1838 Mormon War, Background
Smith's followers, commonly known as Mormons, began to settle in Jackson County in 1831 to "build up" the city of Zion. Tensions built up between the rapidly growing Mormon community and the earlier settlers for a number of reasons:


1838 Mormon War, Background
These tensions led to harassment and mob violence against the Mormon settlers. In October 1833, anti-Mormon mobs drove the Mormons from Jackson County.


1838 Mormon War, Background
At that time, opponents of the Mormons used a pattern that would be repeated four times, culminating in the expulsion of the Mormons from the entire state. Lilburn Boggs, as a Jackson county resident, and as Lieutenant Governor, was in a position to observe and assist in executing the tactics described by one Mormon historian:


1838 Mormon War, Background
In 1833 Boggs passively saw community leaders and officials sign demands for Mormon withdrawal, and next force a gunbarrel contract to abandon the county before spring planting...anti-Mormon goals were reached in a few simple stages. Executive paralysis permitted terrorism, which forced Mormons to self-defense, which was immediately labeled as an "insurrection", and was put down by the activated militia of the county. Once Latter-day Saints were disarmed, mounted squads visited Mormon settlements with threats and enough beatings and destruction of homes to force flight.


1838 Mormon War, Background
Forcefully deprived of their homes and property, the Latter-day Saints temporarily settled in the area around Jackson County, especially in Clay County.


1838 Mormon War, Background
Mormon petitions and lawsuits failed to bring any satisfaction:  the non-Mormons in Jackson refused to allow the Mormons to return and reimbursement for confiscated and damaged property was refused. In 1834, Mormons attempted to effect a return to Jackson County with a quasi-military expedition known as Zion's Camp, but this effort also failed when the governor failed to provide the expected support.


1838 Mormon War, Background
New converts to Mormonism continued to relocate to Missouri and settle in Clay County. Tensions rose in Clay County as the Mormon population grew. In an effort to keep the peace, Alexander William Doniphan of Clay County pushed a law through the Missouri legislature that created Caldwell County, Missouri, specifically for Mormon settlement in 1836. Mormons had already begun buying land in the proposed Caldwell County, including areas that were carved off to become parts of Ray and Daviess Counties. They had also founded the Caldwell County town of Far West as their Missouri headquarters.


1838 Mormon War, Background
Once they were established in a county of their own, a period of relative peace ensued. According to an article in the Elders' Journal – a Latter Day Saint newspaper published in Far West – "The Saints here are at perfect peace with all the surrounding inhabitants, and persecution is not so much as once named among them..."


1838 Mormon War, Background
Friendship began to be restored between (the Mormons) and their neighbors, the old prejudices were fast dying away, and they were doing well, until the summer of 1838


1838 Mormon War, Compromise breaks down, 1838
In 1837, problems at the church's headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio, centering on the Kirtland Safety Society bank, led to schism. The church relocated from Kirtland to Far West, which became its new headquarters. Mormon settlement increased as hundreds of members from Kirtland and elsewhere poured into Missouri. Mormons established new colonies outside of Caldwell County, including Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County and De Witt in Carroll County.


1838 Mormon War, Compromise breaks down, 1838
In the eyes of many non-Mormon citizens (including Alexander Doniphan), these settlements outside of Caldwell County were a violation of the compromise. Mormons felt that the compromise only excluded major settlements in Clay County and Ray County, not Daviess County and Carroll County.


1838 Mormon War, Compromise breaks down, 1838
The earlier settlers saw expansion of Mormon communities outside of Caldwell County as a political and economic threat. In Daviess County, where Whigs and Democrats had been roughly evenly balanced, Mormon population reached a level where they could determine election results.


1838 Mormon War, Salt Sermon and Danites
At the same time, a leadership struggle between the church presidency and Missouri leaders led to the excommunication of several high-placed Mormon leaders, including Oliver Cowdery (one of the Three Witnesses and the church's original "second elder"), David Whitmer (another of the Three Witnesses and Stake President of the Missouri Church), as well as John Whitmer, Hiram Page, William Wines Phelps and others. I These "dissenters", as they came to be called, owned a significant amount of land in Caldwell County, much of which was purchased when they were acting as agents for the church. Possession became unclear and the dissenters threatened the church with lawsuits.


1838 Mormon War, Salt Sermon and Danites
The presidency responded by urging the dissenters to leave the county, using strong words that the dissenters interpreted as threats. In his famous Salt Sermon, Sidney Rigdon announced that the dissenters were as salt that had lost its savor and that it was the duty of the faithful to cast the dissenters out to be trodden beneath the feet of men.


1838 Mormon War, Salt Sermon and Danites
At the same time Mormons, including Sampson Avard, began to organize a secret society known as the Danites, whose purposes included obeying the church presidency "right or wrong" and expelling the dissenters from Caldwell County. Two days after Rigdon preached his Salt Sermon, 80 prominent Mormons, including Hyrum Smith, signed the so-called Danite Manifesto, which warned the dissenters to "depart or a more fatal calamity shall befall you". On June 19, the dissenters and their families fled to neighboring counties where their complaints fanned anti-Mormon sentiment.


1838 Mormon War, Salt Sermon and Danites
On July 4, Rigdon gave an oration, which was characterized by Mormon historian Brigham Henry Roberts as a "'Declaration of Independence' from all mobs and persecutions". The text of this speech was endorsed by Joseph Smith, who appeared at the event and participated in the raising of a liberty pole.


1838 Mormon War, Salt Sermon and Danites
In the speech, Rigdon declared that the Latter-day Saints would no longer be driven from their homes by persecution from without or dissension from within, and that if enemies came again to drive out the Saints, "And that mob that comes on us to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination; for we will follow them until the last drop of their blood is spilled; or else they will have to exterminate us, for we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families, and one party or the other shall be utterly destroyed".


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
The "Election Day Battle at Gallatin" was a skirmish between Mormon and non-Mormon settlers in the newly formed Daviess County, Missouri, on August 6, 1838.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
William Peniston, a candidate for the state legislature, made disparaging statements about the Mormons, calling them "horse-thieves and robbers", and warned them not to vote in the election. Reminding Daviess County residents of the growing electoral power of the Mormon community, Peniston made a speech in Gallatin claiming that if the Missourians "suffer such men as these [Mormons] to vote, you will soon lose your suffrage." Around 200 non-Mormons gathered in Gallatin on election day to prevent Mormons from voting.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
When about thirty Latter Day Saints approached the polling place, a Missourian named Dick Weldon declared that in Clay County the Mormons had not been allowed to vote, "no more than negroes". One of the Mormons present, Samuel Brown, claimed that Peniston's statements were false and then declared his intention to vote. This triggered a brawl between the bystanders.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
At the start of the brawl, Mormon John Butler let out a call, "Oh yes, you Danites, here is a job for us!" which rallied the Mormons and allowed them to drive off their opponents.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
A number of Missourians left the scene to obtain guns and ammunition and swore that they would "kill all the Saints they could find, or drive them out of Daviess County, sparing neither men, women or children". The crowd dispersed, and the Mormons returned to their homes.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
The skirmish is often cited as the first serious violence of the war in Missouri.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
Rumors among both parties spread that there were casualties in the conflict. When Joseph Smith and volunteers rode to Adam-ondi-Ahman to assess the situation, they discovered there were no truths to the rumors.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
When the Mormons heard a rumor that Judge Adam Black was gathering a mob near Millport, one hundred armed men, including Joseph Smith, surrounded Black's home. They asked if the rumor was true and demanded that he sign a document disavowing any connection to the vigilance committees. Black refused, but after meeting with Smith, he wrote and signed a document stating that he "is not attached to any mob, nor will attach himself to any such people, and so long as they [the Mormons] will not molest me, I will not molest them." Black later confirmed that he had felt threatened by the large number of hostile armed men.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
The Mormons also visited Sheriff William Morgan and several other leading Daviess County citizens, also forcing some of them to sign statements disavowing any ties to the vigilance committees.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
At a meeting at Lyman Wight's home between leading Mormons and non-Mormons, both sides agreed not to protect anyone who had broken the law and to surrender all offenders to the authorities. With peace restored, Smith's group returned to Caldwell County.


1838 Mormon War, The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
Black and others filed complaints against Smith and the other identifiable Mormon participants. On September 7, Smith and Lyman Wight appeared before Judge Austin A. King to answer the charges. King found that there was sufficient evidence to  have the defendants appear before a grand jury on misdemeanor charges.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
In the spring of 1838, Henry Root, a non-Mormon who was a major land-owner in Carroll County, visited Far West and sold his plots in the mostly vacant town of De Witt to church leaders. De Witt possessed a strategically important location near the intersection of the Grand River and the Missouri River. Two members of the Far West High Council, George M. Hinkle and John Murdock, were sent to take possession of the town and to begin to colonize it.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On July 30, citizens of Carroll County met in Carrollton to discuss the Mormon colonization of De Witt. The question of whether or not Mormons should be allowed to settle in the county was placed on the August 6 ballot; a heavy majority favored expulsion of the Mormons. A committee sent to De Witt ordered the Latter-day Saints to leave. Hinkle and Murdock refused, citing their right as American citizens to settle where they pleased.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
Sentiment among the anti-Mormon segment of Carroll County's population hardened, and some began to take up arms. On August 19, 1838, Mormon settler Smith Humphrey reports that 100 armed men led by Colonel William Claude Jones took him prisoner for two hours and threatened him and the rest of the Mormon community.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
Initial reaction by Missourians was mixed. While Mormons were viewed as deluded or worse, many Missourians agreed with the sentiment expressed in the Southern Advocate:


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
By what color of propriety a portion of the people of the State, can organize themselves into a body, independent of the civil power, and contravene the general laws of the land by preventing the free enjoyment of the right of citizenship to another portion of the people, we are at a loss to comprehend.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
As tensions built in Daviess County, other counties began to respond to Carroll County's request for assistance in expelling the Mormons from their county. Citizens in Saline, Howard, Jackson, Chariton, Ray, and other nearby counties organized vigilance committees sympathetic to the Carroll County expulsion party.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
Some isolated Mormons in outlying areas also came under attack. In Livingston County, a group of armed men forced Asahel Lathrop from his home, where they held his ill wife and children prisoner. Lathrop wrote "I was compeled [sic] to leave my home my house was thronged with a company of armed men consisting of fourteen in number and they abusing my family in allmost [sic] every form that Creturs [sic] in the shape of human Beeings [sic] could invent." After more than a week, a company of armed Mormons assisted Lathrop in rescuing his wife and two of his children (one had died while prisoner). Lathrop's wife and remaining children died shortly after their rescue.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On September 20, 1838, about one hundred fifty armed men rode into De Witt and demanded that the Mormons leave within ten days. Hinkle and other Mormon leaders informed the men that they would fight. They also sent a request for assistance to Governor Boggs, noting that the mob had threatened "to exterminate them, without regard to age or sex".


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On October 1, the mob burned the home and stables of Smith Humphrey. The citizens of De Witt sent non-Mormon Henry Root to appeal to Judge King and General Parks for assistance. Later that day, the Carroll County forces sealed off the town.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
The besieged town resorted to butchering whatever loose livestock wandered into town in order to avoid starvation while waiting for the militia or the Governor to come to their aid. General Parks arrived with the Ray County militia on October 6, but his order to disperse was ignored by the mob. When his own troops threatened to join the attackers, Parks was forced to withdraw to Daviess County in hopes that the Governor would come to mediate. Parks wrote his superior, General David Rice Atchison, that "a word from his Excellency would have more power to quell this affair than a regiment."


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On October 9, A C Caldwell returned to De Witt to report that the Governor's response was that the "quarrel was between the Mormons and the mob" and that they should fight it out.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On October 11, Mormon leaders agreed to abandon the settlement and move to Caldwell County.


1838 Mormon War, Mormons expelled from De Witt
On the first night of the march out of Carroll County, two Mormon women died. One woman died of exposure, the other (a woman named Jenson) died in childbirth. Several children also became ill during the ordeal and died later.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
General David R. Atchison wrote a letter to Governor Lilburn Boggs on October 16, 1838. He stated that General Parks reported to him that "a portion of the men from Carroll County, with one piece of artillery, are on their march for Daviess County, where it is thought the same lawless game is to be played over, and the Mormons to be driven from that county and probably from Caldwell County."


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Atchison said further, "I would respectfully suggest to your Excellency the propriety of a visit to the scene of excitement in person, or at all events, a strong proclamation" as the only way to restore peace and the rule of law. Boggs, however, ignored this plea and continued to wait as events unravelled.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Meanwhile, a group of non-Mormons from Clinton, Platte, and other counties began to harass Mormons in Daviess County, burning outlying homes and plundering property. Latter Day Saint refugees began to flee to Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection and shelter against the upcoming winter. Joseph Smith, returning to Far West from De Witt, was informed by General Doniphan of the deteriorating situation. Doniphan already had troops raised to prevent fighting between Mormons and anti-Mormons in Daviess County. On Sunday, October 14, a small company of state militia under the command of Colonel William A. Dunn of Clay County arrived in Far West.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Dunn, acting under the orders of Doniphan, continued on to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Although he was sympathetic to the Mormons' plight, Doniphan reminded the Latter-day Saints that the Caldwell County militia could not legally enter Daviess County, and he advised Mormons traveling there to go in small parties and unarmed. Ignoring this counsel, Judge Higby, a Mormon judge in Caldwell County called out the Caldwell militia, led by Colonel George M. Hinkle. Although county officials could only legally act within the county, this judge authorized Hinkle to defend Latter-day Saint settlements in neighboring Daviess County.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Colonel Hinkle and Mormons of the Caldwell County militia were joined by elements of the Danite organization. On October 18, these Mormons began to act as vigilantes and marched under arms in three groups to Daviess County. Lyman Wight took his army and attacked Millport. David W. Patten, also known as Captain Fearnot, attacked Gallatin. Seymour Brunson attacked Grindstone Fork. The Missourians and their families, outnumbered by the Mormons, made their way to neighboring counties.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Having taken control of the Missourian settlements, the Mormons plundered the property and burned the stores and houses. The county seat, Gallatin, is reported to have been "completely gutted" – only one shoe store remained unscathed. Millport, Grindstone Fork and the smaller Missourian settlement of Splawn's Ridge were also plundered and had some houses burned. The plundered goods were deposited in the Bishop's storehouse at Diahman.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
During the days that followed, Latter Day Saint vigilantes under the direction and encouragement of Lyman Wight drove Missourians who lived in outlying farms from their homes, which were similarly plundered and burned. According to one witness, "We could stand in our door and see houses burning every night for over two weeks... the Mormons completely gutted Daviess County. There was scarcely a Missourian's home left standing in the county. Nearly every one was burned."


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
The Missourians evicted from their homes were no better prepared than the Mormon refugees had been. After the stress of being expelled from Millport into the snow, Milford Donaho's wife gave birth prematurely, and the child was severely injured during the birth.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Even Missourians who had been friendly to the Mormons were not spared. Jacob Stollings, a Gallatin merchant, was reported to have been generous in selling to Mormons on credit, but his store was plundered and burned with the rest. Judge Josiah Morin and Samuel McBrier, both considered friendly to the Mormons, both fled Daviess County after being threatened. McBrier's house was among those burned.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
When a Mormon band plundered and burned the Taylor home, one young Mormon, Benjamin F Johnson, argued his fellow vigilantes into leaving a horse for a pregnant Mrs Taylor and her children to ride to safety. Ironically, as a result of his kindness, he was the only Mormon who was positively identified to have participated in the home burnings. After several non-Mormons made statements to the authorities that Johnson had acted as a moderating influence on the Danites, he was allowed to escape rather than stand trial.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Many Latter Day Saints were greatly troubled by the occurrences. Mormon leader John Corrill wrote, "the love of pillage grew upon them very fast, for they plundered every kind of property they could get a hold of." Some Latter-day Saints claimed that some of the Missourians burned their own homes in order to blame the Mormons. None of these claims, however, purport to be eyewitness accounts.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Overwhelmingly, these claims are contradicted by the majority of both Missourian and Latter Day Saint testimony (which implicate the Mormons in the burnings) and also by the evidence of the looted property found in the possession of Latter Day Saints. Even Mormon leader Parley P Pratt conceded that some burnings had been done by Mormons. Based on the available evidence, LeSueur estimates that Mormons were responsible for the burning of fifty homes or shops and the displacement of one hundred non-Mormon families. Millport, which at time was the largest city in the county and the center for trade, never recovered from the Mormon burnings, and became a ghost town.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition
Local citizens were outraged by the actions of the Danites and other Mormon bands. Several Mormon homes near Millport were burned and their inhabitants expelled into the snow. Agnes Smith, a sister-in-law of Joseph, was chased from her home with two small children when her home was burned. With one child in each arm, she waded across an icy creek to safety in Adam-ondi-Ahman. Nathan Tanner reported that his militia company rescued another woman and three small children who were hiding in the bushes as their home burned. Other Mormons, fearing similar retribution by the Missourians, gathered into Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection.


1838 Mormon War, Daviess County expedition, Marsh affidavit
Thomas B. Marsh, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the church, and fellow Apostle Orson Hyde were alarmed by the events of the Daviess County expedition. On October 19, 1838, the day after Gallatin was burned, Thomas B. Marsh and fellow apostle Orson Hyde left the association of the Church. On October 24, they swore out affidavits concerning the burning and looting in Daviess County. They also reported the existence of the Danite group among the Mormons and repeated a popular rumor that a group of Danites was planning to attack and burn Richmond and Liberty.


1838 Mormon War, Battle of Crooked River
Fearing attack, many citizens of Ray County moved their wives and children across the Missouri River for safety. A Militia under the command of Samuel Bogart was authorized by General Atchison to patrol the no-man's land between Ray and Caldwell Counties known as "Bunkham's Strip" – an unincorporated territory 6 miles (9.7 km) east to west and 1-mile (1.6 km) north to south. Instead of staying in the strip, Bogart passed into southern Caldwell County and began to disarm Mormons. Rumor reached Far West that a Militia unit from Ray County had taken Mormons prisoner and an armed party was quickly assembled to rescue these prisoners and push the Militia out of the county.


