Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Week

News from 150 years ago

war story

Posted on December 24, 2025 by SUMPTER

According to the December 25, 1575 issue of Harper’s Weekly, Americans were using evergreen garlands and wreaths more to decorate their homes for Christmas. The decorations might have been changing, but people still yearned to go home for Christmas. Ira … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, American Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“the people’s Thanksgiving”

Posted on November 27, 2025 by SUMPTER

President Grant’s seventh Thanksgiving Proclamation (from Pilgrim Hall Museum): THANKSGIVING DAY 1875 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION In accordance with a practice at once wise and beautiful, we have been accustomed, as the … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, American Culture, Postbellum Society, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

twists of fate

Posted on September 22, 2025 by SUMPTER

It’s been about fifteen years since the American Civil War sesquicentennial began with the 1860 election campaign. After Abraham Lincoln was elected U.S. president, southern states began to secede and by April 1861 rebel forces were threatening Union-held Fort Sumter … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, 150 Years Ago This Week, Postbellum Society, Southern Society, Veterans | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Channel swim

Posted on August 25, 2025 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this morning Englishman Matthew Webb became the first known human to swim across the English Channel without artificial aids. He landed near Calais after about 22 hours in the salt water. From the October 2, 1875 issue … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The death of Gerrit Smith

Posted on December 28, 2024 by SUMPTER

The well-known abolitionist Gerrit Smith died on December 28, 1874. Harper’s Weekly published a eulogy and brief biography in its January 16, 1875 issue: GERRIT SMITH. THE active antislavery movement in this country began forty years ago, and it is … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, 150 Years Ago This Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

let the good time roll

Posted on November 28, 2024 by SUMPTER

Are you ready for some jollification? President Ulysses S. Grant’s sixth Thanksgiving Day proclamation (from Pilgrim Hall Museum): THANKSGIVING DAY 1874 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION We are reminded by the changing seasons … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, American Culture, American Society, Postbellum Society, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dedicated

Posted on October 15, 2024 by SUMPTER

After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated his body was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. 150 years ago today a large monument at the Lincoln grave site was dedicated. In its October 24, 1874 issue Harper’s Weekly described the … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Battle in New Orleans

Posted on September 14, 2024 by SUMPTER

According to Eric Foner in Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, every election in Louisiana “between 1868 and 1876 was marked by rampant violence and pervasive fraud.” The results of the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election were highly disputed. Both carpetbagger Republican … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Columbia’s champs

Posted on July 20, 2024 by SUMPTER

Columbia College was in the news 150 years ago this summer as its varsity rowing team won its race at an intercollegiate regatta on Saratoga Lake in New York state. The race had to be postponed twice because of choppy … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, American Culture, Postbellum Society | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spirit in St. Louis

Posted on July 4, 2024 by SUMPTER

July 4, 1874 was a big day in the St. Louis area. People celebrated the official opening of a new bridge that connected Missouri and Illinois. The Eads Bridge was the first bridge to span the Mississippi River after its … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Naval Matters, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment