1840

Events from the year **1840 in the United States**.

* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (W-VA)
* Congress: 26th

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Arthur P. Bagby (Democratic)
* Governor of Arkansas: James Sevier Conway (Democratic) (until November 4), Archibald Yell (Democratic) (starting November 4)
* Governor of Connecticut: William W. Ellsworth (Whig)
* Governor of Delaware: Cornelius P. Comegys (Whig)
* Governor of Georgia: Charles J. McDonald (Democratic)
* Governor of Illinois: Thomas Carlin (Democratic)
* Governor of Indiana: David Wallace (Whig) (until December 9), Samuel Bigger (Whig) (starting December 9)
* Governor of Kentucky: Charles A. Wickliffe (Whig) (until September 2), Robert P. Letcher (Whig) (starting September 2)
* Governor of Louisiana: André B. Roman (Whig)
* Governor of Maine: John Fairfield (Democratic)
* Governor of Maryland: William Grason (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Edward Everett (Whig) (until January 18), Marcus Morton (Democratic) (starting January 18)
* Governor of Michigan: Stevens T. Mason (Democratic) (until January 7), William Woodbridge (Whig) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Mississippi: Alexander G. McNutt (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Lilburn W. Boggs (Democratic) (until November 16), Thomas Reynolds (Democratic) (starting November 16)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Page (Democratic) (starting June 5)
* Governor of New Jersey: William Pennington (Whig)
* Governor of New York: William H. Seward (Whig)
* Governor of North Carolina: Edward Bishop Dudley (Whig)
* Governor of Ohio: Wilson Shannon (Democratic) (until December 16), Thomas Corwin (Whig) (starting December 16)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: David R. Porter (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel Ward King (Rhode Island)
* Governor of South Carolina:
	+ until April 7: Patrick Noble (Democratic)
	+ April 7-December 9: Barnabas Kelet Henagan (Democratic)
	+ starting December 9: John Peter Richardson II (Democratic)
* Governor of Tennessee: James K. Polk (Democratic)
* Governor of Vermont: Silas H. Jennison (Whig)
* Governor of Virginia: David Campbell (Democratic) (until March 31), Thomas Walker Gilmer (Whig) (starting March 31)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Charles Hawley (Whig)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Stinson Anderson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: David Hillis (Whig) (until December 9), Samuel Hall (Whig) (starting December 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: vacant (until September 2), Manlius Valerius Thomson (political party unknown) (starting September 2)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: George Hull (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Edward Mundy (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), James Wright Gordon (Whig) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Franklin Cannon (Democratic) (until November 16), Meredith Miles Marmaduke (Democratic) (starting November 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Luther Bradish (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: vacant (until month and day unknown), Byron Diman (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina:
	+ until April 7: Barnabas Kelet Henagan (Democratic)
	+ April 7-December 9: vacant
	+ starting December 9: William K. Clowney (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: David M. Camp (Whig)

## Events

* January 13 – The steamship *Lexington* burns and sinks in icy waters, 4 miles off the coast of Long Island; 139 die, only 4 survive.
* January 19 – Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what becomes known as Wilkes Land for the United States.
* March 4 – Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson open their "Daguerreian Parlor" on Broadway (Manhattan), the world's first commercial photography portrait studio.
* March 9 – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is completed from Wilmington, North Carolina to Weldon, North Carolina. At 161.5 miles, it was the world's longest railroad at the time.
* April – The Raleigh and Gaston Railroad is completed from Raleigh, North Carolina to near Weldon, North Carolina.
* May 7 – The Great Natchez Tornado: A massive tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi during the early afternoon hours. Before it is over, 317 people are killed and 109 injured. It is the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
* November 7 – U.S. presidential election, 1840: William Henry Harrison defeats Martin Van Buren.

## Memoriam

* March 11 – George Wolf, politician (aged 62; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* March 23 – William Maclure, geologist (aged 76; San Ángel, Mexico)
* April 7 – Thaddeus Betts, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1839 to 1840 (aged 51; Washington, DC, USA)
* April 10 – Hugh Lawson White, U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1825 to 1840 (aged 66; Knoxville, TN, USA)
* June 14 – Anson Brown, lawyer and U.S. Representative from New York from 1839 to 1840 (aged 40; Ballston Spa, NY, USA)
* June 26 – William Smith, U.S. Senator from South Carolina from 1816 to 1823 and from 1826 to 1831 (aged 78; Huntsville, AL, USA)
* August 10 – Seymour Brunson, early Mormon convert (aged 40; Nauvoo, IL, USA)
* August 27 – William Kneass, second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1824 to 1840 (aged 59; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* September 14 – Joseph Smith Sr., 1st Presiding Patriarch of the Latter Day Saint movement (aged 69; Nauvoo, IL, USA)
* September 18 – Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, French polymath (aged 56; Philadelphia, PA, USA)