1838 Mormon War, Battle of Crooked River
When the Mormons arrived on the scene, the State Militia unit was camped along Crooked River in the Bunkham's Strip just south of Caldwell County. The Mormons divided into three columns led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich, and James Durphee. The Missouri Militia had the advantage of position and fired, but the Mormons continued to advance. The Militia broke ranks and fled across the river. Although Mormons won the battle, they took heavier casualties than the Militia, only one of whom, Moses Rowland, was killed. On the Mormon side, Gideon Carter was killed in the battle and nine other Mormons were wounded, including Patten, who soon after died from his wounds. According to one Mormon witness, the deaths "threw a gloom over the whole place".


1838 Mormon War, Mormon Extermination Order
News of the battle quickly spread and contributed to an all-out panic in northwestern Missouri. Exaggerated initial reports indicated that nearly all of Bogart's company had been killed. Generals Atchison, Doniphon and Parks decided they needed to call out the Militia to "prevent further violence". This is how it was explained in a letter to US Army Colonel R. B. Mason of Ft. Leavenworth:


1838 Mormon War, Mormon Extermination Order
The citizens of Daviess, Carroll, and some other counties have raised mob after mob for the last two months for the purpose of driving a group of mormons from those counties and from the State.


1838 Mormon War, Mormon Extermination Order
While the State Militia gathered, Missouri unorganized Militia continued to act on their own, driving Mormons inward to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman.


1838 Mormon War, Mormon Extermination Order
Meanwhile, exaggerated reports from the Battle of Crooked River made their way to Missouri's governor, Lilburn Boggs. Boggs held strong preconceptions against the Mormons, dating from the time when both he and they had lived in Jackson County. Although he had refrained from stopping the illegal anti-Mormon siege of De Witt, he now mustered 2,500 State Militia to put down the Mormon insurrection against the state.


1838 Mormon War, Mormon Extermination Order
Possibly playing on Rigdon's July 4 sermon that talked of a "war of extermination", Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, also known as the "Extermination Order", on October 27, which stated that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace..."  The Extermination Order was finally rescinded on June 25, 1976, by Governor Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond.


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
Agitation against the Latter Day Saints had become particularly fierce in the sparsely settled counties north and east of Caldwell County. Mormon dissenters from Daviess County who had fled to Livingston County reportedly told Livingston County militia under Colonel Thomas Jennings that Mormons were gathering at Haun's Mill to mount a raid into Livingston County. One 19th century Missouri historian noted:


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
The Daviess County men were very bitter against the Mormons, and vowed the direst vengeance on the entire sect. It did not matter whether or not the Mormons at [Haun's] mill had taken any part in the disturbance which had occurred [in Daviess County]; it was enough that they were Mormons. The Livingston men became thoroughly imbued with the same spirit, and were eager for the raid ... feel[ing] an extraordinary sympathy for the outrages suffered by their neighbors


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
Although it had just been issued, it is unlikely that the governor's "Extermination Order" would have already reached these men, and in any event it would not have authorized them to cross into Caldwell County to raid. In addition, none of the participants in the raid cited the order as justification for their actions.


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
On October 29, this large vigilante band of some 250 men assembled and entered eastern Caldwell County. When the Missourian raiders approached the settlement on the afternoon of October 30, some 30 to 40 Latter Day Saint families were living or encamped there. Despite an attempt by the Mormons to parley, the mob attacked. Thomas McBride surrendered his rifle to Jacob Rogers, who shot McBride with his own gun. When McBride held out a hand, Rogers cut it off with a corn knife, then may have further mangled his body while McBride was still alive. Other members of the mob opened fire, which sent the Latter-day Saints fleeing in all directions.


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
While Mormon women and children scattered and hid in the surrounding woods and nearby homes, Mormon men and boys rallied to defend the settlement. They moved into a blacksmith shop, which they hoped to use as a makeshift defensive fortification. Unfortunately, the shop had large gaps between the logs which the Missourians shot into and, as one Mormon later recalled, it became more "slaughter-house rather than a shelter". The mob gave no quarter. After most of the defenders in the blacksmith shop had been killed or mortally wounded, some of the Missourians entered to finish the work. Finding 10-year-old Sardius Smith hiding behind the bellows, William Reynolds of Livingston County shot and killed the boy, saying: "Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon"


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
In all, 17 Latter Day Saints were killed in what came to be called the Haun's Mill Massacre. When survivors of the massacre reached Far West, the reports of the savagery of the attack played a significant part in the decision of the Mormons to surrender.


1838 Mormon War, Haun's Mill Massacre
None of the Missourians were ever prosecuted for their role in the Haun's Mill Massacre.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Most Mormons gathered to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection. Major General Samuel D. Lucas marched the state militia to Far West and laid siege to the Mormon headquarters.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Surrounded by the state militia, the mood in besieged Far West was uneasy. Joseph Smith ordered Colonel George M. Hinkle, the head of the Mormon militia in Caldwell County, to ride out and meet with General Lucas to seek terms. According to Hinkle, Smith wanted a treaty with the Missourians "on any terms short of battle". Other Latter Day Saint witnesses remembered that Smith said to "beg like a dog for peace".


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Lucas' terms were severe. The Latter-day Saints were to give up their leaders for trial and to surrender all of their arms. Every Mormon who had taken up arms was to sell his property to pay for the damages to Missourian property and for the muster of the state militia. Finally, the Mormons who had taken up arms were to leave the state. Colonel Hinkle stated that the Latter Day Saints would help bring to justice those Mormons who had violated the law, but he protested that the other terms were illegal and unconstitutional.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Colonel Hinkle rode to the church leaders in Far West and informed them of the offered terms. According to Latter Day Saint witness Reed Peck, when Smith was told that the Mormons would be expected to leave the state, he replied that "he did not care" and that he would be glad to get out of the "damnable state" anyway. Smith and the other leaders rode with Hinkle back to the Missouri militia encampment. The militia promptly arrested Smith and the other leaders.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Smith believed that Hinkle had betrayed him, but Hinkle maintained his innocence and claimed that he was following Smith's orders. To William Wines Phelps, a fellow Latter-day Saint and witness to the events, Hinkle wrote: "When the facts were laid before Joseph, did he not say, 'I will go'; and did not the others go with him, and that, too, voluntarily, so far as you and I were concerned?"


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Joseph Smith and the other arrested leaders were held overnight under guard in General Lucas' camp, where they were left exposed to the elements.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, and other leaders left at Far West warned the veterans of Crooked River to flee. "If found, they will be shot down like dogs," warned Hyrum.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
Joseph Smith Jr attempted to negotiate with Lucas, but it became clear that Lucas considered his conditions to be non-negotiable. At 8:00 am, Joseph sent word to Far West to surrender.


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
General Clark made the following speech to the brethren on the public square: "... The orders of the governor to me were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this, you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes."


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
The Far West militia was marched out of the city and forced to turn over their weapons to General Lucas. The men under the command of Lucas were then allowed to ransack the city to search for weapons. Brigham Young recounts that, once the militia was disarmed, Lucas's men were turned loose on the city:


1838 Mormon War, Siege of Far West and capture of church leaders
[ T]hey commenced their ravages by plundering the citizens of their bedding, clothing, money, wearing apparel, and every thing of value they could lay their hands upon, and also attempting to violate the chastity of the women in sight of their husbands and friends, under the pretence of hunting for prisoners and arms. The soldiers shot down our oxen, cows, hogs and fowls, at our own doors, taking part away and leaving the rest to rot in the streets. The soldiers also turned their horses into our fields of corn.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
Lucas tried Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders by court martial on November 1, the evening of the surrender. After the court martial, he ordered General Alexander William Doniphan:


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West and shoot them at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty to-morrow morning, at 8 o'clock, and if you execute those men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God!


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
The defendants, consisting of about 60 men including Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, were turned over to a civil court of inquiry in Richmond under Judge Austin A. King, on charges of treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury. The court of inquiry began November 12, 1838. After the inquiry, all but a few of the Mormon prisoners were released, but Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, Hyrum Smith and Alexander McRae were held in the Liberty Jail in Liberty, Clay County on charges of treason against the state, murder, arson, burglary, robbery and larceny.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
During a transfer to another prison in the spring of 1839, Smith escaped. The exact circumstances that allowed for him to escape are not certain. John Whitmer recounts that Smith bribed the guards.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
It is also believed that Smith's imprisonment had become an embarrassment, and that an escape would be convenient for Boggs and the rest of the Missouri political establishment.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
Smith and the other Mormons resettled in Nauvoo, Illinois, beginning in 1839.


1838 Mormon War, Trials of Mormon leaders
Daviess County residents were outraged by the escape of Smith and the other leaders. William Bowman, one of the guards, was dragged by his hair across the town square. Sheriff Morgan was ridden through town on an iron bar, and died shortly afterward from the injuries he suffered during the ride.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath
General Clark viewed Executive Order 44 as having been fulfilled by the agreement of the Mormons to evacuate the state the following spring. The militia was disbanded in late November.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath
Missouri blamed the Mormons for the conflict and forced the Latter-day Saints to sign over all their lands in order to pay for the state militia muster.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath
Mormon leaders appealed to the state legislature to overturn the requirement that they leave the state, but the legislature tabled the issue until a date well after that when the Mormons would have left the state.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath
With the refusal of the Governor or Legislature to intervene, and having surrendered the bulk of their firearms, Mormons were left nearly defenseless to face the mob. Mormon residents were harassed and attacked by angry residents who were no longer restrained by militia officers. Judge Austin A King, who had been assigned the cases of the Mormons charged with offenses during the conflict, warned "If you once think to plant crops or to occupy your lands any longer than the first of April, the citizens will be upon you: they will kill you every one, men, women and children."


