List of Members of the United States House of Representatives in the 1st Congress by seniority

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This is a complete list of members of the United States House of Representatives during the 1st United States Congress listed by seniority. For the most part, representatives are ranked by the beginning of their terms in office. [1]

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

1st United States Congress legislative term

The First United States Congress, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in New York City and later at Congress Hall in Philadelphia. With the initial meeting of the First Congress, the United States federal government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority. Twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution were passed by this Congress and sent to the states for ratification; the ten ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, are collectively known as the Bill of Rights.

Contents

As an historical article, the districts and party affiliations listed reflect those during the 1st Congress (March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1791). Seats and party affiliations on similar lists for other Congresses will be different for certain members.

This article describes the criteria for seniority in the House of Representatives and sets out the list of members by seniority. It is prepared on the basis of the interpretation of seniority applied to the House of Representatives in the current congress. In the absence of information to the contrary, it is presumed that the twenty-first-century practice is identical to the seniority customs used during the 1st Congress. [2]

House seniority

Seniority in the House, for Congressmen with unbroken service, depends on the date on which the members first term began. That date is either the start of the Congress (4th March in odd numbered years, for the era up to and including the 73rd Congress starting in 1933) or the date of a special election during the Congress. Since many members start serving on the same day as others, ranking between them is based on alphabetical order by the last name of the congressman.

Congressmen, in early Congresses, were often elected after the legal start of the Congress. Such representatives are attributed with unbroken seniority, from the legal start of the congressional term, if they were the first person elected to a seat in a Congress. The date of the election is indicated in a note.

The seniority date is normally taken from the members entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, except where the date given is the legal start of the Congress and the actual election (for someone who was not the first person elected to the seat in that Congress) was later. The date of election is taken from United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997. In a few instances the latter work provides dates, for the start and end of terms, which correct those in the Biographical Directory.

The Biographical Directory normally uses the date of a special election, as the seniority date. However, mostly in early Congresses, the date of the member taking his seat can be the one given. The date of the special election is mentioned in a note to the list below, when that date is not used as the seniority date by the Biographical Directory.

Representatives who return to the House, after having previously served, are credited with service equal to one less than the total number of terms they served. When a representative has served a prior term of less than two terms (i.e., prior term minus one equals less than one), he is ranked above all others whose service begins on the same day.

Leadership

In this Congress the only formal leader was the Speaker of the House. A Speakership ballot was held on April 1, 1789 and Frederick Muhlenberg (P-PA) was elected. [3]

Standing Committees

The House created its first standing committee, on April 13, 1789. There was one standing committees in the 1st Congress. In addition there was a Ways and Means Committee for part of the 1st session. Although the Ways and Means Committee was not formally added to the list of standing committees until 1802, the 2011 committee considers the one in 1789 to be its forerunner.

Committees, in this period, were appointed for a session at a time and not necessarily for every one in a Congress. Apart from the members of the Elections Committee in the 1st session (who were selected by balloting the House), the Speaker appointed the members.

This list refers to the standing committees of the House in the 1st Congress, the year of establishment as a standing committee, the number of members assigned to the committee and the dates of appointment in each session and its chairman. [4]

No.CommitteeFromMbrsAppointedChairman
1 Elections 17897April 13, 1789-September 29, 1789George Clymer (P-PA)
February 1, 1790-August 29, 1790Fisher Ames (P-MA)
2 Ways and Means [1789]11July 24, 1789-September 17, 1789Thomas Fitzsimons (P-PA)

List of Representatives by seniority

A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 65 members initially elected to the 1st Congress. Other members, who were not the first person elected to a seat but who joined the House during the Congress, are not assigned a number (apart from the Representatives from the two states, admitted after ratifying the constitution during the Congress, who are numbered 60-65). One Representative-elect was not sworn in, as he declined to serve. The list below includes that Representative-elect (with name in italics), with the seniority he would have held if he had been sworn in. [1]

Party designations used in this article are A for Anti-Administration members and P for Pro-Administration representatives.

