1792–1793 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts

Last updated November 02, 2023

Following the 1790 census, Massachusetts's representation increased from eight to fourteen Representatives and was redistricted into four plural districts, plus a single at-large district. The 4th district covered the District of Maine (the modern-day State of Maine). The plural districts were concurrent tickets rather than a single general ticket, though the 1st and Massachusetts 2 s appear to have also had a general ticket alongside the more specific tickets.

As before, a majority was required for election, in those districts where a majority was not achieved, additional ballots were required.

District	Incumbent			This race
District	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Massachusetts 1 (4 seats) Seat A: At-large	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Anti-Administration gain.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): Jonathan Jones 39.8% William Heath 31.0% James Bowdoin 23.2% Theophilus Parsons 6.0% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): Jonathan Jones 29.3% Samuel Holten (Anti-Admin) 25.6% James Bowdoin 17.1% Samuel Sewall (Pro-Admin) 13.1% William Heath 8.3% Joseph Bradley Varnum (Anti-Admin) 3.8% Elbridge Gerry (Anti-Admin) 2.8% Third ballot(April 1, 1793): √ Samuel Holten (Anti-Admin) 69.9% Benjamin Austin 30.1%
Massachusetts 1 (4 seats) Seat B: Essex County	Benjamin Goodhue Redistricted from the 2nd district	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Benjamin Goodhue (Pro-Admin) 100%
Massachusetts 1 (4 seats) Seat C: Middlesex County	Elbridge Gerry Redistricted from the 3rd district	Anti-Administration	1789	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Pro-Administration gain.	√ Samuel Dexter (Pro-Admin) 61.4% Joseph Bradley Varnum (Anti-Admin) 26.2% Elbridge Gerry (Anti-Admin) 12.4%
Massachusetts 1 (4 seats) Seat D: Suffolk County	Fisher Ames	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Fisher Ames (Pro-Admin) 62.4% Benjamin Austin 37.6%
Massachusetts 2 (4 seats) Seat A: At-large	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Pro-Administration gain.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 41.3% Theodore Sedgwick (Pro-Admin) 37.9% William Lyman (Anti-Admin) 6.7% Samuel Moorhaus 6.2% Simson Strong 4.% Dwight Foster (Pro-Admin) 3.5% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 35.4% Dwight Foster (Pro-Admin) 25.1% Thomson J. Skinner (Anti-Admin) 19.6% William Lyman (Anti-Admin) 12.1% Jonathan Grout (Anti-Admin) 4.0% William Shepard (Pro-Admin) 3.8% Third ballot(April 1, 1793): √ Dwight Foster (Pro-Admin) 55.3% Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 44.7%
Massachusetts 2 (4 seats) Seat B: Berkshire County	Theodore Sedgwick Redistricted from the 4th district	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Theodore Sedgwick (Pro-Admin) 63.8% Thomson J. Skinner (Anti-Admin) 29.1% John Bacon (Anti-Admin) 7.1%
Massachusetts 2 (4 seats) Seat C: Hampshire County	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Anti-Administration gain.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 37.4% William Lyman (Anti-Admin) 32.3% Thomas Dwight (Pro-Admin) 16.8% Samuel Hinshaur 6.7% John Williams 3.6% Dwight Foster (Pro-Admin) 3.1% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): William Lyman (Anti-Admin) 38.0% Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 31.3% William Shepard (Pro-Admin) 18.0% Thomas Dwight (Pro-Admin) 12.7% Third ballot(April 1, 1793): √ William Lyman (Anti-Admin) 53.1% Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin) 46.9%
Massachusetts 2 (4 seats) Seat D: Worcester County	Artemas Ward Redistricted from the 7th district	Pro-Administration	1790	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Artemas Ward (Pro-Admin) 59.5% Jonathan Grout (Anti-Admin) 36.8% Dwight Foster (Pro-Admin) 3.8%
Massachusetts 3 (2 seats) Seat A: Barnstable, Dukes, & Nantucket Counties	George Leonard Redistricted from the 6th district	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Pro-Administration hold.	√ Peleg Coffin, Jr. (Pro-Admin) 52.6% George Leonard (Pro-Admin) 34.3% Phanuel Bishop (Anti-Admin) 13.1%
Massachusetts 3 (2 seats) Seat B: Bristol & Plymouth Counties	Shearjashub Bourne Redistricted from the 5th district	Pro-Administration	1790	Incumbent re-elected.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): John Davis 49.2% Shearjashub Bourne (Pro-Admin) 26.1% James Warren 24.8% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): √ Shearjashub Bourne (Pro-Admin) 53.0% John Davis 40.6% James Warren 6.4%
Massachusetts 4 (3 seats) District of Maine Seat A: Cumberland County	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Pro-Administration gain.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): Daniel Davis 40.0% Peleg Wadsworth (Pro-Admin) 38.6% Robert Southgate 11.7% Josiah Thacker 9.8% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): Peleg Wadsworth (Pro-Admin) 48.4% Daniel Davis 42.2% Robert Southgate 9.4% Third ballot(April 1, 1793): √ Peleg Wadsworth (Pro-Admin) 58.0% Daniel Davis 42.0%
Massachusetts 4 (3 seats) District of Maine Seat B: Lincoln, Hancock, & Washington Counties	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Anti-Administration gain.	First ballot(November 2, 1792): William Lithgow 49.98% Henry Dearborn (Anti-Admin) 32.2% Daniel Coney 11.8% Alan Campbell 6.0% Second ballot(January 14, 1793): √ Henry Dearborn (Anti-Admin) 60.9% William Lithgow 39.1%
Massachusetts 4 (3 seats) District of Maine Seat C: York County	George Thatcher Redistricted from the 8th district	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-elected.	√ George Thatcher (Pro-Admin) 57.7% Nathaniel Wells 35.4% Tristan Jordan 6.9%
Massachusetts at-large	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Pro-Administration gain.	√ David Cobb (Pro-Admin) 52.6% Charles Jarvis 9.6% William Heath 6.9% Theodore Sedgwick (Pro-Admin) 4.9% Elbridge Gerry (Anti-Admin) 2.1% Jonathan Jones 1.9% Fisher Ames (Pro-Admin) 1.7% James Sullivan (Anti-Admin) 1.5% Samuel Horton 1.3% Scattering 17.4%

