This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 42nd United States Congress listed by seniority, from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873.
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 1872 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Class | Terms of service of senators that expired in years |
|---|---|
| Class 3 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1873 (AL, AR, CA, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, NC, NH, NV, NY, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, VT, and WI.) [5] |
| Class 1 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1875 (CA, CT, DE, FL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, and WV) [6] |
| Class 2 | Terms of service of senators that expired in 1877 (AL, AR, DE, GA, IA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, OR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV.) [7] |