What Happened in 1831

Joseph Smith Jr. Moves To Kirtland, Ohio

As the nation's population westered to more distant frontiers, Joseph decided to move his church from its New York origins to northern Ohio and the... Read more

Davis Contracts Pneumonia

After graduating from West Point in 1828, Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy, was assigned to the 1st Infantry and stationed at... Read more

Bartolomeo Cappellari (Gregory XVI) elected Pope

Pope Gregory XVI (18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846), born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the... Read more

Lee is Stationed at Fort Monroe

Following the War of 1812, the United States again came to realize the importance of protecting Hampton Roads and the inland waters from attack by... Read more

Lee Marries Mary Anna Randolph Custis

While he was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1808–1873), great-granddaughter of Martha Washington by her first... Read more

Rebecca Harding Davis is Born

Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (1831-1910; born Rebecca Blaine Harding) was an American author and journalist. She is deemed a pioneer of literary... Read more

Lincoln Separates from Family

In 1831, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 22 when he and a couple of companions floated down the Sangamon River in a flatboat on their way to New... Read more

Nat Turner's Rebellion

It was Sunday, August 21, deep in the woods near the Travis house at a place called Cabin Pond. Around a crackling fire Turner’s confederates... Read more

The First Phase In Removing The Choctaws Begins

Secretary of War Lewis Cass appointed George Gaines to manage the removals. Gaines decided to remove Choctaws in three phases starting in 1831 and... Read more

Charles Darwin Voyage on the Beagle

Arriving at Barmouth on the evening of 23 August, Charles met up with a "reading party" of Cambridge friends for a time before he left on the... Read more