Related Research Articles

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston, the state capital of Massachusetts.

The 1932 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 73rd United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 8, 1932, while Maine held theirs on September 12. They coincided with the landslide election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The 1840–41 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 6, 1840 and November 2, 1841. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, before or after the first session of the 27th United States Congress convened on May 31, 1841. Elections were held for all 242 seats, representing 26 states.

The 1824–25 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 7, 1824, and August 30, 1825. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 19th United States Congress convened on December 5, 1825. Elections were held for all 213 seats, representing 24 states.

The 1822–23 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 1, 1822, and August 14, 1823. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 18th United States Congress convened on December 1, 1823. They occurred during President James Monroe's second term.

The 1820–21 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 3, 1820 and August 10, 1821. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 17th United States Congress convened on December 3, 1821. They coincided with President James Monroe winning reelection unopposed.

The 1818–19 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 26, 1818 and August 12, 1819. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 16th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1819. They occurred during President James Monroe's first term. Also, newly admitted Alabama elected its first representatives in September 1819, increasing the size of the House to 186 seats.

The 1812–13 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 3, 1812 and April 30, 1813. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 13th United States Congress convened on May 24, 1813. They coincided with James Madison being re-elected president.

The 1802–03 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 26, 1802 and December 14, 1803. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, either before or after the first session of the 8th United States Congress convened on October 17, 1803. They occurred during President Thomas Jefferson's first term in office.

The 1796–97 United States House of Representatives elections took place in the various states took place between August 12, 1796, and October 15, 1797. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. The size of the House increased to 106 seats after Tennessee became the 16th state to join the union. The first session of the 5th United States Congress was convened on May 15, 1797, at the proclamation of the new President of the United States, John Adams. Since Kentucky and Tennessee had not yet voted, they were unrepresented until the second session began on November 13, 1797.

The 1794–95 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 25, 1794, and September 5, 1795 (Kentucky). Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 4th United States Congress convened on December 7, 1795. They were held during President George Washington's second term. Elections were held for all 105 seats, representing 15 states.

