39th United States Congress

The 39th 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, 1865, to March 4, 1867, during Abraham Lincoln's final month as president, and the first two years of the administration of his successor, Andrew Johnson.

39th United States Congress
38th ←
→ 40th
United States Capitol (1877)
March 4, 1865 – March 4, 1867
Members54 senators
193 representatives
9 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentAndrew Johnson (D)
(until April 15, 1865)
Vacant
(from April 15, 1865)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerSchuyler Colfax (R)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1865 – March 11, 1865
1st: December 4, 1865 – July 28, 1866
2nd: December 3, 1866 – March 4, 1867

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1860 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

Major events
Main articles: 1865 in the United States, 1866 in the United States, and 1867 in the United States

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation in the 39th Congress

Constitutional amendments

States admitted
  • July 24, 1866: Tennessee readmitted to representation.
  • March 1, 1867: Nebraska admitted as the 37th state, Sess. 2, ch. 36, 14 Stat. 391 (over president's veto)

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

During this Congress, two seats were added for the new state of Nebraska.

Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Republican
(R)		Unionist
(U)		Unconditional
Unionist
(UU)
End of previous congress 10 33 3 4 50 22
Begin 9 37 1 1 48 24
End 8 41 3 2 5420
Final voting share 14.8% 75.9% 5.6% 3.7%
Beginning of next congress 8 45 0 0 53 21

House of Representatives

During this Congress, one seat was added for the new state of Nebraska.

Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Republican
(R)		Independent
Republican
(IR)		Unionist
(U)		Unconditional
Unionist
(UU)		Other
End of previous congress 72 84 2 9 16 0 183 56
Begin 40 132 1 0 10 0 183 59
End 39 135 4 13 19251
Final voting share 20.3% 70.3% 0.5% 2.1% 6.8% 0.0%
Beginning of next congress 45 140 1 0 0 2[lower-alpha 1] 188 55

Leadership
President of the Senate
Andrew Johnson, until April 15, 1865

Senate

House of Representatives

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 reelection in 1868; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1870; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1866.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

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: 8
  • Deaths: 4
  • Resignations: 2
  • Vacancy: 1
  • Seats of newly admitted states: 2
  • Seats of re-admitted states: 2
  • Total seats with changes: 12
See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate; United States Senate elections, 1864 and 1865; and United States Senate elections, 1866 and 1867
Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 2]
Maryland (3) Vacant Sen. Thomas Hicks had died during previous congress.
Successor elected March 9, 1865.		 John Creswell (UU) March 9, 1865
New Jersey (2) Vacant Although elected in time for this Congress, the Senator-elect was not seated until March 15, 1865.
Senator was later removed in election dispute, see below.		 John P. Stockton (D) March 15, 1865
Tennessee (2) Vacant Tennessee re-admitted to the Union.
Senators were elected July 24, 1866.		 Joseph S. Fowler (U) July 24, 1866
Tennessee (1) David T. Patterson (U) July 28, 1866
Iowa (3) James Harlan (R) Resigned May 15, 1865, after being appointed U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Successor elected January 13, 1866.		 Samuel J. Kirkwood (R) January 13, 1866
Vermont (3) Jacob Collamer (R) Died November 9, 1865.
Successor was appointed November 21, 1865, to continue the term.
Appointee was elected October 24, 1866, to finish the term.[3]		 Luke P. Poland (R) November 21, 1865
New Jersey (2) John P. Stockton (D) Disputed election led to Senate vacating the seat March 27, 1866.
Successor elected September 19, 1866.		 Alexander G. Cattell (R) September 19, 1866
Vermont (1) Solomon Foot (R) Died March 28, 1866.
Successor was appointed April 3, 1866, to continue the term.
Appointee was elected October 24, 1866, to finish the term.[3]		 George F. Edmunds (R) April 3, 1866
Kansas (2) James H. Lane (R) Died July 11, 1866, after being mortally wounded from a self-inflicted gunshot 10 days earlier
Successor was appointed July 19, 1866, to continue the term.
Appointee was elected January 23, 1867, to finish the term.[4]		 Edmund G. Ross (R) July 19, 1866
New Hampshire (3) Daniel Clark (R) Resigned July 27, 1866, after being appointed Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
Successor was appointed August 31, 1866.		 George G. Fogg (R) August 31, 1866
New Jersey (1) William Wright (D) Died November 1, 1866.
Successor was appointed November 12, 1866.
Appointee was elected January 23, 1867, to finish the term.[5]		 Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (R) November 12, 1866
Nebraska (1) New seat Nebraska admitted to the Union March 1, 1867. Thomas Tipton (R) March 1, 1867
Nebraska (2) John M. Thayer (R)

