44th United States Congress

The 44th 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, 1875, to March 4, 1877, during the seventh and eighth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Ninth Census of the United States in 1870. For the first time since the American Civil War, the House had a Democratic majority. The Senate maintained a Republican majority.

44th United States Congress
43rd ←
→ 45th
March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1877
Senate PresidentHenry Wilson (R)
until November 22, 1875
Vacant
from November 22, 1875
Senate President pro temThomas W. Ferry (R)
from March 9, 1875
House SpeakerMichael C. Kerr (D)
until August 19, 1876
Samuel J. Randall (D)
from December 4, 1876
Members76 senators
293 members of the House
9 non-voting delegates
Senate MajorityRepublican
House MajorityDemocratic
Sessions
Special: March 5, 1875 – March 24, 1875
1st: December 6, 1875 – August 15, 1876
2nd: December 4, 1876 – March 3, 1877

Major events
A political cartoon by Joseph Keppler depicts Roscoe Conkling as Mephistopheles, as Rutherford B. Hayes strolls off with a woman labeled as "Solid South"
See also: 1875 in the United States, 1876 in the United States, and 1877 in the United States
  • November 22, 1875: Vice President Henry Wilson died from a stroke
  • June 25, 1876: Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn
  • July 4, 1876: United States Centennial
  • November 7, 1876: United States general elections, 1876, including the disputed Presidential election of 1876, later settled with the Compromise of 1877 which ended Reconstruction.

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 44th United States Congress

State admitted
  • August 1, 1876: Colorado admitted as the 38th state

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.

During this Congress, two Senate seats and one House seat were added for the new state, Colorado.

Senate
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Anti-
Monopoly
(AM)		Republican
(R)		Other
End of previous congress 20 0 51 2[lower-alpha 1] 73 1
Begin 28 1 44 0 73 1
End 30 45 760
Final voting share 39.5% 1.3% 59.2% 0.0%
Beginning of next congress 35 1 39 1[lower-alpha 2] 76 0

House of Representatives
Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Democratic
(D)		 Independent
Democratic
(ID)		 Independent
(I)		 Independent
Republican
(IR)		 Republican
(R)		 Other Vacant
End of previous Congress 95 7 0 0 199 (Liberal
Republican)
4		 290 2
Begin 176 1 4 4 104 0 289 3
End 179 3 103 290 3
Final voting share 62.8% 1.4% 35.8% 0.0%
Beginning of the next Congress 144 2 0 0 146 0 292 1

Leadership
President of the Senate Henry Wilson

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

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 this Congress, facing re-election in 1880; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1878.

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: 4
  • deaths: 3
  • resignations: 1
  • vacancy: 1
  • interim appointments: 3
  • seats of newly admitted states: 2
  • Total seats with changes: 7
See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate
State
(class)		 Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 3]
Louisiana (3) Vacant Senate had declined to seat rival claimants William L. McMillen and P. B. S. Pinchback.[1] Successor elected January 12, 1876. James B. Eustis (D) January 10, 1876
Tennessee (1) Andrew Johnson (D) Died July 31, 1875.
Successor appointed August 18, 1875, to continue the term.		 David M. Key (D) August 18, 1875
Connecticut (3) Orris S. Ferry (R) Died November 21, 1875.
Successor appointed November 27, 1875, to continue the term.		 James E. English (D) November 27, 1875
Connecticut (3) James E. English (D) Interim appointee retired May 17, 1876 when successor elected.
Successor elected May 17, 1876.		 William H. Barnum (D) May 18, 1876
Maine (2) Lot M. Morrill (R) Resigned July 7, 1876 to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
Successor appointed July 10, 1876, to continue the term.
Interim appointee later elected January 17, 1877.		 James G. Blaine (R) July 10, 1876
West Virginia (1) Allen T. Caperton (D) Died July 26, 1876.
Successor appointed August 26, 1876, to continue the term.		 Samuel Price (D) August 26, 1876
Colorado (2) New seat Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876.
First senator elected November 15, 1876		 Henry M. Teller (R) November 15, 1876
Colorado (3) New seat Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876.
First senator elected November 15, 1876		 Jerome B. Chaffee (R) November 15, 1876
Tennessee (1) David M. Key (D) Interim appointee lost special election.
Successor elected January 19, 1877.		 James E. Bailey (D) January 19, 1877
West Virginia (1) Samuel Price (D) Interim appointee lost special election.
Successor elected January 26, 1877, but seat remained vacant until successor qualified by resigning from the U.S. House on January 31, 1877.		 Frank Hereford (D) January 31, 1877

House of Representatives
House seats by party holding plurality in state
  80+% Democratic
  80+% Republican
  60+ to 80% Democratic
  60+ to 80% Republican
  Up to 60% Democratic
  Up to 60% Republican
  • replacements: 14
  • deaths: 9
  • resignations: 6
  • contested election: 5
  • seats of newly admitted states: 1
  • Total seats with changes: 21


See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 3]
Georgia 9 Vacant Rep-elect Garnett McMillan died before taking seat Benjamin H. Hill (D) May 5, 1875
Maine 4 Vacant Rep. Samuel F. Hersey died during previous congress Harris M. Plaisted (R) September 13, 1875
New York 33 Vacant Rep.-elect Augustus F. Allen died before taking seat Nelson I. Norton (R) December 6, 1875
Massachusetts 1 James Buffington (R) Died March 7, 1875 William W. Crapo (R) November 2, 1875
Oregon at-large George A. La Dow (D) Died May 1, 1875 Lafayette Lane (D) October 25, 1875
Tennessee 4 Samuel M. Fite (D) Died October 23, 1875 Haywood Y. Riddle (D) December 14, 1875
Connecticut 3 Henry H. Starkweather (R) Died January 28, 1876 John T. Wait (R) April 12, 1876
Florida 2 Josiah T. Walls (R) Lost contested election April 19, 1876 Jesse J. Finley (D) April 19, 1876
Illinois 3 Charles B. Farwell (R) Lost contested election May 6, 1876 John V. Le Moyne (D) May 6, 1876
Connecticut 4 William H. Barnum (D) Resigned May 18, 1876, after being elected to the US Senate Levi Warner (D) December 4, 1876
Louisiana 5 Frank Morey (R) Lost contested election June 8, 1876 William B. Spencer (D) June 8, 1876
Idaho Territory at-large Thomas W. Bennett (I) Lost contested election June 23, 1876 Stephen S. Fenn (D) June 23, 1876
Maine 3 James G. Blaine (R) Resigned July 10, 1876, after being appointed to the US Senate Edwin Flye (R) December 4, 1876
Kentucky 5 Edward Y. Parsons (D) Died July 8, 1876 Henry Watterson (D) August 12, 1876
Pennsylvania 12 Winthrop W. Ketcham (R) Resigned July 19, 1876, after being appointed judge to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania William H. Stanton (D) November 7, 1876
South Carolina 2 Edmund W. M. Mackey (IR) Seat declared vacant July 19, 1876 Charles W. Buttz (R) November 7, 1876
Massachusetts 4 Rufus S. Frost (R) Lost contested election July 28, 1876 Josiah G. Abbott (D) July 28, 1876
Colorado Territory at-large Thomas M. Patterson (D) Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876 Statehood achieved
Colorado at-large New seat Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876. Seat remained vacant until October 3, 1876. James B. Belford (R) October 3, 1876
Indiana 3 Michael C. Kerr (D) Died August 19, 1876 Nathan T. Carr (D) December 15, 1876
Indiana 2 James D. Williams (D) Resigned December 1, 1876, after being elected Governor of Indiana Andrew Humphreys (D) December 5, 1876
New York 7 Smith Ely, Jr. (D) Resigned December 11, 1876 David D. Field II (D) January 11, 1877
Louisiana 5 William B. Spencer (D) Resigned January 8, 1877, to become an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court Vacant Not filled this term
West Virginia 3 Frank Hereford (D) Resigned January 31, 1877, after being elected to the US Senate Vacant Not filled this term
Georgia 9 Benjamin H. Hill (D) Resigned March 3, 1877, after being elected to the US Senate Vacant Not filled this term

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 (5 links), 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

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives
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See also
  • United States elections, 1874 (elections leading to this Congress)
    • United States Senate elections, 1874 and 1875
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 1874
  • United States elections, 1876 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)

Notes
  1. Liberal
    Republican
  2. Independent
  3. This is the date the member was seated or an oath administered, not necessarily the same date her/his service began.

References
  1. Taft, George S. (1885). Compilation of Senate Election Cases from 1789 to 1885 - Pages 483 - 512. U.S. Government Publishing 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.
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