Woman's suffrage convention at Wilmington .... ...........November, 1869 Ratification of Fifteenth Amendment celebrated by colored people. April 14, 1870 New Castle, with a population of 2,300, incorporated as a city.... gress, signer of Declaration of Independence, and president (governor) of the State, unveiled..... .Oct. 30, 1889 .Jan. 6-May 16, 1891 Ex-Gov. John W. Hall dies at Frederica..... ..Jan. 23, 1892 Waterway between Lewes and Chincoteague Bay, 75 miles long, begun....1893 Two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of A secret-ballot law passed, and the governor made president of the State board ...1875 of education instead of the president of School bill passed; board of education Delaware College at session of the legis to consist of the president of Delaware lature.... College, secretary of State, and State editor ... .....1875 Act passed imposing a fine on any person taking part in any political torchlight parade High license bill passed by legislature Old Swedish Church celebrated. .June, 1893 1889 Thomas F. Bayard dies at Dedham, Pillory and whipping for female con- Mass.... .Sept. 28, 1898 victs abolished.... ...1889 Deadlock in Senatorial election broken Monument over grave of Cæsar Rodney, by election of Lewis H. Ball and James F. 1728-84, member of Continental Con- Allee ..1881 .1904 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA District of Columbia. The District of Its surface is generally irregular and unColumbia is the seat of government of the dulating, rising from the level of mean United States of America. Its citizens do low tide in the contiguous Potomac River not vote for President or Vice-President to an elevation of 420 feet at the highof the United States, nor in the affairs est point, which is about a half-mile of the District. The centre of the dome southeastwardly from its northwestern of the Capitol is in lat. 38° 53′ 20′′ N., and long. 77° 00′ 29′′ W. Population, 1890, 230,392; 1900, 278,718. It is situated on the left, or eastern, bank of the Potomac River, 108 miles from its entrance into Chesapeake Bay, and about 185 miles, via said river and bay, from the Atlantic Ocean. The centre of the District, as originally established, was in long. 77° 2′ 27.745" W. of Greenwich, and in lat. 38° 53′ 34.915′′ N., and in the vicinity of Seventeenth and C streets northwest, in the city of Washington. In consequence of the retrocession to Virginia of the portion of the District derived from that State, that locality is now nearly on the southwestern border of the District, but it is still approximately midway between the eastern and western extremes. boundary. 66 The District of Columbia was established as the seat of government of the United States by proceedings taken under authority and direction of acts of Congress approved July 16, 1790, entitled "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States" (1 Statutes, 130), and the act of March 3, 1791, entitled An act to amend‘An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States'" (1 Statutes, 214), pursuant to the following provision contained in the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution of the United States, enumerating the powers of Congress-viz.: "To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not The District consists topographically of exceeding 10 miles square) as may, by cesan urban section named "the city of sion of particular States and the acceptWashington" and of a suburban and agri- ance of Congress, become the seat of the cultural section which contains a num- government of the United States, and to ber of unincorporated villages. It em exercise like authority over all places purbraces an area of 69.245 square miles, chased, by the consent of the legislature 60.01 square miles of which are land. of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings." acres... First newspaper, the National Intelligencer, published in Washington....1800 Congress first meets in Washington Nov. 21, 1800 Superintendence of Washington placed in the hands of three commissioners. 