The 'Forty-eighth United States Congress' was a meeting of the legislative branch of the
United States federal government, comprised of the
United States Senate and the
United States House of Representatives. It met in
Washington, DC from
March 4 1883 to
March 3 1885, during the last two years of the administration of
U.S. President Chester A. Arthur.
The apportionment of seats in this
House of Representatives was based on the
Tenth Census of the United States in 1880. The Senate had a
Republican majority, and the House had a
Democratic majority.
Dates of sessions
March 4 1883 -
March 3 1885
★ First session:
December 3 1883 -
July 7 1884
★ Second session:
December 1 1884 -
March 3 1885 — a
lame duck session
Previous congress:
47th Congress
Next congress:
49th Congress
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.
Leadership
:'Senate'
★
Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate):
★
★ vacant
★
President pro tempore of the Senate:
★
★
George F. Edmunds, ''
Republican'' of
Vermont, first elected in this Congress
December 3 1883.
:'House of Representatives'
★
Speaker of the House
★
★
John G. Carlisle, ''
Democrat'' of
Kentucky, elected
December 3 1883.
Major events
:''Main article:
Events of 1883;
Events of 1884;
Events of 1885''
Major legislation
:''Main article:
List of United States federal legislation in the 486th Congress
★
May 17 1884 Alaska Territory was organized.
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
:''See also:
48th United States Congress - political parties''
:''See also:
48th United States Congress - State Delegations''
:''See also:
United States House elections, 1882''
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 the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1886; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1888; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1884.
:''See also:
:''See also:
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the
general ticket or otherwise ''at-large,'' are preceded by an "A/L," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.
Many of the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.
:''See also:
:''See also:
:'Alabama'
★ : Thomas H. Herndon ''(D)''
★ : James T. Jones ''(D)''
★ : Hilary A. Herbert ''(D)''
★ : William C. Oates ''(D)''
★ : Charles M. Shelley ''(D)''
★ : George H. Craig ''(R)''
★ : Thomas Williams ''(D)''
★ : Goldsmith W. Hewitt ''(D)''
★ : William H. Forney ''(D)''
★ : Luke Pryor ''(D)'' :'Arkansas'
★ : Poindexter Dunn ''(D)''
★ : James K. Jones ''(D)''
★ : John H. Rogers ''(D)''
★ : Samuel W. Peel ''(D)''
★ : Clifton R. Breckinridge ''(D)'' :'California'
★ : William S. Rosecrans ''(D)''
★ : James H. Budd ''(D)''
★ : Barclay Henley ''(D)''
★ : Pleasant B. Tully ''(D)''
★ : John R. Glascock ''(D)''
★ : Charles A. Sumner ''(D)'' :'Colorado'
★ : James B. Belford ''(R)'' :'Connecticut'
★ : William W. Eaton ''(D)''
★ : Charles L. Mitchell ''(D)''
★ : John T. Wait ''(R)''
★ : Edward W. Seymour ''(D)'' :'Delaware'
★ : Charles B. Lore ''(D)'' :'Florida'
