1885 in the United States

Decades:	1860s ; 1870s ; 1880s ; 1890s ; 1900s ;
See also:	History of the United States (1865–1918) ; Timeline of United States history (1860–1899) ; List of years in the United States ;

Last updated November 26, 2023

Events from the year 1885 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government

President: Chester A. Arthur (R-New York) (until March 4), Grover Cleveland (D-New York) (starting March 4)
Vice President:
- until March 4: vacant
- March 4–November 25: Thomas A. Hendricks (D-Indiana)
- starting November 25: vacant
Chief Justice: Morrison Waite (Ohio)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky)
Congress: 48th (until March 4), 49th (starting March 4)

Governors and lieutenant governors
Governors Governor of Alabama: Edward A. O'Neal (Democratic) Governor of Arkansas: James Henderson Berry (Democratic) (until January 17), Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 17) Governor of California: George Stoneman (Republican) Governor of Colorado: James Benton Grant (Democratic) (until January 13), Benjamin Harrison Eaton (Republican) (starting January 13) Governor of Connecticut: Thomas M. Waller (Democratic) (until January 8), Henry B. Harrison (Republican) (starting January 8) Governor of Delaware: Charles C. Stockley (Democratic) Governor of Florida: William D. Bloxham (Democratic) (until January 7), Edward A. Perry (Democratic) (starting January 7) Governor of Georgia: Henry D. McDaniel (Democratic) Governor of Illinois: John Marshall Hamilton (Republican) (until January 30), Richard J. Oglesby (Republican) (starting January 30) Governor of Indiana: Albert G. Porter (Republican) (until January 12), Isaac P. Gray (Democratic) (starting January 12) Governor of Iowa: Buren R. Sherman (Republican) Governor of Kansas: George W. Glick (Democratic) (until January 12), John A. Martin (Republican) (starting January 12) Governor of Kentucky: J. Proctor Knott (Democratic) Governor of Louisiana: Samuel D. McEnery (Democratic) Governor of Maine: Frederick Robie (Republican) Governor of Maryland: Robert Milligan McLane (Democratic) (until March 27), Henry Lloyd (Democratic) (starting March 27) Governor of Massachusetts: George D. Robinson (Republican) Governor of Michigan: Josiah Begole (Democratic) (until January 1), Russell Alger (Republican) (starting January 1) Governor of Minnesota: Lucius F. Hubbard (Republican) Governor of Mississippi: Robert Lowry (Democratic) Governor of Missouri: Thomas Theodore Crittenden (Democratic) (until January 12), John S. Marmaduke (Democratic) (starting January 12) Governor of Nebraska: James W. Dawes (Republican) Governor of Nevada: Jewett W. Adams (Democratic) Governor of New Hampshire: Samuel W. Hale (Republican) (until June 4), Moody Currier (Republican) (starting June 4) Governor of New Jersey: Leon Abbett (Democratic) Governor of New York: Grover Cleveland (Democratic) (until January 6), David B. Hill (Democratic) (starting January 6) Governor of North Carolina: Thomas Jordan Jarvis (Democratic) (until January 21), Alfred Moore Scales (Democratic) (starting January 21) Governor of Ohio: George Hoadly (Democratic) Governor of Oregon: Z. F. Moody (Republican) Governor of Pennsylvania: Robert E. Pattison (Democratic) Governor of Rhode Island: Augustus O. Bourn (Republican) (until May 26), George P. Wetmore (Republican) (starting May 26) Governor of South Carolina: Hugh Smith Thompson (Democratic) Governor of Tennessee: William B. Bate (Democratic) Governor of Texas: John Ireland (Democratic) Governor of Vermont: Samuel E. Pingree (Republican) Governor of Virginia: William E. Cameron (Re-adjuster) Governor of West Virginia: Jacob B. Jackson (Democratic) (until March 4), Emanuel Willis Wilson (Democratic) (starting March 4) Governor of Wisconsin: Jeremiah McLain Rusk (Republican) Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of California: John Daggett (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: William H. Meyer (Republican) (until January 13), Peter W. Breene (Republican) (starting January 13) Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: George G. Sumner (Democratic) (until January 8), Lorrin A. Cooke (Republican) (starting January 8) Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Livingston W. Bethel (Democratic) (until January 7), Milton H. Mabry (Democratic) (starting January 7) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: William J. Campbell (Republican) (until January 30), John Smith (Republican) (starting January 30) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Thomas Hanna (Republican) (until January 12), Mahlon Dickerson Manson (Democratic) (starting January 12) Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Orlando H. Manning (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: David Wesley Finney (Republican) (until January 12), Alexander P. Riddle (Republican) (starting January 12) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: James R. Hindman (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Clay Knobloch (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Oliver Ames (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Moreau S. Crosby (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Archibald Buttars (Republican) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Charles A. Gilman (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: G. D. Shands (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Robert Alexander Campbell (Democratic) (until January 12), Albert P. Morehouse (Democratic) (starting January 12) Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Alfred W. Agee (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Hibbard H. Shedd (Republican) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Charles E. Laughton (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of New York: until January 6: David B. Hill (Republican) January 6 to end of December 31: Dennis McCarthy (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: James L. Robinson (Democratic) (until January 21), Charles M. Stedman (Democratic) (starting January 21) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: John George Warwick (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Chauncey Forward Black (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Oscar Rathbun (political party unknown) (until May 26), Lucius B. Darling (Republican) (starting May 26) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Chauncey Forward Black (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: John Calhoun Sheppard (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Benjamin F. Alexander (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Cabell R. Berry (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Francis M. Martin (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Barnett Gibbs (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Ebenezer J. Ormsbee (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: John F. Lewis (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Sam S. Fifield (Republican)

Events

March 4: Grover Cleveland becomes the 22nd U.S president StephenGroverCleveland.png — March 4: Grover Cleveland becomes the 22nd U.S president

January–March

February 9 – The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
February 16 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The index stands at a level of 62.76, and represents the dollar average of 14 stocks: 12 railroads and two leading American industries.^[1]
February 18 – Mark Twain publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the United States.
February 21 – United States President Chester A. Arthur dedicates the Washington Monument.
March 3 – A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
March 4 – Grover Cleveland is sworn in as the 22nd president of the United States, and Thomas A. Hendricks is sworn in as the 21st vice president.

April–June

April 30
- A bill is signed in the New York State legislature forming the Niagara Falls State Park.
- Boston Pops Orchestra is formed.
May – The Depression of 1882–85 ends.
June 17 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.

July–September

July 11 – San Diego Building and Loan Association founded, predecessor of Great American Bank.
July 14 – Sarah E. Goode is the first female African-American to apply for and receive a patent, for the invention of the hideaway bed.
July 23 – Former president and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant dies in Mount McGregor, New York.
August 25 – Author Laura Ingalls Wilder marries Almanzo Wilder.
September 2 – The Rock Springs massacre occurs in Rock Springs, Wyoming; 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
September 8 – Saint Thomas Academy is founded in Minnesota.

October–December

October 13 – The Georgia Institute of Technology is established in Atlanta, Georgia as the Georgia School of Technology.
November 25 – Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks dies in office.
December 1 – The U.S. Patent Office acknowledges this date as the day Dr Pepper is served for the very first time; the exact date of Dr Pepper's invention is unknown.

Undated

The first skyscraper (the Home Insurance Building) is built in Chicago, Illinois, USA (10 floors).
Michigan Technological University (originally Michigan Mining School) opens its doors for the first time in what is to become the Houghton County Fire Hall.
Camp Dudley, the oldest continually running boys' camp in America, is founded.

Ongoing

Gilded Age (1869–c. 1896)
Depression of 1882–85 (1882–1885)

Sport

August 29 – John L. Sullivan becomes First World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
September 30 – The Chicago White Stockings clinch their Third National League pennant with a 2–1 win over the New York Giants.