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Flight of Mormons to Illinois
Stripped of their property, the Mormons were then given a few months to leave the state. Most refugees made their way east to Illinois, where residents of the town of Quincy helped them. When faced with the Mormon refugees from Missouri, the people of Quincy, Illinois, were outraged by the treatment the Mormons had experienced. One resolution passed by the Quincy town council read:


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Flight of Mormons to Illinois
Resolved: That the gov of Missouri, in refusing protection to this class of people when pressed upon by an heartless mob, and turning upon them a band of unprincipled Militia, with orders encouraging their extermination, has brought a lasting disgrace upon the state over which he presides.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Flight of Mormons to Illinois
Eventually, the large portion of the Mormons regrouped and founded a new city in Illinois which they called Nauvoo.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
When events in Daviess County caused Missourians to see the Mormon community as a violent threat, non-Mormon public opinion hardened in favor of a firm military response. Even militia commanders such as Clark, Doniphan, and Atchison who were sympathetic to the Mormons came to see a military response as the only way to bring the situation under control.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
Many of Boggs's constituents felt that he had mis-managed the situation, by failing to intervene earlier in the crisis, and then by overreacting on the basis of partial and incorrect information.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
The Missouri Argus published an editorial on December 20, 1838, that public opinion should not permit the Mormons to forcibly be expelled from the state:


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
They cannot be driven beyond the limits of the state—that is certain. To do so, would be to act with extreme cruelty. Public opinion has recoiled from a summary and forcible removal of our negro population;—much more likely will it be to revolt at the violent expulsion of two or three thousand souls, who have so many ties to connect them with us in a common brotherhood. If they choose to remain, we must be content. The day has gone by when masses of men can be outlawed, and driven from society to the wilderness, unprotected. ... The refinement, the charity of our age, will not brook it.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
Even people who otherwise would have had no sympathy for the Mormons were appalled by Boggs's Executive Order and the treatment of the Mormons by the mobs. One contemporary critic of the Mormons wrote:


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
Mormonism is a monstrous evil; and the only place where it ever did or ever could shine, this side of the world of despair, is by the side of the Missouri mob.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Political fallout
LeSueur notes that, along with other setbacks, Boggs's mishandling of the Mormon conflict left him "politically impotent" by the end of his term.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Boggs assassination attempt
On May 6, 1842, Boggs was shot in the head at his home three blocks from Temple Lot. Boggs survived, but Mormons came under immediate suspicion especially of the alleged failed assassination attempt by Orrin Porter Rockwell of the Mormon Danites.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Boggs assassination attempt
Sheriff J.H. Reynolds discovered a revolver at the scene, still loaded with buckshot. He surmised that the perpetrator had fired upon Boggs and lost his firearm in the night when the weapon recoiled due to its unusually large shot. The gun was found to have been stolen from a local shopkeeper, who identified "that hired man of Ward's" as the most likely culprit. Reynolds determined the man in question was Porter Rockwell, a close associate of Joseph Smith. However, Reynolds was unable to capture Rockwell.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Boggs assassination attempt
John C. Bennett, a disaffected Mormon, reported that Smith had offered a cash reward to anyone who would assassinate Boggs, and that Smith had admitted to him that Rockwell had done the deed.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Boggs assassination attempt
Joseph Smith vehemently denied Bennett's account, speculating that Boggs—no longer governor, but campaigning for state senate—was attacked by an election opponent. One historian notes that Governor Boggs was running for election against several violent men, all capable of the deed, and that there was no particular reason to suspect Rockwell of the crime. Other historians are convinced that Rockwell was involved in the shooting.


1838 Mormon War, Aftermath, Boggs assassination attempt
Whatever the case, the following year Rockwell was arrested, tried, and acquitted of the attempted murder, although most of Boggs' contemporaries remained convinced of his guilt. A grand jury was unable to find sufficient evidence to indict him, convinced in part by his reputation as a deadly gunman and his statement that he "never shot at anybody, if I shoot they get shot!... He's still alive, ain't he?"


1838 Naval Air Squadron
1838 Naval Air Squadron (1838 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.


1838 Naval Air Squadron, References, Bibliography
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1838 New York gubernatorial election
The 1838 New York gubernatorial election was held from November 5 to 7, 1838, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York.


1838 New York gubernatorial election
The issues of slavery and abolition were among the topics of the campaigns. Abolitionists asked the candidates for both positions their stands on the following issues:1) "the right of blacks to a jury trial when seized as fugitive slaves;2) a law freeing slaves-in-transit the moment they were brought into the state by their masters; and3) equal suffrage for blacks."


1838 New York gubernatorial election
Incumbent Democrat William Marcy and his running mate were described as doughfaces, not supporting the abolitionist proposals. During the campaign, Seward said that he did not support the latter two proposals, noting that a change to suffrage required a constitutional amendment to be changed. Abolitionists endorsed Luther Bradish, the Whig candidate for lieutenant governor, who supported all three, and some activists recommended voting against Seward.


1838 New York gubernatorial election
But he and Bradish defeated the Democratic candidates. After election, Seward demonstrated considerable support for African Americans, signing legislation during his two terms to guarantee jury trials to alleged fugitive slaves, to repeal the nine-month allowance for slaveholders bringing slaves into the state, to give state support to efforts to gain freedom for free blacks kidnapped and sold into slavery, and establish public education for all children.


1838 New York gubernatorial election, Candidates
The Whig Party nominated former state senator and 1834 gubernatorial nominee William H. Seward. They nominated state assemblyman Luther Bradish for Lieutenant Governor.


1838 New York gubernatorial election, Candidates
The Democratic Party nominated incumbent Governor William L. Marcy. They nominated the incumbent John Tracy for Lieutenant Governor.


1838 New York gubernatorial election, Sources
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1838 Norwegian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Norway in 1838. As political parties were not officially established until 1884, all those elected were independents. The number of seats in the Storting was increased from 96 to 99. Voter turnout was 50.2%, although only 5.7% of the country's population was eligible to vote.


1838 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
The 1838 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was between two candidates. Incumbent Governor Joseph Ritner ran as an Anti-Masonic candidate. Ritner's defeat by Democrat David R. Porter prompted the Buckshot War.


1838 Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district special election
On March 8, 1838, a special election was held in Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Henry A. P. Muhlenberg (D) on February 9, 1838


1838 Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district special election, Election results
Keim took his seat on March 17, 1838 during the 2nd session of the 25th Congress


1838 Portuguese legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 12 August and 12 September 1838.


1838 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
A new constitution was promulgated in 1838 following the September Revolution in 1836, and the elections were held based on a decree on 9 April 1838. The constitution provided for a bicameral parliament with a directly-elected Senate (replacing the appointed Chamber of Most Worthy Peers) and Chamber of Deputies. Voting was restricted to men over the age of 25 and income of at least 80,000 reals, although members of religious orders, servants, vagabonds and those still dependent on their parents were barred from voting.


1838 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
The voting age was reduced to 20 for men who were married, serving in the military, had graduated from university or were part of the secular clergy. Candidates for the Chamber were required to have a net income of over 400,000 reals, and at least half of those elected in each constituency were required to have been born in the area or have lived in it for at least a year. Candidates for the Senate needed to be at least 35 years old and had a higher income threshold, but were not required to have a geographic link to their constituency.


1838 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
The 142 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected from 28 multi-member constituencies with between 2 and 15 seats, with 116 representing the mainland, 12 from the islands and 14 representing overseas colonies. The elections were held using a two-round system, with candidates required to receive a majority of the vote to be elected in the first round, before a second round (which was limited to a number of candidates equalling three times the number of seats remaining to be filled) was carried out on a plurality basis.