★ : Robert H. M. Davidson ''(D)''
★ : Horatio Bisbee, Jr. ''(R)'' :'Georgia'
★ : John C. Nicholls ''(D)''
★ : Henry G. Turner ''(D)''
★ : Charles F. Crisp ''(D)''
★ : Hugh Buchanan ''(D)''
★ : Nathaniel J. Hammond ''(D)''
★ : James H. Blount ''(D)''
★ : Judson C. Clements ''(D)''
★ : Seaborn Reese ''(D)''
★ : Allen D. Candler ''(D)''
★ : Thomas Hardeman, Jr. ''(D)'' :'Illinois'
★ : Ransom W. Dunham ''(R)''
★ : John F. Finerty ''(ID)''
★ : George R. Davis ''(R)''
★ : George E. Adams ''(R)''
★ : Reuben Ellwood ''(R)''
★ : Robert R. Hitt ''(R)''
★ : Thomas J. Henderson ''(R)''
★ : William Cullen ''(R)''
★ : Lewis E. Payson ''(R)''
★ : Nicholas E. Worthington ''(D)''
★ : William H. Neece ''(D)''
★ : James M. Riggs ''(D)''
★ : William M. Springer ''(D)''
★ : Jonathan H. Rowell ''(R)''
★ : Joseph G. Cannon ''(R)''
★ : Aaron Shaw ''(D)''
★ : Samuel W. Moulton ''(D)''
★ : William R. Morrison ''(D)''
★ : Richard W. Townshend ''(D)''
★ : John R. Thomas ''(R)'' :'Indiana'
★ : John J. Kleiner ''(D)''
★ : Thomas R. Cobb ''(D)''
★ : Strother M. Stockslager ''(D)''
★ : William S. Holman ''(D)''
★ : Courtland C. Matson ''(D)''
★ : Thomas M. Browne ''(R)''
★ : Stanton J. Peelle ''(R)''
★ : William E. English ''(D)''
★ : John E. Lamb ''(D)''
★ : Thomas B. Ward ''(D)''
★ : Thomas J. Wood ''(D)''
★ : George W. Steele ''(R)''
★ : Robert Lowry ''(D)''
★ : William H. Calkins ''(R)''
★ : Benjamin F. Shively ''(AM)'' :'Iowa'
★ : Moses A. McCoid ''(R)''
★ : Jeremiah H. Murphy ''(D)''
★ : David B. Henderson ''(R)''
★ : Luman H. Weller ''(NG''
★ : James Wilson ''(R)''
★ : Benjamin T. Frederick ''(D)''
★ : Marsena E. Cutts ''(R)''
★ : John C. Cook ''(D)''
★ : John A. Kasson ''(R)''
★ : Hiram Y. Smith ''(R)''
★ : William P. Hepburn ''(R)''
★ : William H. M. Pusey ''(D)''
★ : Adoniram J. Holmes ''(R)''
★ : Isaac S. Struble ''(R)'' :'Kansas'
★ : John A. Anderson ''(R)''
★ : Dudley C. Haskell ''(R)''
★ : Edward H. Funston ''(R)''
★ : Thomas Ryan ''(R)''
★ : Lewis Hanback ''(R)''
★ : Edmund N. Morrill ''(R)''
★ : Bishop W. Perkins ''(R)''
★ : Samuel R. Peters ''(R)'' :'Kentucky'
★ : Oscar Turner ''ID''
★ : James F. Clay ''(D)''
★ : John E. Halsell ''(D)''
★ : Thomas A. Robertson ''(D)''
★ : Albert S. Willis ''(D)''
★ : John G. Carlisle ''(D)''
★ : Joseph C. S. Blackburn ''(D)''
★ : Philip B. Thompson, Jr. ''(D)''
★ : William W. Culbertson ''(R)''
★ : John D. White ''(R)''
★ : Frank L. Wolford ''(D)'' :'Louisiana'
★ : Carleton Hunt ''(D)''
★ : E. John Ellis ''(D)''
★ : William Pitt Kellogg ''(R)''
★ : Newton C. Blanchard ''(D)''
★ : J. Floyd King ''(D)''
★ : Edward T. Lewis ''(D)'' | :'Maine' [1]
★ : Charles A. Boutelle ''(R)''
★ : Nelson Dingley, Jr. ''(R)''
★ : Seth L. Milliken ''(R)''
★ : Thomas B. Reed ''(R)'' :'Maryland'
★ : George W. Covington ''(D)''
★ : J. Frederick C. Talbott ''(D)''
★ : Fetter S. Hoblitzell ''(D)''
★ : John V. L. Findlay ''(D)''
★ : Hart B. Holton ''(R)''
★ : Louis E. McComas ''(R)'' :'Massachusetts'
★ : Robert T. Davis ''(R)''
★ : John D. Long ''(R)''
★ : Ambrose A. Ranney ''(R)''
