49th United States Congress
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The Forty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1885 to March 4, 1887, during the first two years of Grover Cleveland's first presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Tenth Census of the United States in 1880. The Senate had a Republican majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.
Major events
First presidential inauguration of Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1885 on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. "Fellow-Citizens: In the presence of this vast assemblage of my countrymen I am about to supplement and seal by the oath which I shall take the manifestation of the will of a great and free people…."[1]
- March 4, 1885: Grover Cleveland became President of the United States
- November 25, 1885: Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks died
- December 26, 1886: Senator John A. Logan died
Major legislation
- January 19, 1886: Presidential Succession Act
- February 4, 1887: Interstate Commerce Act
- February 8, 1887: Dawes Act
- March 2, 1887: Hatch Act of 1887
- March 3, 1887: Tucker Act
- March 3, 1887: Edmunds–Tucker Act
Party summary
The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Senate
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Readjuster (RA) | Republican (R) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 36 | 2 | 38 | 76 | 0 |
| Begin | 34 | 2 | 37 | 73 | 3 |
| End | 40 | 76 | 0 | ||
| Final voting share | 44.7% | 2.6% | 52.6% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 36 | 1 | 38 | 75 | 1 |
House of Representatives
| House seats by party holding plurality in state | |
|---|---|
80+% to 100% Democratic |
80+% to 100% Republican |
60+% to 80% Democratic |
60+% to 80% Republican |
Up to 60% Democratic |
Up to 60% Republican |
- Democratic: 182 (majority)
- Republican: 141
- National Greenback: 1
- Independent Democratic: 1
TOTAL members: 325
Leadership
Senate
- President: Thomas A. Hendricks (D), until November 25, 1885; vacant thereafter
- President pro tempore: John Sherman (R), December 7, 1885 – February 26, 1887
- John J. Ingalls (R), from February 26, 1887
House of Representatives
- Speaker: John G. Carlisle (D)
Members
Senate
Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1886; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1888; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives are listed by district.
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 7
- Democratic: 1 seat net gain
- Republican: 1 seat net loss
- Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
- deaths: 3
- resignations: 6
- interim appointments: 1
- Total seats with changes: 9
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for Vacancy | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire (3) |
Vacant | Appointed to fill vacancy in term. | Henry W. Blair (R) | March 5, 1885 |
| Oregon (3) |
Vacant | Failure to elect. | Charles N. Felton (R) | November 18, 1885 |
| Arkansas (2) |
Augustus H. Garland (D) | Resigned March 6, 1885 after being appointed United States Attorney General. Successor was elected. | James H. Berry (D) | March 20, 1885 |
| Delaware (1) |
Thomas F. Bayard (D) | Resigned March 6, 1885 after being appointed United States Secretary of State. Successor was elected. | George Gray (D) | March 18, 1885 |
| Mississippi (2) |
Lucius Q. C. Lamar II (D) | Resigned March 6, 1885 after being appointed United States Secretary of the Interior. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. | Edward C. Walthall (D) | March 9, 1885 |
| California (1) |
John F. Miller (R) | Died March 8, 1886. Successor was appointed. | George Hearst (D) | March 23, 1886 |
| Tennessee (1) |
Howell E. Jackson (D) | Resigned April 14, 1886 after being appointed judge for the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit. Successor was appointed. | Washington C. Whitthorne (D) | April 16, 1886 |
| California (1) |
George Hearst (D) | Successor was elected August 4, 1886. | Abram Williams (R) | March 23, 1886 |
| New Hampshire (2) |
Austin F. Pike (R) | Died October 8, 1886. Successor was appointed. | Person C. Cheney (R) | January 19, 1887 |
| Illinois (3) |
John A. Logan (R) | Died December 26, 1886. Successor was elected. | Charles B. Farwell (R) | January 19, 1887 |
House of Representatives
- replacements: 11
- Democratic: 2 seat net gain
- Republican: 2 seat net loss
- deaths: 8
- resignations: 7
- contested election: 1
- Total seats with changes: 16
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania 19th | Vacant | Elected to finish term of Rep. William A. Duncan resigned during previous congress | John A. Swope (D) | November 3, 1885 |
