Episodes Nearest to August 16, 1882: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Death of Senator Ben Hill
    date August 16, 1882map FULTON, Georgiatags Health/Death

    Ben Hill was in state politics for more than three decades, and at the time of his death, he was a Democratic U.S. senator. Even though the public had been waiting for his death for weeks, the Atlanta Constitution stated that “the shock is almost as great as if the whole state had been taken by surprise.' He had been dying of Epithelioma, a skin cancer, and underwent several operations,...

  2. The Conspiracy and the Lynching of Jack Turner
    date August 15, 1882 to August 19, 1882map CHOCTAW, Alabamatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Race-Relations

    Jack Turner was born a slave in about 1840 and refused to submit to the “black' way of life in post-war white Alabama. Although he was arrested and sometimes convicted on charges such as drinking and gambling, adultery, and theft, he became a leader of Choctaw County's blacks. He was also a somewhat successful organizer for the local Republicans and he played a key role in bringing...

  3. Eastman Race Riot
    date August 6, 1882 to August 12, 1882map DODGE, Georgiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Race-Relations

    Edward Ayers, in the Promise of the New South, described that the South was a “notoriously violent place.' In the South homicide among blacks and whites was the highest compared to the rest of the nation and world. Within the turbulent south during the 1880s and early 1890s, “politics and economic turmoil' constantly threw both blacks and whites into conflict. Most violence was...

  4. End of Cumberland Coal Strike
    date August 22, 1882 to August 24, 1882map ALLEGANY, Marylandtags Agriculture, Economy

    As reported in the State, on March 1, 1882, the coal companies decided to make the following changes: “For digging coal, 50 cents per ton and 1.65 per day for driving in the mines, and all other labor to proportion, and that twelve hours would constitute a day's work.' The Knights of Labor refused to accept this offer and the “great strike' began on March 14, 1882. Edward...

  5. Accident on the Virginia Midland Railroad
    date August 23, 1882map NELSON, Virginiatags Health/Death

    As Edward Ayers explains in the Promise of the New South, even though the railroad had an “aura of glamour' in the South, working on the railroad was dangerous. Many accidents occurred, varying from simple unimportant incidents such as a hand crushed, to as serious incidents such as a black man's head cut off when a train ran over him. Often accidents happened on the tracks, and trains...

  6. Flood of Ben Ficklin, Texas
    date August 23, 1882 to August 24, 1882map TOM GREEN, Texastags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation

    On August 23, 1882, heavy rains poured down on Dove Creek, Spring Creek, the Middle Concho, and the South Concho which were already high due to summer rains. By the morning, the Middle Concho was seen to be thirty feet above its level and rapidly rising. They overflowed and destroyed the town, Ben Ficklin, on August 24. As recorded in the article “Swept Away by a Flood,' the office register...

  7. A Son Worries over Fathers Corn Harvest
    date April 16, 1882 to 1882map SCOTT, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Education

    Very few young men in the nineteenth century had the privilege of going to college, much less to the University of Virginia. One not only had to be intelligent, but also wealthy. James N. Greear of Scott County, Virginia was one such man. In a letter home, Greear informed his father of his great interest in medicine and of the recent examinations he had taken. He noted that he had taken the examinations...

  8. President Garfield's Assassin: Guiteau. His Death and Examination of his Brain
    date June 30, 1882 to September 7, 1882map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Health/Death

    Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was hung on June 30, 1882 and for many days after the newspapers reported his last days, his pre-death speech, his hanging and burial. Many newspapers were waiting for the results of the examination of his brain wondering if he was indeed mentally insane. At the time of his death, he still believed that he was sent by God to assassin President...

  9. Riverside Cotton Mills and the Water Power Company
    date June 10, 1882 to August 30, 1882map PITTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Agriculture, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Danville was only one of the many places that experienced the development of a newly mechanized and more highly capitalized cotton-processing business. As mentioned in the Promise of the New South, a prominent mill owner recalled that “every city and town and village wanted a cotton mill.' Furthermore, towns took pride in their new water works, which first were established in major cities...

  10. The First Trial of the Star Route Cases
    date June 1, 1882 to September 8, 1882map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Economy

    The rapid expansion of the United States westward created a need for postal routes, which were known as “star routes.' Yet, the “very nature' of the western postal service, as Martin Klotsche says, “opened the way for numerous frauds.' The vast distance of the nation kept the star routes hidden from government inspection. The Grand Jury charged the defendants, leading...

  11. Jewish Population in the South
    date September 14, 1882map PERRY, Alabamatags Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    On the morning of September 14, 1882, Philip Henry Pitts ran various errands around town. He needed to make a few purchases, namely tools and home goods. While in town Pitts noticed a few stores had closed signs in the window. Upon returning home to his plantation, Pitts entered in his diary, Thursday Holy day among the Jews - All places of business closed among them this day...and this is new year...

  12. Jewish Presence in Alabama
    date September 14, 1882map PERRY, Alabamatags Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    On the morning of September 14, 1882, Philip Henry Pitts ran various errands around town. He needed to make a few purchases, namely tools and home goods. While in town Pitts noticed a few stores had closed signs in the window. Upon returning home to his plantation, Pitts entered in his diary, Thursday Holy day among the Jews - All places of business closed among them this day...and this is new year...

  13. The Building of Many Firsts: Ergood's Hall
    date September, 1882 to 1882map ORANGE, Floridatags Winter Park, Florida

    In 1882, Oliver Chapman and Loring Chase, founders of Winter Park, erected a 30x65 foot store making it the third building in Winter Park at this time. Both Chapman and Chase decided they would rent it out to Washington D.C. natives, John R. Ergood and Robert White Jr., officially opening the store to the small public of Winter Park in September of that same year. Located at the corner of North...