★ : Patrick A. Collins ''(D)''
★ : Leopold Morse ''(D)''
★ : Henry B. Lovering ''(D)''
★ : Eben F. Stone ''(R)''
★ : William A. Russell ''(R)''
★ : Theodore Lyman ''(IR)''
★ : William W. Rice ''(R)''
★ : William Whiting ''(R)''
★ : George D. Robinson ''(R)''
★ : Francis W. Rockwell ''(R)'' :'Michigan'
★ : William C. Maybury ''(D)''
★ : Nathaniel B. Eldredge ''(D)''
★ : Edward S. Lacey ''(R)''
★ : George L. Yaple ''(D)''
★ : Julius Houseman ''(D)''
★ : Edwin B. Winans ''(D)''
★ : Ezra C. Carleton ''(D)''
★ : Roswell G. Horr ''(R)''
★ : Byron M. Cutcheon ''(R)''
★ : Herschel H. Hatch ''(R)''
★ : Edward Breitung ''(R)'' :'Minnesota'
★ : Milo White ''(R)''
★ : James B. Wakefield ''(R)''
★ : Horace B. Strait ''(R)''
★ : William D. Washburn ''(R)''
★ : Knute Nelson ''(R)'' :'Mississippi'
★ : Henry L. Muldrow ''(D)''
★ : James R. Chalmers ''(I)''
★ : Elza Jeffords ''(R)''
★ : Hernando D. Money ''(D)''
★ : Otho R. Singleton ''(D)''
★ : Henry S. Van Eaton ''(D)''
★ : Ethelbert Barksdale ''(D)'' :'Missouri'
★ : William H. Hatch ''(D)''
★ : Armstead M. Alexander ''(D)''
★ : Alexander M. Dockery ''(D)''
★ : James N. Burnes ''(D)''
★ : Alexander Graves ''(D)''
★ : John Cosgrove ''(D)''
★ : Aylett H. Buckner ''(D)''
★ : John J. O'Neill ''(D)''
★ : James O. Broadhead ''(D)''
★ : Martin L. Clardy ''(D)''
★ : Richard P. Bland ''(D)''
★ : Charles H. Morgan ''(D)''
★ : Robert W. Fyan ''(D)''
★ : Lowndes H. Davis ''(D)'' :'Nebraska'
★ : Archibald J. Weaver ''(R)''
★ : James Laird ''(R)''
★ : Edward K. Valentine ''(R)'' :'Nevada'
★ : George W. Cassidy ''(D)'' :'New Hampshire'
★ : Martin A. Haynes ''(R)''
★ : Ossian Ray ''(R)'' :'New Jersey'
★ : Thomas M. Ferrell ''(D)''
★ : J. Hart Brewer ''(R)''
★ : John Kean, Jr. ''(R)''
★ : Benjamin F. Howey ''(R)''
★ : William W. Phelps ''(R)''
★ : William H.F. Fiedler ''(D)''
★ : William McAdoo ''(D)'' :'New York'
★ : Perry Belmont ''(D)''
★ : William E. Robinson ''(D)''
★ : Darwin R. James ''(R)''
★ : Felix Campbell ''(D)''
★ : Nicholas Muller ''(D)''
★ : Samuel S. Cox ''(D)''
★ : William Dorsheimer ''(D)''
★ : John J. Adams ''(D)''
★ : John Hardy ''(D)''
★ : Abram S. Hewitt ''(D)''
★ : Orlando B. Potter ''(D)''
★ : Waldo Hutchins ''(D)''
★ : John H. Ketcham ''(R)''
★ : Lewis Beach ''(D)''
★ : John H. Bagley, Jr. ''(D)''
★ : Thomas J. Van Alstyne ''(D)''
★ : Henry G. Burleigh ''(R)''
★ : Frederick A. Johnson ''(R)''
★ : Abraham X. Parker ''(R)''
★ : Edward Wemple ''(D)''
★ : George W. Ray ''(R)''
★ : Charles R. Skinner ''(R)''
★ : John T. Spriggs ''(D)''
★ : Newton W. Nutting ''(R)''
★ : Frank Hiscock ''(R)''
★ : Sereno E. Payne ''(R)''
★ : James W. Wadsworth ''(R)''
★ : Stephen C. Millard ''(R)''
★ : John Arnot, Jr. ''(D)''
★ : Halbert S. Greenleaf ''(D)''
★ : Robert S. Stevens ''(D)''
★ : William F. Rogers ''(D)''
★ : Francis B. Brewer ''(R)''
★ : Henry W. Slocum ''(D)'' :'North Carolina'
★ : Walter F. Pool ''(R)''
★ : Thomas G. Skinner ''(D)''
★ : James E. O'Hara ''(R)''
★ : Wharton J. Green ''(D)''
★ : William R. Cox ''(D)''
★ : Alfred M. Scales ''(D)''
★ : James W. Reid ''(D)''