1838 Portuguese legislative election, Results
The result was a victory for the ruling Setembristas, who contested the elections in an alliance with their former Cartista opponents as the 'Electoral Association of the Centre'. The Setembristas affiliated with Manuel da Silva Passos were grouped as the 'Public Electoral Association', whilst the Radicals formed the 'Civic Association'.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election
The Republic of Texas presidential election of 1838 was the second presidential election. It was held on September 3, 1838. By a provision of the constitution, the term of office of the first president was limited to two years, without his being eligible for re-election; succeeding presidents were to hold their office for three years.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election
The contest was held between Mirabeau Lamar, the vice president of the Republic of Texas and Robert Wilson, the Republic of Texas Senator for Harrisburg and Liberty. Although both candidates were considered nonpartisan, the two were representative of competing factions. Because Texas law did not allow consecutive terms for presidents, incumbent Sam Houston could not run for re-election during this time. Lamar was considered Houston's rival, and although such differences between Houston and Lamar were at the time considered mostly personal in nature, Wilson was considered to be running on behalf of Houston's oppositional faction.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election
Wilson was at a large disadvantage because he did not announce his candidacy until well after Lamar did, and only due to the fact that two other previous candidates Peter W. Grayson and James Collinsworth had committed suicide earlier in the campaign process. Because the likelihood of Wilson defeating Lamar was considered so improbable, many considered Lamar to be running unopposed.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Mirabeau B. Lamar
On December 1, 1837, eleven of the fourteen members of the Texas Senate addressed Vice President Mirabeau Lamar in a letter in which they encouraged him to accept a nomination. Before he would respond to this letter, six days later he wrote to Thomas Jefferson Rusk to inquire what his intentions were. In his response, Rusk gave Lamar his support, and claimed he would not run against him. It was then in which Lamar gave an affirmative response to the senators that he would run for office.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Mirabeau B. Lamar
To nominate him publicly, several public meetings were arranged and took place through the next year. The first meeting took place in Richmond on April 17, 1838 where he and David G. Burnet were nominated, then another in Columbia on the 21st, Galveston on the 23rd, and San Augustine on May 10. On May 19, 1838, a large gathering took place in the Hall of the House of Representatives in Houston, where resolutions were adopted favoring Lamar for the presidency.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Robert Wilson
Senator Robert Wilson of Harrisburg, who had gained office in the election of 1836, represented the districts of Harrisburg and Liberty, and was still serving a three year term as senator when he announced his candidacy. Although Wilson was the sole opposition representing the Houston faction after the deaths of Collinsworth and Grayson, he was never taken seriously for the office.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Other candidates
In the May 26, 1838 issue of the Telegraph and Texas Register, at the request of William Pettus, Edward Burleson, Michel Menard, and Thomas F. McKinney, correspondence regarding Peter W. Grayon's nomination to the presidency was published. The published correspondence detailed that on May 21, 1838, Peter W. Grayson, a former interim Attorney General of Texas, was addressed by thirty-one Texas leaders to consider a nomination.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Other candidates
Three days later, Grayson responded that he would accept a candidacy, but acknowledged that he would be absent from Texas during campaigning, as he would depart for Washington D.C. in his role as minister plenipotentiary to the United States. Grayson's candidacy was cut short, as he took his own life on July 9, 1838 while in Bean Station, Tennessee.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Other candidates
Following the death of Grayson, James Collinsworth was then asked to take up the Houstonian party's nomination. The first published report of his candidacy was on June 30, 1838. However, by the following month, Collinsworth also died after jumping off of a boat in Galveston Bay after a week of drunkenness.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Nominations, Other candidates
Former interim president David G. Burnet was also encouraged to run for the presidency, but declined because he did not want to run against his friend Lamar, and instead ran for vice president with the hopes of the Lamar victory.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, General election, Campaign
During the campaign process, several charges were leveled against Mirabeau Lamar. First, in June 1838, Lamar's opponents claimed that he was constitutionally ineligible for the office of the presidency because he had not been a citizen of Texas for at least three years. In a June 16, 1838 letter written by Lamar to journalists Samuel Whiting of the Houston-based National Intelligencer and J.W.J. Miles, he dismissed the notion of his ineligibility as "mortifying [...] if seriously entertained". Lamar claimed that he had entered Texas in July 1835, with intention to be a citizen, and purchased land rights from the land surveyor of Coles' Settlement from which he could produce a receipt as evidence.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, General election, Campaign
In August, in the Telegraph and Texas Register a defensive editorial was published that refuted an accusation by the Galveston Civilian that Lamar had defrauded the government of one acre of land. The Galveston Civilian later claimed that Lamar was even "partially insane".


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, General election, Results
Obtaining an impressive 96.5% of the vote, Mirabeau Lamar defeated Robert Wilson in a landslide. The count was 6,995 in favor of Lamar, while only 252 voted for Wilson.


1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, General election, Results
Burnet was elected vice-president with 3,952 votes (55.4%). Albert Clinton Horton came in second place with 1,971 votes (27.6%) while Joseph Rowe finished third with 1,215 votes (17.0%).


1838 San Andreas earthquake
The 1838 San Andreas earthquake is believed to be a rupture along the northern part of the San Andreas Fault in June 1838. It affected approximately 100 km (62 miles) of the fault, from the San Francisco Peninsula to the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was a strong earthquake, with an estimated moment magnitude of 6.8 to 7.2, making it one of the largest known earthquakes in California. The region was lightly populated at the time, although structural damage was reported in San Francisco, Oakland, and Monterey. It is unknown whether there were fatalities. Based on geological sampling, the fault created approximately 1.5 meters (5.0 feet) of slip.


1838 San Andreas earthquake
For years, another large earthquake was said to have occurred two years earlier on June 10, 1836 along the Hayward fault; however, this is now believed to be referring to the 1838 San Andreas earthquake. There is no evidence a large earthquake hit the region in 1836.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Preface
During the 1830s in California, the largest of the few settlements usually contained no more than several hundred individuals. This is true even for the area between the San Francisco Peninsula and south to the Santa Clara Valley. Indians kept no records and communications between the villages was poor. There were no local newspapers and no correspondents from news agencies in the distant United States.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Preface
Beginning in 1833, the secularization of the Spanish missions brought an end to the once plentiful and dominant source of information in the study of previous earthquakes, and other Mexican sources during this period were also lacking. The California Gold Rush ushered in a host of changes, including the startup of newspapers in the Sierra Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area. These records were tapped later on by seismologists in their study of earthquakes in the area.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Preface
The lack of archives made work difficult for seismologists preparing earthquake catalogs or those involved in creating seismic hazard and risk estimates. The science of seismology was still many decades in the future and no measuring equipment existed to aid in the recording and documentation of earthquakes. Had there been equipment available to use in the study, there were still no scientists in the area to perform the work.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Preface
Instruments capable of detecting earthquakes that were designed by John Milne became available by 1896, but it was not until the Wood-Anderson seismograph was developed in 1926 that instruments began to be used in widespread fashion in California. Details that made their way into the earthquake catalogs showed that the period 1836–1840 was one of the most active on record.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Tectonic setting
The San Andreas Fault (SAF) system is a network of active right-lateral strike-slip faults that form a portion of a complex and diffuse transform type plate boundary. The zone of deformation between the Pacific and North American plates extends east into the Basin and Range Province of Eastern California and western Nevada. The faults span on and off shore along the California portion of the Pacific Rim, and near San Diego they are about 150 kilometers (93 mi) wide.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Tectonic setting
In the area near San Francisco Bay, the extent of the various fault strands are limited to about 80 kilometers (50 mi). This system of faults terminates in the north at the Mendocino Triple Junction where the north-northwest trending SAF meets the east trending Mendocino Fracture Zone and the Cascadia subduction zone. It terminates in the south in a more gradual fashion at the Salton Sea where displacement transitions to a series of transform faults and spreading centers along the Gulf of California Rift Zone.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Tectonic setting
The northern part of the SAF consists of four main sections between the northern end of the Central part (the San Juan Bautista section) and the Menocino Triple Junction. These are known as the Santa Cruz Mountains (or Loma Prieta), Peninsula, North Coast and Offshore sections, going from south to north. All these sections ruptured during the 1906 earthquake.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake history
The history of earthquakes along the northern part of the SAF relies on paleoseismic investigations before about 1776, when the first missions were founded in this part of California. A series of earlier events have been identified, the most recent of which occurred in the time interval 1660–1780 with an estimated rupture length of greater than 250 km and apparently affected the Offshore, North Coast and Peninsular sections of the fault. Since 1776 possible events on the fault include earthquakes in 1836, 1838, 1839, 1865, 1890 and 1906.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake history
The 1836 event is no longer thought to have been a large earthquake and it remains uncertain which fault was ruptured. The 1839 event is now accepted as misreporting of the 1838 earthquake. The 1865 event is only known to have affected the Santa Cruz Mountains, but is interpreted to be a reverse fault type earthquake not on the SAF itself. The 1890 earthquake is thought to be a result of rupture along the Santa Cruz Mountains section, with an estimated magnitude in the range Mw  6.0–6.3. There has been no large earthquake on the northern part of the SAF since 1906. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was another reverse fault type event.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Damage
The damage associated with this earthquake is quite poorly documented, relying on relatively few written accounts and most of these were only recorded well after the event. Effects were reported from as far north as the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula and as far as Monterey in the south. On the peninsula, the walls of some buildings in the Presidio were cracked and the walls of the Mission San Francisco Dolores were badly damaged. Across the other side of the bay, large fissures were reported at "Oakland valley" (near the waterfront at Oakland).


