1887 in the United States

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

Last updated September 24, 2025

Incumbents

Federal government

President: Grover Cleveland (D-New York)
Vice President: vacant
Chief Justice: Morrison Waite (Ohio)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: John G. Carlisle (D-Kentucky)
Congress: 49th (until March 4), 50th (starting March 4)

Governors and lieutenant governors
Governors Governor of Alabama: Thomas Seay (Democratic) Governor of Arkansas: Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr. (Democratic) Governor of California: until January 8: George Stoneman (Republican) January 8-September 12: Washington Bartlett (Democratic) starting September 12: Robert Waterman (Republican) Governor of Colorado: Benjamin Harrison Eaton (Republican) (until January 11), Alva Adams (Democratic) (starting January 11) Governor of Connecticut: Henry B. Harrison (Republican) (until January 7), Phineas C. Lounsbury (Republican) (starting January 7) Governor of Delaware: Charles C. Stockley (Democratic) (until January 18), Benjamin T. Biggs (Democratic) (starting January 18) Governor of Florida: Edward A. Perry (Democratic) Governor of Georgia: John B. Gordon (Democratic) Governor of Illinois: Richard J. Oglesby (Republican) Governor of Indiana: Isaac P. Gray (Democratic) Governor of Iowa: William Larrabee (Republican) Governor of Kansas: John A. Martin (Republican) Governor of Kentucky: J. Proctor Knott (Democratic) (until August 30), Simon B. Buckner (Democratic) (starting August 30) Governor of Louisiana: Samuel D. McEnery (Democratic) Governor of Maine: until January 5: Frederick Robie (Republican) January 5-December 15: Joseph R. Bodwell (Republican) starting December 15: Sebastian Streeter Marble (Republican) Governor of Maryland: Henry Lloyd (Democratic) Governor of Massachusetts: George D. Robinson (Republican) (until January 6), Oliver Ames (Republican) (starting January 6) Governor of Michigan: Russell Alger (Republican) (until January 1), Cyrus G. Luce (Republican) (starting January 1) Governor of Minnesota: Lucius F. Hubbard (Republican) (until January 5), Andrew R. McGill (Republican) (starting January 5) Governor of Mississippi: Robert Lowry (Democratic) Governor of Missouri: John S. Marmaduke (Democratic) (until December 28), Albert P. Morehouse (Democratic) (starting December 28) Governor of Nebraska: James W. Dawes (Republican) (until January 6), John Milton Thayer (Republican) (starting January 6) Governor of Nevada: Jewett W. Adams (Democratic) (until January 3), Charles C. Stevenson (Democratic) (starting January 3) Governor of New Hampshire: Moody Currier (Republican) (until June 2), Charles H. Sawyer (Democratic) (starting June 2) Governor of New Jersey: Leon Abbett (Democratic) (until January 18), Robert Stockton Green (Democratic) (starting January 18) Governor of New York: David B. Hill (Democratic) Governor of North Carolina: Alfred Moore Scales (Democratic) Governor of Ohio: Joseph B. Foraker (Republican) Governor of Oregon: Z. F. Moody (Republican) (until January 12), Sylvester Pennoyer (Democratic) (starting January 12) Governor of Pennsylvania: Robert E. Pattison (Democratic) (until January 18), James A. Beaver (Republican) (starting January 18) Governor of Rhode Island: George P. Wetmore (Republican) (until May 29), John W. Davis (Democratic) (starting May 29) Governor of South Carolina: John Peter Richardson III (Democratic) Governor of Tennessee: William B. Bate (Democratic) (until January 17), Robert Love Taylor (Democratic) (starting January 17) Governor of Texas: John Ireland (Democratic) (until January 20), Lawrence Sullivan Ross (Democratic) (starting January 20) Governor of Vermont: Ebenezer J. Ormsbee (Republican) Governor of Virginia: Fitzhugh Lee (Democratic) Governor of West Virginia: Emanuel Willis Wilson (Democratic) Governor of Wisconsin: Jeremiah McLain Rusk (Republican) Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of California: until January 8: John Daggett (Democratic) January 8-September 13: Robert Whitney Waterman (Republican) starting September 13: Stephen M. White (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Peter W. Breene (Republican) (until January 11), Norman H. Meldrum (Democratic) (starting January 11) Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Lorrin A. Cooke (Republican) (until January 8), James L. Howard (Republican) (starting January 8) Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Milton H. Mabry (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: John Smith (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: vacant (until January 10), Robert S. Robertson/Alonzo G. Smith (Republican/Democratic) (starting January 10) Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: John A. T. Hull (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Alexander P. Riddle (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: James R. Hindman (Democratic) (until August 30), James William Bryan (Democratic) (starting August 30) Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Clay Knobloch (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Oliver Ames (Republican) (until January 4), John Q. A. Brackett (political party unknown) (starting January 4) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Archibald Buttars (Republican) (until month and day unknown), James H. MacDonald (Republican) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Charles A. Gilman (Republican) (until January 4), Albert E. Rice (Republican) (starting January 4) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: G. D. Shands (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Albert P. Morehouse (Democratic) (until December 28), vacant (starting December 28) Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Hibbard H. Shedd (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Charles E. Laughton (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Henry C. Davis (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of New York: Edward F. Jones (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Charles M. Stedman (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Robert P. Kennedy (Republican) (until March 3), Silas A. Conrad (Republican) (starting March 3) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Chauncey Forward Black (Democratic) (until January 20), William T. Davies (Republican) (starting January 20) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Lucius B. Darling (political party unknown) (until May 29), Samuel R. Honey (political party unknown) (starting May 29) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: William L. Mauldin (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Cabell R. Berry (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Z. W. Ewing (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Barnett Gibbs (Democratic) (until January 18), Thomas B. Wheeler (Democratic) (starting January 18) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Levi K. Fuller (Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: John Edward "Parson" Massey (Democratic) Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Sam S. Fifield (Republican) (until January 3), George W. Ryland (Republican) (starting January 3)