1800 Congress assumes jurisdiction of the District, and continues in force the existing laws of Maryland and Virginia Georgetown laid out under act of Assembly in eighty lots, comprising sixty ..June 8, 1751 Constitution of the United States gives Congress power to "exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding 10 miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, with a mayor appointed by the President become the seat of government of the and a council elected by the people United States " .Sept. 17, 1787 Act of Maryland to cede to Congress 10 miles square in the State for the seat of government of the United States Dec. 23, 1788 Act of Virginia ceding 10 miles square or less upon the Potomac for the seat of government of the United States Dec. 3, 1789 Georgetown incorporated.. Dec. 25, 1789 Act of Congress locating the district for a seat of government July 16, 1790, and March 3, 1791 President Washington appoints Thomas Johnson, Daniel Carroll, of Maryland, and David Stuart, of Virginia, commissioners to survey the federal district Jan. 22, 1791 Nineteen proprietors agree upon terms for sale of lands to the government. Lots for public buildings to be paid for at $125 per acre, streets free; other lots to be the joint property of the owners and the public trustees Feb. 27, 1801 Washington incorporated by Congress; May 3, 1802 Navy-yard at Washington established March 27, 1804 Public buildings in Washington burned and destroyed by the British after the battle of Bladensburg......Aug. 24, 1814 Georgetown College, founded in 1789, chartered as a university.... May 1, 1815 American Colonization Society, for colonizing free people of color in Liberia, founded at Washington.. ...1817 New charter granted Washington, and mayor elected by the people ...... 1839 United States Treasury building, deMarch 30, 1791 signed by Robert Mills, completed..1841 President Washington proclaims the United States Naval Observatory foundlines and boundaries of the District. A ed ..1842 square comprising 64 square miles in Congress retrocedes the 36 square miles Maryland and 36 in Virginia received from Virginia......July 9, 1846 Corner-stone of the Smithsonian Institution laid....... .May 1, 1847 Corner-stone of the Washington Monument laid..... .....July 4, 1848 National Soldiers' Home, 2 miles north of Washington, established by act of Congress..... .....March 3, 1851 Corner-stone of south extension of the Capitol laid...... ..July 4, 1851 Principal room of the library of Congress burned, 35,000 volumes destroyed Dec. 24, 1851 Louis Kossuth visits Washington Dec. 31, 1851 March 30, 1791 First stone marking boundary of the District set in Jones's Point, Hunting Creek, Va.... ..... April 15, 1791 Commissioners agree to call the federal district the "Territory of Columbia," and the federal city the " 'City of Washington," and to name the streets of the latter alphabetically one way and numerically the other..... .Sept. 9, 1791 Corner-stone of President's house in Washington laid..... .Oct. 13, 1792 Corner-stone of north wing of the Capitol laid... .Sept. 18, 1793 First national agricultural convention, Congress abolishes the territorial gov151 members from twenty-two States, ernment, substituting a temporary board Marshall P. Wilder, of Massachusetts, of three commissioners appointed by the president, meets at Washington President..... .....June 20, 1874 Permanent government of District constituted by Congress, in a board of three commissioners with no local legislative body...... ....June 11, 1878 June 24, 1852 Congress appropriates $50,000 for an equestrian statue of Washington on public grounds near the Capitol Jan. 25, 1853 Government hospital for the insane of the army and navy established near Uniontown, 1853; opened. . . . . 1855 Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, founded by Amos Kendall, chartered by Congress.... ....1857 President Garfield assassinated in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station at Washington.... .....July 2, 1881 Remains of John Howard Payne, who died in Tunis, Africa, in 1852, interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington June 9, 1883 Capstone of the Washington Monument Peace conference of five commissioners from each State assembles at Washing- placed (monument 555 feet high) ton..... .... Feb. 4, 1861 Balloon ascension for military purposes made at Washington, and first telegraph message from a balloon sent by Mr. Lowe to President Lincoln June 18, 1861 Congress emancipates all slaves, to be valued by commissioners and paid for at a maximum of $300...... April 16, 1862 Collegiate department of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, known