55th United States Congress

55th United States Congress
55th United States Congress
54th ← → 56th
	United States Capitol (1906)
March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899
Members	90 senators; 357 representatives; 3 non-voting delegates
Senate majority	Republican
Senate President	Garret Hobart
House majority	Republican
House Speaker	Thomas B. Reed
Sessions
	Special: March 4, 1897 – March 10, 1897; 1st: March 15, 1897 – July 24, 1897; 2nd: December 6, 1897 – July 8, 1898; 3rd: December 5, 1898 – March 3, 1899

The Fifty-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1897, to March 4, 1899, during the first two years of William McKinley's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. Both chambers had a Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White of North Carolina.

Major events

March 4, 1897: William McKinley became President of the United States.
February 15, 1898: Spanish–American War: USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor.
December 10, 1898: Treaty of Paris ended Spanish–American War, 30 Stat. 1754.

Major legislation

July 24, 1897: Dingley tariff, ch. 11, 30 Stat. 151, increased trade duties for revenue and protection
April 20, 1898: Teller Resolution (Cuba), 30 Stat. 738
April 25, 1898: Declaration of war on Spain (Spanish–American War), 30 Stat. 364
June 1, 1898: Erdman Act, 30 Stat. 424
June 13, 1898: War Revenue Act of 1898, 30 Stat. 448
July 1, 1898: Bankruptcy Act of 1898 (Henderson-Nelson Act), ch. 541, 30 Stat. 544, gave companies an option of gaining protection from creditors.
July 7, 1898: Newlands Resolution, No. 55, 30 Stat. 750, authorized the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii
March 3, 1899: Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, Ch. 425, 33 Stat. 401, § 9, 30 Stat. 1151

Treaties ratified

February 6, 1899: Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish–American War. Guam, The Philippines, and Puerto Rico became possessions of the U.S.

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.

Senate

	Party (shading shows control)					Total	Vacant

	Democratic (D)	Populist (P)	Republican (R)	Silver (S)	Silver Republican (SR)
End of previous congress	40	4	44	2	0	90	0

Begin	33	5	43	2	5	88	2
End	34	5	44	2	5	90	0
Final voting share	37.8%	5.6%	48.9%	2.2%	5.6%

Beginning of next congress	24	6	52	2	2	86	4

House of Representatives

	Party (shading shows control)						Total	Vacant

	Democratic (D)	Populist (P)	Republican (R)	Independent Republican (IR)	Silver (S)	Silver Republican (SR)
End of previous congress	94	9	252	0	0	1	356	1

Begin	124	22	206	1	1	3	357	0
End	124	22	207	1	1	3	358	0
Final voting share	34.6%	6.1%	57.8%	0.3%	0.3%	0.8%

Beginning of next congress	163	6	183	0	1	2	355	2

Leadership

Speaker of the House
Thomas Brackett Reed

Senate

President: Garret Hobart (R)
President pro tempore: William P. Frye (R)

House of Representatives

Speaker: Thomas Brackett Reed (R)

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.

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 ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1902.

Florida

1: Samuel Pasco (D)
3: Stephen R. Mallory (D), from May 15, 1897

Georgia

2: Augustus O. Bacon (D)
3: Alexander S. Clay (D)

Idaho

2: George L. Shoup (R)
3: Henry Heitfeld (P)

Illinois

2: Shelby M. Cullom (R)
3: William E. Mason (R)

Indiana

1: David Turpie (D)
3: Charles W. Fairbanks (R)

Iowa

3: William B. Allison (R)
2 John H. Gear (R)

Kansas

2: Lucien Baker (R)
3: William A. Harris (P)

Kentucky

2: William Lindsay (D)
3: William J. Deboe (R)

Louisiana

2: Donelson Caffery (D)
3: Samuel D. McEnery (D)

Maine

1: Eugene Hale (R)
2: William P. Frye (R)

Maryland

1: Arthur Pue Gorman (D)
3: George L. Wellington (R)

Massachusetts

2: George F. Hoar (R)
1: Henry Cabot Lodge (R)

Michigan

2: James McMillan (R)
1: Julius C. Burrows (R)

Minnesota

1: Cushman Davis (R)
2: Knute Nelson (R)

Mississippi

1: James Z. George (D), until August 14, 1897
- Hernando D. Money (D), from October 8, 1897
2: Edward C. Walthall (D), until April 21, 1898
- William V. Sullivan (D), from May 31, 1898

Missouri

1: Francis M. Cockrell (D)
3: George G. Vest (D)

Montana

1: Lee Mantle (SR)
2: Thomas H. Carter (R)

