List of events
Events from the year 1847 in the United States .
Incumbents [ edit ] John Wesley Davis (D -Indiana ) (until March 4) Robert Charles Winthrop (W -Massachusetts ) (starting December 6) Governors and lieutenant governors Governors [ edit ] Governor of Alabama : Joshua L. Martin (Independent ) (until December 16), Reuben Chapman (Democratic ) (starting December 16) Governor of Arkansas : Thomas Stevenson Drew (Democratic ) Governor of Connecticut : Isaac Toucey (Democratic ) (until May 5), Clark Bissell (Whig ) (starting May 5) Governor of Delaware : William Temple (Whig ) (until January 19), William Tharp (Democratic ) (starting January 19) Governor of Florida : William Dunn Moseley (Democratic ) Governor of Georgia : George W. Crawford (Whig ) (until November 3), George W. Towns (Democratic ) (starting November 3) Governor of Illinois : Augustus C. French (Democratic ) Governor of Indiana : James Whitcomb (Democratic ) Governor of Iowa : Ansel Briggs (Democratic ) Governor of Kentucky : William Owsley (Whig ) Governor of Louisiana : Alexandre Mouton (Democratic ) (until February 12), Isaac Johnson (Democratic ) (starting February 12) Governor of Maine : Hugh J. Anderson (Democratic ) (until May 12), John W. Dana (Democratic ) (starting May 12) Governor of Maryland : Thomas Pratt (Democratic ) Governor of Massachusetts : George N. Briggs (Democratic ) Governor of Michigan : Alpheus Felch (Democratic ) (until March 3), William L. Greenly (Democratic ) (starting March 3) Governor of Mississippi : Albert G. Brown (Democratic ) Governor of Missouri : John C. Edwards (Democratic ) Governor of New Hampshire : Anthony Colby (Democratic ) (until June 3), Jared W. Williams (Democratic ) (starting June 3) Governor of New Jersey : Charles C. Stratton (Whig ) Governor of New York : John Young (Whig ) (starting January 1) Governor of North Carolina : William Alexander Graham (Whig ) Governor of Ohio : William Bebb (Whig ) Governor of Pennsylvania : Francis R. Shunk (Democratic ) Governor of Rhode Island : Byron Diman (Law and Order ) (until May 4), Elisha Harris (Law and Order ) (starting May 4) Governor of South Carolina : David Johnson (Democratic ) Governor of Tennessee : Aaron V. Brown (Democratic ) (until October 17), Neill S. Brown (Whig ) (starting October 17) Governor of Texas : James Pinckney Henderson (Democratic ) (until December 21), George T. Wood (Democratic ) (starting December 21) Governor of Vermont : Horace Eaton (Whig ) Governor of Virginia : William Smith (Democratic ) Lieutenant governors [ edit ]
January–March [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] July–September [ edit ] October–December [ edit ] Undated [ edit ] Ongoing [ edit ] January 11 January 16 – John Cutting Berry , physician and missionary (died 1936 ) January 23 – Elijah Bond , lawyer and inventor (died 1921 ) January 28 – William V. Allen , United States Senator from Nebraska from 1893 till 1899. (died 1924 ) February 2 – Charles H. Baker , politician (died 1919 ) February 11 – Thomas Edison , American inventor and businessman (died 1931 ) February 26 – William A. B. Branch , politician (died 1910 ) March 2 – Blanche Butler Ames , First Lady of Mississippi (d. 1939 ) March 13 – Francis S. White , United States Senator from Alabama from 1914 till 1915. (died 1922 ) March 18 – William O'Connell Bradley , United States Senator from Kentucky from 1895 till 1899. (died 1914 ) March 21 – Oscar Bielaski , Major League Baseball player (died 1911 ) March 27 – Warren Ives Bradley , children's author (died 1868 ) March 29 – John D. Works , United States Senator from California from 1911 till 1917. (died 1928 ) April 13 – J. Thompson Baker , politician from New Jersey (died 1919 ) May 25 – John Green Brady , 5th Governor of the District of Alaska from 1897 till 1906 (d. 1918 ) June 8 – Ida Saxton McKinley , First Lady of the United States , (died 1907 ) June 26 – Daniel V. Asay , iceboat racer (died 1930 ) June 29 – Brother Azarias , educator (d. 1893 ) July 4 – James Anthony Bailey , circus ringmaster (d. 1906 ) July 19 – Oliver Ernesto Branch , politician (d. 1916 ) August 12 – William Rankin Ballard , businessman (d. 1929 ) September 5 – Jesse James , American outlaw, guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from Missouri. (died 1882 ) September 10 – Franklin Bartlett , politician (died 1909 ) September 11 – Mary Watson Whitney , American astronomer and academic (died 1921 )[1] September 23 – Victoria Woodhull , American leader of the woman's suffrage movement (died 1927 ) September 30 – James Taliaferro , United States Senator from Florida from 1899 till 1911. (died 1934 ) October 18 – Emma Elizabeth Brown , author and artist (unknown year of death) October 23 – Gottfried Blocklinger , admiral (died 1930 ) October 31 – Wendell P. Bowman , army major general (died 1928 ) November 7 – Melvin O. Adams , attorney and railroad executive (died 1920 ) November 10 – Frederick Arthur Bridgman , artist (died 1928 ) November 23 – Joseph Ackroyd , politician, member of the New York State Senate (died 1915 ) December 21 – Fletcher S. Bassett , founder of the Chicago Folk-Lore Society (died 1893 ) December 30 – John Peter Altgeld , 20th governor of Illinois (died 1902 ) December 31 – Wilson S. Bissell , politician, United States Postmaster General (died 1903 ) See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]