1829

ladies, issued in the United States, was established at Boston, and called the Ladies' Magazine. It was united with Godey's Ladies' Book in Philadelphia in 1837.

The first steamboat belonging in Boston commenced making excursion-trips in the harbor. It was called the Benjamin Franklin.

It

A premium was awarded by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, in October, for an exhibition of an assortment of malleable-iron castings made by Seth Boyden of Newark, N. J. was the first attempt in this country, known to the committee, to anneal cast-iron for general purposes.

The first manufacture of varnish, except for individual use, was commenced at New York.

The first manufacture, in this country, of paper from straw and hay was commenced at Meadville, Pa. The paper was of a yellow color, strong and smooth, and an edition of the New Testament is said to have been printed upon it, which cost only five cents a copy. Three hundred reams of the paper were shipped to Pittsburg on the 30th of November.

The celebrated planing-machine patented by William Woodworth was introduced, and acquired an extensive sale.

The first trip of a locomotive upon a railroad in America was made upon the Carbondale and Honesdale Railroad in Pennsylvania. The engine was made in England, and was run by Mr. Horatio Allen, under whose direction it had been built. This trip was made about one year before the first steam railroad in England was opened.

On the 4th of July the corner-stone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was laid at Baltimore with imposing ceremonies. This road, as well as all other of the early roads constructed in this country, was built of longitudinal wooden rails pinned down to cross-ties of stone or wood imbedded in the ground, with flat bars of iron fastened with spikes placed on top of the wooden rails. This method of construction was soon found to involve great danger, and consequent expense; the ends of the iron bars becoming loose and starting up, were occasionally caught by the wheels and thrust up through the bottom of the

car.

A boat passed in October for the first time through the entire length of the Blackstone Canal, connecting Worcester with Providence. The canal was commenced in 1826, and is forty-five miles in length.

One ton of coal was brought to Lowell from Boston in a wagon. It was the first anthracite coal seen in the place, and was considered a sufficient supply for the Lowell market for a whole year.

Andrew Jackson as President, and John C. Calhoun as VicePresident, commenced their terms of office on the 4th of March. After the adjournment of the Senate, the President made one hundred and seventy-six appointments for office among his political adherents, principally in consequence of a general removal of his political opponents, Never before had so total a

change been made in the public offices, and the conduct of the executive was subjected to severe animadversions. During General Washington's administration of eight years there were but nine removals; in John Adams' of four years, only ten; in Jefferson's of eight years, but thirty-nine; in Madison's of eight years, but five; in Monroe's of eight years, but nine; and in John Quincy Adams' of four years, only two.

A conflagration at Augusta, Georgia, on the 3d of April, destroyed upwards of three hundred buildings. On the 10th of the same month, one hundred buildings, with a large amount of rice and other products, were consumed by fire at Savannah ; and on the same day the Lafayette Theatre in New York, together with large number of other buildings, were burned. The boiler of the steam-frigate Fulton, a receiving-ship stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, blew up on the 4th of June, killing upwards of thirty persons and dangerously wounding twenty-three others.

The first asylum for the blind in the United States was founded in Boston, and incorporated under the name of the New England Asylum for the Blind.

"Sam Patch," famous for his jumps at the falls of the Passaic at Paterson, and later at Niagara, was killed on the 13th of November, in jumping from the Genesee Falls at Rochester. Many thousand persons were collected to witness his feats.

The first public school in Baltimore was opened on the 21st of September. The first one in Louisville, Ky., was also established this year.

The first daily newspaper published in Portland, Me., was issued on the 13th of October, under the title of the Daily Courier.

The following-named canals were completed this year: The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, connecting the Delaware River with Chesapeake Bay; the Cumberland and Oxford, in Maine; the Farmington, in Connecticut; the Oswego, connecting Lake Ontario with the Erie Canal at Salina; and the Delaware and Hudson Canal, one hundred and eight miles in length, extending from Honesdale, Pa., to the Hudson River. The United States Mint at Philadelphia was completed.

The first figured muslin woven on a power-loom in this and, probably, in any other country, was made, in the summer of this year, at Central Falls, R. I.

The use of Turkey-red in calico-printing, which had for a long time given the French an advantage over English and American prints, was this year successfully introduced by manufacturers at Lowell.

The manufacture of penknives and pocket-knives, articles hitherto exclusively imported, was commenced at Worcester, Mass.

The first manufacture of sewing-silk by machinery was commenced at Mansfield, Conn.

1830

The first manufacture of bricks by machinery was commenced at the city of New York.

Large establishments for the manufacture of fire-bricks were erected about this time, and soon afterwards the importation of those articles was wholly stopped.

Galvanized iron was invented, at this time, by John W. Revere, M.D., of New York, and on the 27th of March the result of his experiments was laid before the Lyceum of Natural History, in that city.

Mormonism was founded this year, and Joseph Smith, the originator of that sect, published his book entitled "The Book of Mormon, an Account written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates taken from the Plates of Nephi." Smith professed to have translated this English version from the original plates, discovered to him by angels. This "divine revelation" was found to be a corrupt version of a religious romance, called "The Manuscript Found," written, in the year 1809, by Solomon Spaulding. A Mormon church was organized by Smith at Manchester, in Western New York, on the 6th of April; and at the first conference held in June about thirty converts attended. In the following year the Mormons removed to Kirtland, Ohio.

A severe storm was experienced in some parts of Tennessee, on the 31st of May. The town of Carthage was a heap of ruins; almost every house in the place was destroyed or greatly damaged. At another town fifty-three buildings were blown down, killing five persons and injuring many others. In July, a heavy storm swept both sides of Lake Champlain, continuing for three days. The streams emptying into the lake were so swollen that mill-dams and mills, iron-works and other factories, bridges and crops, were almost universally destroyed.

