Birthdays
John Holmes Agnew
Turns 55 on this date
Isabelle Boyd
Turns 16 on this date
John Brown
Turns 59 on this date
William Rufus Creery
Turns 35 on this date
William George Mackey Davis
Turns 47 on this date
William Hays
Turns 40 on this date
Harriet Lane Johnston
Turns 29 on this date
William Edmondson Jones
Turns 35 on this date
Edwin H. Nevin
Turns 45 on this date
Events
| Slavery/Abolition | A commercial convention focusing on the slave trade opens in Vicksburg, Mississippi | 05/09/1859 |
| Slavery/Abolition | Fugitive slave stowaway Columbus Jones returned to the South from Massachusetts | 05/09/1859 |
| Cultural | Horace Greeley sets off from New York on his tour of the West | 05/09/1859 |
| Business/Industry | The Southern Commercial Convention is meeting in Vicksburg, Mississippi with slavery high on the agenda |
05/09/1859 to 05/19/1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The trial of Oberlin-Wellington rescuer Charles Langston continues in the federal court in Cleveland, Ohio |
04/19/1859 to 05/09/1859 |
Documents
| Newspaper | New York Times, “Growing Ferocious,” May 9, 1859 | 05/09/1859 |