Here is an historical time line of events on this continent from 1450 to 1909.
I have couched in this time line many of my family dates. It is interesting to note how my family history merges with the overall. (This is not complete as of 12/8/2007 - `still working on it as time allows.)
1450 or before - The Iroquois League, a confederation of the Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas and Onondagas is founded. In 1714 the Tuscaroras, a kindred Indian nation, moved northward from what is presently the Carolinas to become the sixth national member of the confederacy. The Iroquois League was the brain-child of Deganwidah, a Huron who lived in what is now eastern Ontario. Deganwidah was unsuited himself to propose the idea of a league of nations, not only because of his non-Iroquoian ancestry, but also because he stuttered so badly that he could scarcely talk. He would have had the utmost difficulty in presenting his idea to societies where oratory was prized. And writing, aside from the pictographs of the wampum belts, was not used. Deganwidah travelled from tribe to tribe trying to figure ways to realize his dream and in doing so met Hiawatha, who agreed to speak for him. Hiawatha (a man far removed from Longfellow's poetic creation) undertook long negotiations with leaders of the five nations and, in the end, produced an agreement along the lines of Deganwidah's vision. The agreement was procured, and maintained, through the Constitution of the League, called the Great Law of Peace. The Iroquois League and it's Great Law of Peace was to become the model used for the new American government and it's Constitution. Later still it was used as the model for the UN and it's constitution.
August 3, 1492 - Christopher Columbus sets sail to find a westward route to the east.
October 12, 1492 - Christopher Columbus reportedly the 1st European to set foot on the New World (in what is now the Dominican Republic).
April 2, 1513 - Juan Ponce De Leon establishes the 1st colony in what is now the United States (St. Augustine, Florida).
December 20, 1606 - Virginia Company settlers left London to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America.
May 14, 1607 - The first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
December 4, 1619 - The 1st Thanksgiving is celebrated.
1619 - Dutch deliver first slaves to Virginia.
November 9, 1620 - the Mayflower ship lands at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with 101 people on board, 66 of whom were separatists of the Church of England who were also known as Pilgrims and Colonists.
November 11, 1620 - the Mayflower Compact is signed by the 41 men, establishing a form of local government in which the colonists agree to abide by majority rule and to cooperate for the general good of the colony. The Compact sets the precedent for other colonies as they set up governments.
1625 - Mareen "the Emigrant" Duvall is born in Nantes, France.
February 4, 1636 - Gerret Van Swearingen is born in Beemsterdam, Holland (United Netherlands)
1637 - William Butt is born in England.
1638 - The first colonial printing press is set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1640 - Barbara De Barrette is born in Valenciennes, France.
October 14, 1644 - William Penn is born in London.
1645 - George Green is born in Faringdon, England.
1646 - In Massachusetts, the general court approves a law that makes religious heresy punishable by death.
1652 - Rhode Island enacts the first law in the colonies declaring slavery illegal.
March 1, 1659 - Gerret Van Swearingen marries Barbara De Barrette in New Amstel/New Castle, Delaware.
1660 - William Butt arrived in Portsmouth, NH, then moves to Dutchess County, NY. Later he settled in Prince George Co., MD
1660 - William Butt marries Elizabeth ?
1665 - Thomas Van Swearingen, son of Gerret and wife Barbara (De Barrette) Van Swearingen is born in St Mary's, Somerset County, MD. Thomas drops the Van and becomes Thomas Swearingen.
1665 - Thomas Green, son of George Green, b. 1645 and unknown wife, is born in England.
1667 - Samuel Duvall, son of Mareen "the Emigrant" Duvall and wife Mary Bouth is born.
1680 - Richard Butt, son of William and Elizabeth is born, probably in Darnell's Grove, Prince George's County, MD.
1681 - Pennsylvania is founded as William Penn, a Quaker, receives a Royal charter with a large land grant from King Charles II.
1681 - Mary (?) (Butt) Metcalf is born in Prince George's County, Maryland. She later marries a man whose name is unknown. She later marries Richard Butt, b. 1680 - d. before 28 Apr 1715 when his will was recorded. Then after Richards death she marries John Metcalf/Medcalfe probably about 1716/1717.
1682 - A large wave of immigrants, including many Quakers, arrives in Pennsylvania from Germany and the British Isles.
1685 - Protestants in France lose their guarantee of religious freedom as King Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes, spurring many to leave for America.
March, 1687 - Thomas Swearingen marries Jayne Doyne (maybe Jane Hyde) in St Mary's, Somerset County, MD.
May 9, 1689 - Britain declares war on France.
May 24, 1689 - English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants.
July 25, 1689 - France declares war on Britain.
December 16, 1689 - English Parliament adopts a Bill of Rights.
1689 - "Old" William Green is born, probably Kent County, PA, now the middle of the three counties of Delaware or Port Tobacco, Charles County, MD
1693 - The College of William and Mary is founded in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1694 - Mary Ray is born in Prince George's County, MD.
1696 - John Swearingen, son of Thomas and Jayne (Doyne) Swearingen is born in Queen Ann's Parrish, Prince George's County, MD.
1700 - The Anglo population in the English colonies in America reaches 275,000, with Boston (pop. 7000) as the largest city, followed by New York (pop. 5000).
December 11, 1703 - Richard Butt, son of Richard Butt and Mary (?) (Butt) Metcalf, is born in Queen Ann's Parish, Prince George's Co., Maryland.
February 28, 1704 - French/Indian forces destroy Deerfield, Massachusetts.
1705 - Rignal Green Sr. is born in Berkeley County, VA.
January 17, 1706 - Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston.
February 5, 1706 - Dinah Butt, aka, Dinah Darke Butt is born, in Queen Ann's Parrish, Prince George's County, MD.
1712 - Rachel Duvall, grand daughter of Mareen "the Emigrant" Duvall and wife Elizabeth IJAMS is born in Queen Ann's Parish, Prince George's Co., Maryland.
January 28, 1712 - American forces attack the Tuscarora Indians during the Tuscarora Indian War.
October 10, 1712 - Samuel Butt son of Richard and Mary (?) (Butt) Metcalf is born in Queen Ann's Parish, Prince George's Co., Maryland.
February 9, 1714 - John Swearingen marries Mary Ray in Queen Ann's Parrish, Prince George's County, MD
1717 - Elizabeth Swearingen, daughter of John and wife Mary (Ray) Swearingen is born in MD.
September 22, 1722 - Samuel Adams is born at Quincy, in Massachusetts.
February 22, 1732 - George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
August 1, 1734 - Samuel Butt marries Elizabeth Swearingen in St. Barnabas Church, Queen Anne's Parrish, Prince George's County, Maryland.
October 30 1735 - John Adams is born in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts.
May 29, 1736 - Patrick Henry is born in Hanover County, Virginia.
January 29, 1737 - Thomas Paine is born in Thetford, England.
1740 - Richard Butt, b. December 11, 1703 marries in Prince George's Co., Maryland, Rachel Duvall, b. 1712.
April 13, 1743 - Thomas Jefferson is born in Albemarle County, Virginia.
1747 - Ann or Mary Ann Butt, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Swearingen) Butt is born.
March 16, 1751 - James Madison is born in Port Conway, King George, Virginia
September 2, 1752 - Britain and the colonies under its control adopt the Gregorian calendar.
6 September 6, 1757 - Marquis de Lafayette is born at the castle of Chavagnac, in Auvergne, France.
April 28th, 1758 - James Monroe is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
1761 - Ferry established at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Town to become known as Harper's Ferry.
