1901

Events from the year **1901 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: William McKinley (R-OH) (until September 14), Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY) (starting September 14)
* Vice President:
	+ until March 4: *vacant*
	+ March 4–September 14: Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY)
	+ starting September 14: *vacant*
* Chief Justice: Melville Fuller (IL)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: David B. Henderson (R-IA)
* Congress: 56th (until March 4), 57th (starting March 4)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: William J. Samford (Democratic) (until June 11), William D. Jelks (Democratic) (starting June 11)
* Governor of Arkansas: Daniel Webster Jones (Democratic) (until January 8), Jeff Davis ([Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of California: Henry Gage (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Charles Spalding Thomas (Democratic) (until January 8), James Bradley Orman (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Connecticut: George E. Lounsbury (Republican) (until January 9), George P. McLean (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Delaware: Ebe W. Tunnell (Democratic) (until January 15), John Hunn (Republican) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Florida: William D. Bloxham (Democratic) (until January 8), William Sherman Jennings (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Georgia: Allen D. Candler (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: Frank Steunenberg (Democratic) (until January 7), Frank W. Hunt (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Illinois: John Riley Tanner (Republican) (until January 14), Richard Yates Jr. (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Indiana: James A. Mount (Republican) (until January 14), Winfield T. Durbin (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Iowa: Leslie M. Shaw (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: William E. Stanley (Republican)
* Governor of Kentucky: J. C. W. Beckham (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: William Wright Heard (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Llewellyn Powers (Republican) (until January 2), John Fremont Hill (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Maryland: John Walter Smith (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Winthrop Murray Crane (Republican)
* Governor of Michigan: Hazen S. Pingree (Republican) (until January 1), Aaron T. Bliss (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Minnesota: John Lind (Democratic) (until January 7), Samuel Rinnah Van Sant (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Mississippi: Andrew H. Longino (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Lon Vest Stephens (Democratic) (until January 14), Alexander Monroe Dockery (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Montana: Robert Burns Smith (Democratic) (until January 7), Joseph Toole (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Nebraska:
	+ until January 3: William A. Poynter (Democratic)
	+ January 3-May 1: Charles Henry Dietrich (Republican)
	+ starting May 1: Ezra P. Savage (Republican)
* Governor of Nevada: Reinhold Sadler (Silver)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Frank W. Rollins (Republican) (until January 3), Chester B. Jordan (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of New Jersey: Foster MacGowan Voorhees (Republican)
* Governor of New York: Benjamin Barker Odell Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: Daniel Lindsay Russell (Republican) (until January 15), Charles Brantley Aycock (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Governor of North Dakota: Frederick B. Fancher (Republican) (until January 10), Frank White (Republican) (starting January 10)
* Governor of Ohio: George K. Nash (Republican)
* Governor of Oregon: T. T. Geer (Republican)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: William A. Stone (Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: William Gregory (Republican) (until December 16), Charles D. Kimball (Republican) (starting December 16)
* Governor of South Carolina: Miles Benjamin McSweeney (Democratic)
* Governor of South Dakota: Andrew E. Lee (Populist) (until January 8), Charles N. Herreid (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Tennessee: Benton McMillin (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Joseph D. Sayers (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: Heber Manning Wells (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: William W. Stickney (Republican)
* Governor of Virginia: James Hoge Tyler (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: John Rankin Rogers (Democratic) (until December 26), Henry McBride (Republican) (starting December 26)
* Governor of West Virginia: George W. Atkinson (Republican) (until March 4), Albert B. White (Republican) (starting March 4)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Edward Scofield (Republican) (until January 7), Robert M. La Follette Sr. (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Wyoming: DeForest Richards (Republican)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Jacob H. Neff (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Francis Patrick Carney (Populist) (until January 8), David Courtney Coates (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Lyman A. Mills (Republican) (until January 9), Edwin O. Keeler (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: J. H. Hutchinson (Democratic) (until January 7), Thomas F. Terrell (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: William Northcott (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: William S. Haggard (Republican) (until January 14), Newton W. Gilbert (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: James C. Milliman (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Harry E. Richter (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Albert Estopinal (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: John L. Bates (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Orrin W. Robinson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Lyndon A. Smith (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: James T. Harrison (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: August Bolte (Democratic) (until January 14), John Adams Lee (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Archibald E. Spriggs (political party unknown) (until month and day unknown), Frank G. Higgins (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska:
	+ until January 3: Edward A. Gilbert (Republican)
	+ January 3-May 1: Ezra P. Savage (Republican)
	+ starting May 1: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: James R. Judge (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Timothy L. Woodruff (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Charles A. Reynolds (Republican) (until January 15), Wilfred D. Turner (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: vacant (until January 10), David Bartlett (Republican) (starting January 10)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: John A. Caldwell (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: John P. S. Gobin (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Charles D. Kimball (Republican) (until December 16), vacant (starting December 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Robert B. Scarborough (Democratic) (until January 15), James H. Tillman (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: John T. Kean (Republican) (until January 8), George W. Snow (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Seid Waddell (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Newton H. White (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: James Browning (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Martin F. Allen (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Edward Echols (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington:
	+ until January 14: Thurston Daniels (Populist)
	+ January 14-December 26: Henry McBride (Republican)
	+ starting December 26: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Jesse Stone (Republican)

