1844 in the United States

← 1843 1842 1841 1844 in the United States → 1845 1846 1847
Decades:	1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s
See also:	History of the United States (1789–1849) Timeline of United States history (1820–1859) List of years in the United States

Events from the year 1844 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: John Tyler (I-Virginia)
• Vice President: vacant
• Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: John Winston Jones (D-Virginia)
• Congress: 28th

Governors and Lieutenant Governors

Governors Governor of Alabama: Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democratic) Governor of Arkansas: until April 29: Archibald Yell (Democratic) April 29-November 5: Samuel Adams (Democratic) starting November 5: Thomas Stevenson Drew (Democratic) Governor of Connecticut: Chauncey Fitch Cleveland (Democratic) (until May 1), Roger Sherman Baldwin (Whig) (starting May 1) Governor of Delaware: William B. Cooper (Whig) Governor of Georgia: George W. Crawford (Whig) Governor of Illinois: Thomas Ford (Democratic) Governor of Indiana: James Whitcomb (Democratic) Governor of Kentucky: Robert P. Letcher (Whig) (until September 4), William Owsley (Whig) (starting September 4) Governor of Louisiana: Alexandre Mouton (Democratic) Governor of Maine: until January 1: Edward Kavanagh (Democratic) January 1-January 3: David Dunn (Democratic) January 3: John W. Dana (Democratic) starting January 3: Hugh J. Anderson (Democratic) Governor of Maryland: Francis Thomas (Democratic) Governor of Massachusetts: Marcus Morton (Democratic) (until January), George N. Briggs (Democratic) (starting January) Governor of Michigan: John S. Barry (Democratic) Governor of Mississippi: Tilghman Tucker (Democratic) (until January 10), Albert G. Brown (Democratic) (starting January 10) Governor of Missouri: until February 9: Thomas Reynolds (Democratic) February 9-November 20: Meredith Miles Marmaduke (Democratic) starting November 20: John C. Edwards (Democratic) Governor of New Hampshire: Henry Hubbard (Democratic) (until June 6), John H. Steele (Democratic) (starting June 6) Governor of New Jersey: Daniel Haines (Democratic) Governor of New York: William C. Bouck (Democratic) (until end of December 31) Governor of North Carolina: John Motley Morehead (Whig) Governor of Ohio: until April 15: Wilson Shannon (Democratic) April 15-December 3: Thomas W. Bartley (Democratic) starting December 3: Mordecai Bartley (Democratic) Governor of Pennsylvania: David R. Porter (Democratic) Governor of Rhode Island: James Fenner (Law and Order) Governor of South Carolina: James Henry Hammond (Democratic) (until December 7), William Aiken, Jr. (Democratic) (starting December 7) Governor of Tennessee: James C. Jones (Whig) Governor of Vermont: John Mattocks (Whig) (until October 11), William Slade (Whig) (starting October 11) Governor of Virginia: James McDowell (Democratic) Lieutenant Government Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: William S. Holabird (Democratic) (until May 1), Reuben Booth (Whig) (starting May 1) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: John Moore (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Jesse D. Bright (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Manlius Valerius Thomson (political party unknown) (until September 4), Archibald Dixon (Whig) (starting September 4) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Henry H. Childs (political party unknown) (until month and day unknown), John Reed, Jr. (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Origen D. Richardson (Whig) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: until February 9: Meredith Miles Marmaduke (Democratic) February 9-November 20: vacant starting November 20: James Young (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of New York: Daniel S. Dickinson (Democratic) (until end of December 31) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Byron Diman (political party unknown) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Isaac Donnom Witherspoon (Democratic) (until December 7), J. F. Ervin (Democratic) (starting December 7) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Horace Eaton (Whig)

Events

February 28: USS Princeton disaster

• January 15 – The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
• February 28 – The "Peacemaker", the largest naval gun in the world, explodes during a demonstration aboard the USS Princeton, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer.
• March 12 – The Columbus and Xenia Railroad, the first railroad that is planned to be built in Ohio, is chartered.
• May 24 – The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel F. B. Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, Maryland, saying "What hath God wrought".
• June–July – The Great Flood of 1844 hits the Missouri River and Mississippi River.
• June 15 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
• June 22 – Influential North American fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon is founded at Yale University.
• June 27 – Death of Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum are killed in Carthage Jail, Carthage, Illinois by an armed mob, leading to a succession crisis in the movement. John Taylor, future president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is severely injured but survives.
• July 3 – The U.S. signs the Treaty of Wanghia with Qing dynasty China, the first diplomatic agreement between the two nations in history.
• July 25 – Exclusion Law in Oregon prohibits African Americans (including slaves) from entering or remaining in the territory
• October 22 – The Great Disappointment: Millerites (including future members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church) find that the Second Coming of Jesus does not occur as predicted by preacher William Miller.
• December 4 – U.S. presidential election, 1844: James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay.
• Undated – The first ever international cricket match is played in New York City between Canada and the United States.

Births

• April 13 – John Surratt, suspected involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, son of Mary Surratt (died 1916)
• April 22 – Lewis Powell, conspirator with John Wilkes Booth, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (died 1865)
• August 1 – Levi Ankeny, United States Senator from Washington from 1903 till 1909. (died 1921)
• June 3 – Garret Hobart, 24th Vice President of the United States from 1897 till 1899. (died 1899)
• October 11 – Henry J. Heinz, entrepreneur and founder of the H. J. Heinz Company (died 1919)

Deaths

• January 13 – Alexander Porter, United States Senator from Louisiana from 1833 till 1837. (born 1785)
• April 21 – Henry Baldwin, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1830 till 1844. (born 1780)
• June 27 – Joseph Smith Jr., religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement (born 1805)
• August 15 – William S. Fulton, United States Senator from Arkansas 1836 till 1844. (born 1795)

See also

• Timeline of United States history (1820–1859)

External links

• Media related to 1844 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons