The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1897, to March 4, 1899, during the first two years of William McKinley's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1890 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White, a Republican from the state of North Carolina, and one Kaw member, Charles Curtis, a Republican from Kansas.
Major events
March 4, 1897: William McKinley became President of the United States. February 15, 1898: Spanish–American War: USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor. December 10, 1898: Treaty of Paris ended Spanish–American War, .
Major legislation
July 24, 1897: Dingley tariff, ch. 11, , increased trade duties for revenue and protection April 20, 1898: Teller Resolution (Cuba), April 25, 1898: United States declaration of war upon Spain (Spanish–American War), June 1, 1898: Erdman Act, June 13, 1898: War Revenue Act of 1898, June 28, 1898: Curtis Act of 1898, , authorized the mass dispossession of territory from the Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, Muscogee Nation, and Seminole Nation and the divestiture of power from their national governments. July 1, 1898: Bankruptcy Act of 1898 (Henderson-Nelson Act), ch. 541, , gave companies an option of gaining protection from creditors. July 7, 1898: Newlands Resolution, No. 55, , authorized the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii March 3, 1899: Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, Ch. 425, , § 9,
Treaties ratified February 6, 1899: Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish–American War. Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico became possessions of the U.S.
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
House of Representatives
Leadership
Senate President: Garret Hobart (R) President pro tempore: William P. Frye (R) Republican Conference Chairman: William B. Allison Democratic Caucus Chairman: Arthur Pue Gorman, until 1898 David Turpie, afterwards
House of Representatives Speaker: Thomas Brackett Reed (R) Minority Leader: Joseph W. Bailey Republican Conference Chairman: Charles H. Grosvenor Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Babcock Democratic Caucus Chairman: James D. Richardson Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Charles James Faulkner
Members This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed 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, requiring re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.
Alabama 2. John T. Morgan (D) 3. Edmund Pettus (D)
Arkansas 2. James H. Berry (D) 3. James K. Jones (D)
California 1. Stephen M. White (D) 3. George C. Perkins (R)
Colorado 2. Edward O. Wolcott (R) 3. Henry M. Teller (SR)
Connecticut 1. Joseph R. Hawley (R) 3. Orville H. Platt (R)
Delaware 1. George Gray (D) 2. Richard R. Kenney (D)
Florida 1. Samuel Pasco (D) 3. Stephen R. Mallory (D), from May 14, 1897
Georgia 2. Augustus O. Bacon (D) 3. Alexander S. Clay (D)
Idaho 2. George L. Shoup (R) 3. Henry Heitfeld (P)
Illinois 2. Shelby M. Cullom (R) 3. William E. Mason (R)
Indiana 1. David Turpie (D) 3. Charles W. Fairbanks (R)
Iowa 2 John H. Gear (R) 3. William B. Allison (R)
Kansas 2. Lucien Baker (R) 3. William A. Harris (P)
Kentucky 2. William Lindsay (D) 3. William J. Deboe (R)
Louisiana 2. Donelson Caffery (D) 3. Samuel D. McEnery (D)
Maine 1. Eugene Hale (R) 2. William P. Frye (R)
Maryland 1. Arthur Pue Gorman (D) 3. George L. Wellington (R)
Massachusetts 1. Henry Cabot Lodge (R) 2. George F. Hoar (R)
Michigan 1. Julius C. Burrows (R) 2. James McMillan (R)
Minnesota 1. Cushman K. Davis (R) 2. Knute Nelson (R)
Mississippi 1. James Z. George (D), until August 14, 1897 Hernando D. Money (D), from October 8, 1897 2. Edward C. Walthall (D), until April 21, 1898 William V. Sullivan (D), from May 31, 1898
Missouri 1. Francis Cockrell (D) 3. George G. Vest (D)
Montana 1. Lee Mantle (SR) 2. Thomas H. Carter (R)