as the National Deaf-Mute College, the only one in the world, publicly opened June 28, 1864 May 10, 1869 Congress repeals the charters of Washington and Georgetown, and forms a territorial government for the District, with a governor and council of eleven members appointed by the President of United States for four years, and a House of Delegates elected by the people Dec. 6, 1884 American College of the Roman Catholic Church opened at Washington Nov. 13, 1889 The Ford Opera house collapsed during business hours; twenty-one clerks killed and many wounded June 9, 1893 President Cleveland opens the PanAmerican medical congress.. Sept. 5, 1893 Coxey's army invades Washington April 29, 1894 The new Corcoran Art Gallery opened Feb. 22, 1897 General convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church held.......Oct. 5, 1898 Gas explosion in the Capitol wrecks the Supreme Court room.... Nov. 7, 1898 General Garcia, the Cuban leader, dies at Washington...... ...Dec. 11, 1898 Congress appropriates $10,000 for the celebration of the establishment of the seat of government... ... ... Feb. 28, 1899 Rochambeau statue unveiled in presence of French representatives by President Roosevelt.... ....May 24, 1902 President of the board of commissioners of the District of Columbia are as follows: Seth Ledyard Phelps, president July 1, 1878, to Nov. 29, 1879 Josiah Dent, president Nov. 29, 1879, to July 17, 1882 Josiah Rodman West, president July 17, 1882, to March 29, 1883 James Barker Edmonds, president March 29, 1883, to April 1, 1886 William Benning Webb, president April 1, 1886, to May 21, 1889 ligni, under Capt. Jean Ribault, on the way north along the coast, places at the entrance of St. John's River a monument of stones bearing the arms of France, and builds Fort Charles.... Florida, one of the United States; lies la), establishes a camp, from which he between lat. 31° and 24° 30' N., and makes excursions..... ..Aug. 14, 1559 long. 79° 48′ and 87° 38′ W. The Perdido Expedition fitted out by Admiral CoRiver separates it from Alabama on the west. It is mostly a peninsula, 275 miles long and averaging 90 miles in width, extending south to the Strait of Bimini, and separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean. Georgia and Alabama bound it on the north. Area, 59,268 square miles in forty-five counties. Population, 1890, 391,422; 1900, 528,542. Capital, Tallahassee. ..1562 René de Laudonnière, with three vessels sent from France by Coligni, settles at point now known as St. John's Bluff June 22, 1564 Sir John Hawkins, with four vessels, Juan Ponce de Leon, sailing from Por- anchored at Laudonnière's settlement, and, to Rico in search of new lands, discovers seeing the settlers in great need, offers Florida, March 27; lands near St. Au- to take them back to France. Laudongustine, plants the cross, and takes pos- nière refuses, but buys a vessel of Hawsession in the name of the Spanish kins, who sets sail........Aug. 15, 1565 monarch... . April 2, 1512 Seven vessels under Ribault, from Diego Miruelo, a pilot, sails from Cuba Dieppe, May 23, with 500 men and famiwith one vessel, touches at Florida, and lies of artisans, land at river St. John obtains pieces of gold from the natives 1516 Spaniards, under Francis Hernandez de Cordova, land in Florida, but are driven off by the natives and return to Cuba 1517 Ponce de Leon, having returned to Porto Rico and obtained title and privileges of Adelantado of Florida, fits out two vessels and revisits Florida. Driven off by the natives, he soon after dies in Cuba Aug. 29, 1565 Don Pedro Menendez de Avilla arrives from Spain with an expedition at St. Augustine, Aug. 28, 1565. Re-embarking, they discover four large vessels of the French anchored at the mouth of the St. John. Being fired upon by the Spanish, the French put to sea, and Menendez returns to St. Augustine, lands, and takes possession of the country in the name of the King of Spain.......... Sept. 8, 1565 1521 Menendez, with 500 men, attacks and Panfilo de Narvaez, commissioned to massacres the settlers of Laudonnière at conquer and govern the mainland from Fort Caroline, few of the French escapthe river of Palms near Tampico to Cape ing. He calls the fort San Mateo Florida, lands at Tampa Bay with 400 men and eighty horses.... April 15, 1528 Fernando de Soto, leaving Cuba, lands