Events

January 20 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.
January 28 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the largest snowflakes on record are reported. They are 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.^{[ citation needed ]}
February 2 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.
February 4 – The Interstate Commerce Act, passed by Congress, is signed into law, with the intention of regulating the railroad industry.
February 8 – The Dawes Act is signed into law by President Grover Cleveland.
February 26 – Troy University is established as Troy State Normal School; an institution to train teachers for Alabama's schools.
February – The Atlanta Cyclorama is first displayed in Detroit as "Logan's Great Battle".
March 3 – Anne Sullivan begins teaching Helen Keller.
March 7 – North Carolina State University is established as North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
March 19 – Cogswell College is established as a high school by Dr. Henry D. Cogswell in San Francisco, the first technical training institution in the West (the school opens in 1888).
April 4 – Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the U.S.
May 14 – The cornerstone of the new Stanford University, in northern California, is laid (the college opens in 1891).
June 28 – Minot, North Dakota is incorporated as a city.
July 10 – The Grand Hotel opens in Mackinac, Michigan.
August – The U.S. National Institutes of Health is founded at the Marine Hospital, Staten Island, New York, as the Laboratory of Hygiene.
October 3 – Florida A&M University is founded as The State Normal College for Colored Students in Tallahassee, Florida.
October 14 – Pomona College is founded in Claremont, California.

Undated

Ruby Mining District (Salmon Creek District) is established in Washington state.
Teachers College, later part of Columbia University, is founded by Grace Hoadley Dodge as the New York School for the Training of Teachers; Nicholas Murray Butler is its first president.

Ongoing

Gilded Age (1869–c. 1896)

Sport

September 28 – The Detroit Wolverines win the National League pennant with a 7–3 victory over the Indianapolis Hoosiers.
November 24 – Yale wins the Consensus College Football National Championship

Births

January 22
- David W. Stewart, U.S. Senator from Iowa from 1926 to 1927 (died 1974)
- Elmer Fowler Stone, first United States Coast Guard aviator (died 1936)
February 6 – Ernest Gruening, U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1959 to 1969 (died 1974)
February 7 – Eubie Blake, African American jazz composer-pianist (died 1983)
February 11 – H. Kent Hewitt, admiral (died 1972)
February 26
- Grover Cleveland Alexander, baseball player (died 1950)
- William Frawley, actor best known for played Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy (died 1966)
March 4 – Violet MacMillan, Broadway theater actress (died 1953)
March 5 – Harry Turner, American football player (died 1914)
March 14 – Charles Reisner, silent actor and film director (died 1962)
March 22 – Chico Marx, comedian (died 1961)
April 9 – Florence Price, African American classical composer (died 1953)
April 15 – Mike Brady, golfer (died 1972)
June 25 – George Abbott, producer and director (died 1995)
July 16 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, baseball outfielder (died 1951)
July 31 – Peter Bocage, jazz musician (died 1967)
August 27 – Julia Sanderson, actress (died 1975)
September 3 – Frank Christian, jazz musician (died 1973)
September 8 – Jacob L. Devers, U.S. Army general (died 1979)
September 9 – Alf Landon, Republican politician, presidential candidate (died 1987)
September 13 – Frank Gray, physicist and researcher, known for the Gray code (died 1969)
September 28 – Avery Brundage, 5th president of the International Olympic Committee (died 1975)
September 29 – Annie Dove Denmark, music educator and academic administrator (died 1974)
November 15 – Georgia O'Keeffe, painter (died 1986)
December 19 – George R. Swift, U.S. Senator from Alabama in 1946 (died 1972)
date unknown– White Parker, missionary and actor (died 1956)

Deaths

January 7 – Aaron Shaw, U.S. Representative from Illinois (born 1811)
March 8 – Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman and reformer (born 1813)
March 24 – Justin Holland, classical guitarist and civil rights activist (born 1819)
May 14
- Lysander Spooner, philosopher and abolitionist (born 1808)
- William Burnham Woods, Supreme Court justice and politician (born 1824)
May 19 – Charles E. Stuart, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1853 to 1859 (born 1810)
June 4 – William A. Wheeler, 19th vice president of the United States from 1877 to 1881 (born 1819)
June 25 – James Speed, U.S. Attorney General from 1864 to 1866 under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson (born 1812)
July 18
- Dorothea Dix, mental health reformer (born 1802)^[1]
- Robert M. T. Hunter, Virginian lawyer, politician, 14th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 2nd Confederate States Secretary of State (born 1809)
July 25 – John Taylor, 3rd president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1808)
August 14 – Aaron A. Sargent, U.S. Senator from California from 1873 to 1879 (born 1827)
August 18 – Orson Squire Fowler, phrenologist and leading proponent of the octagon house (born 1809)
August 23 – Sarah Yorke Jackson, Acting First Lady of the United States (born 1803)
November 8 – Doc Holliday, gunfighter, gambler and dentist (TB; born 1851)
November 11 – August Spies, labor activist, newspaper editor and anarchist (executed; born 1855 in Germany)
December 24 – Daniel Manning, businessman, journalist and politician, Secretary of the Treasury (born 1831)

References

↑ Brown, Thomas J. (1998). Dorothea Dix: New England Reformer. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-67421-488-0.

External links

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[1] Brown, Thomas J. (1998). Dorothea Dix: New England Reformer. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-67421-488-0.

[1]

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