Birthdays
Thomas E. Bramlette
Turns 42 on this date
Philip Auld Harrison Brown
Turns 17 on this date
Samuel Middleton Dickson
Turns 22 on this date
James Rood Doolittle
Turns 44 on this date
Charles James Thompson McIntire
Turns 29 on this date
Lucretia Coffin Mott
Turns 66 on this date
Samuel Clarke Pomeroy
Turns 43 on this date
Alonzo Jacob Ransier
Turns 25 on this date
Events
| Crime/Disasters | Fire destroys the new Catholic Cathedral of Montreal in Canada | 01/03/1859 |
| Crime/Disasters | Heavy snowstorm in New York City and across the north-eastern United States |
01/03/1859 to 01/04/1859 |
| Campaigns/Elections | Lincoln-Douglas campaign lasts from mid-June 1858 until January 1859 |
06/16/1858 to 01/05/1859 |
| Legal/Political | Stephen Douglas ends a three day visit to New York City and leaves for Philadelphia | 01/03/1859 |
| Legal/Political | The Patent Office assembles an "Advisory Board for Agriculture" in Washington D.C. |
01/03/1859 to 01/11/1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The second session of the 35th Congress is in its ten day holiday recess until January 5, 1859 |
12/24/1858 to 01/04/1859 |
| Science/Technology | The trustees of the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York reclaim the premises from its scientific staff | 01/03/1859 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Charleston (SC) Mercury, “A Runaway Slave from Georgia Captured,” January 3, 1859 | 01/03/1859 |
| Newspaper | Cleveland (OH) Herald, “The Health of the City,” January 3, 1859 | 01/03/1859 |