★ : Clement Dowd ''(D)''
★ : Tyre York ''(ID)''
★ : Robert B. Vance ''(D)''
★ : Risden T. Bennett ''(D)'' | :'Ohio'
★ : John F. Follett ''(D)''
★ : Isaac M. Jordan ''(D)''
★ : Robert M. Murray ''(D)''
★ : Benjamin Le Fevre ''(D)''
★ : George E. Seney ''(D)''
★ : William D. Hill ''(D)''
★ : Henry L. Morey ''(R)''
★ : James E. Campbell ''(D)''
★ : J. Warren Keifer ''(R)''
★ : James S. Robinson ''(R)''
★ : Frank H. Hurd ''(D)''
★ : John W. McCormick ''(R)''
★ : Alphonso Hart ''(R)''
★ : George L. Converse ''(D)''
★ : George W. Geddes ''(D)''
★ : Adoniram J. Warner ''(D)''
★ : Beriah Wilkins ''(D)''
★ : Joseph D. Taylor ''(R)''
★ : William McKinley, Jr. ''(R)''
★ : Jonathan H. Wallace ''(D)''
★ : Ezra B. Taylor ''(R)''
★ : David R. Paige ''(D)''
★ : Martin A. Foran ''(D)'' :'Oregon'
★ : Melvin C. George ''(R)'' :'Pennsylvania'
★ : Henry H. Bingham ''(R)''
★ : Charles O'Neill ''(R)''
★ : Samuel J. Randall ''(D)''
★ : William D. Kelley ''(R)''
★ : Alfred C. Harmer ''(R)''
★ : James B. Everhart ''(R)''
★ : I. Newton Evans ''(R)''
★ : Daniel Ermentrout ''(D)''
★ : A. Herr Smith ''(R)''
★ : William Mutchler ''(D)''
★ : John B. Storm ''(D)''
★ : Daniel W. Connolly ''(D)''
★ : Charles N. Brumm ''(R)''
★ : Samuel F. Barr ''(R)''
★ : George A. Post ''(D)''
★ : William W. Brown ''(R)''
★ : Jacob M. Campbell ''(R)''
★ : Louis E. Atkinson ''(R)''
★ : William A. Duncan ''(D)''
★ : John A. Swope ''(D)''
★ : Andrew G. Curtin ''(D)''
★ : Charles E. Boyle ''(D)''
★ : James H. Hopkins ''(D)''
★ : Thomas M. Bayne ''(R)''
★ : George V. Lawrence ''(R)''
★ : John D. Patton ''(D)''
★ : Samuel H. Miller ''(R)''
★ : Samuel M. Brainerd ''(R)''
★ : Mortimer F. Elliott ''(D)'' :'Rhode Island'
★ : Henry J. Spooner ''(R)''
★ : Jonathan Chace ''(R)''
★ : Nathan F. Dixon, III ''(R)'' :'South Carolina'
★ : Samuel Dibble ''(D)''
★ : George D. Tillman ''(D)''
★ : D. Wyatt Aiken ''(D)''
★ : John H. Evins ''(D)''
★ : John Bratton ''(D)''
★ : John J. Hemphill ''(D)''
★ : George W. Dargan ''(D)''
★ : Edmund W. M. Mackey ''(IR)''
★ : Robert Smalls ''(R)'' :'Tennessee'
★ : Augustus H. Pettibone ''(R)''
★ : Leonidas C. Houk ''(R)''
★ : George G. Dibrell ''(D)''
★ : Benton McMillin ''(D)''
★ : Richard Warner ''(D)''
★ : Andrew J. Caldwell ''(D)''
★ : John G. Ballentine ''(D)''
★ : John M. Taylor ''(D)''
★ : Rice A. Pierce ''(D)''
★ : H. Casey Young ''(D)'' :'Texas'
★ : Charles Stewart ''(D)''
★ : John H. Reagan ''(D)''
★ : James H. Jones ''(D)''
★ : David B. Culberson ''(D)''
★ : James W. Throckmorton ''(D)''
★ : Olin Wellborn ''(D)''
★ : Thomas P. Ochiltree ''(I)''
★ : James F. Miller ''(D)''
★ : Roger Q. Mills ''(D)''
★ : John Hancock ''(D)''
★ : Samuel W. T. Lanham ''(D)'' :'Vermont'
★ : John W. Stewart ''(R)''
★ : Luke P. Poland ''(R)'' :'Virginia'
★ : Robert M. Mayo ''(RD)''
★ : George T. Garrison ''(D)''
★ : Harry Libbey ''(RD)''
★ : George D. Wise ''(D)''
★ : Benjamin S. Hooper ''(RD)''
★ : George C. Cabell ''(D)''
★ : John R. Tucker ''(D)''
★ : John Paul ''(D)''
★ : Charles T. O'Ferrall ''(D)''
★ : John S. Barbour, Jr. ''(D)''
