Episodes Nearest to October 24, 1879 to October 25, 1879: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. After frost falls on the ground on October 24th and 25th the Memphis yellow fever epidemic is officially declared to be at an end.
    date October 24, 1879 to October 25, 1879map SHELBY, Tennesseetags Health/Death, Race-Relations, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    After months of one of the worst yellow fever outbreaks of the 19th century, the Memphis outbreak of 1879 is officially declared to be over after frost kills the germ. While the event had immense national significance, the gravity of the yellow fever outbreak to the city of Memphis cannot be overstated. Although the causes of the outbreak were uncertain at the time, many people pointed out that...

  2. South Carolina Supreme Court adjourns after decisions to repeal the homestead exemption, and pay back most of the state debt
    date October 28, 1879map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Economy

    On October 28th, the South Carolina Supreme Court adjourned after making a series of significant rulings that signified the restored control by the white planter class after reconstruction. One such ruling regarded the Homestead Law, in which the South Carolina Supreme Court effectively ruled that land owners would have their land holdings exempt from repossession in the event of a debt default...

  3. Virginia Readjuster Party sweeps to victory in 1879 elections
    date November 4, 1879map HENRICO, Virginiatags Education, Race-Relations

    In the Virginia state legislature elections on November 4, 1879 the Readjuster party rose to victory over their Conservative Debt-Payer opponents by gaining 41 of 100 delegate seats, and 20 of 40 Senate seats. The Readjuster Party won the election on a platform of repudiating state debt, expanding education, and promoting the interests of African-Americans. They framed their message around rhetoric...

  4. Mississippi election of 1879
    date November 4, 1879map HINDS, Mississippitags Race-Relations

    The Mississippi election of 1879 served as a reaffirmation of Bourbon power in the wake of the Greenback challenge to Democratic hegemony. The results of the November 4, 1879 were that the Democrats were once again able to assert political dominance over the state through voter fraud and intimidation. Moreover, the 12,000 vote total registered for the Greenback Party in the 1878 elections declined...

  5. Performance by the Stonewall Brigade Band in honor of the Mayor of Winchester
    date October 9, 1879map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Music is a form of communication that does not require its attendants to share a common language, thus allowing it to serve as a unifying medium. The performance of the Stonewall Brigade Band of Staunton confirmed the friendship that existed between the two sister cities of the Valley of Virginia, Staunton and Winchester. The Brigade Band performed to the general delight of all present outside...

  6. The Insane Hospital
    date October 1, 1879map JEFFERSON, Alabamatags Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, Government, Women

    Every October, without fail, the Superintendent of the Alabama Insane Hospital released his report about the year that was. In October of 1879, Dr. Bryce, the superintendent, expanded his report, by including particular conditions and patient numbers, among other details. Averaging 400 patients, the hospital treated anything from pneumonia to cerebral softening to utter, indefinable insanity. The...

  7. The Church and the Irreconcilable Differences between Protestants and Catholics
    date October 5, 1879 to 1879map PITTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    October 5, 1879 was a Sunday, and the weather was beautiful and bright as the many religious people of Danville, VA, walked to church to attend the hour-long service that morning. Later that night, at the Main Street Methodist Church in downtown Danville, Rev. P.A. Peterson delivered a speech called The Primacy of St. Peter, according to the Catholic Church. To a packed audience which was deeply...

  8. South Carolina state Baptist convention convenes in Aiken
    date November 20, 1879 to November 23, 1879map EDGEFIELD, South Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations

    On November 20, 1879 the South Carolina Baptist convention met in Aiken South Carolina to deal with a variety of issues. This convention illustrated the degree to which Southern Baptists had become intertwined with Southern culture by 1879. Included in these issues were management of the 37,000 allocated the state's 95 missionaries and 2000 foreign converts, as well as plans to increase financing...

  9. Bank Failure precipitates “commercial crisis' in Charleston, South Carolina
    date September 19, 1879map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On September 19th a dispatch to The Enterpirse and Mountaineer of Greenville, South Carolina reported that “The commercial circles were much agitated to-day by the announcement of the suspension of the banking and exchange house of James Adger &Co.' The failure of this bank was not only a significant financial blow to Charleston, but was also part of a larger story about the weakness of...

  10. Coal Miners of Allegany and Garrett Refuse to Work for Less Than Fifty Cents
    date September, 1879map ALLEGANY, Marylandtags Politics

    The coal miners of the Allegany and Garrett Counties in Maryland met on Wednesday, September 10, 1879 and decided to continue their strike. Two representatives from twenty-eight mines met in Lonaconing. Almost unanimously, the miners decided they would not work for less than fifty cents per ton of coal; the companies said they could not pay more than forty cents and that this was even too high to...

  11. The "Exodusters"
    date December 5, 1879map LENOIR, North Carolinatags african americans, Emancipation, Migration

    Goldsboro inhabitants were shocked at the condition of the African American “Exodusters” coming through town in December 1879. There were some 139 blacks traveling in this group, all shabbily dressed, according to the Raleigh Observer. The paper reported their departure with a hint of contempt and disgust, as if the fact that blacks were unhappy with their living conditions was something...

  12. Ratification of Louisiana constitution creates land grant funding for Louisiana State University and creates state supported black university in New Orleans.
    date December 8, 1879map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Education

    With the ratification of the Louisiana Constitution of 1879, Article 230 mandated that the Louisiana State Agricultural and Mechanical College would receive 182,000 is state funding from the sales of lands. At the same time Article 231 of the constitution mandated that the state would “make an annual appropriation of not less than five thousand dollars, nor more than ten thousand dollars,'...

