53rd United States Congress
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The Fifty-third 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, 1893 to March 4, 1895, during the fifth and sixth years of Grover Cleveland's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
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) |
Populist (P) | Republican (R) | Silver (S) | |||
End of the previous congress | 39 | 2 | 46 | 0 | 87 | 0 |
Begin | 44 | 3 | 37 | 1 | 85 | 3 |
End | 43 | 41 | 88 | 0 | ||
Final voting share | 48.9% | 3.4% | 46.6% | 1.1% | ||
Beginning of the next congress | 39 | 4 | 42 | 2 | 87 | 1 |
House of Representatives
- Democratic: 211 (majority)
- Republican: 133
- Populist: 11
- Independent Democratic: 1
TOTAL members: 356
Leadership
Senate
- President: Adlai Stevenson (D)
- President pro tempore: Charles F. Manderson (D)
- Isham G. Harris (D), elected March 22, 1893
- Matt Whitaker Ransom (D), elected January 7, 1895
- Isham G. Harris (D), elected January 10, 1895
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Charles F. Crisp (D)
Major events
- March 4, 1893: Grover Cleveland became President of the United States for a second time.
- May 5, 1893: Panic of 1893: A crash on the New York Stock Exchange started a depression.
- November 7, 1893: Colorado women were granted the right to vote
- May 1, 1894: Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrived in Washington, D.C.
Major legislation
- July 16, 1894: Utah Enabling Act
- August 27, 1894: Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act
- February 18, 1895: Maguire Act of 1895
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 this Congress, requiring reelection in 1898; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1894; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1896.
House of Representatives
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 6
- Democratic: no net change
- Republican: no net change
- Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
- deaths: 4
- resignations: 8
- interim appointments: 2
- Total seats with changes: 12
State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for Vacancy | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Montana (1) |
Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Successor elected January 16, 1895. |
Lee Mantle (R) | January 16, 1895 |
Wyoming (1) |
Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Successor was elected January 23, 1895. |
Clarence D. Clark (R) | January 23, 1895 |
Washington (1) |
Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. John Allen was appointed to serve until March 20, 1893, but the Senate rejected his credentials. Successor elected February 1, 1895. |
John L. Wilson (R) | February 19, 1895 |
California (3) |
Leland Stanford (R) | Died June 21, 1893. Successor was appointed July 26, 1893 and elected elected January 23, 1895. |
George C. Perkins (R) | July 26, 1893 |
Mississippi (2) |
Edward C. Walthall (D) | Resigned January 24, 1894 due to ill health. Successor was elected. |
Anselm J. McLaurin (D) | February 27, 1894 |
Louisiana (3) |
Edward D. White (D) | Resigned March 12, 1894 to become Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Successor was appointed March 12, 1894 and subsequently elected May 23, 1894. |
Newton C. Blanchard (D) | March 12, 1894 |
Georgia (2) |
Alfred H. Colquitt (D) | Died March 26, 1894. Successor was appointed April 2, 1894 and subsequently elected November 7, 1894. |
Patrick Walsh (D) | April 2, 1894 |
North Carolina (3) |
Zebulon B. Vance (D) | Died April 14, 1894. Successor was appointed. |
Thomas J. Jarvis (D) | April 19, 1894 |
Michigan (1) |
Francis B. Stockbridge (R) | Died April 30, 1894. Successor was appointed. |
John Patton Jr. (R) | May 5, 1894 |
Michigan (1) |
John Patton Jr. (R) | Successor was elected January 14, 1895. | Julius C. Burrows (R) | January 24, 1895 |
North Carolina (3) |
Thomas J. Jarvis (D) | Successor was elected January 23, 1895. | Jeter C. Pritchard (R) | January 23, 1895 |
House of Representatives
- replacements: 22
- Democratic: 2 seat net gain
- Republican: 2 seat net loss
- deaths: 11
- resignations: 13
- contested election: 3
- Total seats with changes: 30
District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rhode Island 2nd | Vacant | Failure to elect. | Charles H. Page (D) | April 5, 1893 |
Massachusetts 7th | Vacant | Rep. Henry Cabot Lodge resigned during previous congress | William Everett (D) | April 25, 1893 |
Wisconsin 4th | Vacant | Elected to finish term of Rep. John L. Mitchell who resigned during previous congress | Peter J. Somers (D) | August 27, 1893 |
Pennsylvania 8th | William Mutchler (D) | Died June 23, 1893 | Howard Mutchler (D) | August 7, 1893 |
Ohio 10th | William H. Enochs (R) | Died July 13, 1893 | Hezekiah S. Bundy (R) | December 4, 1893 |
Michigan 1st | J. Logan Chipman (D) | Died August 17, 1893 | Levi T. Griffin (D) | December 4, 1893 |
Pennsylvania 2nd | Charles O'Neill (R) | Died November 25, 1893 | Robert Adams Jr. (R) | December 19, 1893 |
Pennsylvania At-large | William Lilly (R) | Died December 1, 1893 | Galusha A. Grow (R) | February 26, 1894 |
New York 15th | Ashbel P. Fitch (D) | Resigned December 26, 1893 after becoming New York City Comptroller | Isidor Straus (D) | December 30, 1894 |
Virginia 7th | Charles T. O'Ferrall (D) | Resigned December 28, 1893 after being elected Governor of Virginia | Smith S. Turner (D) | January 30, 1894 |
New York 14th | John R. Fellows (D) | Resigned December 31, 1893 after becoming District Attorney of New York City | Lemuel E. Quigg (R) | January 30, 1894 |
Ohio 3rd | George W. Houk (D) | Died February 9, 1894 | Paul J. Sorg (D) | May 21, 1894 |
South Carolina 1st | William H. Brawley (D) | Resigned February 12, 1894 after being appointed judge for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina | James F. Izlar (D) | April 12, 1894 |
Louisiana 4th | Newton C. Blanchard (D) | Resigned March 12, 1894 after being appointed to the U.S. Senate | Henry W. Ogden (D) | December 3, 1894 |
