43rd United States Congress

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43rd United States Congress
42nd ←
→ 44th
USCapitol1877.jpg
United States Capitol (1877)

March 4, 1873 – March 4, 1875
Members74 senators
292 representatives
10 non-voting delegates
Senate MajorityRepublican
Senate PresidentHenry Wilson (R)
House MajorityRepublican
House SpeakerJames G. Blaine (R)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1873 – March 26, 1873
1st: December 1, 1873 – June 23, 1874
2nd: December 7, 1874 – March 4, 1875

The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, to March 4, 1875, during the fifth and sixth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency . The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Ninth Census of the United States in 1870. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

Major events[]

  • September 18, 1873: New York stock market crash triggered the Panic of 1873, part of the Long Depression
  • November 4, 1874: United States House of Representatives elections, 1874 -Democrats regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1860
  • November 25, 1874: United States Greenback Party established as a political party, made primarily of farmers financially hurt by the Panic of 1873

Major legislation[]

Treaties[]

  • March 18, 1874: Hawaii signed a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

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[]

Senators of the 43rd United States Congress
Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Anti-
Monopoly

(AM)
Liberal
Republican

(LR)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 17 0 1 54 72 2
Begin 19 0 3 50 72 2
End 20 2 51 731
Final voting share 27.4% 0.0% 2.7% 69.9%
Beginning of next congress 28 1 0 43 72 2

House of Representatives[]

Before this Congress, the 1870 United States Census and resulting reapportionment changed the size of the House to 292 members.

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Independent
Democratic

(ID)
Independent
(I)
Independent
Republican

(IR)
Liberal
Republican

(LR)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 97 0 0 1 3 141 242 1
Begin 87 1 0 0 4 198 290 2
End 91 1 193
Final voting share 31.4% 0.3% 0.0% 0.3% 1.4% 66.6%
Beginning of next congress 177 1 4 3 0 101 286 5

Leadership[]

President of the Senate
Henry Wilson

Senate[]

  • President: Henry Wilson (R)
  • President pro tempore: Matthew H. Carpenter (R)
    • Henry B. Anthony (R), elected January 25, 1875.

House of Representatives[]

  • Speaker: James G. Blaine (R)
  • Republican Conference Chairman: Horace Maynard
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: William E. Niblack

Members[]

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and Members of the House by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

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, facing re-election in 1874; class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1878.

House of Representatives[]

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

Changes in membership[]

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

Senate[]

  • Replacements: 5
    • Democratic: 1 seat net gain
    • Republican: no net change
    • Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
  • Deaths: 3
  • Resignations: 3
  • Interim appointments: 1
  • Vacancy: 1
  • Total seats with changes: 7
State
(class)
Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[a]
Massachusetts (2) Vacant Henry Wilson resigned in previous congress after becoming Vice President of the United States.
Successor elected March 17, 1873.
George S. Boutwell (R) March 17, 1873
Mississippi (1) Adelbert Ames (R) Resigned March 17, 1873, after being elected Governor of Mississippi.
Successor February 3, 1874.
Henry R. Pease (R) February 3, 1874
Kansas (2) Alexander Caldwell (R) Resigned March 24, 1873.
Successor appointed November 24, 1873.
Robert Crozier (R) November 24, 1873
California (1) Eugene Casserly (D) Resigned November 29, 1873.
Successor elected December 23, 1873.
John S. Hager (D) December 23, 1873
Kansas (2) Robert Crozier (R) Interim appointee retired when successor elected February 2, 1874. James M. Harvey (R) February 2, 1874
Massachusetts (1) Charles Sumner (LR) Died March 11, 1874.
Successor elected April 17, 1874.
William B. Washburn (R) April 17, 1874
Connecticut (1) William A. Buckingham (R) Died February 5, 1875.
Successor appointed February 5, 1875, having already been to the next tern.
William W. Eaton (D) February 5, 1875

House of Representatives[]

  • Replacements: 15
    • Democratic: 3 seat net gain
    • Republican: 4 seat net loss
    • Liberal Republican: 1 seat net gain
  • Deaths: 8
  • Resignations: 5
  • Contested election: 4
  • Total seats with changes: 19
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[a]
Louisiana 4th Vacant Rep-elect Samuel Peters died before taking seat George L. Smith (R) November 24, 1873
Georgia 8th Vacant Rep-elect Ambrose R. Wright died before taking seat Alexander H. Stephens (D) December 1, 1873
New York 6th James Brooks (D) Died April 30, 1873 Samuel S. Cox (D) November 4, 1873
Massachusetts 3rd William Whiting (R) Died June 29, 1873 Henry L. Pierce (R) December 1, 1873
Oregon At-large Joseph G. Wilson (R) Died July 2, 1873 James Nesmith (D) December 1, 1873
Michigan 5th Wilder D. Foster (R) Died September 20, 1873 William B. Williams (R) December 1, 1873
Virginia 5th Alexander Davis (D) Lost contested election March 5, 1874 Christopher Thomas (R) March 5, 1874
Georgia 1st Morgan Rawls (D) Lost contested election March 24, 1874 Andrew Sloan (R) March 24, 1874
New York 9th David B. Mellish (R) Died May 23, 1874 Richard Schell (D) December 7, 1874
Arkansas 3rd William W. Wilshire (R) Lost contested election June 16, 1874 Thomas M. Gunter (D) June 16, 1874
Ohio 12th Hugh J. Jewett (D) Resigned June 23, 1874, after becoming President of the Erie Railroad William E. Finck (D) December 7, 1874
New York 3rd Stewart L. Woodford (R) Resigned July 1, 1874 Simeon B. Chittenden (IR) November 3, 1874
South Carolina 3rd Robert B. Elliott (R) Resigned November 1, 1874 Lewis C. Carpenter (R) November 3, 1874
Illinois 1st John B. Rice (R) Died December 17, 1874 Bernard G. Caulfield (D) February 1, 1875
Massachusetts 10th Alvah Crocker (R) Died December 26, 1874 Charles A. Stevens (R) January 27, 1875
Pennsylvania 23rd Ebenezer McJunkin (R) Resigned January 1, 1875 John M. Thompson (R) January 5, 1875
Florida At-large William J. Purman (R) Resigned January 25, 1875 Vacant Not filled this term
Maine 4th Samuel F. Hersey (R) Died February 3, 1875 Vacant Not filled this term
Louisiana 1st J. Hale Sypher (R) Lost contested election March 3, 1875 Effingham Lawrence (D) March 3, 1875

Committees[]

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (1 link), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, on the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate[]

  • Agriculture (Chairman: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen; Ranking Member: George R. Dennis)
  • Appropriations (Chairman: Lot M. Morrill; Ranking Member: William B. Allison)
  • Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Matthew H. Carpenter; Ranking Member: George R. Dennis)
  • Civil Service and Retrenchment (Chairman: George G. Wright; Ranking Member: Timothy O. Howe)
  • Claims (Chairman: John Scott; Ranking Member: George S. Boutwell)
  • Commerce (Chairman: Zachariah Chandler; Ranking Member: George S. Boutwell)
  • (Select)
  • District of Columbia (Chairman: John F. Lewis; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
  • Education and Labor (Chairman: James W. Flanagan; Ranking Member: Oliver P. Morton)
  • Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Thomas F. Bayard; Ranking Member: Henry Cooper)
  • Finance (Chairman: John Sherman; Ranking Member: Thomas W. Ferry)
  • Foreign Relations (Chairman: Simon Cameron; Ranking Member: Roscoe Conkling)
  • Indian Affairs (Chairman: William A. Buckingham; Ranking Member: John J. Ingalls)
  • Judiciary (Chairman: George F. Edmunds; Ranking Member: George G. Wright)
  • Manufactures (Chairman: Thomas J. Robertson; Ranking Member: Reuben E. Fenton)
  • Military Affairs (Chairman: John A. Logan; Ranking Member: Bainbridge Wadleigh)
  • Mines and Mining (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin; Ranking Member: George Goldthwaite)
  • (Select)
  • Naval Affairs (Chairman: Aaron H. Cragin; Ranking Member: Simon B. Conover)
  • (Select)
  • (Select)
  • Patents (Chairman: Orris S. Ferry; Ranking Member: William T. Hamilton)
  • Pensions (Chairman: Daniel D. Pratt; Ranking Member: Morgan C. Hamilton)
  • Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Alexander Ramsey; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
  • Private Land Claims (Chairman: Allen G. Thurman; Ranking Member: Thomas F. Bayard)
  • Privileges and Elections (Chairman: Oliver P. Morton; Ranking Member: John H. Mitchell)
  • Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Justin S. Morrill; Ranking Member: John J. Patterson)
  • Public Lands (Chairman: William Sprague; Ranking Member: Bainbridge Wadleigh)
  • Railroads (Chairman: William M. Stewart; Ranking Member: Timothy O. Howe)
  • (Select)
  • (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin; Ranking Member: James L. Alcorn)
  • Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: William G. Brownlow; Ranking Member: John W. Johnston)
  • (Select)
  • Tariff Regulation (Select)
  • Territories (Chairman: Arthur I. Boreman; Ranking Member: John J. Patterson)
  • (Select) (Chairman: William Windom; Ranking Member: John H. Mitchell)
  • Whole

House of Representatives[]