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Damage
An adobe house was destroyed at San Leandro and a large landslide was seen in the nearby hills. The walls of the mission buildings at both San José and Santa Clara were badly affected and a house collapsed in San Jose town. At Woodside adobe buildings were badly cracked and there are reports of the "ground (moving) in waves like the ocean". An open fissure was also described to extend from near Lone Mountain to the Santa Clara mission. Many trees were uprooted and thrown sideways, something that was also observed during the 1906 earthquake. At Santa Cruz reports shortly after the earthquake of buildings in disrepair may be a result of the earthquake and at Monterey some adobe walls were damaged and crockery and glassware broken.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Damage
The age of major rockfalls in the Sierra Nevada that are thought to be seismically triggered have been investigated using lichenometry. Four main groups of ages were identified as 1817, 1837, 1857 and 1909, all with an uncertainty of 10 years and presumed to be associated with the major San Andreas earthquakes of 1812, 1838, 1857 and 1906. Rockfalls dated as 1837 were found to be equally as abundant as those dated 1857 and 1909, suggesting that the effects on the Sierra Nevada range was similar for all three events.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
Due to the paucity of contemporary observations of this earthquake, there is significant uncertainty about the time and date, the magnitude, the maximum intensity and the exact portion of the fault that ruptured.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
The date is not known precisely, other than that the earthquake occurred in late June, 1838 and that the time was shortly after midday.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
The magnitude has been estimated from the size of the affected area, the maximum intensity and the rupture length/displacement. This gives a magnitude range of 6.8–7.5. The maximum estimated intensity is at least VII–VIII (very strong to severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale, based on contemporary reports of damage to mission buildings in Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Jose, although it may have reached IX (violent).


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
The description of the earthquake at Woodside, coupled with the report of a probable surface rupture in the same area suggests that some, if not all, of the Peninsula section ruptured. This is further supported by the interpretation of a paleoseismic investigation at Filoli, north of Woodside. The degree of shaking at Monterey, which is interpreted to be similar to that in the 1906 earthquake, has been used to support rupture along part, if not all, of the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the fault.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
The maximum suggested rupture length is 140 km, assuming that both sections of the fault ruptured completely. The possibility of rupture extending into the Santa Cruz Mountains has been investigated by paleoseismic techniques, particularly trenching across the fault at a series of localities, Grizzly Flat, Hazel Dell, Mill Canyon and Arano Flat.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
Initial results from Grizzly Flat found no evidence for the 1838 event, but the dating of the horizons have been re-evaluated and rupture associated with the 1838 earthquake is now thought to be consistent with observations at all four sites, suggesting a minimum rupture length on this section of the fault as 14 km.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake
The displacement during the 1838 earthquake has been estimated at three of the Santa Cruz Mountain paleoseismic sites and at Filoli, covering 83 km of the rupture length. The values are; Filoli 1.6±0.7 m, Hazel Dell 1.5 m, Mill Canyon 1.0 m and Arano Flat 1.0 m. Assuming a total rupture length of 100 km, this gives a magnitude range of Mw  6.8–7.2. The likely rupture extent has also been estimated by looking at stress transfer following the 1838 event. This analysis is more consistent with a rupture of 75 km in terms of subsequent earthquakes on the Santa Cruz Mountains section in 1865 and 1989.


1838 San Andreas earthquake, Earthquake, Aftershocks
A contemporary account mentions many aftershocks, continuing for at least 2 and a half months until the writer left the area. Some larger aftershocks in 1840 and 1841 have also been attributed to the 1838 earthquake with magnitudes of about M 6 and epicenters near San Juan Bautista, supporting an extension of the 1838 rupture into the Santa Cruz Mountains.


1838 St Ives by-election
The St Ives by-election of 1838 was an election held on 24 May 1838. The by-election was brought about due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, James Halse. It was won by the Conservative candidate William Tyringham Praed.


1838 United States elections
The 1838 United States elections occurred in the middle of Democratic President Martin Van Buren's term, during the Second Party System. Members of the 26th United States Congress were chosen in this election.


1838 United States elections
Whigs picked up a moderate number of seats in both the House and Senate, but the Democratic Party retained a majority in both chambers. However, due to a split in the Democratic party, Whig Congressman Robert M. T.  Hunter was elected to be the Speaker of the House.


1838 Vrancea earthquake
The 1838 Vrancea earthquake struck the western part of Vrancea County on 23 January (O.S. 11 January) with a magnitude of 7.5. The seism caused extensive damage in Moldavia and Wallachia, and killed dozens of people. The earthquake occurred just 36 years after another earthquake of magnitude over 7 on Richter scale devastated the southern part of Wallachia.


1838 Vrancea earthquake
The earthquake occurred at 20:45, being felt strongly in Bucharest and also all over the country up to Lviv, Sevastopol, Constantinople (Istanbul), Odessa, etc. A detailed report on the phenomenon was promptly done by Güstav Schuller, mining geologist in the service of the Duke of Saxony. He said the quake had a foreshock followed by three strong shocks.


1838 Vrancea earthquake
During this earthquake, in some areas, especially the epicentral zone, mainly in Vrancea, Buzău, Brăila and Dâmbovița counties appeared large ground cracks and liquefaction phenomena.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage
The earthquake was felt on very large areas, affecting inclusive the cities of Transylvania and Banat. Timișoara suffered extensive damage, and the Prejmer fortified church was nearly destroyed. Two motions were felt in Sibiu, on the east–west direction, and several buildings suffered damage. Strong shakings were also felt in Nadăș village. Theriver ice has been broken. Many people were injured. The earthquake was also felt in Cluj, but it was very weak.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage
But the greatest damage concentrated in Wallachia, where 217 churches collapsed or were severely damaged, most of them in Râmnicu Vâlcea and Craiova. According to an official report, 36 houses were destroyed in Bucharest, among them the Manuc's Inn and St. Sylvester Church. Likewise, four churches collapsed, and other 50 buildings were badly damaged, including the Princely Palace. România newspaper reported that the seism was preceded by "a hissing and a whizzing so great that froze the hearts of fear". Prince Alexandru II Ghica was surprised by the quake inside a theater, together with much of the nobility.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage
Panic took hold immediately on the audience, which began to trample to exit the theater. Several women fainted, being dragged down by the others to be removed from the building that could collapse. That night, Prince Ghica, with officers and army, visited all parts of Bucharest to see with his eyes the disaster. In Brăila was affected the city hospital, patients being evacuated to another hospital.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage
The quake was strongly felt in Moldavia, where, among other consequences, there was a massive landslide, that closed Ghilcoș Brook, tributary of the Bicaz River, phenomenon following which would be formed the Red Lake. In the Abeille moldave (Romanian: Аlbina românească), a political and literary gazette led by Gheorghe Asachi, it was reported that a violent earthquake was felt Tuesday, 11 January 1838, at 8:25 p.m., in Iași and lasted 35 seconds. Here, several houses and churches (among them Curelari and St. Spiridon) reported cracks in walls, and the theater was evacuated without any incidents.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage
Gustav Schüller (Gustave Schueler), Counselor for Mining to the Grand Duke of Saxony, expert instructed by the Ministry for Internal Affairs, reported large cracks in the ground and soil liquefaction "both on Wallachian territory and that of Moldova". The report relates that "in the visited areas all massive buildings, made of stone heavily suffered and many of them, mainly churches, cannot be used". On the contrary, "the peasants' houses, as well as all structures made in timber, have been able to deflect since they were flexible, so they suffered less".


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Damage, Effects outside Romania
The earthquake was felt on a large area, from Russia to Poland and from Albania to Ukraine. In the following table are presented localities and areas mentioned in historical sources, where the mainshock was felt outside the 1838 borders of Romania.


1838 Vrancea earthquake, Casualties
On 13 January 1838, Manolache Florescu, Bucharest Police Chief, submitted a report, according to that 73 people lost their lives and 14 were injured. Among victims, eight were from Bucharest. But the Consul General of France in Bucharest, Marquis de Châteaugiron, reported over 720 dead and as many wounded. Prof. Dr. Gheorghe Mărmureanu, Director of the National Institute for Earth Physics, stated that in the 1838 earthquake "767 people died". Andreas Ludwig Jeitteles (1799–1878), a Czech physician and writer, quotes in one of his works 12 deaths and 40 wounded in Bucharest.


1838 West Suffolk by-election
The 1838 West Suffolk by-election was held on 7 May 1838 after the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, Robert Hart Logan. It was retained by the Conservative candidate Harry Spencer Waddington, who was unopposed despite an attempt by local Radicals to find a candidate.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 26th Congress were held during President Martin Van Buren's term at various dates in different states from July 1838 to November 1839.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections
The Panic of 1837 and consequent economic downturn drove Whig Party gains. Van Buren's Democratic Party had lost popularity and Whig policies of economic nationalism appealed to a larger number of voters. Democrats were able, however, to contain the political fallout by blaming banks for the crisis. The Anti-Masonic Party, influential in New York, Pennsylvania, and other Northern states, lost seats, while the Southern Nullifier Party disappeared. Two Virginia representatives were elected on that state's Conservative Party ticket.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections
Early business of the new House reflected the close partisan division. When Congress first Convened on December 3, 1839, two contingents of New Jersey representatives-elect, one composed of Democrats and the other of Whigs, arrived and both requested to be seated as members. Charging the Whigs with election fraud and facing loss of control of the House, the Democratic Party majority (119 to 118 Whigs from outside New Jersey) refused to seat all but one Whig. Massachusetts Representative John Quincy Adams presided as "chairman" of the House after the clerk lost control.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections
Two weeks later, when voting for speaker of the House finally commenced, 11 ballots were needed before Robert M. T. Hunter, a compromise Whig candidate, was elected, receiving 119 votes (out of 232 cast). This congress also enacted the first Independent Treasury bill.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Special elections
There were special elections in 1838 and 1839 to the 25th United States Congress and 26th United States Congress.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Connecticut
Connecticut elected its six members April 1, 1839, flipping all six seats from Democratic to Whig.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Massachusetts
Elections were held November 12, 1838, but one district's election went to a fourth ballot in 1839, after the March 4, 1839 start of the term but before the House convened in December 1839.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Mississippi
A special election was held in Mississippi on July 17–18, 1837. Its winners were Democrats John F. H. Claiborne and Samuel J. Gholson. The first session of the 25th Congress was a special session beginning on September 4, 1837, extending to October 16. In November, Mississippi held the regular election. Seargent Smith Prentiss, a Vicksburg lawyer and Whig, unexpectedly launched a vigorous, partisan campaign. He and fellow Whig Thomas J. Word won in an upset. Claiborne and Gholson then argued that the July result entitled them to serve full terms.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Mississippi
With the Whig Party newly organizing, the closely divided House, in which Anti-Masons, Nullifiers, and the Independent tended to align more with Whigs and to oppose Democrats, agreed to hear Prentiss. He spoke for nine hours over three days, packing the gallery, drawing Senators, and earning a national reputation for oratory and public admiration from leading Whigs including Senators Clay and Webster. The Elections Committee then required a third election. Scheduled for April 1838, it confirmed the November result. Both Whigs were seated in May late in the second session, also serving for the third session.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Pennsylvania
In the 3rd district, Charles Naylor's election was unsuccessfully contested by Charles J. Ingersoll.