Missouri 11th | Charles F. Joy (R) | Election was successfully challenged April 3, 1894 | John J. O'Neill (D) | April 3, 1894 |
California 3rd | Samuel G. Hilborn (R) | Election was successfully challenged April 4, 1894 | Warren B. English (D) | May 12, 1894 |
Ohio 2nd | John A. Caldwell (R) | Resigned April 4, 1894 after becoming Mayor of Cincinnati | Jacob H. Bromwell (R) | December 3, 1894 |
Maryland 1st | Robert F. Bratton (D) | Died May 10, 1894 | W. Laird Henry (D) | November 6, 1894 |
Maryland 5th | Barnes Compton (D) | Resigned May 15, 1894 after being appointed as a naval officer | Charles E. Coffin (R) | November 6, 1894 |
Kentucky 10th | Marcus C. Lisle (D) | Died July 7, 1894 | William M. Beckner (D) | December 3, 1894 |
Kansas 2nd | Edward H. Funston (R) | Election was successfully challenged August 2, 1894 | Horace L. Moore (D) | August 2, 1894 |
Arkansas 2nd | Clifton R. Breckinridge (D) | Resigned August 14, 1894 after being appointed Minister to Russia | John S. Little (D) | December 3, 1894 |
Wisconsin 7th | George B. Shaw (R) | Died August 27, 1894 | Michael Griffin (R) | November 5, 1894 |
Alabama 3rd | William C. Oates (D) | Resigned November 5, 1894 after being elected Governor of Alabama | George P. Harrison, Jr. (D) | November 6, 1894 |
Pennsylvania 15th | Myron B. Wright (R) | Died November 13, 1894 | Edwin J. Jorden (R) | February 23, 1895 |
New York 11th | Amos J. Cummings (D) | Resigned November 21, 1894 | Vacant until next Congress | |
Kentucky 9th | Thomas H. Paynter (D) | Resigned January 5, 1895 after being elected judge for the Kentucky Court of Appeals | Vacant until next Congress | |
Illinois 10th | Philip S. Post (R) | Died January 6, 1895 | Vacant until next Congress | |
Illinois At-large | John C. Black (D) | Resigned January 12, 1895 to become United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | Vacant until next Congress | |
Michigan 3rd | Julius C. Burrows (R) | Resigned January 23, 1895 after being elected to the U.S. Senate | Vacant until next Congress |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress (Select)
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Bribery Attempts Investigation (Special)
- Canadian Relations
- Census
- Civil Service and Retrenchment
- Claims
- Coast Defenses
- Commerce
- Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Select)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Engrossed Bills
- Enrolled Bills
- Epidemic Diseases
- Establish a University in the United States (Select)
- Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
- Finance
- Fisheries
- Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Select)
- Ford Theater Disaster (Select)
- Foreign Relations
- Forest Reservations (Select)
- Geological Survey (Select)
- Immigration
- Immigration and Naturalization (Select)
- Indian Affairs
- Interstate Commerce
- Irrigation and Reclamation
- Judiciary
- Library
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Select)
- National Banks (Select)
- Naval Affairs
- Nicaraguan Claims (Select)
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Potomac River Front (Select)
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Distress (Select)
- Public Lands
- Quadrocentennial (Select)
- Railroads
- Revision of the Laws
- Revolutionary Claims
- Rules
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Territories
- Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (Select)
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
- Whole
- Woman Suffrage (Select)
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Alcoholic Liquor Traffic (Select)
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Disposition of Executive Papers
- District of Columbia
- Education
- Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Agriculture Department
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Justice Department
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Immigration and Naturalization
- Irrigation of Arid Lands
- Indian Affairs
- Interstate and Foreign Commerce
- Invalid Pensions
- Labor
- Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River
- Manufactures
- Merchant Marine and Fisheries
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railways and Canals
- Reform in the Civil Service
- Revision of Laws
- Rivers and Harbors
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ventilation and Acoustics
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Celebrate the Cenntennial of the Laying of the Capitol Cornerstone
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Dedication of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
- Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
- Ford's Theater Disaster
- Naval Affairs
- Naval Personnel
Employees
- Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
- Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
- Public Printer of the United States: Frank W. Palmer (until 1894), Thomas E. Benedict (starting 1894)
Senate
- Chaplain of the Senate: William H. Millburn (Methodist)
- Secretary of the Senate: Anson G. McCook
- William Ruffin Cox, elected April 6, 1893
- Sergeant at Arms of the Senate: Edward K. Valentine
- Richard J. Bright, elected August 8, 1893
House of Representatives
- Chaplain of the House
- Clerk of the House: James Kerr
- Doorkeeper of the House: Alvin B. Hurt
- Postmaster of the House: Lycurgus Dalton
- Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: Charles R. Crisp
- Sergeant at Arms of the House: Herman W. Snow
See also
- United States elections, 1892 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1894 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
References
- 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
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: House History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 1st Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, Extraordinary Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 2nd Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 2nd Session (Revision).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 3rd Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).