1849 in the United States

1849 in the United States
Years:	1846 1847 1848 – 1849 – 1850 1851 1852
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30 stars (1848–51)
Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1849–65)

Events from the year 1849 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: James K. Polk (D-Tennessee) (until March 4), Zachary Taylor (W-Virginia) (starting March 4)
• Vice President: George M. Dallas (D-Pennsylvania) (until March 4), Millard Fillmore (W-New York) (starting March 4)
• Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert Charles Winthrop (W-Massachusetts) (until March 4), Howell Cobb (D-Georgia) (starting December 22)
• Congress: 30th (until March 4), 31st (starting March 4)

Events

March 4: Zachary Taylor becomes President

• January 23 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.
• February 14 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first sitting President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
• February 28 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay. The California leaves New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, rounds Cape Horn at the tip of South America, and arrives at San Francisco, California after the 4-month-21-day journey.
• March 3
  • Minnesota becomes a United States territory.
  • The United States Department of the Interior is established.
  • The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
• March 4 – Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th President of the United States, but refuses to be sworn in office on a Sabbath (Sunday). Urban legend holds that David Rice Atchison, President pro tempore of the United States Senate was President de jure for a single day.
• March 5 – President Zachary Taylor, takes his oath of office.
• May 3 – The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• June 6 – Fort Worth, Texas is founded.
• September 1 – The first segment of the Pennsylvania Railroad, from Lewiston, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, opens for service.
• November – Austin College receives a charter in Huntsville.
• November 13 – The Constitution of California is ratified by the electorate.

Ongoing

• California Gold Rush (1848–1890

Births

• January 12 – Murphy J. Foster, United States Senator from Louisiana from 1901 till 1913. (died 1921)
• January 29 – Newton C. Blanchard, United States Senator from Louisiana from 1904 till 1908. (died 1922)
• April 3 – Walter Guion, United States Senator from Louisiana in 1918. (died 1927)
• April 30 – Jennie Tuttle Hobart, wife of Garret Hobart, Second Lady of the United States (died 1941)
• June 30 – William Joseph Deboe, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1897 till 1903. (died 1927)
• August 23 – William Stanley West, United States Senator from Georgia in 1914. (died 1914)
• December 6 – Charles S. Thomas, United States Senator from Colorado from 1913 till 1921. (died 1934)
• December 20 – John W. Kern, United States Senator from Indiana from 1911 to 1917. (died 1917)

Deaths

• March 17 – Ann Gerry, wife of Elbridge Gerry, Second Lady of the United States from 1813 - 1814 (born 1763)
• July 12 – Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison, First Lady of the United States from 1809 - 1817 (born 1768)
• June 15 – James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States from 1845 till 1849. (born 1795)
• August 23 – Edward Hicks, painter (born 1780)
• October 7 – Edgar Allan Poe, American author, poet, editor and literary critic (born 1809)

External links

• Media related to 1849 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons