The 46th 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, 1879, to March 4, 1881, during the last two years of Rutherford Hayes's presidency.
46th United States Congress | |
---|---|
45th ← → 47th | |
March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1881 | |
Members | 76 senators 293 representatives 8 non-voting delegates |
Senate majority | Democratic |
Senate President | William A. Wheeler (R) |
House majority | Democratic |
House Speaker | Samuel J. Randall (D) |
Sessions | |
1st: March 18, 1879 – July 1, 1879 2nd: December 1, 1879 – June 16, 1880 3rd: December 6, 1880 – March 3, 1881 |
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1870 United States census. The Senate had a Democratic majority, while the House of Representatives had a Democratic plurality. The Democrats were still able to control the House, however, with the help of the Independent politicians who caucused with them.
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anti- Monopoly (AM) |
Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Independent (I) | Other |
|||
End of previous congress | 1 | 36 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 76 | 0 |
Begin | 1 | 42 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 75 | 1 |
End | |||||||
Final voting share | 1.3% | 56.0% | 41.3% | 1.3% | 0.0% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 0 | 37 | 36 | 1 | 1[a] | 75 | 1 |
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Independent Democratic (ID) | Independent (I) | Greenback (GB) | Republican (R) |
|||
End of previous congress | 154 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 291 | 2 |
Begin | 141 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 131 | 291 | 2 |
End | 143 | 129 | |||||
Final voting share | 49.1% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 4.5% | 44.3% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 128 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 151 | 291 | 0 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
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 re-election in 1880; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1882; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1884.
The names of members are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[b] |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Hampshire (3) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. An interim successor was appointed March 13, 1879. |
Charles H. Bell (R) | March 13, 1879 |
New Hampshire (3) | Charles H. Bell (R) | Successor elected June 18, 1879, but did not begin service until June 20, 1879, for unknown reasons. | Henry W. Blair (R) | June 20, 1879 |
Michigan (1) | Zachariah Chandler (R) | Died November 1, 1879. Successor appointed November 17, 1879, to continue the term. Appointee was elected January 19, 1881, to finish the term. |
Henry P. Baldwin (R) | November 17, 1879 |
Alabama (3) | George S. Houston (D) | Died December 31, 1879. Successor appointed January 7, 1880, to continue the term. |
Luke Pryor (D) | January 7, 1880 |
Georgia (3) | John B. Gordon (D) | Resigned May 26, 1880, to promote building of the Georgia Pacific Railway. Successor elected May 26, 1880. |
Joseph E. Brown (D) | May 26, 1880 |
Alabama (3) | Luke Pryor (D) | Successor elected November 23, 1880. | James L. Pugh (D) | November 24, 1880 |
Wisconsin (3) | Matthew H. Carpenter (R) | Died February 24, 1881. | Vacant | Not filled this term |
District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[b] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Texas 6 | Vacant | Rep. Gustav Schleicher died during previous congress | Christopher C. Upson (D) | April 15, 1879 |
New York 12 | Vacant | Rep.-elect Alexander Smith died during previous congress | Waldo Hutchins (D) | November 4, 1879 |
Iowa 5 | Rush Clark (R) | Died April 29, 1879 | William G. Thompson (R) | October 14, 1879 |
Missouri 7 | Alfred M. Lay (D) | Died December 8, 1879 | John F. Philips (D) | January 10, 1880 |
New York 32 | Ray V. Pierce (R) | Resigned September 18, 1880 | Jonathan Scoville (D) | November 12, 1880 |
Alabama 6 | Burwell B. Lewis (D) | Resigned October 1, 1880, to accept presidency of the University of Alabama | Newton N. Clements (D) | December 8, 1880 |
Ohio 19 | James A. Garfield (R) | Resigned November 8, 1880 | Ezra B. Taylor (R) | December 13, 1880 |
New Hampshire 3 | Evarts W. Farr (R) | Died November 30, 1880. Successor elected December 28, 1880. |
Ossian Ray (R) | January 8, 1881 |
Florida 2 | Noble A. Hull (D) | Lost contested election January 22, 1881 | Horatio Bisbee Jr. (R) | January 22, 1881 |
North Carolina 1 | Joseph J. Martin (R) | Lost contested election January 29, 1881 | Jesse J. Yeates (D) | January 29, 1881 |
New York 9 | Fernando Wood (D) | Died February 14, 1881 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Michigan 7 | Omar D. Conger (R) | Resigned March 3, 1881, after being elected to the US Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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.