  • Accounts (Chairman: James Buffington; Ranking Member: Alexander S. Wallace)
  • Agriculture (Chairman: Charles Hays; Ranking Member: Sobieski Ross)
  • Appropriations (Chairman: James A. Garfield; Ranking Member: James N. Tyner)
  • (Select)
  • (Select)
  • Banking and Currency (Chairman: Horace Maynard; Ranking Member: Jay Abel Hubbell)
  • Claims (Chairman: John B. Hawley; Ranking Member: Julius C. Burrows)
  • Coinage, Weights and Measures (Chairman: Samuel Hooper; Ranking Member: Horace B. Strait)
  • Commerce (Chairman: William A. Wheeler; Ranking Member: Richard C. Parsons)
  • District of Columbia (Chairman: Alfred C. Harmer; Ranking Member: Charles Pelham)
  • Education and Labor (Chairman: James Monroe; Ranking Member: Alexander S. McDill)
  • Elections (Chairman: Horace B. Smith; Ranking Member: Horace H. Harrison)
  • Expenditures in the Interior Department (Chairman: Jackson Orr; Ranking Member: James C. Robinson)
  • Expenditures in the Justice Department (Chairman: James B. Sener; Ranking Member: Robert M. Speer)
  • Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Julius C. Burrows; Ranking Member: John A. Magee)
  • Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Henry W. Barry; Ranking Member: Pierce M. B. Young)
  • Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Jasper Packard; Ranking Member: William R. Morrison)
  • Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: J. Hale Sypher; Ranking Member: John G. Schumaker)
  • Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: William Williams; Ranking Member: John M. Bright)
  • Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: R. Holland Duell; Ranking Member: Henry O. Pratt)
  • Freedmen's Affairs (Chairman: Clinton L. Cobb; Ranking Member: J. Allen Barber)
  • Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Godlove Stein Orth; Ranking Member: William J. Albert)
  • Indian Affairs (Chairman: John T. Averill; Ranking Member: John D. Lawson)
  • Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Jeremiah McLain Rusk; Ranking Member: William B. Small)
  • Judiciary (Chairman: Benjamin F. Butler; Ranking Member: Alexander White)
  • Manufactures (Chairman: Charles B. Farwell; Ranking Member: Laurin D. Woodworth)
  • Mileage (Chairman: Hezekiah S. Bundy; Ranking Member: James W. Nesmith)
  • Military Affairs (Chairman: John Coburn; Ranking Member: Clinton D. MacDougall)
  • Militia (Chairman: Roderick R. Butler; Ranking Member: Josiah T. Walls)
  • Mines and Mining (Chairman: David P. Lowe; Ranking Member: )
  • Naval Affairs (Chairman: Glenni W. Scofield; Ranking Member: John H. Burleigh)
  • (Chairman: Philetus Sawyer; Ranking Member: James W. McDill)
  • Patents (Chairman: Omar D. Conger; Ranking Member: Henry B. Sayler)
  • Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John B. Packer; Ranking Member: Stephen A. Cobb)
  • Private Land Claims (Chairman: Jasper Packard; Ranking Member: James C. Freeman)
  • Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: James H. Platt Jr.; Ranking Member: Lloyd Lowndes Jr.)
  • Public Expenditures (Chairman: Harrison E. Havens; Ranking Member: Josiah W. Begole)
  • Public Lands (Chairman: Washington Townsend; Ranking Member: William A. Phillips)
  • Railways and Canals (Chairman: George W. McCrary; Ranking Member: Alexander W. Taylor)
  • (Chairman: Stephen W. Kellogg; Ranking Member: James D. Strawbridge)
  • Revision of Laws (Chairman: Luke P. Poland; Ranking Member: William S. Moore)
  • Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812 (Chairman: Lazarus D. Shoemaker; Ranking Member: William Crutchfield)
  • Rules (Select) (Chairman: James G. Blaine; Ranking Member: Samuel S. Cox)
  • Standards of Official Conduct
  • Territories (Chairman: George C. McKee; Ranking Member: Greenbury L. Fort)
  • War Claims (Chairman: William Lawrence; Ranking Member: Abraham H. Smith)
  • Ways and Means (Chairman: Henry L. Dawes; Ranking Member: Lionel A. Sheldon)
  • Whole

Joint committees[]

  • Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
  • Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Rep. Chester B. Darrall; Vice Chairman: Rep. Henry R. Harris)
  • (Select) (Chairman: Rep. Jeremiah M. Wilson; Vice Chairman: Rep. Hugh J. Jewett)
  • The Library (Chairman: Rep. William P. Frye; Vice Chairman: Rep. Hiester Clymer)
  • Printing (Chairman: Rep. William G. Donnan; Vice Chairman: Rep. Alfred M. Waddell)

Caucuses[]

  • Democratic (House)
  • Democratic (Senate)

Employees[]

Legislative branch agency directors[]

  • Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
  • Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford

Senate[]

  • Chaplain: John P. Newman (Methodist), until December 8, 1873
    • Byron Sunderland (Presbyterian), elected December 8, 1873
  • Librarian:
  • Secretary: George C. Gorham
  • Sergeant at Arms: John R. French

House of Representatives[]

  • Chaplain: John G. Butler (Presbyterian)
  • Clerk: Edward McPherson
  • Clerk at the Speaker’s Table:
  • Doorkeeper:
  • Postmaster: , elected December 1, 1873
  • Reading Clerks: (D) and (R)
  • Sergeant at Arms: Nehemiah G. Ordway

See also[]

  • United States elections, 1872 (elections leading to this Congress)
    • 1872 United States presidential election
    • United States Senate elections, 1872 and 1873
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 1872
  • United States elections, 1874 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
    • United States Senate elections, 1874 and 1875
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 1874

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References[]

  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

External links[]

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