List of United States representatives in the 16th Congress

This is a complete list of United States representatives during the 16th United States Congress listed by seniority. For the most part, representatives are ranked by the beginning of their terms in office.Delegates are non-voting members and representatives are voting members of the United States House of Representatives.

As an historical article, the districts and party affiliations listed reflect those during the 16th Congress (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821). Seats and party affiliations on similar lists for other congresses will be different for certain members.

This article describes the criteria for seniority in the House of Representatives and sets out the list of members by seniority. It is prepared on the basis of the interpretation of seniority applied to the House of Representatives in the current congress. In the absence of information to the contrary, it is presumed that the twenty-first-century practice is identical to the seniority customs used during the 16th Congress.

House seniority Seniority in the House, for representatives with unbroken service, depends on the date on which the members first term began. That date is either the start of the Congress (4 March in odd numbered years, for the era up to and including the 73rd Congress starting in 1933) or the date of a special election during the Congress. Since many members start serving on the same day as others, ranking between them is based on alphabetical order by the last name of the representative.

Representatives in early congresses were often elected after the legal start of the Congress. Such representatives are attributed with unbroken seniority, from the legal start of the congressional term, if they were the first person elected to a seat in a Congress. The date of the election is indicated in a note.

The seniority date is normally taken from the members entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, except where the date given is the legal start of the Congress and the actual election (for someone who was not the first person elected to the seat in that Congress) was later. The date of election is taken from United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997. In a few instances the latter work provides dates, for the start and end of terms, which correct those in the Biographical Directory.

The Biographical Directory normally uses the date of a special election, as the seniority date. However, mostly in early congresses, the date of the member taking his seat can be the one given. The date of the special election is mentioned in a note to the list below, when that date is not used as the seniority date by the Biographical Directory.

Representatives who returned to the House, after having previously served, are credited with service equal to one less than the total number of terms they served. When a representative has served a prior term of less than two terms (i.e. prior term minus one equals less than one), he is ranked above all others whose service begins on the same day.

Leadership In this Congress the only formal leader was the speaker of the House. A speakership ballot was held on December 6, 1819, and Henry Clay (DR-KY) was re-elected for a fifth consecutive Congress (although he had resigned, during the 13th Congress on January 19, 1814, so his service had not been continuous). Henry Clay received 147 votes and there were 8 scattering votes.Annals of Congress, Volume 35, column 702

Speaker Clay resigned before the convening of the second session on November 13, 1820. The second speakership election, during this Congress, took place between November 13–15, 1820. John W. Taylor (DR-NY) was elected, on the twenty-second ballot. In the final ballot, Taylor received 76 votes, William Lowndes (DR-SC) had 44, Samuel Smith (DR-MD) 27 and 1 was scattering.Annals of Congress, Volume 37, columns 434-438

The title Dean of the House (sometimes known, in the nineteenth century, as Father of the House) was held by the member with the longest continuous service. It was not a formal leadership position.

Standing committees The House created its first standing committee, on April 13, 1789. There were nineteen standing committees, listed in the rules initially used by the 16th Congress. Two additional committees were added during the Congress. The Committee on Manufactures was created on December 8, 1819, and the Committee on Agriculture was provided for by a resolution passed on May 3, 1820.

Committees, in this period, were normally appointed for a session at a time by the speaker. However the resolution of March 30, 1816, which created the committees on departmental expenditures and Expenditures on Public Buildings, provided for those standing committees to be appointed for the whole Congress.

This list refers to the standing committees of the House in the 16th Congress, the year of establishment as a standing committee, the number of members assigned to the committee and the dates of appointment in each session (or if appropriate for the Congress), the end of the session (if appropriate) and its chairman. Chairmen, who were re-appointed after serving in the previous Congress, are indicated by an *.Based on Rule X Organisation of Committees, in the House Rules and Manual for the 112th Congress. For membership and chairmen, see the Journal of the House of Representatives for the 16th Congress for the dates of appointment specified.

The first session was December 6, 1819 – May 15, 1820 (162 days) and the second session was November 13, 1820 – March 3, 1821 (111 days).

