Episodes Nearest to February 5, 1877: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Attitudes towards American Indians in Central Virginia
    date February 5, 1877map ORANGE, Virginiatags Education, Native-Americans, Race-Relations

    On February 5, 1877 Joseph Halsey of Orange County, Virginia received a letter from a man who had uncovered the preserved remains of an American Indian. The letter began with a sense of excitement and awe. The author recounted, I plowed up an Indian chief, with all of his ornaments, blanket, girdle of beads, turban, and shells. His hair was in a state of preservation having the appearance of fine...

  2. Attitudes towards American Indians in Central Virginia
    date February 5, 1877map ORANGE, Virginiatags Education, Native-Americans, Race-Relations

    On February 5, 1877 Joseph Halsey of Orange County, Virginia received a letter from a man who had uncovered the preserved remains of an American Indian. The letter began with a sense of excitement and awe. The author recounted, I plowed up an Indian chief, with all of his ornaments, blanket, girdle of beads, turban, and shells. His hair was in a state of preservation having the appearance of...

  3. South Carolina Gubernatorial Election of 1876
    date November 7, 1876 to April 11, 1877map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    For the 1876 gubernatorial race in South Carolina, the Democrats nominated General Wade Hampton, one of the state's most popular figures among the white population, and Republicans renominated Governor Chamberlain who was appointed during reconstruction. Hampton embarked on a tour of the state, accompanied by hundreds of armed supporters, while rifle clubs disrupted Republican rallies with violent...

  4. Louisiana Gubernatorial Election of 1876
    date November 6, 1876 to March, 1877map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Race-Relations

    The Republicans nominated former U.S. Marshall Stephen Packard for governor during the 1876 gubernatorial race in Louisiana. The Louisiana Democrats chose Francis T. Nicholls, a confederate war hero, as their candidate and began immediate efforts for a victorious election. In counties they were certain to win, Democrats did all they could to hold down the Black vote through intimidation and in...

  5. The Second Corrupt Bargain: Hayes , Tilden Presidential Election, 1876
    date November 7, 1876 to March 5, 1877map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Race-Relations

    The United States presidential election of 1876 was likely the most disputed in the country's history. Democrat Samuel Tilden clearly defeated Republican challenger Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote and Tilden was declared the winner by many prognosticators. <br />The Charleston News and Courier claimed “of Governor Tilden's election, we are still assured,' on Thursday,...

  6. Raging Measles in Ruckdale, Texas
    date December 29, 1876map MILAM, Texastags Health/Death

    On December 29, 1876, D.F.M. Chandler sat down in Ruckdale, Texas to write a letter to Mrs. Roberts, a dear friend. These two had been in written contact with each other previous to this letter, and Chandler apologized for the lapse of time before his responding. Ruckdale, he said, had been hit with a raging case of the measles. This case of the measles terribly afflicted the community; Chandler's...

  7. Ashtabula Bridge Disaster as told by J.E. Burchell, a Survivor
    date December 29, 1876map ASHTABULA, Ohiotags Government, Law, Migration/Transportation, Science/Technology

    On December 29, 1876 Mr. J. E. Burchell was traveling on the Pacific Express train headed toward Chicago during a heavy snow storm. As the first engine, "Socrates" crossed the two hundred foot bridge, the iron trusses broke, causing the bridge to collapse. His eye-witness account describes the accident as the second engine and eleven cars were tipped into the creek seventy feet below and the wood...

  8. Mississippi Grange Party Assembles
    date December 12, 1876map HINDS, Mississippitags Agriculture, Economy

    The Mississippi Grange Party assembled in Jackson on Dec. 12th. The party began in 1867 by several farmers as a “farmer's movement,' that worked to affiliate local planters into areas called “granges,' where they would work together for political and economic advantages. The party was at the height of its power during the 1870's and won a huge political victory in Oct....

  9. The Racism of Reconstruction
    date April 1, 1877map WAKE, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    The period of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War saw a fluctuation of freedoms for African Americans in the former Confederate South. The newspapers of the time, like the Raleigh Register, were critical of the roles of African Americans in society, and used offensive language when describing the people of that race. While slavery no longer existed, Reconstruction proved to be...

  10. “Battle of the Giants' , North Carolina Gubernatorial Election of 1876
    date November 7, 1876map WAKE, North Carolinatags Race-Relations

    The Republican Party was on the defensive for the 1876 gubernatorial election in North Carolina with the issues of reconstruction, Black domination, and white supremacy dominating the campaign. Meanwhile, the state's conservative party adopted the name, “democratic,' so they could cooperate with the national party. The North Carolina conservative-democrats nominated Zebulon B. Vance,...

  11. A Defeat So Sweet
    date November 3, 1876 to November 7, 1876map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Government, Politics

    On November 3, 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes wrote a letter to General M.F. Force. As the November 7th presidential election loomed, Hayes wrote with a melancholy tone about his prospect for victory. In the letter he tells General Force that he will find a variety of things to console him in the event of his defeat, and that there is nothing he would go back and change about his campaign if he could....

  12. Seizure of Martin Joson's Property
    date May 17, 1877map NATCHITOCHES, Louisianatags African-Americans, Economy, Law

    In the years following the Civil War many Southerners faced economic hardships, and Martin Joson was no exception. He was an African American who had been able to amass some property in Natchitoches Parish, and had even been able to make some improvements to his property. Joson's prosperity, however, did not last. He must have developed a large debt to a man named Walo Johnson to warrant the...

  13. Agricultural Advances
    date October 19, 1876map CULPEPER, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Government, Politics

    It was October and the farmers belonging to the Piedmont Agricultural Society had gathered to hear a speech from Mr. William Fullerton. This fall had presented the farmers with a difficult situation: the crop once again was not the best, and many of them were feeling the economic hardships of the times. Mr. Fullerton opened up the speech with facts the farmers knew. He stated that the lands were...

  14. THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS: Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad Foreclosure
    date September 30, 1876map DALLAS, Alabamatags Economy, Government, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    In antebellum America, railroads were the fastest and most popular means of transportation either of goods or passengers. Railroads remained important for supplying goods to others for economic profit. However, poor track conditions often made for delayed trips and spoiled products. Train delays plagued the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad. The A&C tracks were in horrible condition following the...

  15. 1876 Conservative Resurgence in South Carolina Makes an Appeal to Black Voters
    date September 16, 1876map ABBEVILLE, South Carolinatags Electoral Campaigns, Redemption, African American Suffrage, Civil Rights, Race Relations, Politics, Crime/Violence, African-Americans

    In the 1876 election, The Democratic Party in South Carolina overthrew Republican control of state government, resulting in what was called the “Redemption” of the state.  Using every means at their disposal, the Democrats employed paramilitary “rifle clubs”, violence, intimidation, and electoral fraud to reassert white, Democratic control over the state.  At the head of the party was...

  16. South Carolina Enacts New Election Law
    date 1877map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Race-Relations

    In 1877 at the meeting of the South Carolinian General Assembly, a new decree was passed which initiated a re-drawing of precinct boundaries. Most importantly, this new law greatly reduced the number of polling places available in counties consisting of a majority of black people. By doing this, blacks were forced to travel long distances to be able to speak their voice on political issues. The...

  17. What to do with a Seminary Education?
    date 1877map BRISTOL, Massachusettstags Education, Women

    In 1877 "From Her Point of View" was published in Wheaton Female Seminary's literary magazine The Rushlight. The story depicted a young woman, "just out of school, and life with all its sorrows and joys awaiting her" sitting by a fire contemplating her future. The young woman was surrounded by "tokens of wealth" but she wished for something different. While her mother's spirit looked...

  18. Tramps Attack Trains at West Chester Station on the Pennsylvanian Line.
    date 1877map CHESTER, Pennsylvaniatags Migration/Transportation, Work

    Desperate wageworkers after the Civil War had taken to riding the American train networks looking for work. Civil War slang referred to the tramp as a long, tiresome march, and the American public took to referring these unsupported peoples as 'tramps.' The reasoning behind this increasing roving army was the reliance on seasonal work for manual laborers, and as a result, jobs were not secure.

    Hungry...

  19. United States Order to General Ord. Of Mexico
    date July 6, 1877map BEXAR, Texastags Crime/Violence, War

    On July 6th, 1877 news leaked that the Mexican and American governments had been sending orders back and forth from one another declaring that the other side needed to play a role in reducing the violence and tension at the Mexican-American border next to the Rio Grande. The American government sought to clear up the situation by declaring in a note from Minister Foster that they had done nothing...

  20. Caucus to Determine West Virginia Senate
    date January 22, 1877 to 1877map OHIO, West Virginiatags Government, Politics

    Immediately after the Civil War, the Republicans stormed through Appalachia. With promises of restoration, Lincoln?s party was able to make Appalachia a Republican stronghold. Fifteen years later, however, Democrats held power in every Appalachian state. In the nineteenth century, politics mattered. People voted, knew the candidates, and a caucus held in West Virginia to determine two new senators...

  21. Yellow Fever Epidemic in Savannah
    date August, 1876 to September, 1876map CHATHAM, Georgiatags Health/Death

    An epidemic spread quickly from Savannah's port on August 11, 1876. Yellow Fever, a frightening viral disease that causes hemorrhagic illness and sudden death in victims, struck the city's port. More than one thousand people died of the disease within two weeks, and within one month more than five thousand of the twenty-eight thousand residents evacuated the city. Among those that fled was...

  22. Fracas' between Officers and Colored People aboard Kentucky Train
    date July 16, 1877map MONTGOMERY, Tennesseetags Crime/Violence, Economy, Race-Relations

    On the morning of July 16th, 1877, an excursion train of black people left Clarksville, Tennessee en route to attend the funeral services of the black Reverend Wm. Neville. During the duration of the trip, news somehow reached the sheriff of Todd country, KY that there were some blacks on board the train who were engaging in illegal commerce: the selling and buying of cigars and liquors on board...

  23. The Young Men of Natchez Have Organized an Artillery Company
    date August 25, 1876map ADAMS, Mississippitags Arts/Leisure, War

    The young artillery company was pressed for funds, and the task of raising them fell to a member of their ranks named H.H. Farnham. In an August 1876 fundraising letter to Stephen Duncan, the former president of the Bank of Mississippi, Farnham, (who signed the correspondence Ch. Com. Of the Gilden Light Artillery) wrote that the young men of Natchez have organized an artillery company, known as...

  24. Meeting to Encourage Loyalty Among Democrats
    date August 25, 1876map FULTON, Georgiatags Government, Politics

    Democrats in the South after the Civil War were adamantly opposed to the Republicans who had imposed Reconstruction and ended the era of slavery. The Georgia Democrats met on August 25, 1876 to discuss their common ideals. The speakers emphasized that Georgia had always adhered to the old constitution and have continued to be patriotic to the antebellum union government. They also criticized the...

  25. A Wild Night: Pittsburgh "Great Strikers" Burn Rail Yard
    date July 19, 1877 to July 23, 1877map ALLEGHENY, Pennsylvaniatags Labor Strike, Labor Union, Militia

    In her memoirs, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones described the night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that strikers from the Pennsylvania Railroad turned the "Great Strike" of 1877 into a riot. "Hundreds of box cars standing on the tracks were soaked with oil and set on fire and sent down the tracks to the roundhouse. The roundhouse caught fire. Over one hundred locomotives belonging to the Pennsylvania...