Births

January 7 – Edwin Swatek, swimmer and water polo player (died 1966)
January 11 – Alice Paul, suffragist (died 1977)
January 15 – Grover Lowdermilk, baseball player (died 1968)
January 27
- Jerome Kern, musical theater composer (died 1945)
- Harry Ruby, musician, composer and writer (died 1974)
February 7 – Sinclair Lewis fiction writer, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930 (died 1951 in Italy)
February 13 – Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States (died 1982)
February 17 – Steve Evans, baseball player (died 1943)
February 18 – Richard S. Edwards, admiral (died 1956)
March 6 – Ring Lardner, writer (died 1933)
April 1 – Wallace Beery, actor (died 1949)
April 7 – Bee Ho Gray, Wild West star, silent film actor and vaudeville performer (died 1951)
April 13 – Vean Gregg, baseball player (died 1964)
May 2
- Hedda Hopper, columnist (died 1966)
- Lee W. Stanley, cartoonist (died 1970)
May 7 – George "Gabby" Hayes, Western film character actor (died 1969)
May 14 – Ben J. Tarbutton, businessman and politician (died 1962)
May 30 – Arthur E. Andersen, accountant (died 1947)
June 29 – Andrew Tombes, comedian and character actor (died 1976)
July 4 – Louis B. Mayer, film producer (died 1957)
July 6 – Charles Wisner Barrell, writer (died 1974)
July 10 – Mary O'Hara, author and screenwriter (died 1980)^[2]
July 15 – Tom Kennedy, actor (died 1965)
July 22 – John Thomas Kennedy, general and Medal Honour recipient (died 1969)
August 15 – Edna Ferber, novelist, short story writer, and playwright (died 1968)^[3]
September 7 – Elinor Wylie (Elinor Morton Hoyt), poet and novelist (died 1928)
September 11 – Julian C. Smith, general (died 1975)
September 15 – James P. Boyle, politician (died 1939)
September 22 – George Gaul, actor (died 1939)
October 3 – Sophie Treadwell, dramatist and journalist (died 1970)
October 9 – Raymond DeWalt, inventor and businessman (died 1961)
October 30 – Ezra Pound, poet (died 1972 in Italy)
November 1 – Edgar J. Kaufmann, merchant and patron of Fallingwater (died 1955)
November 11 – George S. Patton, General (died 1945 in Heidelberg, Germany)
November 28 – John Willard, playwright and actor (d. 1942)
December 2 – George Minot, physiologist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1934 (died 1950)
December 6 – Ernest Palmer, cinematographer (died 1978)
December 10 – Elizabeth Baker, economist and academic (died 1973)
December 19 – King Oliver, jazz cornet player and bandleader (died 1938)
December 26 – Bazoline Estelle Usher, African American educator (died 1992)

Full date unknown

Eugene Prussing, lawyer and philanthropist^[4]

Deaths

January 13 – Schuyler Colfax, 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873 (born 1823)
January 24 – Martin Delany, African American abolitionist, journalist and physician (born 1812)
February 12 – Alexandre Mouton, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1843 to 1846 (born 1804)
March 17 – Susan Warner (pseudonym Elizabeth Weatherell), religious and children's writer (born 1819)
May 4 – Irvin McDowell, Union Army officer known for defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run (born 1818)
May 17 – Jonathan Young, U.S. Navy commodore (born 1826)
May 19 – Robert Emmet Odlum, swimming instructor, dies as result of becoming the first person to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge (born 1851)
May 20 – Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, 29th United States Secretary of State (born 1817)
July 23 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877 (born 1822)
August 10 – James W. Marshall, contractor, builder of Sutter's Mill (born 1810)
September 3 – William M. Gwin, U.S. Senator from California from 1850 to 1855 and from 1857 to 1861 (born 1805)
October 5 – Thomas C. Durant, railroad financier (born 1820)
October 29 – George B. McClellan, soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive and politician (born 1826)
November 25 – Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st vice president of the United States from March to November 1885 (born 1819)
December 8 – William Henry Vanderbilt, entrepreneur (born 1821)
December 21 – George S Patton, General (born 1885)
December 13 – Benjamin Gratz Brown, politician (born 1826)
December 15 – Robert Toombs, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1853 to 1861 (born 1810)
December 29 – James E. Bailey, U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1877 to 1881 (born 1821)

References

↑ Dow Record Book Adds Another First. Philly.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
↑ Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults. Beacham Pub. 1989. p. 929. ISBN 978-0-933833-11-1.
↑ Olsen, Kirstin (1994). Chronology of Women's History. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-31328-803-6.
↑ Eugene Prussing Papers at Newberry Library

External links

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[1] Dow Record Book Adds Another First. Philly.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.

[2] Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults. Beacham Pub. 1989. p. 929. ISBN 978-0-933833-11-1.

[3] Olsen, Kirstin (1994). Chronology of Women's History. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-31328-803-6.

[4] Eugene Prussing Papers at Newberry Library

[1]

[2]

[3]

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