1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections, Pennsylvania
There were three special elections in Pennsylvania during the 26th Congress. The first was in the 14th district caused by the death of William W. Potter (Democratic) on October 28, 1839. This vacancy was filled by George McCulloch (Democratic). The second was in the 22nd district caused by the resignation of Richard Biddle. This vacancy was filled by Henry M. Brackenridge (Whig). The third was in the 13th district caused by the death of William S. Ramsey (Democratic) on October 17, 1840. Ramsey had also been re-elected to the 27th Congress and so an additional special election was held the following May to fill the vacancy in the 27th Congress.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections
The United States Senate elections of 1838 and 1839 were elections which had the Democratic Party lose seven seats in the United States Senate, but still retain a majority.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections
As this election was prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by state legislatures.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special elections during the 25th Congress
In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1838 or before March 4, 1839; ordered by election date.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Races leading to the 26th Congress
In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1839; ordered by state.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special election during the 26th Congress
In this special election, the winner was seated in 1839 after March 4.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
The New York election was held February 5, 1839 by the New York State Legislature. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been elected as a Jacksonian Democratic in 1833 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1839.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
On February 4, 1839, the State Legislature elected on joint ballot Spencer, Cooke, Hall and Haight to the offices they were nominated for, but on the next day they could not agree on a U.S. Senator.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
The Assembly nominated Nathaniel P. Tallmadge "by the votes of all the Whig members." (see Hammond, page 512)


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
Although the Democratic State Senate majority did not object to be outvoted on joint ballot for the election of Whigs to State offices, they rejected the idea of electing a renegade Democratic to the U.S. Senate, and took refuge to the only means to defeat Tallmadge: They did not nominate anybody, following the precedents of 1819–1820 and 1825–1826, so that a joint ballot could not be held. On the first ballot, Tallmadge received 13 votes out of 31 cast, all Whigs.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
The Democratic vote was scattered among many men, nobody receiving more than 2. Four more ballots were held with a similar result. On the sixth ballot, all Whigs and two Democrats voted for Samuel Beardsley, who received 16 votes, one short of the necessary number for a nomination. The Democrats then abandoned further balloting, fearing that the Whigs would vote for anybody who received by chance three Democratic votes, just to force any nomination, thus enabling the Legislature to proceed to the joint ballot.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, New York
No further action was taken by this Legislature, and the seat became vacant on March 4, 1839. Tallmadge would later be elected in 1840.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
There were three elections to the same seat due to the July 4, 1838 resignation of Democrat Felix Grundy to become U.S. Attorney General.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Tennessee, Tennessee (Special, 1838)
Whig Ephraim H. Foster was elected September 17, 1838 to finish the term.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Tennessee, Tennessee (Regular)
Foster was also elected to the next term, but Foster declined the seat, refusing to take the Tennessee General Assembly's instructions on how to vote, so he left office March 3, 1839 and the seat was vacant when the term began.


1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections, Tennessee, Tennessee (Special, 1839)
The legislature then elected Grundy back to the seat November 19, 1839, but he died a year later.


1838 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1838 in Australia.


1838 in India
This list details events in the year 1838 in India. Major events include the Agra famine of 1837-38, and the founding of the Times of India on 3 November.


1838 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 1838 in New Zealand.


1838 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1838 in South Africa.


1838 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1838 to Wales and its people.


1838 in architecture
The year 1838 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.


1838 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1838.


1838 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1838.


1838 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1838 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1838 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1838 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1838.


1838 in science
The year 1838 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.


1838 in sports
1838 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.


1839
1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1839th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 839th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 39th  year of the 19th century, and the  10th  and last year of the 1830s decade. As of the start of 1839, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


1839 Alabama gubernatorial election
The 1839 Alabama gubernatorial election was an election held on August 3, 1839, to elect the Governor of Alabama. Incumbent Democratic governor Arthur P. Bagby defeated Whig candidate Arthur F. Hopkins with 92.29% of the vote.


1839 Ava earthquake
The 1839 Ava earthquake, also known as the Amarapura earthquake or Inwa earthquake was a disastrous seismic event that struck central Burma on the morning of March 23. This earthquake with a moment magnitude as high as 8.2, was one of the biggest in the country since 1762. Shaking reached XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, and was felt in Rangoon and Bhamo.


1839 Ava earthquake, Earthquake
The Sagaing Fault is a major transform boundary that runs through Myanmar, and is the source of the earthquake. The earthquake epicenter is presently located just outside the city of Mandalay. It is believed that the Meiktila and Sagaing segment of the fault ruptured during this earthquake for a length of 400 km, generating an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 to 8.3 although further research is needed to confirm this. The basis for this claim is the overall lack of seismic activity in the Meiktila segment which runs from Nay Pyi Taw to Mandalay, a length of about 260 km.


1839 Ava earthquake, Earthquake
There is no official magnitude presented for this earthquake but most news media and research journals put the figure at 7.0–7.5 or ≥8.0 Mw . Remote sensing and field observation revealed a maximum displacement of 5 to 7 meters along the trace of the 1839 rupture just outside Mandalay. This would place the magnitude at 7.4 or 8.0+.


1839 Ava earthquake, Earthquake
In 1946 the 180 km long Sagaing segment produced two major earthquakes but there are no records of its impact. Ten years later, in 1956, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck close to the city of Mandalay, re–rupturing the 1839 rupture zone for about 60 km. Meanwhile the 260 km long Meiktila segment has not experienced any major earthquake since 1839 and is considered a seismic gap.


1839 Ava earthquake, Earthquake, Foreshocks
It was preceded by a large foreshock in 1838 which also damaged the capital.


1839 Ava earthquake, Damage and effects
Great damage was reported in Inwa, so severe that the formal capital was moved to nearby Amarapura. In Mingun, a stupa sustained serious damage as a result of shaking. British officials in Myanmar recorded catastrophic damage and liquefaction in Mandalay and the surrounding area. Many pagodas collapsed during the event. Chasms and fissures more than ten feet wide were seen in Amarapura and nearly every brick buildings were reduced to rubble. Some villages were swallowed up as a result of liquefaction. Between 200 and 300 people were killed. The shock also reversed the flow of the Irrawaddy River, where the currents became violent and overflowed its banks.


1839 Ava earthquake, Gallery
Large cracks in the incomplete Mingun Pahtodawgyi caused by the earthquake.


1839 Ava earthquake, Gallery
Nan Myint Tower slightly tilted due to ground effects from the tremor.


1839 Ava earthquake, Gallery
The Mingun Bell resting on the ground after losing its supports to the quake, pictured in 1873.


1839 Ava earthquake, Gallery
The Hsinbyume Pagoda in 2014. Extensive restoration was dome by Mindon Min in 1874 after the earthquake.


1839 Belgian general election
Partial legislative elections were held in Belgium on 11 June 1839. In the Senate elections Catholics won 27 seats and Liberals 12. Voter turnout was 66.4%, although only 23,661 people were eligible to vote.


1839 Belgian general election
Under the alternating system, Chamber elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège and Limburg. Thus, 47 of the 98 Chamber seats were up for election. The total number of seats decreased from 102 to 98 following the split of Limburg (its districts were reduced from Hasselt, Maastricht and Roermond to Hasselt, Tongeren and Maaseik).


1839 Chicago mayoral election
The 1839 Chicago mayoral election saw Whig nominee Benjamin Wright Raymond defeat Democratic nominee James Curtiss by a landslide 25 point margin.


1839 Chicago mayoral election, Campaign
With the nation enduring a difficult economic recession, many citizens believed that successful merchant Benjamin Raymond would be a wise choice for the city' next mayor. However, Raymond was initially not amenable to the prospect of serving as mayor. When former mayor William B. Ogden attempted to persuade him at his dry goods store to run for mayor, Raymond initially, "leaped over the counter and knocked Mr. Ogden's prostrate with a bolt of factory-cloth." However, Raymond was nonetheless eventually persuaded to run for mayor.


