “visible speech” to teach deaf.

April 10 Brooklyn, New YorkBarnum opens great travelling menagerie.Phineas T. Barnum, the self-proclaimed “Prince of Humbug” has opened the Great Travelling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome. Barnum seems unperturbed by the 1868 loss of his American Museum. Fire killed dozens of exotic animals that took years of effort to acquire.

April 12 Minneapolis, Minnesota .Charles Pillsbury receives full title to flour mill, C.A. Pillsbury & Co.

April 30 Camp Grant, Arizona TerritoryMob kills more than 100 Apaches, who are supposed to be under federal protection.

July 12 New York CityRioting between Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and Irish Catholics during Scotch-Irish Parade leaves 31 civilians and two policemen dead.

August New Bedford, MassachusettsUnited states Arctic Whaling fleet trapped by earliest winter in memory; 32 of 39 vessels frozen in ice.

October 8 Great Chicago FireThe great fire rages from October 8th through the 9th, leaving a path of destruction. As many as 300 people are believed dead, some 90,000 are without homes and the damage is estimated at nearly $200 million. Rumors abound as to how the conflagration got started: the religious see it as God’s judgment; the political see it as the work of communists, and the common people blame a cow in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn for knocking over a lantern. Mrs. O’Leary, who lives on DeKoven Street on the West Side, says this is an out-and-out lie.

October 23 American yacht Columbia wins America’s cup.

Washington, D. C. National Rifle Association founded.