July 11, 1767 - John Quincy Adams is born in Braintree, Massachusetts.
October 26, 1767 - Deed of Mary (?) (Butt) Metcalf, former widow of Richard Butt, gave her grandsons, Richard and Thomas, the land called "Batchelor`s Delight." A part of Darnell's Grove, in accordance with the will of Richard Butt; Vol. BB, No. 2, pages 65-66, Maryland Hall of Records. Mary lived many years after his death and outlived both of these two sons. She deeded the land to Richard(1), son of Richard(1B) and Thomas II, son of Thomas I.
1768 - Tecumseh is born. He dies in 1813 during the Battle of The Thames River near Chatham, Ontario.
1768 - Work begins on Th. Jefferson's Monticello.
1770
1770 - Jefferson moves into the South Pavilion (an outbuilding) of Monticello
March 5, 1770 - The Boston Massacre occurs when British troops fire into a Boston mob, who were demonstrating against British troops at the customs commission. The first to fall was Crispus Attucks, a fugitive slave and merchant seaman near the front, followed by four other men amongst the forty-fifty patriots. This event was later credited as the first battle in the American Revolution, which began five years later, and was used as an incident to further the colonists cause of rebellion.
April 12, 1770 - The Townshend Acts, duties on goods such as lead, paper, glass and tea enacted three years earlier, were repealed by British parliament except for that on tea, thus continuing to raise opposition in America. British Prime Minister Lord North, as well as parliament, maintained the tea tax, in order to show their supremacy.
July 1, 1770 - The closest encounter of a comet with earth likely occurs as the Lexell Comet passes at the closest distance in history, 3.4 million kilometers. This comet no longer comes near enough to Earth to be seen due to gravitational pulls with Jupiter and may have been ejected from our solar system.1771
The colonies are growing. By this year, there were over two hundred miles of roads in New Hampshire alone.
May 1771 - In Connecticut, the General Assembly directs the governor, Jonathan Trimball, to "collect all publick letters and papers which hereafter in any way affect the interest of this Colony and have the same bound together, that they may be preserved." Also, this year Juan de Anza established the first overlands route to California from Mexico.
The colony of New York gains another member of the press corps when the Albany Gazette becomes that city's first newspaper into publication.November, 1771 - Richard Butt purchases from Joseph Franceway 200 acres that will become Buttstown, VA.
1772
The first independent Anglo-American government is founded in May by the Watauga Association in East Tennessee, a group of settlers needing mutual protection along the Watauga River. The written agreement allowed for a five man court to act as the government. The Wataugans would negotiate a ten year lease with the Cherokee for land along the river.
June 9, 1772 - British customs cutter HMS Gaspee, charged with enforcing the Stamp Act of 1865 and the Townshend Acts, is lured aground off the coast of Warwick, Rhode Island on the shore of Narragansett Bay. The next day, colonial sympathizers defy the king and torch the revenue ship.
November 2, 1772 - Samuel Adams organizes the Committee of Correspondence, a forerunner of the union of American colonies, that begins the American Revolution. The meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, and later repeated throughout the American colonies.1773
March - The House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia reacts strongly against British policies by setting up a committee to contact the other colonies about their common defense.
December 16, 1773 - When the English East India Company sought financial assistance, England allowed the company to ship surplus tea to America at low cost. This rankled the American colonists, who resented the implementation of a single company controlling the tea trade, as well as the right of the British government to tax the colonies without their consent. Meeting at the Old South Meeting House, Bostonians led by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams discussed the new British tax on tea and subsequently boarded three ships in the nearby harbor, tossing the 342 chests of tea overboard. The Boston Tea Party caused Parliament to close the port of Boston and pushed the American colonies one step closer to war.1774
June 2, 1774. The Intolerable Acts, including the reestablishment of the Quartering Act, requiring colonists allow British soldiers into their homes, and the curtailment of Massachusetts self-rule, are enacted by the British government. Later led to the 3rd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the U.S. Army from doing the same.
September 5 to October 26. The First Continental Congress was held in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, protesting the Intolerable Acts. The Congress, attended by all American colonies except Georgia, petitioned King George to stop the new regulations on Massachusetts, and called for civil disobedience and boycotts of British wares by the American Association. No concessions were made by the King or English parliament.October 26, 1774 - The Minute Men are established in America.
The colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut ban the further importation of slaves.1775
By the end of January 1775, there were 37 newspapers being printed in the American colonies. Seven newspapers were published in Massachusetts; one in New Hampshire; two in Rhode Island; and 4 in Connecticut. Three papers were published in New York City, with one additional New York paper published in Albany. Nine were published in Pennsylvania; two in Maryland; two in Virginia (both at Williamsburg); two in North Carolina; three in South Carolina, and one in Georgia.
February 9, 1775 - The British government declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
March 23, 1775 - Patrick Henry addressed the Virginia House of Burgesses in St. John’s Church in Richmond, where he decreed, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” His speech is often credited with convincing Virginia to permit Virginia troops to enter the Revolutionary War. The crowd reacted to Henry’s speech with fervent cries, “To Arms! To Arms!”
April 18, 1775 - Two lanterns were hung from the steeple of Old North Church by sexton Robert Newman as Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the night, warning patriots that the British were coming to Concord to destroy arms. The next day, during armed resistance, 8 Minutemen were killed at Lexington and the British took 273 casualties on their return from Concord, starting the American Revolution. This was a culmination of the months prior, as colonists began to gather arms and powder if fighting the British became necessary. However, even after the patriot’s brave battle at Lexington and Concord, the majority of Americans were undecided whether war or reconciliation was the more prudent course of action.
June 15, 1775 - The Continental Congress appoints George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, sending him to Boston with the task to take charge of the ragtag militia thereApril 19, 1775 - Battles of Lexington and Concord mark the beginning of the Rev. War
1776
Andrew Houston is born around this time.
January 10 - Thomas Paine, and English writer, publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense” touting the ability and right of America to create a democratic and free nation, winning public support for the cause of American independence from Britain with the sale of hundreds of thousands of copies. Thomas Jefferson received a copy of “Common Sense” at his home Monticello, whose sentiments pleased him, and the course for independence and the Declaration to follow began.
July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson and his committee, was approved in the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America, held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was influenced by many writers, including John Locke, and was emboldened by the notion that man had the natural right to change or overthrow the government that denied their rights. Four days later, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed publicly for the first time outside the Province House in Philadelphia, later to be dubbed Independence Hall, touching off a celebration that rippled through the city. Liberty and freedom was celebrated amongst commoners and soldiers, who would soon fight to solidify its hold on the thirteen colonies.September 7, 1776 - In the world’s first submarine attack, the American submersible ship Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the flagship of British Admiral Richard Howe’s ship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.
September 22, 1776 - As a member of the Continental Army sent on an intelligence gathering mission behind enemy lines on Long Island, Nathan Hale, disguised as a Dutch teacher, was subsequently caught and executed by the British for spying. In a speech before he was hung, the immortal words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” were reportedly uttered, and reverberated through repetition throughout the colonies. A statue of Hale now sits outside the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C.
December 25 to 26 - At McKonkey’s Ferry, General Washington and his 2,600 troops cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and defeats 1,400 Hessians in the battle of Trenton.1777
January 3, 1777 - General Washington and the 7,000 man Continental Army defeats British General Charles Cornwallis at Princeton, New Jersey. This battle, combined with that of Trenton one week earlier, impressed upon other European nations that the Americans could combat the British Army.
