Birthdays
Joseph Randolph Cockerill
Turns 43 on this date
Isaac Cole
Turns 37 on this date
Augustus Caesar Dodge
Turns 49 on this date
Napoleon Bonaparte Giddings
Turns 45 on this date
Aaron Harding
Turns 56 on this date
William Shorten Henerey
Turns 34 on this date
William Brown McIlvaine
Turns 54 on this date
Shadrach Minkins
Turns 47 on this date
William Winter Payne
Turns 54 on this date
Events
| Battles/Soldiers | Captain Charles Stone takes up his duties at the head of the District of Columbia Militia | 01/02/1861 |
| Settlers/Immigrants | Fifty-six free blacks sail from the United States for a new life as emigrants to Haiti | 01/02/1861 |
| US/the World | In Prussia, King Frederick William IV dies at his palace in Potsdam | 01/02/1861 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | President-Elect Lincoln meets Alexander McClure in Springfield, Illinois | 01/02/1861 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The second session of the 36th Congress is sitting in Washington, DC |
12/04/1860 to 03/02/1861 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Letter From Virginia,” January 2, 1861 | 01/02/1861 |