House of Representatives
  • Replacements: 9
    • Democratic: 1-seat net gain
    • Republican: 2-seat net gain
    • Unconditional Unionist: 1 seat net loss
    • Unionist: 0 net change
  • Deaths: 4
  • Resignations: 4
  • Contested election: 3
  • Seats from newly admitted states: 1
  • Seats from re-admitted states: 8
  • Total seats with changes: 21
See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 2]
Tennessee 1st Vacant Tennessee re-admitted into the Union Nathaniel G. Taylor (U) July 24, 1866
Tennessee 2nd Horace Maynard (UU)
Tennessee 3rd William B. Stokes (UU)
Tennessee 4th Edmund Cooper (U)
Tennessee 5th William B. Campbell (U)
Tennessee 6th Samuel M. Arnell (UU)
Tennessee 7th Isaac R. Hawkins (U)
Tennessee 8th John W. Leftwich (UU)
Maryland 2nd Edwin H. Webster (UU) Resigned some time in July, 1865 after being appointed Collector of Customs for the port of Baltimore John L. Thomas Jr. (UU) December 4, 1865
New York 16th Orlando Kellogg (R) Died August 24, 1865 Robert S. Hale (R) December 3, 1865
Massachusetts 6th Daniel W. Gooch (R) Resigned September 1, 1865, after being appointed Navy Agent for the port of Boston Nathaniel P. Banks (R) December 4, 1865
Pennsylvania 16th Vacant incumbent Coffroth prevented from taking seat due to election contest Alexander H. Coffroth (D) February 19, 1866
Pennsylvania 16th Alexander H. Coffroth (D) Lost contested election July 18, 1866 William H. Koontz (R) July 18, 1866
Indiana 7th Daniel W. Voorhees (D) Lost contested election February 23, 1866 Henry D. Washburn (R) February 23, 1866
New York 8th James Brooks (D) Lost contested election April 7, 1866 William E. Dodge (R) April 7, 1866
New York 3rd James Humphrey (R) Died June 16, 1866 John W. Hunter (D) December 4, 1866
Kentucky 6th Green C. Smith (UU) Resigned some time in July, 1866 after being appointed Governor of the Montana Territory. Andrew H. Ward (D) December 3, 1866
Kentucky 5th Lovell Rousseau (UU) Resigned July 21, 1866, after being reprimanded for his assault of Iowa Rep. Josiah B. Grinnell. Was re-elected to fill his own seat. Lovell Rousseau (UU) December 3, 1866
Kentucky 3rd Henry Grider (D) Died September 7, 1866 Elijah Hise (D) December 3, 1866
Pennsylvania 11th Philip Johnson (D) Died January 29, 1867 Vacant Not filled this term
Nebraska Territory At-large Phineas Hitchcock (R) Nebraska achieved statehood March 1, 1867 District eliminated
Nebraska At-large New State Nebraska admitted to the Union March 1, 1867. Seat remained vacant until March 2, 1867 Turner M. Marquette (R) March 2, 1867

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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

See also

Notes
  1. Conservative & Conservative Republican
  2. When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References
  1. "The Constitution: Amendments 11–27". National Archives. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. Huckabee, David C. (September 30, 1997). "Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution" (PDF). Congressional Research Service reports. Washington D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress.
  3. Byrd & Wolff, page 176
  4. Byrd & Wolff, page 108
  5. Byrd & Wolff, page 142

Further reading
  • Aynes, Richard L. "The 39th Congress (1865–1867) and the 14th Amendment: Some Preliminary Perspectives," Akron Law Review, 42 (no. 4, 2009), 1019–49.
  • 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.
  • 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. ISBN 9780160632563.

Transcripts of debates and proceedings

The Congressional Globe contains the official transcripts and proceedings of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, although newspapers often provided their own transcripts that sometimes differed from the official ones. Following are external links to the pertinent volumes of the Globe, which are downloadable and/or searchable via Google Books and HathiTrust:

Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, External Links to Full Text
Session Part Start date End date Pages Google Hathi
First One December 4, 1865 February 21, 1866 1 to 960 EL EL
First Two February 21, 1866 April 12, 1866 961 to 1920 EL EL
First Three April 12, 1866 May 29, 1866 1921 to 2880 EL EL
First Four May 29, 1866 July 16, 1866 2881 to 3840 EL EL
First Five July 16, 1866 July 28, 1866 3841 to 4310, plus Appendix EL EL
Second One December 3, 1866 January 25, 1867 1 to 752 EL EL
Second Two January 25, 1867 February 18, 1867 753 to 1504 EL EL
Second Three February 18, 1867 March 2, 1867 1505 to 2005, plus Appendix EL EL

The congressional debates pertaining to the Fourteenth Amendment can be found at “Congressional Debates of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution”.

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