January 14, 1777 - Samuel Butt is born.
June 14, 1777 - The Continental Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.September 3, 1777 - The Stars and Strips fly on the battlefield for the first time at Cooch’s Bridge, Maryland.
July 26, 1777 - Americans held Fort Stanwix is besieged by British and Indian troops under the command of General Barry St. Leger. The British are forced to withdraw after three weeks under the duress of the fort’s defenders, led by Colonel Peter Ganesvoort.
November 15 - The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union are adopted by the Continental Congress in Independence Hall. It serves as the first constitution of the United States.
December 17 - After John Adams, elected commissioner to France by the Continental Congress, and Benjamin Franklin engage their support for the Revolutionary War, France recognizes the independence of the 13 colonies, signing treaties of alliance and commerce. French involvement becomes the turning point of the war.
December 19 - After failing victory in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and in response to the British capture of Philadelphia, George Washington marches his 11,000 man Continental Army into Valley Forge for the first winter encampment.1778
In an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette, a New Jersey stallion was called a thoroughbred, the first usage in the United States of that equine term.
February 5, 1778 - Friedrich von Steuben of the Prussian Army meets with the Continental Congress in York, Pennsylvania. They direct him to join General George Washington at the winter encampment at Valley Forge to drill the Continental Army into an effective fighting unit while the British retain control of Philadelphia, only twenty miles away. South Carolina also becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
February 6, 1778 - France signs the treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States, officially recognizing the new nation, and sends Pierre L’Enfant to be captain of engineers at Valley Forge. Later, L’Enfant would be commissioned to design the capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C.
June 18 - British evacuate Philadelphia.
December 28 - The first battle of Savannah, Georgia was lost to the British.1779
February 25 - Fort Sackville at Vincennes, Indiana is surrendered by British troops under the command of British Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton. The militia under Lt. Colonel George Rogers Clark, bolsters the western claims in the American Revolution.
June 1, 1779 - Although currently a successful American general, Benedict Arnold is court-marshaled for civil authority disputes. His sentence, however, was a light reprimand by General Washington. Mad about the court-marshal and the new American alliance with France, Arnold became a traitor against the American cause when he plotted to transfer the fort at West Point, New York, for 20,000 sterling (approximately $1,000,000 today) that would effectively give control of the Hudson River to British forces. His plot was uncovered, but Arnold escaped, then joined British forces and fought against the Continental Army.June 12, 1779 - After being appointed by General George Washington earlier in the year to lead a 4,500 man army against insurgents (mainly Torey's and the tribes of the Iroquois League), General John Sullivan begins a campaign the will result in the destruction of the Iroquois League.
September 23 - John Paul Jones and the Bonhomme Richard defeat the Serapis in the British North Sea.
December 1 - General Washington arrives at Morristown, New Jersey, where the Continental Army winters in the second season of the Revolutionary War.
December 25 - Nashville, Tennessee is founded by James Robertson as Fort Nashborough.1780
May 12 - Charleston, South Carolina falls to the British after an effective seige.
Prompted by poor vision both near and far, and tired of putting his glasses on and off, Benjamin Franklin invents bi-focals.
July 11 - French troops set foot on American soil at Newport, Rhode Island, to fight alongside the Patriot militiamen of the Continental Army for American independence from Great Britain.15 July 1780 - William Green, Jr., purchases from John Linder, Sr., and wife Grace, 82 acres of land in VA. This along with another 42 acres acquired later ultimately became the current city of Greensburg, WV. This William Green Jr. was the son of “Old” William Green and wife Dinah Butt, aka, Dinah Darke Butt. William Green Jr. was married to Ann (Mary Ann) Butt, daughter of Samuel Butt and wife Elizabeth Swearingen. This Samuel Butt was the brother of Dinah Butt, aka, Dinah Darke Butt. Ann or Mary Ann Butt was the niece of Dinah Butt, aka, Dinah Darke Butt.
September 25 - The march begins this date at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River (Tennessee) by the “over-mountain men” militia of the American Revolution under Colonels Charles McDowell, John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, and William Campbell as they move toward the Battle of Kings Mountain.
October 7 - Loyalist troops fighting for Britain are beaten at the Battle of Kings Mountain by the “over-mountain men,” who kill the opposition leader British Major General Patrick Ferguson. This battle reversed the southern fortunes of the British during the Revolutionary War.1780 – Elizabeth A. Green is born. She is the second oldest of 9 children born to Rignal Green Sr. and second wife Sarah. Rignal Green Sr. is the oldest of 8 children born to “Old” William Green and wife Dinah Butt, aka Dinah Darke Butt.
1781
January 17 - At Cowpens, South Carolina, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan with his band of Patriot militia defeat the large force of British regulars under Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton.
March 15 - British troops under Lord Cornwallis gain a costly victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina at the expense of Major General Nathanael Greene in the opening salvo of the campaign that would lead to Yorktown.
May 22 - Major General Nathanael Greene and Harry "Light-horse" Lee leads the Continental Army against British loyalists in a siege at Ninety-Six, South Carolina.
May 26 - The Bank of North America is incorporated in Philadelphia by an act of Congress to help stabilize the issuance of paper currency. It was capitalized in 1781 with $400,000.
September 26 - General George Washington and Rochambeau join forces near Williamsburg. Two weeks later, on October 6, they begin the seige of Cornwallis at Yorktown. At the time, English troops numbered 6,000, American troops 8,846, and French troops 7,800October 19 - British forces under Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Washington’s American forces and their French allies at Yorktown, Virginia. This would be the last military battle of the American Revolution.
1782
January - The Bank of North America opens its doors and the Robert Morris, the superintendent of Finance recommends the creation of a national mint and decimal coins.
March 20 - Lord North resigns as British Prime Minister, leading the way for a New British cabinet agrees to recognize United States independence.
June 20 - The Bald Eagle is adopted by Congress as the national bird. Franklin wanted it to be the Turkey.
July 11 - British troops begin to leave United States' soil, evacuating Savannah, Georgia.
November 7 - British Parliament agrees to the recognition of U.S. independence. A preliminary peace treaty, later formalized as the "Treaty of Paris" is signed between American and British officials in Paris on November 30.December 14 - British troops continue their evacuation of United States' soil by leaving Charleston, South Carolina.
1783
April 11, 1783 - Congress declares an end to Rev War hostilities.
April 19 - Congress ratifies the preliminary pace treaty, ending the Revolutionary War.
Massachusetts Supreme Court outlaws slavery, citing the state Bill of Rights “all men are born free and equal.”
September 3 - In Paris, France, John Adams leads an American delegation and signs the peace treaty officially ending the Revolutionary War between the United States and Britain.
November 3 - Army is ordered disbanded by General George Washington. After the British leaves New York City on November 25, Washington bids goodbye to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City on December 4.
Noah Webster publishes the American Spelling Book, a bestseller. More than a million copies are sold of "Webster's Dictionary." Webster's Dictionary is credited for standardizing spelling and pronunciation in the United States of America.1784
January 14 - Congress ratifies the final peace treaty between Great Britain and the United States, ending the conflict that would give America its freedom.
March 1 - All children born after this date in 1784 in Rhode Island are free. Rhode Island’s passage of its Emancipation Act provided for the gradual abolishment of the right to hold slaves.
September 21 - The Pennsylvania Packet & General Advertiser is published, the first successful daily newspaper in the United States.
By the end of 1784, trade with Great Britain had returned as Britain receives its first bales of imported American cotton.
