March 17: William Hayes and the Ship “Rainbow”

March 17: On this date in 1848 the speedy clipper ship Rainbow set sail, captained by William Hayes on what he planned to be his last voyage before his retirement, bound for Valparaiso and China. The ship, captain, and crew were never seen or heard from again. Hayes’s cenotaph is at Green-Wood.

March 15: Catherine Weldon

March 15

On this date in 1921, Catherine Weldon, advocate for American Indian rights, who befriended Chief Sitting Bull and became his confidante and private secretary, died.

March 12: William M. Tweed

March 12: William M. Tweed, the “Boss,” died in this date in 1878 at the Ludlow Street Jail, where he was being held on a civil judgment arising from his massive theft of public funds.

March 11: Henry Bergh

March 11: The Great Blizzard of 1888 hit New York City on this date; Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA, the first humane organization in the Americas, was already ill, but when a doctor was summoned he could not reach Bergh because the roads were impassable; Bergh died the next day.

March 10: Charles Schieren

March 10: On this date in 1915, Charles Schieren, who had served as mayor of the City of Brooklyn, died. On the next day, his wife Mary, who had been nursing him, also died. A bronze sculpture, by Solon Borglum, “The Angel of Death,” was erected at their graves.

March 9: Do-Hum-Me

March 9: Do-Hum-Me, daughter of a chief of the Sac tribe, became the toast of New York City but was soon struck down by disease and died on this date in 1843. P.T. Barnum paid for her gravestone.