- Jan 9 Pavel Křížkovský, Czech choral composer and conductor (Sts. Cyril and Methodius), born in Kreuzendorf, Austrian Silesia (d. 1885)
- Jan 17 Anne Brontë, English novelist/poet (Tenant of Wildfell Hall), born in Thornton, West Yorkshire (d. 1849)
- Jan 18 Abraham Buford, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1884)
- Jan 19 John Haskell King, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Sackets Harbor, New York (d. 1888)
- Jan 20 Anne Clough, English suffragette, promoted higher education for women, first principal of New College, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1892)
- Jan 22 Hermann Lingg, German poet and playwright, born in Lindau (d. 1905)
- Jan 22 Johan Hendrik Koelman, Dutch portrait painter (Jahresringe) (d. 1887)
- Jan 22 Joseph Wolf, German artist (d. 1899)
- Jan 23 Alexander Serov, Russian composer & music critic, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1871)
- Jan 24 John Milton Thayer, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bellingham, Massachusetts (d. 1906)
- Jan 31 William B. Washburn, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)