1870
1870 was one year before the founding of the City of Birmingham.
Events
- The Langston Station post office was established.
- Shandy Jones ended his term in the Alabama House of Representatives.
- December: Robert B. Lindsay succeeded William H. Smith as Governor of Alabama.
Business
- The first railway through Jones Valley opened.
- Joseph Riley Smith retired from the medical profession and went into business.
- May 3: Alburto Martin purchased a tract of land from Martha Clift that would later become part of Birmingham.
- December 8: Josiah Morris purchased the 4,150 acres on which Birmingham would be laid out.
Works
Buildings
Individuals
- William H. Morris settled in Jefferson County.
- James Bowron married Ada Barrett.
Births
- Nathaniel Barrett, President of the Birmingham City Commission (1917–1921)
- Henry Batterton, businessman
- Edwin Stephenson, minister and murderer
- February 13: Jere King, attorney and state Representative
- May 7: A. H. Parker, principal of Industrial High School
Deaths
Context
In 1870, John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. A political cartoon for the first time symbolized the United States Democratic Party with a donkey. The final Confederate states, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, and Georgia, were readmitted to the Union. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing African-Americans the right to vote, was passed. The U. S. Department of Justice was created. Pope Pius IX declared papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The Franco-Prussian War began. Old Faithful Geyser was observed and named. The U. S. Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) made its first official meteorological forecast.
Notable births included that of Vladimir Lenin. Deaths in 1870 included those of Charles Dickens, Robert E. Lee, and Alexandre Dumas.
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