54th United States Congress - Membership Changes

The Fifty-fourth 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 1895 to March 3 1897, during the last two years of the second administration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland.

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: 54th United States Congress - political parties; See also: 54th United States Congress - State Delegations; See also: United States House election, 1894

Dates of sessions

March 4 1895 - March 3 1897

First session: December 2 1895 - June 11 1896
Second session: December 7 1896 - March 3 1897 — a lame duck session

Previous congress: 53rd Congress
Next congress: 55th Congress

Membership changes

: Senate

replacements: 0
- Democratic: no net change
- Republican: no net change
- Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
deaths: 0
resignations: 1
seats from newly admitted states: 2
Total seats with changes: 3

: House of Representatives

replacements: 8
- Democratic: 1 seat net gain
- Republican: 1 seat net loss
deaths: 5
resignations: 6
contested election: 12
seats from newly admitted states: 1
Total seats with changes: 23

Senate

District	Outgoing Senator		Reason for Change	Successor
Delaware	\|	vacant	Contested election. Henry A. du Pont was elected by the legislature for the term beginning March 4, 1895, but on May 15, 1896 the Senate refused to seat him. Subsequently, on January 19, 1897, Richard R. Kenney was elected by the legislature and took his seat. This seat was vacant from March 4, 1895 to January 18, 1897.	\|
Utah	\|	newly admitted state	New seat. By lot Frank J. Cannon was given the seat of the senior senator with a term to expire March 3, 1899.	\|
Utah	\|	newly admitted state	New seat. By lot Arthur Brown was given the seat of the junior senator with a term to expire March 3, 1897.	\|

House of Representatives

District	Outgoing Representative		Reason for Change	Successor
Alabama 4th	\|	Gaston A. Robbins Democratic	Contested election. William F. Aldrich successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative Gaston A. Robbins and took his seat.	\|
Alabama 5th	\|	James E. Cobb Democratic	Contested election. Albert T. Goodwyn successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative James E. Cobb and took his seat.	\|
Alabama 9th	\|	Oscar W. Underwood Democratic	Contested election. Truman H. Aldrich successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative Oscar W. Underwood and took his seat.	\|
Georgia 3rd	\|	Charles F. Crisp Democratic	Death. Representative Charles F. Crisp died on October 23, 1896 and was succeeded by his son.	\|
Georgia 10th	\|	James C.C. Black Democratic	Resignation. Representative James C.C. Black resigned on March 4, 1895, before Congress assembled. Black was subsequently elected and took his seat again.	\|
	\|	Lawrence E. McGann Democratic	Contested election and resignation. Representative Lawrence E. McGann resigned on December 2, 1895. Hugh R. Belknap had successfully contested the November 1894 election and took his seat.	\|
Illinois 10th	\|	Philip S. Post Republican	Death. Representative Philip S. Post died on January 6, 1895, before Congress assembled.	\|
Illinois 16th	\|	Finis E. Downing Democratic	Contested election. John I. Riniker successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative Finis E. Downing and took his seat.	\|
Illinois 18th	\|	Frederick Remann Republican	Death. Representative Frederick Remann died on July 14, 1895, before Congress assembled .	\|
Kentucky 10th	\|	Joseph M. Kendall Democratic	Contested election. Nathan T. Hopkins successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative Joseph M. Kendall and took his seat.	\|
Louisiana 5th	\|	Charles J. Boatner Democratic	Contested election. Alexis Benoit successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative Charles J. Boatner and his seat was declared vacant on March 20, 1896. Boatner was subsequently elected and took his seat again.	\|
Massachusetts 6th	\|	William Cogswell Republican	Death. Representative William Cogswell died on May 22, 1895, before Congress assembled.	\|
Michigan 3rd	\|	Julius C. Burrows Republican	Resignation. Representative Julius C. Burrows resigned on January 23, 1895, before Congress assembled, having been elected Senator.	\|
Missouri 5th	\|	John C. Tarsney Democratic	Contested election. Robert T. Van Horn successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative John C. Tarsney and took his seat.	\|
New York 8th	\|	James J. Walsh Democratic	Contested election. John Murray Mitchell successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative James J. Walsh and took his seat.	\|
New York 10th	\|	Andrew J. Campbell Democratic	Death. Representative-elect Andrew J. Campbell died on December 6, 1894, before Congress assembled.	\|
New York 19th	\|	Frank S. Black Republican	Resignation. Representative Frank S. Black resigned on January 7, 1897, having been elected Governor of New York.	\|
North Carolina 6th	\|	James A. Lockhart Democratic	Contested election. Charles H. Martin successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative James A. Lockhart and took his seat.	\|
Pennsylvania 15th	\|	Myron B. Wright Republican	Death. Representative Julius C. Burrows died on November 13, 1894, before Congress assembled.	\|
South Carolina 1st	\|	William Elliott Democratic	Contested election. George W. Murray successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative William Elliott and took his seat.	\|
South Carolina 7th	\|	J. William Stokes Democratic	Contested election. James B. Johnston successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative J. William Stokes and his seat was declared vacant on June 1, 1896. Stokes was subsequently elected and took his seat again.	\|
Texas 11th	\|	William H. Crain Democratic	Death. Representative William Cogswell died on February 10, 1896.	\|
Virginia 4th	\|	W.R. McKenney Democratic	Contested election. Richard T. Thorp successfully contested the November 1894 election of Representative W.R. McKenney and took his seat.	\|

Territorial Delegates

District	Outgoing Delegate		Reason for Change	Successor
Utah	\|	Frank J. Cannon Republican	Utah was granted statehood and admitted to the Union January 4, 1896.	\|

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