1839 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1839 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 2, 1839. Incumbent governor and Whig nominee William W. Ellsworth was re-elected, defeating former senator and Democratic nominee John M. Niles with 51.52% of the vote.


1839 Coringa cyclone
On 25 November 1839, the port city of Coringa in Andhra Pradesh on the southeastern coast of British India was battered by a tropical cyclone that destroyed the harbor. Known as the 1839 Coringa cyclone and sometimes also referred to as the 1839 India cyclone and 1839 Andhra Pradesh cyclone, its storm surge caused wide damage. It killed over 300,000 people, making it the second-deadliest storm worldwide after the 1970 Bhola cyclone. Many ships were destroyed and houses were washed out by rising rivers and streams. Croplands were inundated and many animals drowned due to the floods and storm surge.


1839 Coringa cyclone
The port city was not rebuilt after the cyclone. Some individuals who survived the disaster rebuilt their homes far from the coast. Some British officials named the area Hope Island, hoping to protect the city from future environmental disasters.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Background
Coringa is a harbor city situated on the Bay of Bengal, near the mouth of the Godavari River. The population of the area is one hundred million and the harbor is a busy place of commerce, with the said area hoisting thousands of international ships and cargoes.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Background
In 1789, a different cyclone passed near the area, generating a large storm surge that killed over 20,000. Large ships sank in the rough waters off the Bay of Bengal and rice fields were destroyed by floods and wave surges. The city was almost wrecked, but managed to recover. After the city was rebuilt, the harbor became more active than it had been before. The cyclone is dubbed in modern times The Great Coringa cyclone.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Background
Many ships passing through or near the port city started to observe a rainy pattern on 24 November 1839, a day before the cyclone made landfall. The stormy weather stopped on 26 November, based on ship logs.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Impact and aftermath
On 25 November 1839, the cyclone struck Coringa, generating a large 40-foot storm surge that completely destroyed the area. In comparison to the 1789 storm, the damages were much worse. All 200,000 ships in the harbor were destroyed and houses were washed away. Trees were washed way and other structures in the city sustained damage. Cropland and sugarcane reaps flooded. The storm killed an estimated 300,000 individuals inland and at sea, making it the second-deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide, behind the 1970 Bhola cyclone. Only a few people survived the brunt of the cyclone, however. Cattle and some animals inland drowned in the storm surge.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Impact and aftermath
After the disaster, the survivors made no effort to rebuild the port. Most of them decided to migrate, staying away from the "cursed city". Some individuals left the coast to reconstruct their community, far inland. The region was dubbed Hope Island by British officials.


1839 Coringa cyclone, Impact and aftermath
An official of the British East India Company, Henry Piddington, coined the term cyclone in his reports for the first time while observing the swath of destruction made by the 1789 and 1839 storms. The word itself means the coil of a snake.


1839 French legislative election
The 1839 general election organized the fifth legislature of the July Monarchy. The election was held on 2 March and 6 July.


1839 French legislative election
Only citizens paying taxes were eligible to vote. The left won the election with a majority of 240 seats over the right.


1839 French legislative election, Results
Louis-Philippe of France did not have a majority and dissolved the legislature on 16 June 1842.


1839 Georgia gubernatorial election
The 1839 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 4.


1839 Georgia gubernatorial election
The Democratic Candidate Charles McDonald won re-election defeating Whig Candidate Charles Dougherty.


1839 Grand National
The 1839 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the first official annual running of a steeplechase which later became known as the Grand National.


1839 Grand National
It was held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on Tuesday 26 February 1839 and attracted a field of 17 runners.


1839 Grand National
Although recorded by the press at the time as the fourth running of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, which was renamed the Grand National in 1847, the first three runnings were poorly organised affairs. This year the race came under new management and the arrival of the railway in Liverpool made travel to the course easier.


1839 Grand National
The race was not run as a handicap chase (the Grand National was converted to a handicap race in 1843) and therefore all the runners carried twelve stone.


1839 Grand National, Competitors and betting
Eighteen runners were declared to run in the race but shortly before the start Jerry was withdrawn. This left the field as follows:


1839 Grand National, The race
The start was situated near to where the modern day Melling Road is and took the runners out into open countryside, jumping a line of natural banks, no more than 2 feet (0.61 m) high before reaching a post and rails over a brook. They then took the runners left towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, turning sharply (where the modern day Canal Turn is) to run along the canalside back towards the racecourse, negotiating the Second Brook (the modern day Valentine's Brook).


1839 Grand National, The race
The runners would then enter the 'racecourse proper' at the far end of the circuit to run back towards the stands, jumping a plain fence (the modern day Chair) before jumping a wall topped with gorse (the modern day Water Jump). The field then took another circuit of the course, this time bypassing the final two obstacles towards the finishing post.


1839 Grand National, The race
Paulina refused the first jump but continued after being put at the fence a second time. The most famous incident of the race occurred at the fence then known as the First Brook. Captain Becher had taken Conrad into second place at this stage but his mount failed to clear the rails and fell. Becher was forced to dive for cover into the brook itself as the other horses cleared the obstacle and legend has it that he was heard to tell the spectators that he did not realise how filthy water tasted without the benefit of whisky.


1839 Grand National, The race
Seconds later, William McDonough joined Becher in the brook after falling from Rust but it was the Captain's name attributed to the fence, now known as Becher's Brook. Both riders remounted but Becher's race ended when his mount fell again at the Second Brook where both Barkston and Cannon Ball had also fallen. It was one of these horses, while running loose, who ended the hopes of the favourite when The Nun was brought down shortly before rejoining the racecourse; she was remounted by Tom Ferguson while Rust was pulled up before reaching the stands. Charity fell at the wall in front of the stands but was also remounted.


1839 Grand National, The race
Railroad led at this stage with Lottery in second place but so slow was the pace of the race and so wide the distances between competitors that the favourite The Nun had managed to make up ground to move into third. Seventy-Four was fourth.


1839 Grand National, The race
On the second circuit, Charity fell before reaching the First Brook for the second time while Dictator fell at the fence situated at the turn by the canal but was quickly remounted by Robert Carlin. Daxon and The Nun both fell for a second time at the next fence, the Second Brook, while Dictator fell there again, this time fatally, becoming the first equine fatality of the Grand National


1839 Grand National, The race
Jem Mason took Lottery into the lead at the First Brook and maintained it to the finish, winning more easily than the three-length margin suggested in a time of 14 minutes 53 seconds, 53 seconds outside the course record. Lottery was prepared for the race at the stables of George Dockeray in Epsom, who is loosely regarded as the trainer but most of the preparation was more likely conducted by the owner, Piccadilly horse dealer John Elmore in whose colours of blue jacket and black cap the jockey rode. Seventy-Four was second, Paulina third and True Blue fourth. Pioneer was on course to finish third when he unseated his rider. Walker quickly remounted but could only manage fifth place.


1839 Grand National, Aftermath
Although regarded at the time as the fourth running of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, this running went on to be regarded as the first official running of the Grand National. The finishing order was only loosely recorded in the press as Jack in sixth, The Nun seventh, Railroad eighth, Rambler ninth and Cramp the last of ten to pass the post. Later record books show seven finishers though this is not supported by any press reports from the time. There was also much criticism in the press over the severity of the event, especially the conduct of Robert Carlin in remounting Dictator when witnesses described the horse as distressed. His cause of death was recorded as a burst blood vessel.


1839 Iowa Council election
In the 1839 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the second Iowa Territory Council. All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected. Councilors served one-year terms.


1839 Iowa Council election
The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House).


1839 Iowa Council election
Following the organization of the first Territory Council in 1838, Democrats held a majority with seven seats to Whigs' six seats.


1839 Iowa Council election
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net one seat from Democrats.


1839 Iowa Council election
Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Iowa Territory Council following the 1839 general election with the balance of power remaining unchanged with Democrats holding seven seats and Whigs having six seats. Democratic Councilor Stephen P. Hempstead was chosen as the President of the second Territory Council to succeed Whig Councilor Jesse B. Browne in that leadership position.


1839 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Wednesday 1 November 1839. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1839 Maine gubernatorial election
The 1839 Maine gubernatorial election took place on September 9, 1839. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Fairfield defeated Whig candidate and former Governor Edward Kent in a re-match of the previous year's election.


1839 Martinique earthquake
The 1839 Martinique earthquake occurred on the morning of January 11 with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 Ms , the largest in the Lesser Antilles since 1690. The maximum intensity of this earthquake was assigned IX on both the Mercalli and MSK intensity scales, which left the cities of Saint-Pierre and Fort Royal almost completely destroyed. Estimation on the number of human losses varies from 390 to even 4,000 making this one of the deadliest earthquakes in the Caribbean.


1839 Martinique earthquake
Four years later, the Guadeloupe earthquake with an estimated magnitude 8.5 struck the same region with a human toll between 1,500 and 6,000. It is believed to have originated on the same source fault and may have been related to the eruptions of Mount Pelée in 1851 and 1902.