New York's Democratic Party met in Albany to nominate candidates for the upcoming state elections.  They chose John Thompson Hoffman, the Mayor of New York City as their candidate for governor and J.V.L. Puyn for lieutenant-governor. Neither were successful in the fall elections, though Hoffman was elected governor two years later.   

State records enumerated on this day gave a New York state prison population of 2,788 people, mostly in its three main prisons of Sing Sing, Auburn, and Clinton.  Of these, 178 were women and another seventy were confined inthe states' convict insane asylum.  (By John Osborne)

A long standing upstate New York habit of resisting evictions for non-payment of rents had in the past, notably in the 1840s, resulted in death and violence in several counties.  When another "Anti-Rent War" seemed to have broken out in Albany County, Governor Reuben Fenton dispatched on this day more than a hundred soldiers of the Tenth Regiment of the National Guard to Knox, New York to maintain order and assist local officials with evictions.  Although the reception was cold and hostile, the troops carried out their mission without violence breaking out and returned to their barracks after just a week.  (By John Osborne) 

Two weeks earlier, Governor Marcus Lawrence Ward of New Jersey had called for a special session of the state legislature to consider the state's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  This convened on September 10, 1886 and the next day ratified the amendment with all eleven Republicans in the state Senate voting in favor and the ten Democrats there refusing to cast a ballot.  The margin in the lower house was thirty-four to twenty-four in favor.  A Democratic-controlled state legislature rescinded the ratification in early1868, over Governor Ward's veto, during a dispute with the United States Congress and New Jersey did not officially ratify the Fourteenth Amendment until March 2003. (By John Osborne) 

Governor Marcus Lawrence Ward of New Jersey, a Republican, issued a proclamation on this day calling for a special session of the state legislature to consider ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  This session convened on September 10, 1886 and the next day ratified the amendment with all eleven Republicans in the state Senate voting in favor and the ten Democrats there refusing to cast a ballot.  The margin in the lower house was thirty-four to twenty-four in favor.  A Democratic-controlled state legislature rescinded the ratification in early 1868 during a dispute with the United States Congress and New Jersey did not officially ratify the Fourteenth Amendment until March 2003. (By John Osborne) 

New Jersey state government figures indicated that in 1866, the College of New Jersey had 238 students, mostly from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland and was in a healthy financial condition.  In a completely unrelated statistic, the number of 1886 inmates of the state penitentiary was 543, housed in 334 cells designed for solitary confinement.  (By John Osborne)

The Republican Party of New Hampshire met in Concord on January 3, 1866 to nominate candidates for state offices.  They also passed a series of resolutions that reflected the current state of post-Civil War politics early in the year.  Since this was their first convention since the assassination, the gathering mourned Abraham Lincoln's death and venerated his memory.  They also praised sitting President Andrew Johnson and pledged him their support in restoring the Union. They then nominated the sitting governor, Frederick Smyth, for another term. At the general election, Smyth won the vote and the legislature remained in Republican hands.  (By John Osborne) 

Since the end of the Civil War, law and order in several Missouri counties was in a parlous state, with large armed groups, mostly former Confederate soldiers and guerillas operating with virtual impunity.  Governor Thomas C. Fletcher was determined to reassert state control with the use of militia and, stating that "the law must be upheld with the power of the sword," on this day made a request to the state legislature for funds to sustain military action against the disorder.  The lawmakers appropriated an initial $20,000 and promised more if needed. (By John Osborne)

State government figures estimated the population of Minnesota to stand at approximately 310,000 of which around 38,000 were recent immigrants.  (By John Osborne)