1842

Events from the year **1842 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democratic)
* Governor of Arkansas: Archibald Yell (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: William W. Ellsworth (Whig) (until May 4), Chauncey Fitch Cleveland (Democratic) (starting May 4)
* Governor of Delaware: William B. Cooper (Whig)
* Governor of Georgia: Charles J. McDonald (Democratic)
* Governor of Illinois: Thomas Carlin (Democratic) (until December 8), Thomas Ford (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Indiana: Samuel Bigger (Whig)
* Governor of Kentucky: Robert P. Letcher (Whig)
* Governor of Louisiana: André B. Roman (Whig)
* Governor of Maine: Edward Kent (Whig) (until January 5), John Fairfield (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Maryland: William Grason (Democratic) (until January 3), Francis Thomas (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Massachusetts: John Davis (Whig) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Michigan: James Wright Gordon (Whig) (until January 3), John S. Barry (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Mississippi: Alexander G. McNutt (Democratic) (until January 10), Tilghman Tucker (Democratic) (starting January 10)
* Governor of Missouri: Thomas Reynolds (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Page (Democratic) (until June 2), Henry Hubbard (Democratic) (starting June 2)
* Governor of New Jersey: William Pennington (Whig)
* Governor of New York: William H. Seward (Whig)
* Governor of North Carolina: John Motley Morehead (Whig)
* Governor of Ohio: Thomas Corwin (Whig) (until December 14), Wilson Shannon (Democratic) (starting December 14)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: David R. Porter (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel Ward King (Rhode Island)
* Governor of South Carolina: John Peter Richardson II (Democratic) (until December 8), James Henry Hammond (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Tennessee: James C. Jones (Whig)
* Governor of Vermont: Charles Paine (Whig)
* Governor of Virginia: John Rutherfoord (Whig) (until March 31), John Munford Gregory (Whig) (starting March 31)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Charles Hawley (Whig) (until May 4), William S. Holabird (Democratic) (starting May 4)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Stinson Anderson (Democratic) (until December 8), John Moore (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Samuel Hall (Whig)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Manlius Valerius Thomson (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: George Hull (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: James Wright Gordon (Whig)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Meredith Miles Marmaduke (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Luther Bradish (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Byron Diman (political party unknown) (until month and day unknown), Nathaniel Bullock (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: William K. Clowney (Democratic) (until December 8), Isaac Donnom Witherspoon (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Waitstill R. Ranney (Whig)

## Events

* February 1 – Willamette University is established in Salem, Oregon.
* March 1 – *Commonwealth v. Hunt*: the Massachusetts Supreme Court makes strikes and unions legal in the United States.
* March 5 – Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution.
* March 9 – First documented discovery of gold in California, by Francisco Lopez at Placerita Canyon in Rancho San Francisco, sparking a small-scale gold rush, mainly of Mexicans from Sonora.
* May 19 – Dorr Rebellion: Militiamen supporting Thomas Wilson Dorr attack the arsenal in Providence, Rhode Island but are repulsed.
* August 1 – A parade in Philadelphia celebrating the end of slavery in the Caribbean is attacked by a mob, leading to the 3-day Lombard Street riot.
* August 4 – The Armed Occupation Act is signed, providing for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the Peninsula of East Florida.
* August 9 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
* September 1 – Ohio Wesleyan University is established in Delaware, Ohio.
* November 26 – The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana is established by Father Edward Sorin of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.
* December 20 – The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina is established.

## Memoriam

* January 4 – John W. Beschter, Jesuit priest and academic (aged 78; Paradise, PA, USA)
* March 4 – James Forten, African American abolitionist and businessman (aged 75; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* March 13 – Samuel Eells, founder of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity (aged 32; Cincinnati, OH, USA)
* July 23 – Timothy Swan, psalmist and hatter (aged 84; Northfield, MA, USA)
* September 10 – Letitia Christian Tyler, First Lady of the United States from 1841 to 1842 as wife of 10th President John Tyler (aged 51; Washington, DC, USA)
* October 2 – William Ellery Channing, Unitarian theologian and minister (aged 62; Old Bennington, VT, USA)
* November 3 – Robert Smith, 6th United States Secretary of State (aged 85; Baltimore, MD, USA)
* December 1 – Philip Spencer, founder of Chi Psi fraternity and midshipman aboard USS *Somers* (aged 19; Atlantic Ocean)
* December 31 – George Cassedy, U.S. Representative from New Jersey (aged 59; Hackensack, NJ, USA)