## Events

### January - March

* January 1 – Pentecostalism is born, at a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas.
* January 3 – Census Commissioner predicts a U.S. population of at least 300 million by 2001
* January 5 – Typhoid fever breaks out in a Seattle jail, the first of two typhoid outbreaks in the United States during the year.
* January 7 – Alferd Packer is released from prison in the United States after serving 18 years for cannibalism.
* January 10 – In the first great Texas gusher, oil is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
* January 22 – The Grand Opera House in Cincinnati, Ohio, is destroyed in a fire.
* January 28 – Baseball's American League declares itself a Major League.
* February 4 – Puccini's *Tosca* makes its U.S. debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
* February 5
	+ The Hay–Pauncefote Treaty is signed by the United Kingdom and United States, ceding control of the Panama Canal to the United States.
	+ J. P. Morgan buys mines and steel mills in the United States, marking the first billion-dollar business deal.
	+ In Evansville, Indiana, a fire burns through the business district, causing $175,000 of damage.
* February 20 – The Hawaii Territory Legislature convenes for the first time.
* February 25 – U.S. Steel, the first billion-dollar corporation and at some time the world's largest producer of steel, is incorporated by industrialist J. P. Morgan.
* March 2
	+ The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.
	+ The Carnegie Steel Company with the Illinois Steel Company & The National Steel Company merged to form the United States Steel Corporation.
* March 4 – President William McKinley begins his second term. Theodore Roosevelt sworn in as Vice President of the United States.

### April - June

* April 25 – New York State becomes the first to require automobile license plates.
* May 1 – Monte Ne health resort opens in the Ozarks.
* May 3 – The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida, begins.
* May 17 – The U.S. stock market crashes for the first time.
* May 27 – The Edison Storage Battery Company is founded in New Jersey.
* May 28 – *Cherry v. Des Moines Leader* is decided in the Iowa Supreme Court, upholding the right to publish critical reviews.
* June 12 – Cuba becomes a U.S. protectorate.
* June 22 – The worst heat wave in U.S. history until the 1930s, affecting most areas east of the 100th meridian, is estimated to have killed over 9,500 people.

### July - September

* July 1 – The Bureau of Chemistry is established, within the United States Department of Agriculture.
* July 24 – O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio after serving 3 years for embezzlement from the First National Bank in Austin, Texas.
* August 10 – U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901: Members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers begin a strike against United States Steel Corporation after failing to reach a settlement of their demands, and 14,000 employees walk off of the job.
* September 2 – Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
* September 5 – The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (later renamed Minor League Baseball) is formed in Chicago.
* September 6 – American anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies 8 days later.
* September 7 – The Boxer Protocol is signed between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance.
* September 14 – Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States, upon the death of President William McKinley.
* September 26 – The body of President Abraham Lincoln is exhumed and reinterred in concrete several feet thick.