Nebraska

1: William V. Allen (P)
2: John M. Thurston (R)

Nevada

3: John P. Jones (S)
1: William M. Stewart (S)

New Hampshire

2: William E. Chandler (R)
3: Jacob H. Gallinger (R)

New Jersey

1: James Smith, Jr. (D)
2: William J. Sewell (R)

New York

1: Edward Murphy, Jr. (D)
3: Thomas C. Platt (R)

North Carolina

3: Jeter C. Pritchard (R)
2: Marion Butler (P)

North Dakota

3: Henry C. Hansbrough (R)
1: William N. Roach (D)

Ohio

1: Marcus A. Hanna (R), from March 5, 1897
3: Joseph B. Foraker (R)

Oregon

2: George W. McBride (R)
3: Joseph Simon (R), from October 7, 1898

Pennsylvania

1: Matthew S. Quay (R)
3: Boies Penrose (R)

Rhode Island

1: Nelson W. Aldrich (R)
2: George P. Wetmore (R)

South Carolina

2: Benjamin R. Tillman (D)
3: Joseph H. Earle (D), until May 20, 1897
- John L. McLaurin (D), from June 1, 1897

South Dakota

2: Richard F. Pettigrew (SR)
3: James H. Kyle (P)

Tennessee

2: Isham G. Harris (D), until July 8, 1897
- Thomas B. Turley (D), from July 20, 1897
1: William B. Bate (D)

Texas

1: Roger Q. Mills (D)
2: Horace Chilton (D)

Utah

1: Frank J. Cannon (SR)
3: Joseph L. Rawlins (D)

Vermont

3: Justin S. Morrill (R), until December 28, 1898
- Jonathan Ross (R), from January 11, 1899
1: Redfield Proctor (R)

Virginia

1: John W. Daniel (D)
2: Thomas S. Martin (D)

Washington

1: John L. Wilson (R)
3: George Turner (SR)

West Virginia

1: Charles J. Faulkner (D)
2: Stephen B. Elkins (R)

Wisconsin

1: John L. Mitchell (D)
3: John C. Spooner (R)

Wyoming

1: Clarence D. Clark (R)
2: Francis E. Warren (R)

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Alabama

1. George W. Taylor (D)
2. Jesse F. Stallings (D)
3. Henry D. Clayton (D)
4. Thomas S. Plowman (D), until February 9, 1898
- William F. Aldrich (R), from February 9, 1898
5. Willis Brewer (D)
6. John H. Bankhead (D)
7. Milford W. Howard (P)
8. Joseph Wheeler (D)
9. Oscar Underwood (D)

1. John F. Shafroth (SR)
2. John C. Bell (P)

Connecticut

Delaware

At-large. L. Irving Handy (D)

Florida

1. Stephen M. Sparkman (D)
2. Robert W. Davis (D)

Georgia

Idaho

At-large. James Gunn (P)

Illinois

1. James R. Mann (R)
2. William Lorimer (R)
3. Hugh R. Belknap (R)
4. Daniel W. Mills (R)
5. George E. White (R)
6. Edward D. Cooke (R), until June 24, 1897
- Henry S. Boutell (R), from November 23, 1897
7. George E. Foss (R)
8. Albert J. Hopkins (R)
9. Robert R. Hitt (R)
10. George W. Prince (R)
11. Walter Reeves (R)
12. Joseph G. Cannon (R)
13. Vespasian Warner (R)
14. Joseph V. Graff (R)
15. Benjamin F. Marsh (R)
16. William H. Hinrichsen (D)
17. James A. Connolly (R)
18. Thomas M. Jett (D)
19. Andrew J. Hunter (D)
20. James R. Campbell (D)
21. Jehu Baker (D)
22. George Washington Smith (R)

Indiana

1. James A. Hemenway (R)
2. Robert W. Miers (D)
3. William T. Zenor (D)
4. William S. Holman (D), until April 22, 1897
- Francis M. Griffith (D), from December 6, 1897
5. George W. Faris (R)
6. Henry U. Johnson (R)
7. Jesse Overstreet (R)
8. Charles L. Henry (R)
9. Charles B. Landis (R)
10. Edgar D. Crumpacker (R)
11. George W. Steele (R)
12. James M. Robinson (D)
13. Lemuel W. Royse (R)

1. Thomas B. Reed (R)
2. Nelson Dingley, Jr. (R), until January 13, 1899, vacant thereafter
3. Seth L. Milliken (R), until April 18, 1897
- Edwin C. Burleigh (R), from June 21, 1897
4. Charles A. Boutelle (R)