The 1792–93 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 27, 1792 and September 6, 1793. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 3rd United States Congress convened on December 2, 1793. With the addition of the new state of Kentucky's representatives, and the congressional reapportionment based on the 1790 United States Census, the size of the House increased to 105 seats.

The 1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 27, 1790, and October 11, 1791. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 2nd United States Congress convened on October 24, 1791. This was the first midterm election cycle, which took place in the middle of President George Washington's first term. The size of the House increased to 67 seats after the new state of Vermont elected its first representatives.

The general ticket, also known as party block voting (PBV) or ticket voting, is a type of block voting in which voters opt for a party, or a team's set list of candidates, and the highest-polling party/team becomes the winner. Unless specifically altered, this electoral system results in the victorious political party receiving 100% of the seats. Rarely used today, the general ticket is usually applied in more than one multi-member district, which theoretically allows regionally strong minority parties to win some seats, but the strongest party nationally still typically wins with a landslide.

At large is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population, rather than a subset. In multi-hierarchical bodies, the term rarely extends to a tier beneath the highest division. A contrast is implied, with certain electoral districts or narrower divisions. It can be given to the associated territory, if any, to denote its undivided nature, in a specific context. Unambiguous synonyms are the prefixes of cross-, all- or whole-, such as cross-membership, or all-state.

An election to the United States House of Representatives was held in Pennsylvania on October 9, 1792, for the 3rd Congress.

Although Maine neither gained nor lost seats after the 1820 United States census, redistricting placed two incumbents into the 3rd district. Maine elected its members on April 7, 1823, after the term began but before the new Congress convened. Maine law required a majority for election, with additional ballots taken if a majority were not achieved. This proved necessary in 1823 in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th districts, but all members were still chosen before the new Congress convened.

Massachusetts gained three seats after the 1810 census, all of which were added to the District of Maine. Its elections were held November 5, 1812, but since Massachusetts law required a majority for election, which was not met in the 19th district, a second ballot was held there January 6, 1813.

Only eight of the 14 Massachusetts incumbents were re-elected.

This was the first election in Maine since its separation from Massachusetts. In the previous election, Massachusetts had had 20 representatives. Seven seats were reassigned from Massachusetts to Maine. In addition, under the terms of the law which admitted Maine to the union, any vacancies in the 16th Congress by Representatives elected to represent Massachusetts but residing in the new states of Maine would be filled by a resident of Maine. John Holmes, who had been elected to the House for the former 14th district of Massachusetts was elected as one of the first two senators for Maine. The vacancy was filled in a special election by Joseph Dane (Federalist). Dane was the only Representative officially considered as representing Maine in the 16th Congress. The Representatives from the 15th-20th districts were still classified as being from Massachusetts for the remainder of the 16th Congress.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

v t e Federal elections in Massachusetts
U.S. President	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
U.S. Senate Class 1	1803 1808 1839 1851 1857 1863 1869 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 s/1926 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 s/1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 s/2010 2012 2018 2024
U.S. Senate Class 2	s/1855 1859 1865 1871 s/1873 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 s/1944 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 s/2013 2014 2020
U.S. House	1788–89 1790–92 1792-93 1794–95 1796–97 1798–99 1800–01 1802–03 1804 1806 1808 1810–11 1812–13 1814–15 1816–17 1818–19 1820–21 1822–23 1824–25 1826–27 1828 1830–1970 1972 1974–2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
U.S. House Special Elections	1796–1797 s/1st s/10th s/11th 1800–1801 s/3rd s/4th s/10th s/4th s/12th s/14th 1804 s/12th 1807 s/12th 1808 s/2nd 1810–1811 s/10th s/11th s/4th 1812 s/17th 1814–1815 s/4th s/12th s/3rd 1816–1817 s/11th s/1st 1818 s/20th 1820 s/1st s/8th s/13th 1823 s/10th 1824 s/10th 1827 s/1st 1834–1991 listed here 2001 s/9th 2007 s/5th 2013 s/5th
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For statewide elections, see Template:State elections in Massachusetts footer.

1792–1793 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts

See also

Related Research Articles