### October - December

* October 4 – The American yacht *Columbia* defeats the Irish *Shamrock* in the America's Cup yachting race.
* October 16 – President Theodore Roosevelt invites African American leader Booker T. Washington to the White House. The American South reacts angrily to the visit, and racial violence increases in the region.
* October 23 – Yale University celebrates its bicentennial.
* October 24 – Michigan schoolteacher Annie Taylor goes down Niagara Falls in a barrel and survives.
* October 29
	+ In Amherst, New Hampshire, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
	+ Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of William McKinley, is executed by electrocution.
* November 1 – Sigma Phi Epsilon is founded in Richmond, Virginia.
* November 15 – The Alpha Sigma Alpha fraternity is founded at Longwood University.
* November 28 – The new state constitution of Alabama requires voters to have passed literacy tests.
* December 3 – President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits."

## Memoriam

* January 1 – Ignatius L. Donnelly, congressman, populist writer, and fringe scientist (aged 69; Minneapolis, MN, USA)
* January 6 – James W. Bradbury, U.S. Senator from Maine from 1847 to 1853 (aged 98; Augusta, ME, USA)
* January 16
	+ Murray Hall, born Mary Anderson, bail bondsman and politician (aged 60; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Hiram Rhodes Revels, first African American senator (aged 73; Aberdeen, MS, USA)
* January 21 – Elisha Gray, inventor and co-founder of Western Electric Manufacturing Company (aged 65; Newtonville, MA, USA)
* January 29 – Alexander H. Jones, Congressional Representative from North Carolina (aged 78; Long Beach, CA, USA)
* February 7 – Rowena Granice Steele, first female novelist in California (aged 76; Willows, CA, USA)
* February 18 – Anna Gardner, abolitionist (aged 85; Nantucket, MA, USA)
* February 21 – Stephen M. White, U.S. Senator from California from 1893 to 1899 (aged 48; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 13 – Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893 and U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1881 to 1887 (aged 67; Indianapolis, IN, USA)
* March 18 – Patrick Donahoe, businessman, publisher of the Boston Catholic newspaper The Pilot (aged 90; Boston, MA, USA)
* April 10 – Harriet Newell Kneeland Goff, reformer (aged 72; Washington, DC, USA)
* April 19 – Alfred Horatio Belo, newswriter and businessman, founder of The Dallas Morning News (aged 61; Asheville, NC, USA)
* April 26 – Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, educator (aged 82; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* June 2 – James A. Herne, playwright and actor (aged 62; New York City, NY, USA)
* July 1 – James H. Kyle, U.S. Senator from South Dakota from 1891 to 1901 (aged 47; Aberdeen, SD, USA)
* July 4
	+ John Fiske, historian and philosopher (aged 59; Gloucester, MA, USA)
	+ Julian Scott, artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient (aged 55; Plainfield, NJ, USA)
* July 30 – Herbert Baxter Adams, educator and historian (aged 51; Amherst, MA, USA)
* August 4 – Harriet Pritchard Arnold, author (aged 42; Providence, RI, USA)
* August 24 – Clara Maass, nurse (aged 25; Havana, Cuba)
* September 14 – William McKinley, 25th President of the United States from 1897 to 1901 (aged 58; Buffalo, NY, USA)
* October 10 – Lorenzo Snow, 5th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aged 87; Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
* October 12 – James G. Field, politician (aged 75; Gordonsville, VA, USA)
* October 21 – James A. Walker, Confederate general and U.S. Congressman (aged 69; Wytheville, VA, USA)
* October 29 – Leon Czolgosz, Assassin of President William McKinley (aged 28; Auburn, NY, USA)
* November 8 – Mary Ann Bickerdyke, nurse and hospital administrator for Union soldiers (aged 84; Bunker Hill, KS, USA)
* November 24 – Alson Streeter, farmer, miner and politician (aged 78; New Windsor, IL, USA)
* November 26 – John Denny, buffalo soldier and Medal of Honor recipient (aged 55; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 27 – Clement Studebaker, automobile manufacturer (aged 70; South Bend, IN, USA)