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

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 1870 United States census. For the first time since the American Civil War, the House had a Democratic majority. The Senate maintained a Republican majority.

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"

Major legislation

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
Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by 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
House changes
District Vacated by 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 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. ↑ Liberal
    Republican
  2. ↑ Independent
  3. 1 2 When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when 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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