  14. Autopsy Dictates Asylum Goals: New Traditions from Unique Events
    date July 8, 1882map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Autopsy, mental health, Space, Hospital, Medicine

    After Dr. William W. Godding, the 2nd superintendent of Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC, witnessed the autopsy of Charles Guiteau, his viewpoint on the pathology of the insane was solidified and, therefore, resulted in the drastic alteration of the mission, practices, and clinical direction of Saint Elizabeth’s. The hospital was established by an act of Congress in 1852...

  15. Congress Returns to the Capitol
    date 1882map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Economy, Government, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    In the winter of 1882, Frank G. Carpenter watched all the members of Congress as they descended upon Washington in preparation for the upcoming session. With them appeared lobbyists galore, bureaucrats too many to number and Washingtonians coming from the woodwork with something to sell to the incoming crowds. The city was booming; boarders and hotel owners were tidying and revitalizing their accommodations...

  16. Industrial Disparity Between the North and South
    date 1882map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Economy, Migration/Transportation, Science/Technology

    In 1882 the Richmond Enquirer wrote an article about John D. Rockefeller who "combined [his] disparate companies, spread across dozens of states, under a single group of trustees," creating the Standard Oil trust. The article, which appeared towards the back of the paper, was very short and contains only the very basics about the consolidation. It is hardly what one would expect, considering that...

  17. Reverend L. Ferebee: Living a Torn Life
    date 1882map WAKE, North Carolinatags Slavery, African-Americans, African American Authors

    Two out of every three slave children were ripped from their mother's arms, although the thirteenth amendment marked the end of slavery, it did not erase the hurt and pain of the slaves that had to endure it. The story of slavery and the lives of the surviving slaves still effects America today. The personal recollection of their stories some years later, allowed for all Americans to peer into the...

  18. Yellow Fever Epidemic
    date August, 1882 to November, 1882map CAMERON, Texastags Health/Death

    The Montgomery Advertiser mentions that on August 11, within twenty-four hours, there were thirteen deaths from yellow fever in Brownsville, Texas. As a result Fort Brown was under strict quarantine. At that time, there were about fifty cases of yellow fever at Brownsville and the health authorities believed that it might become epidemic. The State mentioned that on the day August 28, there were...

  19. Women's Christian Temperance Union
    date October 28, 1882map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Church/Religious-Activity

    Liquor, as Edward Ayers explains, took a heavy toll on the South, especially since alcohol became much easier to get as the numbers of towns and stores increased. Often, churches went on the offensive, trying to reform what they saw as the “greatest threats to their moral standards.' In the New South, women had an increasingly important role on church committees, and thousands of younger...

  20. Thomas E. Watson elected into Georgia General Assembly
    date November 1, 1882map MC DUFFIE, Georgiatags Race-Relations

    Early in his career, Tom Watson was influenced by many leaders of the Confederacy, and he was drawn to local politics. After attending the Convention of 1800, he was determined to run for legislature. He appealed to Georgians as a defender of the old way of life and he was first elected to the state legislation representing McDuffie County in 1882. <br />During the campaign, he discovered...

  21. Rumors Insult Women's Dignity
    date April, 1882map HAWKINS, Tennesseetags Arts/Leisure, Migration/Transportation, Women

    In April 1882, two young ladies from St. Clair, Tennessee traveled with three men to attend the Church Hill Institute in Church Hill, Tennessee. The two ladies were invited to spend the night at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Nugent, but declined the offer because the women did not want to inconvenience the family because the Nugents were already hosting many other guests. The women also wanted to travel...

  22. Oscar Wilde's American Tour
    date January 7, 1882 to July 11, 1882map HENRICO, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure

    Oscar Wilde began his American Tour in New York on January 7, 1882 and ended it in Richmond, VA on July 11, 1882. He gave lectures across the nation about aestheticism and his philosophy. Montgomery Hyde points out that although Wilde had received elocution lessons before leaving London, he did not have oratory skills and some reporters even stated that his voice sounded unnatural. <br />The...

  23. Calvin Gray's Murder
    date December 24, 1882 to December 30, 1882map HAWKINS, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Race-Relations

    On the night of December 24, 1882, near the town of Mooresburg in Hawkins County, Tennessee, African American Calvin Gray was accused of stealing hogs on Mrs. Joseph Gill's farm. He was later released for lack of evidence. On the following Saturday, December 30, an unknown group of people sought retribution for the alleged robbery and bombarded Gray's home, pounding violently on the door...

  24. Jesse James Killed
    date April 3, 1882map BUCHANAN, Missouritags Crime/Violence, Health/Death

    Jesse James, the wanted bandit and train robber, was killed in his home in St. Joseph,

    Missouri the morning of April 3, 1882. James had been living in a small house on a hill in the

    southeast part of town with his wife since November 1881. There were also two other men with

    Jesse James and his wife at the time of his death, Robert and Charles Ford. Charles had been

    with...

  25. Farmer's Alliance as a Political Alliance
    date February 6, 1883map GRANVILLE, North Carolinatags Agriculture, Government, Politics

    The threat of a trust formed between cigarette manufacturers in order to control the price of Bright Leaf tobacco grown in the North Carolina Piedmont greatly alarmed the members of the Farmer's Alliance living in the Bright Belt region of North Carolina where this tobacco was grown. In order to prevent just five individuals or corporations from dictating the price of a product whose production...