55th United States Congress - Membership Changes

The Fifty-fifth 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 1897 to March 3 1899, during the first two years of the first administration of U.S. President William McKinley.

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

: See also: 55th United States Congress - political parties; See also: 55th United States Congress - State Delegations; See also: United States House election, 1896

Dates of sessions

March 4 1897 - March 3 1899

Special session of the Senate: March 4 1897 – March 10 1897
First session: March 15 1897 – July 24 1897
Second session: December 6 1897 - July 8 1898
Third session: December 5 1898 - March 3 1899 — a lame duck session

Previous congress: 54th Congress
Next congress: 56th Congress

Membership changes

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

Senate

State	Outgoing Senator		Reason for Change	Successor
Florida	\|	vacant	Contested election. Senator-designate John A. Henderson also presented his creditials on March 16, 1897, but no further action was taken.	\|
Mississippi	\|	James Z. George Democratic	Death. Senator James Z. George died on August 14, 1897.	\|
Mississippi	\|	Edward C. Walthall Democratic	Death. Senator Edward C. Walthall died on April 21, 1898.	\|
Ohio	\|	John Sherman Republican	Resignation. Senator John Sherman resigned on March 4, 1897 to become U.S. Secretary of State.	\|
Oregon	\|	vacant	Contested election. Senator-designate Henry W. Corbitt presented his creditials on March 15, 1897, but he was not seated. Vacancy from March 4, 1897 to October 7, 1898, when Joseph Simon was elected.	\|
South Carolina	\|	Joseph H. Earle Democratic	Death. Senator Joseph H. Earle died on May 20, 1897.	\|
Tennessee	\|	Isham Harris Democratic	Death. Senator Isham Harris died on July 8, 1897.	\|
Vermont	\|	Justin S. Morrill Republican	Death. Senator Justin S. Morrill died on December 28, 1898.	\|

House of Representatives

District	Outgoing Representative		Reason for Change	Successor
Alabama 4th	\|	T.S. Plowman Democratic	Contested election. William F. Aldrich successfully contested the November 1896 election of Representative T.S. Plowman and took his seat.	\|
Illinois 6th	\|	Edward D. Cooke Republican	Death. Representative Edward D. Cooke died on June 24, 1897.	\|
Indiana 6th	\|	William S. Holman Democratic	Death. Representative William S. Holman died on April 22, 1897.	\|
Maine 2nd	\|	Nelson Dingley, Jr. Republican	Death. Representative Nelson Dingley, Jr. died on January 13, 1899.	\|
Maine 3rd	\|	Seth L. Milliken Republican	Death. Representative William Cogswell died on April 18, 1897.	\|
Massachusetts 1st	\|	Ashley B. Wright Republican	Death. Representative Ashley B. Wright died on August 14, 1897.	\|
Massachusetts 13th	\|	John Simpkins Republican	Death. Representative John Simpkins died on March 27, 1898.	\|
Mississippi 2nd	\|	William V. Sullivan Democratic	Resignation. Representative William V. Sullivan resigned on May 31, 1898, having been appointed U.S. Senator.	\|
Mississippi 6th	\|	W. F. Love Democratic	Death. Representative W. F. Love died on October 16, 1898.	\|
Missouri 1st	\|	Richard P. Giles Democratic	Death. Representative-elect Richard P. Giles died on November 17, 1896.	\|
New Jersey 4th	\|	Mahlon Pitney Republican	Resignation. Representative Mahlon Pitney resigned on January 10, 1899.	\|
New York 2nd	\|	Denis M. Hurley Republican	Death. Representative Denis M. Hurley died on February 26, 1899.	\|
New York 3rd	\|	Francis H. Wilson Republican	Resignation. Representative Francis H. Wilson resigned on September 30, 1897.	\|
New York 34th	\|	Warren B. Hooker Republican	Resignation. Representative Warren B. Hooker resigned on November 10, 1898.	\|
Ohio 19th	\|	Stephen A. Northway Republican	Death. Representative Stephen A. Northway died on September 18, 1898.	\|
Pennsylvania 23rd	\|	William A. Stone Republican	Resignation. Representative William A. Stone resigned on November 9, 1898, having been elected Governor of Pennsylvania.	\|
Pennsylvania 25th	\|	James J. Davidson Republican	Death. Representative-elect James J. Davidson died on January 2, 1897, before Congress assembled.	\|
South Carolina 6th	\|	John L. McLaurin Democratic	Resignation. Representative John L. McLaurin resigned on May 31, 1897, having been appointed U.S. Senator.	\|
Tennessee 4th	\|	Benton McMillin Democratic	Resignation. Representative Benton McMillin resigned on January 16, 1899, having been elected Governor of Tennessee.	\|
Texas 4th	\|	John W. Cranford Democratic	Death. Representative John W. Cranford died on March 2, 1899.	\|
Texas 9th	\|	Joseph D. Sayers Democratic	Resignation. Representative Joseph D. Sayers resigned on January 16, 1899, having been elected Governor of Texas.	\|
Virginia 2nd	\|	William A. Young Democratic	Contested election. Richard A. Wise successfully contested the November 1896 election of Representative William A Young and took his seat.	\|
Virginia 4th	\|	Stanley P. Epes Democratic	Contested election. Richard T. Thorp successfully contested the November 1896 election of Representative Stanley P. Epes and took his seat.	\|

External links

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress 1
U.S. House of Representatives: Congressional History 2
U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists 3