Events from the year 1837 in the United States. Incumbents Federal Government President: Andrew Jackson (D-Tennessee) (until March 4), Martin Van Buren (D-New York) (starting March 4) Vice President: Martin Van Buren (D-New York) (until March 4), Richard M. Johnson (D-Kentucky) (starting March 4) Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland) Speaker of the House of Representatives: James K. Polk (D-Tennessee) Congress: 24th (until March 4), 25th (starting March 4) Events January 6 – DePauw University founded in Greencastle, Indiana. January 26 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state (see History of Michigan). February 4 – Seminoles attack Fort Foster. February 8 – Richard Johnson becomes the only Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate. February 15 – Knox College founded in Galesburg, Illinois. February 16 - Lake County was organized by the Indiana General Assembly. February 25 In Philadelphia, The Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) is founded as the first institution for the higher education of coloreds. Thomas Davenport obtains the first United States patent on an electric motor. March – Victor Séjour's short story "Le Mulâtre", the earliest known work of African American fiction, is published in the French abolitionist journal Revue des Colonies. March 4 Martin Van Buren is sworn in as the eighth President of the United States, and Richard M. Johnson is sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Chicago is granted a city charter by Illinois. May 10 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels. June 5 – Houston, Texas, is granted a city charter. June 11 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, fueled by ethnic tensions between the Irish and the Yankees. July – Charles W. King sets sail on the American merchant ship Morrison. In the Morrison incident, he is turned away from Japanese ports with cannon fire. July 31 – Groundbreaking ceremony for St. Charles College (Louisiana), the first Jesuit college established in the South. October – First publication of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review. October 21 – General Thomas Jesup captures Seminole leader Osceola under pretext of negotiations. November 7 – In Alton, Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy is shot and killed by a pro-slavery mob while he attempts to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a fourth time. November 8 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female