- Jan 4 Thomas H. Rollinson, American composer, conductor and bandleader, born in Ware, Massachusetts (d. 1928)
- Jan 14 Clara Kathleen Rogers, American composer, born in Cheltenham, London, England (d. 1931)
- Jan 20 Johan Peter Selmer, Norwegian composer, born in Christiania, Norway (d. 1910)
- Jan 25 Frederick E. Kitziger, German composer, born in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (d. 1903)