Chicago was surveyed and laid out as a town, and the map recorded on the 4th of August. The first sale of lots took place in the autumn.

It was estimated there were at this period thirteen hundred and forty-three miles of canal in the United States completed, eighteen hundred miles more in progress, and four hundred and eight miles projected.

The first arrival at Oswego of a vessel from Lake Erie occurred on the 3d of August, by the Welland Canal, now just completed.

The first steam-railroad that went into operation in America, designed for the transportation of both passengers and merchandise, was the South Carolina road, laid out to connect Charleston with Hamburg, on the Savannah River, opposite the city of Savannah. Six miles of the road were completed in the summer of this year, and a locomotive was run on it. This locomotive was constructed in New York, and was the first one built in this country. It was a small four-wheeled engine, with upright boiler and the flues close to the bottom, the flames circulating around them. It is a noteworthy fact that this road was designed and wholly constructed, for the use of locomo

tives, upon the advice of Mr. Horatio Allen, before they were known in this country, or established in Great Britain. The road was built upon piles, and some of the swamps and rivers were crossed at an elevation of fifty feet.

The Hudson and Mohawk Railroad, connecting Albany with Schenectady, was commenced.

On the 24th of May, fourteen miles of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were completed and opened for use.

The first telescope used in this country for astronomical purposes was set up at Yale College.

Charles Kean, the celebrated actor, arrived in this country, and commenced his first engagement at the Park Theatre, in New York, on the 1st of September.

The first penny paper published in Philadelphia was issued under the title of The Cent. It had but a brief existence.

The Christian Intelligencer, an organ of the Dutch Reformed Church, made its first appearance at New York. The Boston Transcript appeared at Boston, in July, and the Globe at Washington, in December. The Albany Evening Journal was also established this year.

The first omnibus in New York commenced running this year. It had the word "Omnibus" painted in large letters on both sides, and was a puzzle to most pedestrians, who pronounced it variously. The name was generally supposed to be. that of the owner.

The first Fourdrinier machine, used in the manufacture of paper, made in this country was built at Windham, Conn. Very few were afterwards imported.

1831 A negro insurrection broke out in Virginia, near the North Carolina border. It started with a party of three white men and four slaves, who commenced killing several families, and impressing into their service all slaves on their route, until a force of nearly two hundred accumulated, spreading desolation everywhere in their path. Fifty-five white persons were murdered before the insurrection was quelled. Troops were called out by the authorities of Virginia and North Carolina, who succeeded in killing or capturing all the insurgents. Fearing that this outbreak was but a part of a grand conspiracy of the negroes generally, martial law was proclaimed in many places, and every negro who could not give a satisfactory account of himself was arrested. In South Carolina the "Vigilance Association of Columbia" offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension and conviction of any person who should be detected in distributing or circulating in that State the abolition paper called the Liberator, published in Boston, or the pamphlet called "Walker's. Pamphlet," or any other publication of a seditious tendency.

Chloroform was discovered this year by Dr. Samuel Guthrie of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. It was at first used only as a medicine, and its valuable qualities were not perceived until some time later.

A conflagration destroyed the town of Fayetteville, N. C.,

on the 29th of May; only a few buildings on the outskirts escaped. All the public buildings, and about six hundred private houses, were consumed, with their contents.

Groton monument, on Groton Heights, opposite New Lon don, was completed.

A three-story house and lot, on the corner of Pine and William streets, in New York, was sold for twenty-two thousand dollars, in October. The lot was twenty-eight feet on Pine and sixty-eight on William Street.

The first sporting paper published in the United States was issued at New York, and called The Spirit of the Times.

The Louisville Journal appeared in Louisville, Ky.; and on the 9th of November the Daily Morning Post, at Boston.

The first passage of boats on the Morris Canal, between Newark, N. J., and the Delaware River, was made in November.

The great Pennsylvania line of improvements, connecting Philadelphia with Pittsburg, commenced in 1826, was completed in March. This line comprised eighty-two miles of railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia; one hundred and seventytwo miles of canal from Columbia to Hollidaysburg; thirty-six miles of railroad over the Alleghany Mountains to Johnstown; and one hundred and five miles of canal thence to Pittsburg. The line of railroad over the mountains consisted of a series of inclined planes, and was worked by stationary engines. These improvements were built by the State, and cost upwards of twelve millions of dollars.

The Hudson and Mohawk Railroad, between Albany and Schenectady, was opened for travel on the 1st of September. This road was first designed to be worked by horse-power, with the exception of two inclined planes, where stationary engines were to be employed. Before its completion it was decided to substitute steam-power, and a locomotive was ordered to be built for it at New York, which was used on the first trip at the opening of the road, and ran the distance of sixteen miles in forty-six minutes. Pine wood was used for fuel.

The first railroad built in Virginia was opened. It was constructed for the transportation of coal from the mines near James River to Manchester, opposite Richmond, a distance of thirteen miles. The first railroad in Louisiana was opened on the 23d of April, and connected New Orleans with Lake Ponchartrain, a distance of four and a half miles. Its construction across the swamp was considered a great feat of engineering.

Six miles of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad were completed and opened on the 4th of July. The cars were drawn by horses. In the next year sixteen miles were opened, at which time steam-power was adopted.

The construction of the Harlem and the Ithaca and Owego railroads in the State of New York, and of the Lexington and Ohio in Kentucky, was commenced.

The important arrangement of four-wheeled trucks for cars was introduced on the South Carolina Railroad, and were the first car-trucks used in this or any other country.