November 24 - Zachary Taylor, who would become the 12th president of the United States, is born.1785
January 7 - Dr. John Jeffries, an American physician, joins John-Pierre Blanchard, a French aviation pioneer, to become the first men to cross the English channel by air, traveling from Dover, England to Calais, Francein in hydrogen gas balloon.
July 6 - The United States adopts a decimal coinage system, with the dollar overwhelmingly selected as the monetary unit, the first time any nation has done so.1786
August 17 - American frontiersman David "Davy" Crockett is born.
September 11-14 - Five state delegates at a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland call for Congress to hold a convention in Philadelphia in order to write a constitution for the thirteen states.
John Fitch invents the steamboat, launching it on the Delaware River in 1787 with six large paddles, like an Indian canoe, that was powered by a steam engine.
The Indian nation of the Choctaw, originally located in the southeastern states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana and known as one of the five civilized tribes, sign the first of nine peace treaties between the United States and the tribe.
Rhode Island farmers struck against merchants who refused to accept the depreciated paper currency.1787
1787 - Gracey Marlay is born.
January 25 - In Massachusetts, six hundred debt-ridden farmers, led by Daniel Shays, revolt against their creditors and high Massachusetts taxes. Faced with imprisonment and the loss of their farms for not paying their debts, they engage in Shays’s Rebellion, but it fails when state militia intervene. Daniel Shays would escape to Vermont with the death penalty on his head, but later would be pardoned for his actions.
May 25 - With George Washington presiding, the Constitutional conventions opens in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
July 5 - A compromise during the Constitutional Convention proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut solves the problem of the amount of votes each state would receive in Congress. A bicameral legislature would be enacted, with equal votes for the Senate and proportional representation based on population in the House of Representatives.
July 13 - The Northwest Ordinance, which determined a government for the Northwest Territory of the United States (north of Ohio River and west of New York), was adopted by the Continental Congress. It guaranteed freedom of religion, school support, and no slavery, plus the opportunity for statehood.
September 17 - Delegates to the Constitutional Convention adopt the Constitution.1788
1788 - John Butt who is thought to be one of the four nephews raised by Richard Butt is born.
March 21 - Twenty-five percent of the population of New Orleans perish in a tragic fire that destroyed 856 buildings and left the majority of the city in ruins.
June 21 - Ratification by New Hampshire of the United States Constitution, the 9th state to do so, indicates adoption of the document by the United States.
John Fitch begins to operate passenger service from Philadelphia to Burlington, New Jersey on a sixty foot steamboat, which proved unprofitable.1789
February 4 - The 1st Congress meets in Federal Hall, New York City with regular sessions beginning two months later on April 6. Frederick A. Muehlenberg becomes the first Speaker of the newly formed House of Representatives.
March 4 - In Federal Hall, New York City, a converted Customs House, the government of the United States under the United States Constitution begins to act. The U.S. Constitution is declared to be in effect.
April 30 - The 1st President, George Washington, is inaugurated in New York City. He had been chosen president by all voting electors (there was no direct presidential election) with John Adams elected Vice President.
September 24 - The Federal Judiciary Act is passed, creating the Supreme Court.
September 25 - The Bill of Rights is submitted to the states by Congress.1790
January 8, 1790 - The first State of the Union address is given by first president George Washington.
February 1, 1790 - The Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the initial session.
March 1, 1790 - Congress commissions the first U.S. census. When completed, it shows that 3,929,214 lived in the nascent democracy in 1790. The most populated state, Virginia, has 691,737. The center of population was 23 miles west of Baltimore, Maryland.April 4, 1790 - Rignal Butt who is thought to be one of the four nephews raised by Richard Butt is born.
July 16, 1790 - George Washington as President, approves the Residence Bill, legislation that authorizes the buying of land along the Potomac River for federal buildings and parks, creating the District of Columbia.
July 31, 1790 - The first patent in the United States is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for improved method of making potash.1791
March 3, 1791 - The United States Congress passes a resolution to establish the U.S. Mint, which is created one year later. when the Coinage Act is passed on April 2.
March 14, 1791 - Vermont is added as the 14th State. Carved from portions of New York and New Hampshire, and first known as New Connecticut, Vermont spent fourteen years as an independent republic before joining the Union.
August 26, 1791 - The steamboat is patented in the United States by John Fitch. First launched on the Delaware River in 1787, and operated passenger service from Philadelphia to Burlington, New Jersey, which proved unprofitable.November 4, 1791 - St. Clair's defeat at the hands of Blue Jacket and others. Near present-day Fort Recovery, Ohio. Col. Wm. Darke from Berkeley County was there. His son was killed there and he himself was the only White hero that day. My notes say that Samuel Butt b. 1/14/1777 shows up in Licking Co, about 1790/91 with Col William Darke and fellow Berkeley Countians Peter Williamson, Vatchell Metcalf and Jacob Baker. R M Green wrote that they were at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Were they all at St. Clair's Defeat instead? Was this Jacob Baker the Capt Jake Baker elsewhere referred to? Was this Jacob Baker the one who’s November 15, 1852, Monroe Co., Ohio will is included here?
December 15, 1791 - In Philadelphia's Congress Hall, the Bill of Rights, which constitutes the first ten amendments to the Constitution, takes effect. Two of the original twelve amendments do not pass.
April 27, 1791 - Samuel Morse, United State inventor, is born. He would later develop the Morse code for use in the first electric telegraph in the United States.1792
February 20, 1792 - The United States Post Office Department is established, signed into law by President George Washington.
April 5, 1792 - The presidential veto is used for the first time when President Washington turns down a bill to apportion resprentation amongst the states.
May 17, 1792 - The beginnings of the New York Stock Exchange is established with the signing of the Buttonwood agreement.
October 13, 1792 - The cornerstone for the U.S. Executive Mansion (called the White House since 1818) in the new District of Columbia is laid by freemasons and the commissioners of the district during the construction of the home of the president. It would take eight more years before President John Adams would move into the home.
November - George Washington, a Federalist, is reelected president of the United States with no opposition, with John Adams elected Vice President. The Federalists, who believed in a strong central government, outnumbered the other political party at the time, the Democrat-Republicans, who decided against a political fight due to Washington's popularity. Washington had considered not seeking a second term, but decided to serve again, in some part due to trying to stem the tide of political parties.1793
February 12, 1793 - The United States Congress passes a federal law requiring the return of slaves that escaped from slave states into free territory or states.
April 22, 1793 - George Washington signs the Proclamation of Neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars, where France has already declared war on England, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia and Sardinia.
December 9, 1793 - The American Minerva, established by Noah Webster, becomes New York City's first daily newspaper.
September 18, 1793 - George Washington lays the cornerstone in the Capitol building, beginning the construction on the design by Dr. William Thornton.
August 17, 1793 - Dr. Benjamin Rush conferred with two Philadelphia doctors about an epidemic of disease along the docks of Philadelphia over the preceding two weeks. By November, over 10% of the population of the city had succumbed, nearly 5,000 people. The disease had been brought to the city by refugees from the Haiti, then coupled with a wet spring and swamps that became an incubator for mosquitos.1794
March 14, 1794 - Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, which could do the work of fifty men when cleaning cotton by hand.
March 27, 1794 - The U.S. Government establishes a permanent navy and commissions six vessels to be built. They would be put into service three years later.
August 20, 1794 - General Anthony Wayne, commander of Ohio-Indiana area, routed a confederacy of Indian tribes, including Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomic, at Fallen Timbers on the Maumee River, causing a retreat in disarray.