Maryland

Massachusetts

1. Ashley B. Wright (R), until August 14, 1897
- George P. Lawrence (R), from November 2, 1897
2. Frederick H. Gillett (R)
3. Joseph H. Walker (R)
4. George W. Weymouth (R)
5. William S. Knox (R)
6. William H. Moody (R)
7. William E. Barrett (R)
8. Samuel W. McCall (R)
9. John F. Fitzgerald (D)
10. Samuel J. Barrows (R)
11. Charles F. Sprague (R)
12. William C. Lovering (R)
13. John Simpkins (R), until March 27, 1898
- William S. Greene (R), from May 31, 1898

1. John M. Allen (D)
2. William V. Sullivan (D), until May 31, 1898
- Thomas Spight (D), from July 5, 1898
3. Thomas C. Catchings (D)
4. Andrew F. Fox (D)
5. John Sharp Williams (D)
6. William F. Love (D), until October 16, 1898
- Frank A. McLain (D), from December 12, 1898
7. Patrick Henry (D)

Missouri

1. James T. Lloyd (D), from June 1, 1897
2. Robert N. Bodine (D)
3. Alexander M. Dockery (D)
4. Charles F. Cochran (D)
5. William S. Cowherd (D)
6. David A. De Armond (D)
7. James Cooney (D)
8. Richard P. Bland (D)
9. James Beauchamp Clark (D)
10. Richard Bartholdt (R)
11. Charles F. Joy (R)
12. Charles E. Pearce (R)
13. Edward Robb (D)
14. Willard D. Vandiver (D)
15. Maecenas E. Benton (D)

Montana

At-large. Charles S. Hartman (SR)

Nebraska

Nevada

At-large. Francis G. Newlands (S)

New Hampshire

1. Cyrus A. Sulloway (R)
2. Frank G. Clarke (R)

New Jersey

1. Henry C. Loudenslager (R)
2. John J. Gardner (R)
3. Benjamin F. Howell (R)
4. Mahlon Pitney (R), until January 10, 1899, vacant to end
5. James F. Stewart (R)
6. Richard Wayne Parker (R)
7. Thomas McEwan, Jr. (R)
8. Charles N. Fowler (R)

New York

1. Joseph M. Belford (R)
2. Denis M. Hurley (R), until February 26, 1899, vacant to end
3. Francis H. Wilson (R), until September 30, 1897
- Edmund H. Driggs (D), from December 6, 1897
4. Israel F. Fischer (R)
5. Charles G. Bennett (R)
6. James R. Howe (R)
7. John H. G. Vehslage (D)
8. John M. Mitchell (R)
9. Thomas J. Bradley (D)
10. Amos J. Cummings (D)
11. William Sulzer (D)
12. George B. McClellan, Jr. (D)
13. Richard C. Shannon (R)
14. Lemuel E. Quigg (R)
15. Philip B. Low (R)
16. William L. Ward (R)
17. Benjamin B. Odell, Jr. (R)
18. John H. Ketcham (R)
19. Aaron V. S. Cochrane (R)
20. George N. Southwick (R)
21. David F. Wilber (R)
22. Lucius N. Littauer (R)
23. Wallace T. Foote, Jr. (R)
24. Charles A. Chickering (R)
25. James S. Sherman (R)
26. George W. Ray (R)
27. James J. Belden (R)
28. Sereno E. Payne (R)
29. Charles W. Gillet (R)
30. James Wolcott Wadsworth (R)
31. Henry C. Brewster (R)
32. Rowland B. Mahany (R)
33. De Alva S. Alexander (R)
34. Warren B. Hooker (R), until November 10, 1898, vacant to end

North Carolina

North Dakota

At-large. Martin N. Johnson (R)

Ohio

1. William B. Shattuc (R)
2. Jacob H. Bromwell (R)
3. John L. Brenner (D)
4. George A. Marshall (D)
5. David Meekison (D)
6. Seth W. Brown (R)
7. Walter L. Weaver (R)
8. Archibald Lybrand (R)
9. James H. Southard (R)
10. Lucien J. Fenton (R)
11. Charles H. Grosvenor (R)
12. John J. Lentz (D)
13. James A. Norton (D)
14. Winfield S. Kerr (R)
15. Henry C. Van Voorhis (R)
16. Lorenzo Danford (R)
17. John A. McDowell (D)
18. Robert W. Tayler (R)
19. Stephen A. Northway (R), until September 8, 1898
- Charles W. F. Dick (R), from November 8, 1898
20. Clifton B. Beach (R)
21. Theodore E. Burton (R)