| Arkansas 3rd | Vacant | Elected to finish term of Rep. James K. Jones resigned during previous congress | Thomas C. McRae (D) | December 7, 1885 |
| New York 8th | Samuel S. Cox (D) | Resigned May 20, 1885 after being appointed Minister to the Ottoman Empire | Timothy J. Campbell (D) | November 3, 1885 |
| Illinois 5th | Reuben Ellwood (R) | Died July 1, 1885 | Albert J. Hopkins (R) | December 7, 1885 |
| Wisconsin 5th | Joseph Rankin (D) | Died January 24, 1886 | Thomas R. Hudd (D) | March 8, 1886 |
| Louisiana 2nd | Michael Hahn (R) | Died March 15, 1886 | Nathaniel D. Wallace (D) | December 9, 1886 |
| New York 9th | Joseph Pulitzer (D) | Resigned April 10, 1886 | Samuel S. Cox (D) | November 2, 1886 |
| Maryland 3rd | William H. Cole (D) | Died July 8, 1886 | Harry W. Rusk (D) | November 2, 1886 |
| New York 15th | Lewis Beach (D) | Died August 10, 1886 | Henry Bacon (D) | December 6, 1886 |
| New York 28th | John Arnot, Jr. (D) | Died November 20, 1886 | Vacant until next Congress | |
| Wisconsin 8th | William T. Price (R) | Died December 6, 1886 | Hugh H. Price (R) | January 18, 1887 |
| New York 12th | Abraham Dowdney (D) | Died December 12, 1886 | Vacant until next Congress | |
| New York 10th | Abram Hewitt (D) | Resigned December 30, 1886 after being elected Mayor of New York | Vacant until next Congress | |
| North Carolina 5th | James W. Reid (D) | Resigned December 31, 1886 | Vacant until next Congress | |
| New Jersey 3rd | Robert S. Green (D) | Resigned January 17, 1887 after being elected Governor of New Jersey | Vacant until next Congress | |
| Rhode Island 2nd | William A. Pirce (R) | Seat declared vacant January 25, 1887 due to election irregularities | Charles H. Page (D) | February 21, 1887 |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress (Select)
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Civil Service and Retrenchment
- Claims
- Coast Defenses
- Commerce
- Compensation of Members of Congress (Select)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Engrossed Bills
- Enrolled Bills
- Epidemic Diseases (Select)
- Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
- Executive Departments Methods (Select)
- Expenditures of Public Money
- Finance
- Fisheries
- Foreign Relations
- Indian Affairs
- Indian Traders (Select)
- Interstate Commerce (Select)
- Judiciary
- Library
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Select)
- Naval Affairs
- Nicaraguan Claims (Select)
- Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Potomac River Front (Select)
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railroads
- Revision of the Laws
- Revolutionary Claims
- Rules
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Tenth Census (Select)
- Territories
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
- Whole
- Woman Suffrage (Select)
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Admission to the Floor (Select)
- Agriculture
- Alcoholic Liquor Traffic (Select)
- American Ship building (Select)
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Education
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Justice Department
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Labor
- Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railways and Canals
- Revision of Laws
- Rivers and Harbors
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Scientific Bureaus
Employees
- Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
- Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
- Public Printer of the United States: Sterling P. Rounds (until 1886), Thomas E. Benedict (starting 1886)
Senate
- Secretary of the Senate: Anson G. McCook
- Sergeant at Arms: William P. Canady
- Chaplain:
- Elias D. Huntley, Methodist, elected December 18, 1883
- John G. Butler, Lutheran, elected March 15, 1886
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: William H. Milburn (Methodist)
- Doorkeeper: Samuel Donelson
- Clerk: John B. Clark, Jr.
- Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: Nathaniel T. Crutchfield
- Postmaster: Lycurgus Dalton
- Sergeant at Arms: John P. Leedom
See also
- United States elections, 1884 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1886 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
References
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
External links
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: House History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Congressional Directory for the 49th Congress, 1st Session.
- Congressional Directory for the 49th Congress, 1st Session (1st Revision).
- Congressional Directory for the 49th Congress, 1st Session (2nd Revision).
- Congressional Directory for the 49th Congress, 2nd Session.
- Congressional Directory for the 49th Congress, 2nd Session (Revision).
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