September 1794 - The Whiskey Rebellion occurs when western Pennsylvania farmers in the Monongahela Valley, upset over the liquor tax passed in 1791, are suppressed by 15,000 militia sent by Alexander Hamilton to establish the authority of the federal government to uphold its laws.
November 19, 1794 - Jay's Treaty is signed between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Great Britain. This treaty tries to settle some of the lingering troubles stemming from the American Revolution.1795
August 3, 1795 - General Wayne signs a peace treaty with the Indians at Fort Greenville, Ohio, ending the hostilities in the what was then known as the Northwest Territories after the Indian confederation's defeat (the treaty included the above mentioned tribes, as well as the Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias) at Fallen Timbers the year before.
The University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, becomes the first operating state university in the United States, and the only public university to graduate students in the 18th century.
October 27, 1795 - The Treaty of Madrid is signed, establishing the boundaries between the Spanish Colonies and the United States.
November 28, 1795 - The United States purchases peace with Tunis and Algiers by supplying a frigate and over $800,000.1796
June 1, 1796- Tennessee is admitted into the Union as the 16th state.
September 19, 1796 - President George Washington gives his final address as president, urging strong warnings against permanent foreign alliances, large public debt, and a large military establishment.
December 7, 1796 - The U.S. Electoral College meets to elect Federalist John Adams as president. John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson, of the Democrat Republican party, whose platform included the notion of a weak central goverment, in the U.S. presidential election. Political parties came into prominence with this election after the retirement of George Washington. Electors who chose the president were chosen by the states, using various methods, including the popular vote or by state legislators. Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson's 68.1797
January 3, 1797 - The Treaty of Tripoli, signifying peace between the United States and Tripoli, is signed at Algiers.
March 4, 1797 - John Adams succeeds George Washington as president of the United States.March 13, 1797 Bazil Butt is born.
The United States begins to build up its navy with the launching of three ships. The U.S. frigate United States in Philadelphia on July 10, 1797; the Constellation in Baltimore on September 7; and the Constitution (old Ironsides) in Boston, September 20. The Constitution, a 44 gun frigate, would immediately see service against Barbary pirates of the coast of Tripoli.1798
May 4, 1798 - Thomas Jefferson, then Vice President of the United States, informs the American Philosophical Society of his invention of a new mouldboard for a plow.
April 7, 1798 - The Territory of Mississippi is established from parts of Georgia and South Carolina, and alter expanded to included disputed territory of the United States and Spain.
German-American Gottlieb Graupner settles in Boston and becomes the father of orchestral music in the United States. He would later organize the Philharmonic Society.
Congress voids all treaties with France on July 7, 1798, due to French raids on U.S. ships and a rejection of its diplomats, and orders the Navy to capture French armed ships. Eight-four French ships are captured by the U.S. Navy (with 45 ships) and private ships (365).
July 14, 1798 - The Alien and Sedition Acts making it a federal crime to publish malicious statements about the United States Government go into law.1799
February 1799 - The French warship L'Insurgente is captured by the U.S.S. Constellation. (Pic, left, by Hoff., 1883-1966) Napolean stops the French raids after becoming First Consul.
March 29, 1799 - A law is passed to abolish slavery in the state of New York, effective twenty-eight year later, in 1827.
The American System of Manufacturing is invented by Eli Whitney, who uses semi-skilled labor, machine tools, and jigs to make standardized, interchangeable parts, then an aseembly line of labor. Whitney first used the system to manufacture 10,000 muskets for the U.S. Government.1800
The Natchez Trace post route, following an old trail running from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, is established by an Act of Congress on April 23, 1800.
April 24, 1800 - The United States Library of Congress is founded.
The census of the population of the city of Albany, New York reaches 5,349.
November 1, 1800 - U.S. President John Adams is the first President to live in the White House, then known as the Executive Mansion and sixteen days later, the United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.
Slavery is ended in the Northwest Territory, stemming from the Ordinance of 1787 establishing the territory and written by Thomas Jefferson.1801
January 20, 1801 - John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
February 15, 1801 Thomas Didimus Butt is born.February 17, 1801 - Thomas Jefferson is elected as the 3rd president of the United States in a vote of the House of Representatives after tying Aaron Burr in the electoral college with 73 electors.
March 4, 1801 - Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated for his first term as President of the United States, with Aaron Burr, his defeated opponent, as Vice President, as was the rule at the time.
June 10, 1801 - Tripoli declares war against the United States. The United States had refused to pay additional tribute commerce raiding corsairs from Arabia.
November 16, 1801 - The first edition of the New York Post is published.1802
February 11, 1802 - Lydia Child is born and would become a foremost author expounding the idea of an American abolitionist.
March 16, 1802 - West Point, New York is established. Four months later, the United States Military Academy opens on July 4.April 4, 1802 - Sarah Houston is born.
October 2, 1802 - War ends between Tripoli and Sweden, but continues with the United States, despite a negotiated peace, due to compensation disagreements.
World population reached 1 billion people.1803
January 30, 1803 - Discussion to buy New Orleans begin when Monroe and Livingston sail to Paris, ending with the complete purchase of the Louisiana Purchase three months later.
February 4, 1803 - The United States Supreme Court overturns its first U.S. law in the case of Marbury versus Madison, establishing the context of judicial review as they declared a statute within the Constitution void. This established the Supreme Court's position as an equal member of the three branches of United States government.
March 1, 1803 - Ohio is admitted to the Union as the 17th U.S. state.
April 2, 1803 - President Thomas Jefferson doubles the size of the United States of America with his purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon's France, thus paving way for the western expansion that would mark the entire history of the 19th century from Missouri to the Pacific Coast. The price of the purchase included bonds of $11,250,000 and $3.750,000 in payments to United States citizens with claims against France.
December 20, 1803 - The United States of America takes title to the Louisiana Purchase, which stretches the United States from the Canadian border to the mouth of the Mississippi River.1804
February 15, 1804 - New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery.
May 14, 1804 - Ordered by Thomas Jefferson to map the Northwest United States, Lewis and Clark begin their expedition from St. Louis. and Camp Dubois. The journey begins with navigation of the Missouri River.
July 11, 1804 - The duel between Alexander Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr, longtime political rivals, occurs in Weehawken, New Jersey, culminating in the death of Hamilton.
October 1, 1804 - The attack on Sitka, Alaska by Russians and their allies in the Aleut community laid siege on a Tlingit Indian fort. One week later, the siege was complete with the driving out of Tlingit forces.
October 26, 2804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrives at the confluence of the Knife and Missouri Rivers, in what is now the state of North Dakota, where they camped until the spring of 1805 at the hospitality of the Mandan and Minitari Indian villages.1805
January 11, 1805 - The Michigan Territory is established.
April 27, 1805 - American Marines and Berbers attack the Tripoli city of Derna. Land and naval forces would battle against Tripoli until peace was concluded with the United States on June 4, 1805.
June 13, 1805 - Meriweather Lewis and four companions confirm their correct heading by sighting the Great Falls of the Missouri River, as the Lewis and Clark expedition continues west.
December 8, 1805 - Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition upon sighting the Pacific Ocean, begin to build Fort Clatsop, a log fort near the mouth of the Columbia River in present-day Oregon. The would spend the winter of 1805-1806 in the newly constructed fort.August 19, 1805 – Sophonia “Fanny” Brake is born.