★ : Henry Bowen ''(RD)''
★ : John S. Wise ''(RD)'' :'West Virginia'
★ : Nathan Goff ''(R)''
★ : William L. Wilson ''(D)''
★ : Charles P. Snyder ''(D)''
★ : Eustace Gibson ''(D)'' :'Wisconsin'
★ : John Winans ''(D)''
★ : Daniel H. Sumner ''(D)''
★ : Burr W. Jones ''(D)''
★ : Peter V. Deuster ''(D)''
★ : Joseph Rankin ''(D)''
★ : Richard W. Guenther ''(R)''
★ : Gilbert M. Woodward ''(D)''
★ : William T. Price ''(R)''
★ : Isaac Stephenson ''(R)'' | Delegates :'Arizona Territory'
★ : Granville H. Oury ''(D)'' :'Dakota Territory'
★ : John B. Raymond ''(R)'' :'Idaho Territory'
★ : Theodore F. Singiser ''(R)'' :'Montana Territory'
★ : Martin Maginnis ''(D)'' :'New Mexico Territory'
★ : Tranqulino Luna ''(R)''
★ : Francisco A. Manzanares ''(D)'' :'Utah Territory'
★ : John T. Caine ''(D)'' :'Washington Territory'
★ : Thomas H. Brents ''(R)'' :'Wyoming Territory'
★ : Morton E. Post ''(D)'' |
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
:'Senate'
★ replacements: 1
★
★ Democratic: no net change
★
★ Republican: no net change
★
★ Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
★ deaths: 1
★ resignations: 0
★ interim appointment: 1
★ 'Total seats with changes: 1' | :'House of Representatives'
★ replacements: 15
★
★ Democratic: 1 seat net gain
★
★ Republican: 1 seat net loss
★
★ National Greenback: 1 seat net gain
★ deaths: 9
★ resignations: 9
★ contested election: 8
★ 'Total seats with changes: 25' |
Officers
:'Senate'
★ Secretary of the Senate:
★
★ Francis E. Shober of North Carolina (Acting), elected October 25 1881
★
★ Anson G. McCook of New York, elected December 18 1883
★ Sergeant at Arms of the Senate:
★
★ Richard J. Bright of Indiana, elected March 23 1879
★
★ William P. Canady of North Carolina, elected December 18 1883
★ Chaplain of the Senate
★
★ The Rev. Elia D. Huntley, ''Methodist'', elected December 18 1883:'Other'
★ Architect of the Capitol:
★
★ Edward Clark, appointed August 30 1865 | :'House of Representatives'
★ Clerk of the House:
★
★ John B. Clark, Jr. of Missouri, elected December 4 1883
★ Sergeant at Arms of the House:
★
★ John P. Leedom of Ohio, elected December 4 1883
★ Doorkeeper of the House:
★
★ James G. Wintersmith of Texas, elected December 4 1883
★ Postmaster of the House:
★
★ Lycurgus Dalton of Indiana, elected December 4 1883
★ Clerk at the Speaker’s Table:
★
★ Nathaniel T. Crutchfield
★ Chaplain of the House
★
★ The Rev. John S. Lindsay, ''Episcopalian'', elected December 3 1883 |
Notes
1. All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
References
★
The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, , Kenneth C., Martis, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989,
★
The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, , Kenneth C., Martis, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1982,
External links
★
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
★
U.S. House of Representatives: House History
★
U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
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