Despite the heavy snow across New England, the New Hampshire Republicans held a well-attended nominating convention in Concord. Ichabod Goodwin was nominated for Governor. The former Whig was elected and was at the head of the state when the Civil War broke out. (By John Osborne)

Beginning on Monday afternoon, a snowstorm, complete with high winds struck New York City and continued through the night. By the day, January 4, 1859, fourteen inches of snow had fallen in the city. Similar amounts also fell in Connecticut and Boston and New England rail companies struggled to maintain services. (By John Osborne)

Senator Stephen Douglas was making a political tour of the east after his victory in the Illinois Senate elections. At the invitation of the Democratic elites of the city, he had been feted for three days in New York City. A delegation of Philadelphia Democrats, let by John Forney, came to New York to escort the Senator to his next stop and the party left for Philadelphia by steamship. The party arrived in Philadelphia later that evening in a heavy snowstorm. (By John Osborne)

The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society met for its twenty-seventh annual meeting at the Mercantile Hall in Boston. Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd Garrison were among the prominent speakers. (By John Osborne)

Speaker James Orr of South Carolina and Congressman James Hughes of Indiana, both Democrats and both retiring from Congress after the "lame duck" session, argued on the floor of the House and exchanged language that the New York Times reporter called "racy, vigorous, and original." The Speaker then offered to meet the Mexican War veteran Hughes outside "to settle their differences" but before this took place cooler heads prevailed and apologies were exchanged. This was the latest in a series of altercations that had occurred between members of the Thirty-Fifth Congress, some of which had led to blows. (By John Osborne)

New York's Committee on Streets met to consider an Alderman's request that the city's telegraph lines be run underground because telegraph poles were unsightly and "useless obstructions." The Committee quickly heard from Cyrus Field, who had just helped bring about the Trans- Atlantic cable, and others, that telegraph lines would not work underground and that if they could be made to do so, the cost to the city of insulation and burial would run upwards to S1,000,000. The project was quietly shelved. (By John Osborne)