December 23, 1805 - The found of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Jr. is born.1806
March 23, 1806 - Explorers Lewis and Clark and the "Corps of Discovery" begin the several thousand mile trek back to St. Louis, Missouri from their winter camp near the Pacific Ocean.
The National Road, also known as the Great National Pike or the Cumberland Road, the first federally funded highway that ran between Cumberland, Maryland to Ohio, was approved by President Thomas Jefferson on March 29, 1806, with the signing of legislation and appropriation of $30,000. The highway ran through three states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
July 15, 1806 - A second exploratory expedition led by U.S. Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins from Fort Belle Fountaine near St. Louis begins to explore the west. Later that year, during a second trip, he reaches the distant Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains and discovers Pike's Peak.
September 23, 1806 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition to map the northwest United States ended. Essential to the journey was Sacagawea, their female Indian guide.
Noah Webster publishes his first American English dictionary.1807
January 19, 1807 - Robert E. Lee is born. Would become a military officer, both with the U.S. Regular Army prior to the outbreak of Civil War, and afterwards, the American Confederate General.
February 17, 1807 - Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Alabama, charged with a scheme to annex parts of Louisiana and Mexico into an independent republic. Three months later, a grand jury indicts the former Vice President under the same charges.
March 2, 1807 - Congress passes an act that prohibits the importation of slaves into any port within the confines of the United States from any foreign land.
The first practical steamboat journey was made on August 17, 1807 by Robert Fulton in the steamboat Clermont, who navigated the Hudson River from New York City to Albany in thirty-two hours, a trip of 150 miles. This becomes the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
September 1, 1807 - Aaron Burr is acquitted of treason.September 15, 1807 - Mahala Green is born - first White child in Monroe Twsp., Licking County, Ohio. She is later in life referred to as “Mum” and “Hale”. Mahala is the oldest of the 17 children of George Green and wife Diadema Willison.
1808
January 1, 1808 - The importation of slaves was outlawed, although between 1808 and 1860, more than 250,000 slaves were illegally imported.
February 1, 1808 - Anthracite coal is first burn, in an experiment, as fuel.
April 6, 1808 - The American Fur Company is incorporated by John Jacob Astor.
November 1808 - James Madison is elected as the 4th President of the United States, defeating Charles C. Pinckney.
December 29, 1808 - Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to porter and church sexton Jacob Johnson and Mary McDonough. He would succeed Abraham Lincoln as president after his assassination and later be impeached for his role in removing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson would be acquitted by one vote.1809
1809 - Construction of Th. Jefferson's Monticello is substantially completed with the erection of the dome.
February 3, 1809 - The Illinois Territory is created.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is born in a humble Hardin, County, Kentucky log cabin to carpenter Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks on February 12, 1809.
February 20, 1809 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the power of the Federal Government is greater than the power of any individual state.
March 4, 1809 - James Madison is inaugurated, succeeding Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States.
The U.S.S. Constitution is re-commissioned as the flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron.1810
June 23, 1810 - The Pacific Fur Company is formed by John Jacob Astor.
During 1810, the causes of the War of 1812 began to emerge. Four thousand naturalized American sailors had been seized by British forces by this year, which forced trade between England and the United States to grind to a halt.May 21, 1810 - Richard Butt writes will naming wife Mary and four "nephews" John, Richard, Rignall and Basill Butt.
September 8, 1810 - Thirty-three employees of the Pacific Fur Company founded by John Jacob Astor embark on a six month journey around South America from New York Harbor. Arriving at the mouth of the Columbia River on the ship Tonquin, in present day Oregon, they found the fur-trading town of Astoria.
December 1810. Ex-slave Tom Molineaux, born at a Virginia planation in 1784, fought English boxing champion Tom Cribb, narrowly defeated after 39 rounds when he collapsed from exhaustion. A rematch was held on September 28, 1811 with Crib retaining his title in 11 rounds.
The center of the population of the United States, listed as 7,239,881 in the 1810 census, was only 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. in the state of Virginia.1810 - Blue Jacket dies
1811
February 3, 1811 - American journalist, editor, and publisher, Horace Greeley, is born.
October 11, 1811 - The first steam-powered ferry service between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey is started on John Steven's ship, the Juliana.
November 7, 1811 - At the battle of Tippecanoe, Indian warriors under the command of the Prophet are defeated by William Henry Harrison, the governor of Indiana.
December 16, 1811 - An earthquake near New Madrid, in the Mississippi Valley, reverses the course of the Mississippi River for a period of time. This quake was the first of two major earthquakes which preceded the largest quake ever in the United States two months later.
The Cumberland Road, an important route through the Allegheny Mountains for westward expansion, was begun this year in 1811, five years after authorization as the first federal highway by Thomas Jefferson in 1806. It broadly followed Braddock's Road, a military route used by George Washington in 1754. The National Road, as it would later be called, and now known as Rt. 40, weaved 128 miles from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia, and would later have its terminus in Vandalia, Illinois.1812
February 2, 1812 - With an estimated magnitude of 8.3, the final New Madrid earthquake strikes near New Madrid, Missouri. This quake was the largest earthquake ever recorded in the continental United States, destroying one-half of the town of New Madrid. It was felt strongly for 50,000 square miles, created new lakes, caused numerous afthershocks, and reversed the course of the Mississippi River. A request by William Clark, the Missouri territory governor, for federal help, actually one month earlier after the first quake recorded, may have been the first request for disaster relief.
June 1, 1812 - U.S. President James Madison asks Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom. Before the vote could be approved, on June 16, British ships raise a blockade against the United States.
June 18, 1812 - Although unaware of the blockade at the time of their vote, Congress narrowly approves war with Great Britain. Western states generally favored the action while New England states disapproved. This included the state of Rhode Island, which would refuse to participate in the War of 1812.
August 13, 1812 - August naval battles in the War of 1812 begin with the United States Navy defeating the British when the U.S.S. Essex captured Alert. Three days later, the tide would turn in British favor as English forces capture Fort Detroit without a fight. This would be followed up on August 19 when the U.S.S. Constitution secured another victory for the Navy of the United States off the coast of Nova Scotia when it destroyed the British frigate Guerriere, earning the nickname "Old Ironsides" when British shot bounded off the Constitution's side.
October 18, 1812 - The U.S.S. Wasp brings another victory for the Navy of the United States when it captured Frolic; one day later, the U.S.S. Constitution would destroy Guerriere. One week later off Azores, the U.S.S. United States defeated Macedonian.
November 1812 - President James Madison defeats De Witt Clinton in the U.S. presidential election, securing a second term as the United States engages in the War of 1812 by an Electoral College margin of 128 votes to 89.1813
April 27, 1813 - The Battle of York (Toronto, Canada) is held when American troops raid and destroy, but do not occupy the city.
June 6, 1812 - Despite having a force three times the size of its British foe, Americans lose the Battle of Stoney Creek to a British army of 700 men under John Vincent.
September 10, 1813 - The Battle of Lake Erie is won by the American navy when Commodore Perry's fleet defeats the ships of British Captain Robert Barclay. This victory allows U.S. forces to take control of the majority of the Old Northwest and lake region.
October 5, 1813 - A United States victory at the Battle of Thames, Ontario allows American forces to break the Indian allies of the English and secure the frontier of Detroit. Tecumseh is killed during this battle.
The city directory of Albany, New York is first published in 1813.1814
March 27, 1814 - Settlement is opened in large parts of Alabama and Georgia after Andrew Jackson's militia from Tennessee defeat the Red Stick Creeks of Chief Menawa along the Tallapoosa River at Horseshoe Bend.
