Birthdays
Henry Winslow Abbett
Turns 20 on this date
Montgomery Blair
Turns 46 on this date
John Wilkes Booth
Turns 21 on this date
Joseph Mallalieu
Turns 18 on this date
Alexander Brown Norris
Turns 48 on this date
James Louis Petigru
Turns 70 on this date
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback
Turns 22 on this date
John Sherman
Turns 36 on this date
Events
| Slavery/Abolition | A commercial convention focusing on the slave trade is meeting in Vicksburg, Mississippi |
05/10/1859 to 05/18/1859 |
| Foreign | French Emperor Napoleon III travels from Paris to Genoa to take command of the French troops in Italy |
05/10/1859 to 05/12/1859 |
| Legal/Political | Oberlin-Wellington rescuer Charles Langston is found guilty under the Fugitive Slave Law in Cleveland | 05/10/1859 |
| Business/Industry | Prospector makes the richest gold discovery yet in Colorado | 05/10/1859 |
| Business/Industry | The Southern Commercial Convention is meeting in Vicksburg, Mississippi with slavery high on the agenda |
05/09/1859 to 05/19/1859 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Boston (MA) Advertiser, “Democratic Movements,” May 10, 1859 | 05/10/1859 |
| Newspaper | Charleston (SC) Mercury, “A Cavil,” May 10, 1859 | 05/10/1859 |