  13. Louisiana establishes Bureau of Agriculture
    date December 8, 1879map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Agriculture

    With the ratification of the constitution on December 8, 1879 Louisiana officially established the Bureau of Agriculture under the provisions stated in Article 179, and appropriated an annual budget for the new Bureau of up to 10,000. Soon after Louisiana established its Bureau of Agriculture a bill was proposed in the South Carolina state legislature to establish its own Department of Agriculture...

  14. Louisiana Gubernatorial election of 1879
    date December 8, 1879map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Race-Relations

    In the Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1879 Bourbon Democrat, Louis Wiltz beat conservative Republican Taylor Beattie by a margin of 72,000 to 42,500. In the second election since reconstruction the Bourbon Democratic elite strengthened its hold over Louisiana politics by manipulating the votes of African-Americans through a mixture of intimidation and voter fraud. The Sun of Baltimore, Maryland...

  15. Louisiana's constitution of 1879 ratified.
    date December 8, 1879map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Education, Race-Relations

    Although the ratification of the constitution of 1879 appeared to affect major changes for the state of Louisiana, in reality, it became a tool to preserve the status quo economic, social, and political relations of the state. Notable measures passed under the constitution include Article 150 which transferred the state capital from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Article 224 which mandated the creation...

  16. The Greenback party goes down to defeat in November elections led by the losses in Mississippi
    date September 10, 1879map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans

    Prior to 1879, the Greenback Party had burst onto the political scene and presented a truly unique and radical voice in American politics. Although the Greenback Party's roots were with the miners in the Rocky Mountain States and with the farmers of the Midwest, the depression in agricultural prices following the Panic of 1873 allowed the party had made significant inroads among the Southern...

  17. National Board of Trade issues statement urging Congress to increase the federal government's role in the promotion of commerce.
    date December 11, 1879map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On December 11, 1879 the assembled representatives of the National Board of Trade adopted a resolution urging Congress to become more involved with regulation of commercial activity through a variety of measures. These suggested measures included the creation of a federal rail road commission that would force freight companies to charge equal rates to all customers, the adoption of a federal standard...

  18. Large temperance demonstration held at Georgia capitol
    date December 12, 1879map FULTON, Georgiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    On December 12, 1879 temperance supporter held a meeting outside of the Georgia state capitol attended by 3720 demonstrators. At the demonstration three prominent, secular leaders, including a colonel and a judge spoke to the crowd about prohibition of the sale of alcohol, while a pledge was circulated in support of temperance. Governor Colquitt provided implicit support for the demonstration,...

  19. Atlanta Constitution Reports that : Alabama congressman introduces bill for the creation of a committee to study the causes of the migration exoduster movement.
    date December 16, 1879map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    In December of 1879 Alabama congressman C.M. Shelley introduced a resolution in the US House of Representative to appoint a committee of five members to study the causes of the exoduster movement. By this point the growth of the exoduster movement threatened the social and economic dominance of the white, Bourbon ruling class in the south, and represented one of the most significant movements of...

  20. Voter Fraud in the 1879 Virginia Election
    date December 26, 1879map RICHMOND, Virginiatags African-Americans, Government, Politics, Race-Relations

    On December 26, 1879, Zack A. Cozzens gave testimony about a conversation he witnessed, the night before the November election, in the office of John Warwick Daniels, a Democratic Virginia State Senator from Lynchburg. In this conversation William Merchant remarked that he had "a number of Republican tickets, and that if they could be marked with certain names, that a good many colored people...

  21. First statewide chapter of the Farmers' Alliance Organization founded
    date December 27, 1879map PARKER, Texastags Agriculture

    On December 27, 1879 the first statewide organization of the Farmer's Alliance was established in Parker County Texas. Although the movement would confine itself to giving advice regarding “scientific farming' in the 1870's and did not have a significant impact on Southern culture of the day, it would play a crucial role in the agrarian revolt of the 1890's. In the mean time...

  22. Jule's Need for Legal Help
    date August 12, 1879map RAPIDES, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence

    Lily Suner wrote a letter to her brother on August 12, 1879 regarding Jule, an African American in need of legal help. Jule appeared to be related to the siblings in some way, since the brother was in a position to tell Jule's children and wife that he sent his love and Suner was in communication with him. The letter began with Suner chiding her brother for not writing to her in Alexandria,...

  23. Chinese in San Francisco
    date January 1, 1880 to January 31, 1880map SAN FRANCISCO, Californiatags chinese, Chinatown

    When the Chinese population increased, they began to form large neighborhoods within the cities called “Chinatowns.” The first and most important Chinatown began in San Francisco. The Chinese dressed  "in long gowns of bright cotton or silk, and some of them wore little round skull-caps with a bright button on the crown. Men’s heads usually were  shaved up to the crown, leaving a place for...

  24. Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
    date January 20, 1880map FAUQUIER, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Women

    Arthur Jordan, a large, bull-necked, thick-lipped Negro worked for the Corder family and began having relations with one of the daughters, Miss Corder. It is unknown whether Miss Corder consented to Arthur Jordan's advances. However, many people in the town were suspicious that she was being taken advantage of. Once word got out that a black man was having a relationship with a white woman,...

  25. Edison’s Electric Light Bulb Patent
    date January 27, 1880map ESSEX, New Jerseytags Thomas Edison, Light Bulb

    Edison’s electric light bulb was patented on January 27, 1880 (patent# 223,898). It was one of his early patents; he eventually obtained 1,093 of them, and represented an improvement on earlier, short-lived light bulb designs. Edison’s light bulb design has a unique pointed top and looks quite similar to light bulbs in use today. The socket at the base is also the same as those used today. The...