1842 in the United States

1842 in the United States
Years:	1839 1840 1841 – 1842 – 1843 1844 1845
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Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1789–1849)

Events from the year 1842 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: John Tyler (W-Virginia)
• Vice President: vacant
• Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (originally now residing in from of the U.S. state of Maryland)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: John White (W-Kentucky)
• Congress: 27th

Governors and Lieutenant Governors

Governors Governor of Alabama: Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democratic) Governor of Arkansas: Archibald Yell (Democratic) Governor of Connecticut: William W. Ellsworth (Whig) (until May 4), Chauncey Fitch Cleveland (Democratic) (starting May 4) Governor of Delaware: William B. Cooper (Whig) Governor of Georgia: Charles J. McDonald (Democratic) Governor of Illinois: Thomas Carlin (Democratic) (until December 8), Thomas Ford (Democratic) (starting December 8) Governor of Indiana: Samuel Bigger (Whig) Governor of Kentucky: Robert P. Letcher (Whig) Governor of Louisiana: André B. Roman (Whig) Governor of Maine: Edward Kent (Whig) (until January 5), John Fairfield (Democratic) (starting January 5) Governor of Maryland: William Grason (Democratic) (until January 3), Francis Thomas (Democratic) (starting January 3) Governor of Massachusetts: John Davis (Whig) Governor of Michigan: James Wright Gordon (Whig) (until January 3), John S. Barry (Democratic) (starting January 3) Governor of Mississippi: Alexander G. McNutt (Democratic) (until January 10), Tilghman Tucker (Democratic) (starting January 10) Governor of Missouri: Thomas Reynolds (Democratic) Governor of New Hampshire: John Page (Democratic) (until June 2), Henry Hubbard (Democratic) (starting June 2) Governor of New Jersey: William Pennington (Whig) Governor of New York: William H. Seward (Whig) (until end of December 31) Governor of North Carolina: John Motley Morehead (Whig) Governor of Ohio: Thomas Corwin (Whig) (until December 14), Wilson Shannon (Democratic) (starting December 14) Governor of Pennsylvania: David R. Porter (Democratic) Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel Ward King (Rhode Island) Governor of South Carolina: John Peter Richardson II (Democratic) (until December 8), James Henry Hammond (Democratic) (starting December 8) Governor of Tennessee: James C. Jones (Whig) Governor of Vermont: Charles Paine (Whig) Governor of Virginia: John Rutherfoord (Whig) (until March 31), John Munford Gregory (Whig) (starting March 31) Lieutenant Governors Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Charles Hawley (Whig) (until May 4), William S. Holabird (Democratic) (starting May 4) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Stinson Anderson (Democratic) (until December 8), John Moore (Democratic) (starting December 8) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Samuel Hall (Whig) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Manlius Valerius Thomson (political party unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: George Hull (political party unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Origen D. Richardson (Whig) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Meredith Miles Marmaduke (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of New York: Luther Bradish (Whig) (until end of December 31) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Byron Diman (political party unknown) (until month and day unknown), Nathaniel Bullock (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: William K. Clowney (Democratic) (until December 8), Isaac Donnom Witherspoon (Democratic) (starting December 8) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Waitstill R. Ranney (Whig)

Events

• February 1 – Willamette University is established in Salem, Oregon.
• March – Commonwealth v. Hunt: the Massachusetts Supreme Court makes strikes and unions legal in the United States.
• March 5 – Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution.
• May 19 – Dorr Rebellion: Militiamen supporting Thomas Wilson Dorr attack the arsenal in Providence, Rhode Island but are repulsed.
• August 4 – The Armed Occupation Act is signed, providing for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the Peninsula of East Florida.
• August 9 – The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
• September – the Wesleyan University is established in Ohio.
• November 26 – The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (United States) is established by Father Edward Sorin of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.
• December 20 – The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina is established.

Undated

• The Sons of Temperance is founded in New York City.
• The Scroll and Key secret society of Yale University is established.
• Founding of:
  • Cumberland University
  • Hollins University (in Roanoke, Virginia by Charles Cocke)
  • Villanova University (in Villanova, Pennsylvania by the Augustinian order)
  • Indiana University Bloomington
  • Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Ongoing

• Second Seminole War (1835–1842)

Births

• February 28 – Stephen Wallace Dorsey, United States Senator from Arkansas from 1873 till 1879. (died 1916)
• September 13 – John H. Bankhead, United States Senator from Alabama from 1907 till 1920. (died 1920)

Deaths

• December 1 – Philip Spencer, founder of Chi Psi Fraternity and midshipman aboard the USS Somers (born 1823)

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons