55th United States Congress

The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1897, to March 4, 1899, during the first two years of William McKinley's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1890 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White, a Republican from the state of North Carolina, and one Kaw member, Charles Curtis, a Republican from Kansas.

55th United States Congress
54th ←
→ 56th
United States Capitol (1906)
March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899
Members90 senators
357 representatives
3 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentGarret Hobart (R)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerThomas B. Reed (R)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1897 – March 10, 1897
1st: March 15, 1897 – July 24, 1897
2nd: December 6, 1897 – July 8, 1898
3rd: December 5, 1898 – March 3, 1899

Major events
Main articles: 1897 in the United States, 1898 in the United States, and 1899 in the United States

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 55th United States Congress

Treaties ratified

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
Senate composition by state
  2 Democrats (12 states)
  2 Republicans (14 states)
  2 Silver (1 state)
  1 Democrat and 1 Republican (9 states)
  1 Republican and 1 Silver-Republican (4 states)
  1 Republican and 1 Populist (4 states)
  1 Populist and 1 Silver-Republican (1 state)
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Populist
(P)		Republican
(R)		Silver
Republican
(SR)		Silver
(S)
End of previous congress 40 4 44 0 2 90 0
Begin 33 5 43 5 2 88 2
End 34 44 900
Final voting share 37.8% 5.6% 48.9% 5.6% 2.2%
Beginning of next congress 26 4 51 3 2 86 4

House of Representatives
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Populist
(P)		Republican
(R)		Independent
Republican
(IR)		Silver
Republican
(SR)		Silver
(S)
End of previous congress 94 9 252 0 1 0 356 1
Begin 126 22 202 1 3 1 355 2
End 122 201 3507
Final voting share 34.9% 6.3% 57.4% 0.3% 0.9% 0.3%
Beginning of next congress 163 6 183 0 2 1 355 2

Leadership

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 ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.

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: 5
  • Deaths: 5
  • Resignations: 0
  • Total seats with changes: 8
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for vacancy Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Ohio
(1)		 John Sherman (R) Resigned March 4, 1897, to become U.S. Secretary of State.
Elected to fill remainder of term.		 Mark Hanna (R) March 5, 1897
Florida
(3)		 Vacant Failure to elect.
Successor elected May 14, 1897.[1]		 Stephen R. Mallory (D) May 15, 1897
Oregon
(3)		 Vacant Failure to elect.
Successor elected October 8, 1898.		 Joseph Simon (R) October 8, 1898
South Carolina
(3)		 Joseph H. Earle (D) Died May 20, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		 John L. McLaurin (D) June 1, 1897
Tennessee
(2)		 Isham G. Harris (D) Died July 8, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		 Thomas B. Turley (D) July 20, 1897
Mississippi
(1)		 James Z. George (D) Died August 14, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		 Hernando Money (D) October 8, 1897
Mississippi
(2)		 Edward C. Walthall (D) Died April 21, 1898.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		 William V. Sullivan (D) May 31, 1898
Vermont
(3)		 Justin S. Morrill (R) Died December 28, 1898.
Successor was appointed.		 Jonathan Ross (R) January 11, 1899

House of Representatives
  • Replacements: 14
  • Deaths: 10
  • Resignations: 9
  • Contested election: 3
  • Total seats with changes: 23
District Previous Reason for change Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Pennsylvania 25th Vacant Rep.-elect James J. Davidson died before being seated. Showalter was elected to finish term. Joseph B. Showalter (R) April 20, 1897
Missouri 1st Vacant Rep.-elect Richard P. Giles died before being seated. Lloyd was elected to finish term. James T. Lloyd (D) June 1, 1897
Maine 3rd Seth L. Milliken (R) Died April 18, 1897 Edwin C. Burleigh (R) June 21, 1897
Indiana 4th William S. Holman (D) Died April 22, 1897. Francis M. Griffith (D) December 6, 1897
South Carolina 6th John L. McLaurin (D) Resigned May 31, 1897, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate James Norton (D) December 6, 1897
Illinois 6th Edward D. Cooke (R) Died June 24, 1897 Henry S. Boutell (R) November 23, 1897
Massachusetts 1st Ashley B. Wright (R) Died August 14, 1897 George P. Lawrence (R) November 2, 1897
New York 3rd Francis H. Wilson (R) Resigned September 30, 1897, to become Postmaster of Brooklyn, New York Edmund H. Driggs (D) December 6, 1897
Alabama 4th Thomas S. Plowman (D) Lost contested election February 9, 1898 William F. Aldrich (R) February 9, 1898
Virginia 4th Sidney P. Epes (D) Lost contested election March 23, 1898 Robert T. Thorp (R) March 23, 1898
Massachusetts 13th John Simpkins (R) Died March 27, 1898 William S. Greene (R) May 31, 1898
Virginia 2nd William A. Young (D) Lost contested election April 26, 1898 Richard A. Wise (R) April 26, 1898
Mississippi 2nd William V. Sullivan (D) Resigned May 31, 1898, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate Thomas Spight (D) July 5, 1898
Ohio 19th Stephen A. Northway (R) Died September 8, 1898 Charles W. F. Dick (R) November 8, 1898
Mississippi 6th William F. Love (D) Died October 16, 1898 Frank A. McLain (D) December 12, 1898
Pennsylvania 23rd William A. Stone (R) Resigned November 9, 1898, to run for Governor of Pennsylvania William H. Graham (R) November 29, 1898
New York 34th Warren B. Hooker (R) Resigned November 10, 1898, after being appointed judge for the New York Supreme Court Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Tennessee 4th Benton McMillin (D) Resigned January 6, 1899, after being elected Governor of Tennessee Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New Jersey 4th Mahlon Pitney (R) Resigned January 10, 1899, after being elected to the New Jersey Senate Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Maine 2nd Nelson Dingley Jr. (R) Died January 13, 1899 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Texas 9th Joseph D. Sayers (D) Resigned January 16, 1899, after being elected Governor of Texas Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 2nd Denis M. Love (R) Died February 26, 1899 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Texas 4th John W. Cranford (D) Died March 3, 1899 Seat remained vacant until next Congress

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

References
    1. "MALLORY ELECTED SENATOR". The New York Times. May 15, 1897. p. 12.
    • 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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