U.S. House Seniority
RankRepresentativePartyDistrictSeniority dateNotes
One term
1 Fisher Ames P MA-1 March 4, 1789Chairman: Elections (1790)
2 Abraham Baldwin A GA-2
3 Egbert Benson P NY-3 Elected March 3-5, 1789
4 Theodorick Bland A VA-9 Died on June 1, 1790 while still serving in the House.
5 Elias Boudinot P NJ-al Elected February 11-April 27, 1789
6 John Brown A VA-2
7 Aedanus Burke A SC-2 Only term while serving in the House.
8 Lambert Cadwalader P NJ-al Elected February 11-April 27, 1789. Only term until 3rd Congress.
9 Daniel Carroll P MD-6 Only term while serving in the House.
10 George Clymer P PA-al Chairman: Elections (1789). Only term while serving in the House.
11 Isaac Coles A VA-6 Only term while serving in the House until 3rd Congress.
12 Benjamin Contee A MD-3 Only term while serving in the House.
13 Thomas Fitzsimons P PA-al Chairman: Ways and Means (July 24-September 17, 1789)
14 William Floyd A NY-1 Elected March 3-5, 1789. Only term while serving in the House.
15 George Gale P MD-5 Only term while serving in the House.
16 Elbridge Gerry A MA-3
17 Nicholas Gilman P NH-al
18 Benjamin Goodhue P MA-2
19 Samuel Griffin P VA-10
20 Jonathan Grout A MA-8 Only term while serving in the House.
21 Thomas Hartley P PA-al
22 John Hathorn A NY-4 Elected March 3-5, 1789. Only term while serving in the House until 4th Congress.
23 Daniel Hiester A PA-al
24 Daniel Huger P SC-3
25 Benjamin Huntington P CT-al Only term while serving in the House (elected to 3rd Congress, but declined to serve)
26 James Jackson A GA-1 Only term while serving in the House.
27 John Laurance P NY-2 Elected March 3-5, 1789
28 Richard B. Lee P VA-4
29 George Leonard P MA-7
30 Samuel Livermore A NH-al
31 James Madison A VA-5
32 George Mathews A GA-3 Only term while serving in the House.
33 Andrew Moore A VA-3
34 Frederick Muhlenberg P PA-al Speaker of the House
35 Peter Muhlenberg A PA-al Only term while serving in the House until 3rd Congress.
36 John Page A VA-7
37 Josiah Parker A VA-8
38 George Partridge P MA-5 Resigned on August 14, 1790 while still serving in the House.
39 James Schureman P NJ-al Elected February 11-April 27, 1789. Only term while serving in the House. until 5th Congress.
40 Thomas Scott P PA-al Only term while serving in the House until 3rd Congress.
41 Theodore Sedgwick P MA-4 Elected on May 11, 1789 [5]
42 Joshua Seney A MD-2
43 Roger Sherman P CT-al Only term (elected to 2nd Congress, but did not serve)
44 Peter Silvester P NY-5 Elected March 3-5, 1789
45 Thomas Sinnickson P NJ-al Elected February 11-April 27, 1789. Only term until 5th Congress.
46 William Smith A MD-4 Only term while serving in the House.
47 William L. Smith P SC-1
48 Michael J. Stone A MD-1 Only term while serving in the House.
49 Jonathan Sturges P CT-al
50 Thomas Sumter A SC-4
51 George Thatcher P MA-6
52 Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. P CT-al
53 Thomas T. Tucker A SC-5
54 Jeremiah Van Rensselaer A NY-6 Elected March 3-5, 1789. Only term while serving in the House.
55 John M. Vining P DE-al
56 Jeremiah Wadsworth P CT-al
57 Benjamin West - NH-al Representative-elect, who declined to serve, probably in May 1789 [6]
58 Alexander White P VA-1
59 Henry Wynkoop P PA-al Only term while serving in the House.
Members joining the House, after the start of the Congress
... Abiel Foster P NH-al June 22, 1789Special election. [7] Only term while serving in the House until 4th Congress.
60 Hugh Williamson A NC-2 March 19, 1790Took seat from newly represented state
61 John B. Ashe A NC-1 March 24, 1790
62 Timothy Bloodworth A NC-3 April 6, 1790Took seat from newly represented state. Only term while serving in the House.
63 John Steele P NC-4 April 19, 1790Took seat from newly represented state
64 John Sevier P NC-5 June 16, 1790Took seat from newly represented state. Only term while serving in the House until 12th Congress.
... William B. Giles A VA-9 December 7, 1790Special election
65 Benjamin Bourne P RI-al December 17, 1790Elected on August 31, 1790. Took seat from newly represented state.

References

  1. 1 2 Delegates are non-voting members and Representatives are voting members of the United States House of Representatives.
  2. ↑ 112th Congress official House seniority list
  3. ↑ Annals of Congress, for the date of election
  4. ↑ Based on Rule X Organisation of Committees, in the House Rules and Manual for the current congress. For membership and chairmen, see the Journal of the House of Representatives for the dates specified in the 1st Congress.
  5. ↑ United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, page 2
  6. ↑ United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, page 2 and note 11 on page 3
  7. ↑ United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, page 2

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov .

The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from territories and the District of Columbia and Resident Commissioners from the Philippines and Puerto Rico.

See also

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