August 24, 1814 - The White House is burned by British forces upon the occupation of Washington during the War of 1812. This act, in retaliation for the destruction by U.S. troops of Canadian public buildings, causes President Madison to evacuate. The British advance would be halted by Maryland militia three weeks later on September 12. Another United States president, James Monroe, would have to wait three years before he could reoccupy the executive mansion.August 26, 1814 - Bazil Butt enlists in the Military.
September 11, 1814 - The Battle of Lake Champlain was won by U.S. naval forces with the U.S.S. Ticonderoga leading the way.
September 13-14, 1814 - Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner during the twenty-five hour bombardment of Fort McHenry at the head of the river leading the Baltimore harbor.December 10, 1814 - Bazil Butt is released from military service.
December 24, 1814 - A peace treaty was signed between the British and American government at Ghent, bringing to an end the War of 1812.1815
January 8, 1815 - On the Chalmette plantation at New Orleans, five thousand three hundred British troops still unaware of the peace treaty signed two weeks earlier, attack American forces in the last battle of the War of 1812. Major General Andrew Jackson leads his American soldiers to victory over British troops under the command of Sir Edward Pakenham. British troops take over two thousand casualties; American forces seventy-one.
February 6, 1815 - The first American railroad charter is granted by the state of New Jersey to John Stephens.
August 6, 1815 - Piracy on the high seas by Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli is effectively ended by a flotilla from the United States.September 16, 1815 - John Butt marries Gracey Marlay in Berkeley County, VA/WV.
November 12, 1815 - American women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in born.December 15, 1815 – Rignal Butt, one of the four boys raised by Richard Butt, marries Rebecca Fist.
1815 – Rolla Green is born near Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Va. He is the son of George Green and wife Martha “Patsy” Butt.
1816
Second Bank of the United States is chartered in 1816, five years after the expiration of the 1st Bank of the United States.
Caused by the Mount Tambora volcano erupted in 1815, the entire "Year without a Summer" occurs in the northern hemisphere due to global cooling.
November 1816 - James Monroe defeats Rufus King in the United States presidential election, garnering 183 Electoral College votes to 34 for the Federalist King.
December 11, 1816 - The territory of Indiana is admitted into the United States of America as the 19th state.
E. Remington and Sons is founded in 1816.1817
March 4, 1817 - James Monroe is inaugurated as the President of the United States, succeeding James Monroe. His vice president, Daniel D. Tompkins, who would serve alongside Monroe for his entire eight years, was also inaugurated.
April 28-29, 1817 - The Rush-Bagot treaty is signed. This would limit the amount of armaments allowed on the Great Lakes by British and American forces.
July 4, 1817 - The construction of the Erie Canal begins at Rome, New York. The first section between Rome and Utica, New York would be completed two years later. The canal would eventually connect the Atlantic Ocean, through the Hudson River, to the Great Lakes, with 83 locks over its 363 miles. The canal, when completed in 1825, would cut transport costs by 90%.
December 10, 1817 - The United States of America admits its 20th state, Mississippi.
The second wave of Amish immigration to North America begins in 1817, bring 3,000 Amish from Europe to relocate in the United States. The first wave of Amish immigration occured through 1770.1818
1818 – Basil Butt, son of John Butt and Gracey Marlay is born in Berkeley County, VA/WV.
April 4, 1818 - The flag of the United States is officially adopted by Congress with the configuration of thirteen red and white stripes and one star for each state in the union. At the time of adoption, with the most recent addition of Mississippi, the flag had twenty stars.
October 20, 1818 - Then northern boundary of the United States and Canada was established between the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom. Its location from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains would be the 49th parallel.
December 3, 1818 - The state of Illinois is admitted to the Union, making the U.S.A. a republic with twenty-one states.1819
January 4, 1819 - in Shepherdstown, VA, Mary Butt marries Phillip Horn. Samuel Butt is Suretor.
February 15, 1819 - The Talmadge Amendment is passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, stating that slaves would be barred in the new state of Missouri, which becomes the opening vote in the Missouri Compromise controversy.
February 22, 1819 - The territory of Florida is ceded to the United States by Spain.
May 22, 1819 - The American steamship Savannah, under part steam and sail-power, crosses the Atlantic Ocean from Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool, England, arriving 29 days later on June 20.
August 6, 1819 - The first private military school in the United States, Norwich University, is founded by Captain Alden Partridge in Vermont.
The first financial crises in the United States, the Panic of 1819, occurred, leading to foreclosures, bank failures, and unemployment. Several causes have been identified, including the heavy amount of borrowing by the government to finance the War of 1812, as well as the tightening of credit by the Second Bank of the U.S. in response to risky lending practices by wildcat banks in the west.
1820
1820 - Samuel Butt b 1/14/1777 shows up in the Licking Co., Ohio Census, as a single man but a landowner.
February 6, 1820 - Free African American colonists, eighty-six in number, plus three American Colonization society members, leave the United States from New York City, and sail to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
March 3, 1820 - The Missouri Compromise bill, sponsored by Henry Clay, is passed in the United States Congress. This legislation allows slavery in the Missouri territory, but not in any other location west of the Misssissippi River that was north of 36 degrees 30 minutes latitude, the current southern line of the state of Missouri. The state of Missouri would be admitted to the Union, under this compromise, on August 10, 1821.
September 28, 1820 - To prove that a tomato is not poisonous, Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson eats one in public in Salem, Massachusetts.
November 1820 - The election of James Monroe to a second term in office comes with a landslide victory in the Electoral College with Monroe defeating John Quincy Adams by a tally of 231 to 1.
Population in America continues to rise. The census of 1820 now includes 9,638,453 people living in the United States, 33% more than in 1810. The most populated state is New York, with 1,372,812 residents, of which 12,630 lived in the city of Albany, New York. The center of U.S. population now reaches 16 miles east of Moorefield, West Virginia.1821
1821 – Isabella Jane Houston is born in Ohio, to Andrew Houston and wife Elizabeth A. (Green) Houston.
February 23, 1821 - The first pharmacy college is founded in the Philadelphia College of Apothecaries. Also this same year, the first women's college in the United States of America, Troy Female Seminary, is founded by Emma Willard.
July 10, 1821 - Possession of the territory of Florida is taken by the United States after its purchase is completed with Spain. No money exchanged hands between Spain and the U.S. in this purchase; the U.S. had agreed to pay five million dollars to citizens for property damage.
August 4, 1821 - The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper by Atkinson and Alexander.September 17, 1821 – John Wilson Butt, son of Rignal Butt and wife Rebecca Fist is born in Berkeley County VA/WV. I have a document that says John Wilson Butt was brought to Dayton, Ohio by his parents, Rignal and Rebecca (Fist) Butt when John was 9 years old, which would make the date they moved to Dayton, 1812. I also have a document that says that Rignal Butt (this being John and Bazil's brother), the paternal grandfather of Rignal R. (this being the son of John Wilson Butt), located in Dayton about 1830.
November 16, 1821 - The first legal international trade on the Santa Fe Trail began after William Becknell, a Missouri trader, met with Governor Melgares one day earlier. The huge profit earned convinced Becknell that he should return over the trail route the following year.
A Massachusetts court outlaws the novel, Fanny Hill, by John Cleland, and convicts publisher Peter Holmes for printing a "lewd and obsene" novel. This was the first obscenity case in U.S. history.1822
January 7, 1822 - The first group of freed American slaves settle a black colony known as the Republic of Liberia when they arrive on African soil at Providence Island. The capital, Monrovia, is named after President James Monroe.