No.CommitteeFromMembersAppointedChairman1Accounts18053December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820James S. Smith (DR-NC)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 18212Agriculture18207November 15, 1820-March 3, 1821Thomas Forrest (F-PA)3Claims17947December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Lewis Williams (DR-NC)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 18214Commerce17957December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820*Thomas Newton, Jr. (DR-VA)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 18215District of Columbia18087December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Joseph Kent (DR-MD)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 18216Elections17897December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820*John W. Taylor (DR-NY)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 1821David Trimble (DR-KY)7Expenditures in the Navy Department18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821Stevenson Archer (DR-MD)8Expenditures in the Post Office Department18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821Arthur Livermore (DR-NH)9Expenditures in the State Department18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821John Holmes (DR-MA) (a)10Expenditures in the Treasury Department18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821David Trimble (DR-KY)11Expenditures in the War Department18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821Henry Brush (DR-OH)12Expenditures on Public Buildings18163December 8, 1819-March 3, 1821Henry Meigs (DR-NY)13Judiciary18137December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820John Sergeant (F-PA)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182114Manufactures18197December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Henry Baldwin (DR-PA)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182115Pensions and Revolutionary Claims18137December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820*John Rhea (DR-TN)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182116Post Office and Post Roads18087December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820*Arthur Livermore (DR-NH)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182117Private Land Claims18167December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820John W. Campbell (DR-OH)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182118Public Expenditures18147December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Eldred Simkins (DR-SC)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182119Public Lands18057December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Richard C. Anderson, Jr. (DR-KY)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182120Revisal and Unfinished Business17953December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820Marcus Morton (DR-MA)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 182121Ways and Means18027December 8, 1819 – May 15, 1820*Samuel Smith (DR-MD)November 15, 1820 – March 3, 1821

Note:- (a) Resigned from the House: March 15, 1820. Harmanus Peek (DR-NY) became Chairman for the rest of the Congress.

List of representatives by seniority A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 185 members initially elected to the 16th Congress. Other members, who were not the first person elected to a seat but who joined the House during the Congress, are not assigned a number (except for the representative from the newly admitted state of Alabama, who is assigned the number 186). The first representative from the newly admitted state of Maine, was elected to a seat transferred from Massachusetts and is not assigned a number.

3 representatives-elect were not sworn in. 1 was unseated after an election contest (NY-1: Sage) and 2 resigned (GA-al:Forsyth;NJ-al:Condict). The list below includes the representatives-elect (with name in italics), with the seniority they would have held if sworn in.

Party designations used in this article are DR for Democratic-Republican members and F for Federalist representatives. Designations used for service in the first three congresses are (A) for Anti-Administration members and (P) for Pro-Administration representatives.

+U.S. House seniorityRankRepresentativePartyDistrictSeniority datePrevious serviceNotes1Thomas Newton, Jr.DR Elected to this Congress: April 1819. Dean of the House. Chairman: Commerce.2John RandolphDR1799-1813 1815-1817 Elected to this Congress: April 1819.3Jonathan O. MoseleyFCT-al Last term while serving in the House.United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, for election as both a Federalist and Democratic-Republican candidate(page 64)4William A. BurwellDR Elected to this Congress: April 1819. Died while still serving in the House: February 16, 18215John RheaDR1813-1815 Elected to this Congress: August 5–6, 1819. Chairman: Pensions and Revolutionary Claims.6Henry SouthardDRNJ-al1801-1811 Last term while serving in the House.7Samuel SmithDR1793-1803 Chairman: Ways and Means. 8Joseph HiesterDR1798-1805 Previously served (DR) December 1, 1798 – 1805. Resigned to become Governor: December 1820. 9William LowndesDR 10William McCoyDR Elected to this Congress: April 181911Hugh NelsonDR12James PleasantsDR Elected to this Congress: April 1819. Resigned to become US Senator: December 14, 1819.13Henry ClayDR Previously served (DR) 1811-January 19, 1814, and 1815. Speaker of the House (1819–20). Last term until 18th Congress.14Lemuel SawyerDR1807-1813 Elected to this Congress: August 13, 1819.15Elias EarleDR1806-1807, 1811-1815 Last term while serving in the House.16Samuel RinggoldDR1810-1815 Last term while serving in the House.17John ForsythDRGA-al Resigned as Representative-elect, to become US Senator: November 23, 181818James JohnsonDR Elected to this Congress: April 1819. Resigned while serving in the House: February 1, 1820.19John W. TaylorDR Chairman: Elections (1819–20). Speaker of the House (1820-21).20Philip P. BarbourDR Elected to this Congress: April 181921Jeremiah NelsonF1805-180722Ebenezer SageDR1809-1815 Unseated, as a Representative-elect, after an election contest: January 14, 1820.United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, for election (page 64) and unseating (note 12 on page 68)23John CulpepperF1807-Jan 1808, Feb 1808-1809,