This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 34th United States Congress listed by seniority, from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857.
Order of service is based on the commencement of the senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a senator (only giving the senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as vice president, a House member, a cabinet secretary, or a governor of a state. The final factor is the population of the senator's state. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Senators who were sworn in during the middle of the Congress (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1856 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
|---|---|
| Class 1 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1857 (CA, CT, DE, FL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, and WI.) [5] |
| Class 2 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1859 (AL, AR, DE, GA, IA, IL, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MS, NC, NH, NJ, RI, SC, TN, and TX.) [6] |
| Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1861 (AL, AR, CA, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MO, NC, NH, NY, OH, PA, SC, VT, and WI.) [7] |
| Rank | Senator (party-state) | Seniority date | Other factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Alfred Pearce (D-MD) | March 4, 1843 | Former representative |
| 2 | Jesse D. Bright (D-IN) | March 4, 1845 | Former lieutenant governor |
| 3 | Thomas Jefferson Rusk (D-TX) | February 21, 1846 | |
| 4 | Samuel Houston (D-TX) | February 26, 1846 | Former representative, former governor |
| 5 | Andrew Pickens Butler (D-SC) | December 4, 1846 | |
| 6 | James M. Mason (D-VA) | January 21, 1847 | |
| 7 | Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL) | March 4, 1847 | Former governor |
| 8 | Robert M. T. Hunter (D-VA) | Former representative | |
| 9 | John Bell (D-TN) | November 22, 1847 | Former representative |
| 10 | William K. Sebastian (D-AR) | May 12, 1848 | |
| 11 | Henry Dodge (D-WI) | June 8, 1848 | Former delegate |
| 12 | Hannibal Hamlin (D-ME) | Former representative | |
| 13 | Augustus Caesar Dodge (D-IA) | December 7, 1848 | Former representative |
| 14 | George Wallace Jones (D-IA) | Former delegate | |
| 15 | William H. Seward (R-NY) | March 4, 1849 | Former governor |
| 16 | Lewis Cass (D-MI) | ||
| 17 | Thomas Pratt (D-MD) | January 12, 1850 | |
| 18 | Solomon Foot (R-VT) | March 4, 1851 | Former representative |
| 19 | James A. Bayard Jr. (D-DE) | ||
| 20 | Stephen Mallory (D-FL) | ||
| 21 | Henry S. Geyer (W-MO) | ||
| 22 | Richard Brodhead(D-PA) | Former representative | |
| 23 | Charles T. James (D-RI) | ||
| 24 | James C. Jones (D-TN) | Former governor | |
| 25 | Benjamin Wade (R-OH) | March 15, 1851 | |
| 26 | Charles Sumner (LR-MA) | April 11, 1851 | |
| 27 | John M. Clayton (R-NY) | December 1, 1851 | |
| 28 | John B. Weller (LD-CA) | January 30, 1852 | |
| 29 | Stephen Adams (D-MS) | March 17, 1852 | Former representative |
| 30 | Isaac Toucey (D-CT) | May 12, 1852 | |
| 31 | John R. Thomson (D-NJ) | March 4, 1853 | |
| 32 | Robert Toombs (D-GA) | Former representative | |
| 33 | Judah P. Benjamin (D-LA) | ||
| 34 | Josiah J. Evans (D-SC) | ||
| 35 | Charles E. Stuart (D-MI) | Former representative | |
| 36 | John B. Thompson (KN-KY) | Former representative | |
| 37 | John Middleton Clayton (W-DE) | ||
| 38 | William Wright (D-NJ) | ||
| 39 | Robert Ward Johnson (D-AR) | July 6, 1853 | |
| 40 | Philip Allen (D-RI) | July 20, 1853 | |
| 41 | Clement Claiborne Clay (D-AL) | November 29, 1853 | |
| 42 | John Slidell (D-LA) | December 5, 1853 | |
| 43 | Albert G. Brown (D-MS) | January 7, 1854 | |
| 44 | William P. Fessenden (R-ME) | February 10, 1854 | |
| 45 | David Settle Reid (D-NC) | December 6, 1854 | |
| 46 | Henry Wilson (R-MA) | January 31, 1855 | |
| 47 | Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) | March 4, 1855 | |
| 48 | Jacob Collamer (R-VT) | ||
| 49 | Lafayette S. Foster (R-CT) | ||
| 50 | James Harlan (R-IA) | ||
| 51 | David Levy Yulee (D-FL) | ||
| 52 | Alfred Iverson, Sr. (D-GA) | ||
| 53 | John Jordan Crittenden (KN-KY) | ||
| 54 | George E. Pugh (D-OH) | ||
| 55 | Charles Durkee (R-WI) | ||
| 56 | Asa Biggs (D-NC) | ||
| 57 | James Bell (R-NH) | ||
| John P. Hale (R-NH) | July 30, 1855 | ||
| Benjamin Fitzpatrick (D-AL) | November 26, 1855 | ||
| William Bigler (D-PA) | January 14, 1856 | ||
| Joseph P. Comegys (W-DE) | November 19, 1856 | ||
| James S. Green (D-MO) | January 12, 1857 | ||
| William M. Gwin (D-CA) | January 13, 1857 | ||
| Martin W. Bates (D-DE) | January 14, 1857 | ||
| Amos Nourse (R-ME) | January 16, 1857 | ||
| Graham N. Fitch (D-IN) | February 4, 1857 | ||