March 30, 1822 - Florida becomes an official territory of the United States.
April 27, 1822 - Civil War general and 18th President of the Untied States, Ulysses S. Grant, is born.
February 13, 1822 - Advertisements for Ashley's Hundred, organized by General William H. Ashley and Major Andrew Henry, to ascend the Missouri River on a fur trading mission, appear in Missouri newspapers. The men who would answer the call to employ included Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger and Kit Carson. Over the next decade, these expeditions would leave St. Louis at irregular intervals.
July 1822 - A law prohibiting the sale of alcohol to Indians is passed, causing a disruption in the fur trade pattern that relied on the Indians to trap and hunt for the furs, in exchange for alcohol and other goods.1823
1823 - Bazil Butt moves to Ohio. This according to a 1916 Butt family reunion newspaper article written by Horton J. Butt.
An expedition up the Red River and along the 49th parallel led by Stephen Long marks the point of the official border between the United States and Canada.
April 3, 1823 – Samuel Butt and Fanny Brake are married in Licking County, Ohio.
December 2, 1823 - In a speech before Congress, James Monroe announces the Monroe Doctrine, stating the policy that European intervention anyplace is the Americas is opposed and that he would establish American neutrality in future European wars.1824
March 11, 1824 - The Bureau of Indian Affairs is established by the United States War Department. They appoint Ely Parker, a Seneca tribe member, as its first director. This department is meant to regulate trade with Indian tribes.
In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the first strike by female workers, occurs.
November 1824 - When the Electoral College vote yielded no majority, John Quincy Adams would be elected president by the House of Representatives, outpolling fellow Democrat Republicans, now a loose coalition of competing factions, including Andrew Jackson, who had actually received a higher number of Electoral College votes, 99, than Adams, 84. It was not a majority due to votes for Henry Clay, 37, and William Crawford, 41. In the first election with popular vote totals, Adams garnered less votes there as well, with 105,321 to 155,872 to Jackson.
A frontier treaty between the United States and Russia is signed, negotiated by Secretary of State under James Monroe, John Quincy Adams. Russia agreed to set its southern border at 54 degrees, 40 minutes and allow U.S. ships within the one hundred mile limit of its Pacific territories.1825
February 12, 1825 - In the state of Georgia, the Creek Indian tribe give up their last lands to the United States government and moved west.
March 4, 1825 - John Quincy Adams in inaugurated as President, with John C. Calhoun as his Vice President, after the House of Representatives settle the lack of a Electoral College majority.April 25, 1825 – Bazil Samuel Butt, first child of Samuel Butt and wife Fanny Brake is born.
October 26, 1825 - Use of the Erie Canal began in Buffalo, New York with the first boat departing for New York City. This opened up the Great Lakes region by cutting the travel time between the two cities one third and shipping costs nine tenths. Cost of the canal was $7 million. On November 4, 1825, the first boat navigating the Erie Canal arrived in New York City. The opening of the Erie Canal contributed to making the city of New York a chief Atlantic port.
The first experimental steam locomotive is built and operated by John Stevens, of Hoboken, New Jersey.1826
April 1, 1826 - The internal combustion engine named the "Gas Or Vapor Engine" is patented by American Samuel Morey.
May 25, 1826 - Mahala Green marries Bazil Butt.
July 4, 1826 - Two founding members of the United States pass away on Independence Day; Thomas Jefferson, age 83, 3rd President, and John Adams, age 91, 2nd President. On the same day, Stephen Foster, American songwriter and poet, is born.
September 3, 1826 - The first United States warship to navigate the world, the U.S.S. Vincennes, leaves New York City under the command of William Finch.
October 26, 1826 - Kit Carson, mountain man of the western lands, is wanted in Franklin, Missouri. A reward of one cent is offered for his return to his bondage to learn the saddler's job in Franklin.
In 1826, David Jackson, for whom Jackson Hole, Wyoming is named, as well as Jedediah Smith and Williams Sublette purchase William Ashley's interest in the fur trade, and the company, later to become known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company when these men sold in 1830, continued to profit from the fur trade across the mountain west.1827
In New York State, the statue that would end slavery in the Empire state, was passed.
February 28, 1827 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, and would become the first railroad in the United States to offer transportation for people and commercial goods.
July 14, 1827 - The first Roman Catholic Mass is held in the Hawaiian Islands and leads to the foundation of the Diocese of Honolulu.
September 21, 1827 - Joseph Smith, Jr. claims the angel Moroni gives him a record of gold plates, later translated into The Book of Mormon.
The Senate ratifies the treaty that establishes the Sabine River as the Mexican and United States border.1828
Feb. 24, 1828 – Senan Butt dies and is buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Johnstown, Ohio.
July 4, 1828 - The first passenger railroad in the United States, the Baltimore and Ohio, begins.
July 30, 1828 - Gracey Marlay dies. She’s buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Johnstown, Ohio on the same plot with Senan Butt.
November 1828 - After a tumultuous four years of national politics saw the formation of the Democratic party behind Andrew Jackson and the supporters of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay as the National Republicans, The election for president sees a popular and electoral college vote victory of 178-83 for Andrew Jackson over President John Quincy Adams.
December 19, 1828 - Opposing the Tariff of Abominations, the state of South Carolina declares the right of state nullification of federal laws.
The American Dictionary of the English Language is published by Noah Webster.1828 - John Butt marries Sarah Houston.
1829
February 26, 1829 - Levi Strauss, American clothing designer and jeans entrepreneur, is born. He would be credited with manufacturing the first "blue jeans."
March 4, 1829 - Andrew Jackson, now in the Democratic party, is inaugurated as President, replacing John Quincy Adams after his sole term in office.
July 23, 1829 - William Austin Burt, of the United States, invents and patents the typewriter, at the time called the typographer.
The Smithsonian Institution is founded when British scientist James Smithson bequeathed one hundred thousand pounds ($500,000) from his estate for its initial funding, on the condition that his nephew have no heirs. The establishment of the Smithsonian would be passed by an act of Congress in 1846 and was completed in 1855. The Smithsonian complex now includes 19 museums and 142 million items in their collection.1830
1830 – Samuel Butt, first child of John Butt and wife Sarah Houston is born in Monroe Twsp, Licking Co., Ohio.
April 6, 1830 - Joseph Smith organizes the Mormon Church, known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in Fayette, New York. He had published the Book of Mormon on March 26, 1830.
May 26, 1830 - The United States Congress approved the Indian Removal Act, which facilitated the relocation of Indian tribes from east of the Mississippi River. Although this act did not order their removal, it paved the way for increased pressure on Indian tribes to accept land-exchange treaties with the U.S. government and helped lead the way to the "Trail of Tears."
William L. Sublette, with the goods from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company (known as from 1830-1833), took the first wagons along the Oregon Trail to the Rocky Mountains, diverting at South Pass as he went to the 1830 trade rendezvous at the Little Wind River in present-day Wyoming. The supply caravan included eighty-one men on mules, ten wagons, and two carriages.
December 10, 1830 - American poet, Emily Dickinson, is born.
The United States continues to expand, increasing its population 33% in one decade to 12,860,702 in the 1830 census. The center of U.S. population moved west, but only slightly, to a point nineteen miles west, southwest of Moorefield, West Virginia.1831
March 19, 1831 - The first bank robbery in United States history occurs at the City Bank of New York. Edward Smith robbed the Wall Street bank of $245,000. He would be caught and convicted of the crime with