42nd United States Congress
The 42nd 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, 1871, to March 4, 1873, during the third and fourth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eighth Census of the United States in 1860. Both chambers had a Republican majority.
42nd United States Congress | |
---|---|
41st ← → 43rd | |
United States Capitol (1877) | |
March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1873 | |
Senate President | Schuyler Colfax (R) |
Senate President pro tem | Henry B. Anthony (R) |
House Speaker | James G. Blaine (R) |
Members | 74 senators 243 members of the House 10 non-voting delegates |
Senate Majority | Republican |
House Majority | Republican |
Sessions | |
1st: March 4, 1871 – April 20, 1871 2nd: December 4, 1871 – June 10, 1872 3rd: December 2, 1872 – March 4, 1873 |
Major events
- June 10, 1871: U.S. Marines make naval attack on the Han River forts in Korea
- March 1, 1872: Yellowstone National Park was established as the world's first national park
- November 5, 1872: 1872 United States presidential election
Major legislation
- April 20, 1871: Civil Rights Act of 1871
- March 1, 1872: Yellowstone National Park founded
- May 10, 1872: General Mining Act of 1872
- May 23, 1872: Amnesty Act of 1872
- June 1, 1872: Practice Conformity Act (precursor to the Rules Enabling Act), ch. 255, 17 Stat. 196
- February 12, 1873: Coinage Act of 1873
- March 3, 1873: Timber Culture Act
- March 3, 1873: Comstock Act
- March 3, 1873: Salary Grab Act (so called)
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) |
Liberal Republican (LR) | Republican (R) | |||
End of previous congress | 12 | 0 | 62 | 74 | 0 |
Begin | 14 | 1 | 55 | 70 | 4 |
End | 17 | 54 | 72 | 2 | |
Final voting share | 23.6% | 1.4% | 75.0% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 19 | 3 | 50 | 72 | 2 |
House of Representatives
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Independent Republican (IR) | Liberal Republican (LR) | Republican (R) | Other | |||
End of previous congress | 67 | 0 | 0 | 169 | 5[lower-alpha 1] | 241 | 2 |
Begin | 102 | 1 | 3 | 135 | 0 | 241 | 2 |
End | 106 | 131 | |||||
Final voting share | 44.0% | 0.4% | 1.2% | 54.4% | 0.0% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 91 | 0 | 4 | 189 | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 290 | 2 |
Leadership
Senate
- President: Schuyler Colfax (R)
- President pro tempore: Henry B. Anthony (R)
House of Representatives
- Speaker: James G. Blaine (R)
- Republican Conference Chairman: Austin Blair
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
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 began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1874; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1876; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1872.
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
|
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
|
|
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 0
- Democratic: no net change
- Republican: no net change
- deaths: 0
- resignations: 2
- contested elections: 0
- Total seats with changes: 4
State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[lower-alpha 3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Virginia (2) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Previous incumbent re-elected March 15, 1871. |
John W. Johnston (D) | March 15, 1871 |
Georgia (2) | Vacant | Foster Blodgett presented credentials as Senator-elect, but the Senate declared him not elected. Successor elected November 14, 1871. |
Thomas M. Norwood (D) | November 14, 1871 |
Mississippi (2) | Vacant | Delayed taking seat in order to serve as Governor of Mississippi | James L. Alcorn (R) | December 1, 1871 |
North Carolina (2) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Successor elected January 30, 1872. |
Matt W. Ransom (D) | January 30, 1872 |
Kentucky (3) | Garrett Davis (D) | Died September 22, 1872. Successor appointed September 27, 1872. Appointee was later elected January 21, 1873, to finish the term.[1] |
Willis B. Machen (D) | September 27, 1872 |
Louisiana (3) | William P. Kellogg (R) | Resigned November 1, 1872, after being elected Governor of Louisiana | Vacant | Not filled this Congress |
Massachusetts (2) | Henry Wilson (R) | Resigned March 3, 1873, after being elected U.S. Vice President | Vacant | Not filled this Congress |
House of Representatives
- replacements: 11
- Democratic: 4 seat net gain
- Republican: 4 seat net loss
- Liberal Republican: 0 net change
- deaths: 3
- resignations: 6
- contested election: 4
- Total seats with changes: 16
District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[lower-alpha 3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
District of Columbia At-large | New seat | District of Columbia's At-large district created March 4, 1871, and remained vacant until April 21, 1871 | Norton P. Chipman (R) | April 21, 1871 |
Illinois At-large | Vacant | Rep. John A. Logan resigned at the end of the previous congress after being elected to the US Senate | John L. Beveridge (R) | November 7, 1871 |
Michigan 4th | Vacant | Rep. Thomas W. Ferry resigned at the end of the previous congress after being elected to the US Senate | Wilder D. Foster (R) | December 4, 1871 |
Illinois 6th | Burton C. Cook (R) | Resigned August 26, 1871 | Henry Snapp (R) | December 4, 1871 |
Louisiana 4th | James McCleery (R) | Died November 5, 1871 | Alexander Boarman (LR) | December 3, 1872 |
Massachusetts 9th | William B. Washburn (R) | Resigned December 5, 1871, after being elected Governor of Massachusetts | Alvah Crocker (R) | January 2, 1872 |
Arkansas 3rd | John Edwards (LR) | Lost contested election February 9, 1872 | Thomas Boles (R) | February 9, 1872 |
Massachusetts 7th | George M. Brooks (R) | Resigned May 13, 1872, after becoming judge of probate for Middlesex County | Constantine C. Esty (R) | December 2, 1872 |
Texas 3rd | William T. Clark (R) | Lost contested election May 13, 1872 | Dewitt C. Giddings (D) | December 13, 1872 |
Ohio 1st | Aaron F. Perry (R) | Resigned July 14, 1872 | Ozro J. Dodds (D) | October 9, 1872 |
Georgia 4th | Thomas J. Speer (R) | Died August 18, 1872 | Erasmus W. Beck (D) | December 2, 1872 |
Connecticut 1st | Julius L. Strong (R) | Died September 7, 1872 | Joseph R. Hawley (R) | December 2, 1872 |
Pennsylvania 13th | Ulysses Mercur (R) | Resigned December 2, 1872, after becoming an assoc. justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania | Frank C. Bunnell (R) | December 24, 1872 |
Illinois At-large | John L. Beveridge (R) | Resigned January 4, 1873, after being elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois | Vacant | Not filled this term |
South Carolina 2nd | Robert C. De Large (R) | Seat declared vacant January 24, 1873, after election was contested by Christopher C. Bowen | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Florida At-large | Josiah T. Walls (R) | Lost contested election January 29, 1873 | Silas L. Niblack (D) | January 29, 1873 |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (1 link), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, on the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.