at Tampa Bay, which he calls Espíritu Santo, with about 1,000 men and 350 horses, and passing north through Florida, erects a cross of wood near the northern boundary. He lands May 25, 1539 Don Tristan de Luna, with about 1,500 soldiers and many zealous friars, anchors Sept. 19, 1565 Ribault sails to surprise the Spanish, Sept. 10, but by a tempest is driven ashore near Mosquito Inlet, and followed up by Menendez, and all who reject the Catholic faith are massacred... ... September, 1565 Laudonnière, with eighteen or twenty fugitives, the survivors of the massacre at Fort Caroline, sails for France Sept. 25, 1565 Menendez sails for Spain, having in in Santa Maria Bay (probably Pensaco- eighteen months established forts and .....1696 Don Joseph Cuniga, governor of St. Augustine.... ...1701 St. Augustine besieged by a land expedition from Carolina under Colonel Daniel and a naval force under Governor Moore; two Spanish vessels appearing off the harbor, Governor Moore raises the siege.. ....1702 block-houses at St. Augustine, San Mateo, with a fort, "Charles," and other public Avista, Guale, St. Helena, Tequesta, buildings.... Carlos, Tocobayo, and Coava..spring, 1567 Father Sedeño and Brother Baez begin a mission among Indians on Guale (Amelia) Island; the latter compiles a catechism in Indian language... ..1568 Dominic de Gourgues lands near the mouth of St. Mary's River, at Fernandina, with 184 men. Befriended by Indians hostile to the Spanish, and seeking revenge for the French, he surprises the Spanish, destroys Fort San Mateo, and sets sail for France.... .May 3, 1568 Menendez, having returned, spends a few years in Florida, then leaves the gov ernment to his relative, Marquis de Menendez, and again goes to Spain....1572 Sir Francis Drake lands at St. Augustine and destroys the fort which the Spaniards abandoned, but rebuilt immediately after his departure May 8, 1586 Twelve brothers of the Order of St. Francis sent to Florida to continue the mission on the island of Guale......1593 Son of the chief of Guale incites a general conspiracy, and the missionaries are massacred..... .....1598 War between the Spanish and Apalachee Indians, who are conquered, and a large number set to work on the fortifications of St. Augustine.... ....1638 Diego de Rebellado succeeds to the house of Menendez as captain-general of Florida .1655 Carolina troops under Colonel Moore Don Gregorio de Salinas, governor of Don Antonio de Benavuedi y Malina appointed governor of east Florida to succeed Don Juan de Ayala............ 1718 Expedition against Pensacola fitted out by M. de Bienville, the French commander at Mobile, captures the fort and takes the garrison to Havana in two French vessels; Governor Metamoras immediately equips an expedition and recaptures the fort..1719 French, under Desnade de Champmeslin, besiege Pensacola, destroying the fortifications and public buildings and capturing the fort and Santa Rosa Island Sept. 18, 1719 Pensacola restored to Spain by peace St. Augustine pillaged by buccaneers with France; Spaniards rebuild the town under Capt. John Davis, an Englishman on Santa Rosa Island near where Fort Pickens now stands..... ....1722 Colonel Palmer, of Carolina, with 300 men and a band of friendly Indians, makes a rapid, unexpected, and effectual descent upon Indian and Spanish settlements in Florida.......... ...1727 1665 Don Juan Hita de Salacar, captain-general of Florida...... ...1675 Don Juan Marquez de Cabrera, captaingeneral of Florida.... ..1680 Marquez Cabrera attempts to remove tribes of Florida Indians from the interior to the islands on the coast; an insurrection follows, and some tribes removing to Carolina make incursions into Florida Don Francisco Moral Sanchez, governor of St. Augustine, for an unsatisfactory treaty with the English under General Oglethorpe, is recalled to Spain and executed ...1736 about 1681 Three galleys of Spaniards from St. Don Manuel Joseph de Justis, sent in Augustine break up the colony of Scots place of Governor Moral, is succeeded by on Port Royal Island, S. C.........1686 Don Manuel de Monteano... ...1737 Don Laureano de Torres, governor of General Oglethorpe, governor of east Florida.... ....1693 Georgia, arrives at the mouth of St. John's Andres de Arriola appointed first gov- River and captures Fort San Diego ernor of a Spanish colony at Pensacola, May 24, 1740 |