Oregon

1. Thomas H. Tongue (R)
2. William R. Ellis (R)

Pennsylvania

1. Henry H. Bingham (R)
2. Robert Adams, Jr. (R)
3. William McAleer (D)
4. James R. Young (R)
5. Alfred C. Harmer (R)
6. Thomas S. Butler (IR)
7. Irving P. Wanger (R)
8. William S. Kirkpatrick (R)
9. Daniel Ermentrout (D)
10. Marriott Brosius (R)
11. William Connell (R)
12. Morgan B. Williams (R)
13. Charles N. Brumm (R)
14. Marlin E. Olmsted (R)
15. James H. Codding (R)
16. Horace B. Packer (R)
17. Monroe H. Kulp (R)
18. Thaddeus M. Mahon (R)
19. George J. Benner (D)
20. Josiah D. Hicks (R)
21. Edward E. Robbins (R)
22. John Dalzell (R)
23. William A. Stone (R), until November 9, 1898
- William H. Graham (R), from November 29, 1898
24. Ernest F. Acheson (R)
25. Joseph B. Showalter (R), from April 20, 1897
26. John C. Sturtevant (R)
27. Charles W. Stone (R)
28. William C. Arnold (R)
At-large. Samuel A. Davenport (R)
At-large. Galusha A. Grow (R)

Rhode Island

1. Melville Bull (R)
2. Adin B. Capron (R)

South Carolina

1. William Elliott (D)
2. William J. Talbert (D)
3. Asbury C. Latimer (D)
4. Stanyarne Wilson (D)
5. Thomas J. Strait (D)
6. John L. McLaurin (D), until May 31, 1897
- James Norton (D), from December 6, 1897
7. J. William Stokes (D)

South Dakota

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

At-large. John E. Kelley (P)
At-large. Freeman Knowles (P)

Tennessee

1. Walter P. Brownlow (R)
2. Henry R. Gibson (R)
3. John A. Moon (D)
4. Benton McMillin (D), until January 6, 1899, vacant for remainder of term
5. James D. Richardson (D)
6. John W. Gaines (D)
7. Nicholas N. Cox (D)
8. Thetus W. Sims (D)
9. Rice A. Pierce (D)
10. Edward W. Carmack (D)

Texas

1. Thomas H. Ball (D)
2. Samuel B. Cooper (D)
3. Reese C. De Graffenreid (D)
4. John W. Cranford (D), until March 3, 1899, vacant thereafter
5. Joseph W. Bailey (D)
6. Robert E. Burke (D)
7. Robert L. Henry (D)
8. Samuel W. T. Lanham (D)
9. Joseph D. Sayers (D), until January 16, 1899, vacant thereafter
10. Robert B. Hawley (R)
11. Rudolph Kleberg (D)
12. James L. Slayden (D)
13. John H. Stephens (D)

Utah

At-large. William H. King (D)

Vermont

1. H. Henry Powers (R)
2. William W. Grout (R)

Virginia

1. William A. Jones (D)
2. William A. Young (D), until April 26, 1898
- Richard A. Wise (R), from April 26, 1898
3. John Lamb (D)
4. Sydney P. Epes (D), until March 23, 1898
- Robert T. Thorp (R), from March 23, 1898
5. Claude A. Swanson (D)
6. Peter J. Otey (D)
7. James Hay (D)
8. John F. Rixey (D)
9. James A. Walker (R)
10. Jacob Yost (R)

Washington

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

At-large. William C. Jones (SR)
At-large. James Hamilton Lewis (D)

At-large. John E. Osborne (D)

Non-voting members

Arizona Territory. Marcus A. Smith (D)
New Mexico Territory. Harvey B. Fergusson (D)
Oklahoma Territory. James Y. Callahan (FS)

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

replacements: 6
- Democratic: no net change
- Republican: no net change
deaths: 5
resignations: 1
Total seats with changes: 8

House of Representatives

replacements: 13
- Democratic: 1 seat net gain
- Republican: 1 seat net loss
deaths: 10
resignations: 8
contested election: 3
Total seats with changes: 23

Employees

Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark

Senate

House of Representatives

Clerk: Alexander McDowell of Pennsylvania, elected March 15, 1897
Sergeant at Arms: Benjamin F. Russell of Missouri, elected March 15, 1897
Doorkeeper: William J. Glenn of New York, elected March 15, 1897
Postmaster: Joseph C. McElroy of Ohio, elected March 15, 1897
Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: Asher C. Hinds
Chaplain: Henry N. Couden Universalist, elected March 15, 1897

References

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links