Senate
- Agriculture (Chairman: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen; Ranking Member: Henry G. Davis)
- Appropriations (Chairman: Lot M. Morrill; Ranking Member: William Windom)
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Matthew H. Carpenter; Ranking Member: Eli Saulsbury)
- Civil Service and Retrenchment (Chairman: George G. Wright; Ranking Member: N/A)
- Claims (Chairman: John Scott; Ranking Member: Arthur I. Boreman)
- Commerce (Chairman: Zachariah Chandler; Ranking Member: William A. Buckingham)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: John F. Lewis; Ranking Member: Frederick A. Sawyer)
- Education and Labor (Chairman: James W. Flanagan; Ranking Member: James W. Patterson)
- Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Thomas F. Bayard; Ranking Member: Thomas M. Norwood)
- Finance (Chairman: John Sherman; Ranking Member: Adelbert Ames)
- Foreign Relations (Chairman: Simon Cameron; Ranking Member: Carl Schurz)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: William A. Buckingham; Ranking Member: Henry Wilson)
- Investigation and Retrenchment (Chairman: William A. Buckingham; Ranking Member; William M. Stewart)
- Judiciary (Chairman: George F. Edmunds; Ranking Member: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen)
- Manufactures (Chairman: Thomas J. Robertson; Ranking Member: Abijah Gilbert)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: John A. Logan; Ranking Member: John A. Logan)
- Mines and Mining (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin; Ranking Member: Alexander Caldwell)
- Mississippi River Levee System (Select)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Aaron H. Cragin; Ranking Member: Thomas W. Ferry)
- Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
- Outrages in Southern States (Select)
- Pacific Railroad (Chairman: William M. Stewart; Ranking Member: William P. Kellogg)
- Patents (Chairman: Orris S. Ferry; Ranking Member: William Windom)
- Pensions (Chairman: Daniel D. Pratt; Ranking Member: Morgan C. Hamilton)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Alexander Ramsey; Ranking Member: Hannibal Hamlin)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: Allen G. Thurman; Ranking Member: Thomas F. Bayard)
- Privileges and Elections (Chairman: Oliver P. Morton; Ranking Member: Joshua Hill)
- Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Justin S. Morrill; Ranking Member: Cornelius Cole)
- Public Lands (Chairman: William Sprague; Ranking Member: William Windom)
- Railroads (Chairman: William M. Stewart; Ranking Member: N/A)
- Removal of Political Disabilities (Select)
- Retrenchment
- Revision of the Laws (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin; Ranking Member: George G. Wright)
- Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: William G. Brownlow; Ranking Member: Joshua Hill)
- Rules (Select)
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Territories (Chairman: Arthur I. Boreman; Ranking Member: Phineas W. Hitchcock)
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Select)
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts (Chairman: James Buffington; Ranking Member: Stevenson Archer)
- Agriculture (Chairman: Charles Hays; Ranking Member: John W. Hazelton)
- Appropriations (Chairman: James A. Garfield; Ranking Member: Eugene Hale)
- Alabama Affairs (Select)
- Arkansas Affairs (Select)
- Banking and Currency (Chairman: Horace Maynard; Ranking Member: Clinton L. Merriam)
- Claims (Chairman: John B. Hawley; Ranking Member: William P. Frye)
- Coinage, Weights and Measures (Chairman: Samuel Hooper; Ranking Member: John Critcher)
- Commerce (Chairman: William A. Wheeler; Ranking Member: James S. Negley)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: Alfred C. Harmer; Ranking Member: Aylett R. Cotton)
- Education and Labor (Chairman: James Monroe; Ranking Member: Robert B. Elliott)
- Elections (Chairman: Horace B. Smith; Ranking Member: Benjamin T. Eames)
- Expenditures in the Interior Department (Chairman: Jackson Orr; Ranking Member: George M. Adams)
- Expenditures in the Justice Department (Chairman: James B. Sener; Ranking Member: N/A)
- Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Julius C. Burrows; Ranking Member: Benjamin T. Biggs)
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Henry W. Barry; Ranking Member: William R. Roberts)
- Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Jasper Packard; Ranking Member: John Rogers)
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: J. Hale Sypher; Ranking Member: William H. Barnum)
- Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: William Williams; Ranking Member: Ephraim L. Acker)
- Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: R. Holland Duell; Ranking Member: Fernando Wood)
- Freedmen's Affairs (Chairman: Clinton L. Cobb; Ranking Member: Joseph H. Rainey)
- Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Godlove Stein Orth; Ranking Member: Jasper Packard)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: John T. Averill; Ranking Member: John C. Edwards)
- Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Jeremiah McLain Rusk; Ranking Member: Benjamin S. Turner)
- Judiciary (Chairman: Benjamin F. Butler; Ranking Member: Milo Goodrich)
- Manufactures (Chairman: Charles B. Farwell; Ranking Member: John M. Rice)
- Mileage (Chairman: Hezekiah S. Bundy; Ranking Member: Edward I. Golladay)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: John Coburn; Ranking Member: George E. Harris)
- Militia (Chairman: Roderick R. Butler; Ranking Member: John C. Conner)
- Mines and Mining (Chairman: David P. Lowe; Ranking Member: Walter L. Sessions)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Glenni W. Scofield; Ranking Member: John M. Coghlan)
- Pacific Railroads (Chairman: Philetus Sawyer; Ranking Member: John T. Averill)
- Patents (Chairman: Omar D. Conger; Ranking Member: Joseph M. Warren)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John B. Packer; Ranking Member: Charles H. Porter)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: Jasper Packard; Ranking Member: J. Allen Barber)
- Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: James H. Platt, Jr.; Ranking Member: Walter L. Sessions)
- Public Expenditures (Chairman: Harrison E. Havens; Ranking Member: Thomas Kinsella)
- Public Lands (Chairman: Washington Townsend; Ranking Member: Jeremiah M. Rusk)
- Railways and Canals (Chairman: George W. McCrary; Ranking Member: Charles St. John
- Reform on Civil Service (Chairman: Stephen W. Kellogg; Ranking Member: N/A)
- Revision of Laws (Chairman: Luke P. Poland; Ranking Member: John S. Bigby)
- Revolution Claims (Chairman: Alexander S. Wallace; Ranking Member: Abram Comingo)
- Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812 (Chairman: Lazarus D. Shoemaker; Ranking Member: John M. Rice)
- Rules (Select) (Chairman: James G. Blaine; Ranking Member: Samuel S. Cox)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories (Chairman: George C. McKee; Ranking Member: Lazarus D. Shoemaker)
- War Claims (Chairman: William Lawrence; Ranking Member: N/A)
- Ways and Means (Chairman: Henry L. Dawes; Ranking Member: Horatio C. Burchard)
- Whole
Joint committees
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Rep. Chester B. Darrall; Vice Chairman: Rep. John T. Bird)
- Inquire into the Affairs of the District of Columbia (Select) (Chairman: Rep. Jeremiah M. Wilson; Vice Chairman: N/A)
- The Library (Chairman: Rep. William P. Frye; Vice Chairman: Rep. Lewis D. Campbell)
- Printing (Chairman: Rep. William G. Donnan; Vice Chairman: Rep. William P. Price)
Caucuses
- Democratic (House)
- Democratic (Senate)
Employees
Legislative branch agency directors
Senate
- Chaplain: John P. Newman (Methodist)
- Librarian: George S. Wagner, from 1871
- Secretary: George C. Gorham
- Sergeant at Arms: John R. French
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: John G. Butler (Presbyterian)
- Clerk: Edward McPherson
- Clerk at the Speaker's Table: John M. Barclay
- Doorkeeper: Otis S. Buxton
- Postmaster: William S. King
- Reading Clerks: Charles N. Clisbee (D) and William K. Mehaffey (R)
- Sergeant at Arms: Nehemiah G. Ordway
See also
- United States elections, 1870 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States Senate elections, 1870 and 1871
- United States House of Representatives elections, 1870
- United States elections, 1872 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
- 1872 United States presidential election
- United States Senate elections, 1872 and 1873
- United States House of Representatives elections, 1872
Notes
- Conservative
- Independent Democratic
- This is the date the member was seated or an oath administered, not necessarily the same date her/his service began.
References
- Byrd & Wolff, p. 112.
- Byrd, Robert C.; Wolff, Wendy (October 1, 1993). "The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992" (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office.
- 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
- Statutes at Large, 1789-1875
- Senate Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: House History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Congressional Directory for the 42nd Congress, 1st Session.
- Congressional Directory for the 42nd Congress, 2nd Session.
- Congressional Directory for the 42nd Congress, 2nd Session (Revision).
- Congressional Directory for the 42nd Congress, 3rd Session.
- Congressional Directory for the 42nd Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).