Nebraska 1. William V. Allen (P) 2. John M. Thurston (R)
Nevada 1. William M. Stewart (S) 3. John P. Jones (S)
New Hampshire 2. William E. Chandler (R) 3. Jacob H. Gallinger (R)
New Jersey 1. James Smith Jr. (D) 2. William J. Sewell (R)
New York 1. Edward Murphy Jr. (D) 3. Thomas C. Platt (R)
North Carolina 2. Marion Butler (P) 3. Jeter C. Pritchard (R)
North Dakota 1. William N. Roach (D) 3. Henry C. Hansbrough (R)
Ohio 1. John Sherman (R), until March 4, 1897 Marcus A. Hanna (R), from March 5, 1897 3. Joseph B. Foraker (R)
Oregon 2. George W. McBride (R) 3. Joseph Simon (R), from October 7, 1898
Pennsylvania 1. Matthew S. Quay (R) 3. Boies Penrose (R)
Rhode Island 1. Nelson W. Aldrich (R) 2. George P. Wetmore (R)
South Carolina 2. Benjamin R. Tillman (D) 3. Joseph H. Earle (D), until May 20, 1897 John L. McLaurin (D), from June 1, 1897
South Dakota 2. Richard F. Pettigrew (SR) 3. James H. Kyle (P)
Tennessee 1. William B. Bate (D) 2. Isham G. Harris (D), until July 8, 1897 Thomas B. Turley (D), from July 20, 1897
Texas 1. Roger Q. Mills (D) 2. Horace Chilton (D)
Utah 1. Frank J. Cannon (SR) 3. Joseph L. Rawlins (D)
Vermont 1. Redfield Proctor (R) 3. Justin S. Morrill (R), until December 28, 1898 Jonathan Ross (R), from January 11, 1899
Virginia 1. John W. Daniel (D) 2. Thomas S. Martin (D)
Washington 1. John L. Wilson (R) 3. George Turner (SR)
West Virginia 1. Charles J. Faulkner Jr. (D) 2. Stephen B. Elkins (R)
Wisconsin 1. John L. Mitchell (D) 3. John C. Spooner (R)
Wyoming 1. Clarence D. Clark (R) 2. Francis E. Warren (R)
House of Representatives
The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Alabama . George W. Taylor (D) . Jesse F. Stallings (D) . Henry D. Clayton (D) . Thomas S. Plowman (D), until February 9, 1898 William F. Aldrich (R), from February 9, 1898 . Willis Brewer (D) . John H. Bankhead (D) . Milford W. Howard (P) . Joseph Wheeler (D) . Oscar Underwood (D)
Arkansas . Philip D. McCulloch Jr. (D) . John S. Little (D) . Thomas C. McRae (D) . William L. Terry (D) . Hugh A. Dinsmore (D) . Stephen Brundidge Jr. (D)
California . John A. Barham (R) . Marion De Vries (D) . Samuel G. Hilborn (R) . James G. Maguire (D) . Eugene F. Loud (R) . Charles A. Barlow (P) . Curtis H. Castle (P)
Colorado . John F. Shafroth (SR) . John C. Bell (P)
Connecticut . E. Stevens Henry (R) . Nehemiah D. Sperry (R) . Charles A. Russell (R) . Ebenezer J. Hill (R)
Delaware . L. Irving Handy (D)
Florida . Stephen M. Sparkman (D) . Robert W. Davis (D)
Georgia . Rufus E. Lester (D) . James M. Griggs (D) . Elijah B. Lewis (D) . William C. Adamson (D) . Leonidas F. Livingston (D) . Charles L. Bartlett (D) . John W. Maddox (D) . William M. Howard (D) . Farish C. Tate (D) . William H. Fleming (D) . William G. Brantley (D)
Idaho . James Gunn (P)
Illinois . James R. Mann (R) . William Lorimer (R) . Hugh R. Belknap (R) . Daniel W. Mills (R) . George E. White (R) . Edward D. Cooke (R), until June 24, 1897 Henry S. Boutell (R), from November 23, 1897 . George E. Foss (R) . Albert J. Hopkins (R) . Robert R. Hitt (R) . George W. Prince (R) . Walter Reeves (R) . Joseph G. Cannon (R) . Vespasian Warner (R) . Joseph V. Graff (R) . Benjamin F. Marsh (R) . William H. Hinrichsen (D) . James A. Connolly (R) . Thomas M. Jett (D) . Andrew J. Hunter (D) . James R. Campbell (D) . Jehu Baker (D) . George Washington Smith (R)
Indiana . James A. Hemenway (R) . Robert W. Miers (D) . William T. Zenor (D) . William S. Holman (D), until April 22, 1897 Francis M. Griffith (D), from December 6, 1897 . George W. Faris (R) . Henry U. Johnson (R) . Jesse Overstreet (R) . Charles L. Henry (R) . Charles B. Landis (R) . Edgar D. Crumpacker (R) . George W. Steele (R) . James M. Robinson (D) . Lemuel W. Royse (R)
Iowa . Samuel M. Clark (R) . George M. Curtis (R) . David B. Henderson (R) . Thomas Updegraff (R) . Robert G. Cousins (R) . John F. Lacey (R) . John A. T. Hull (R) . William P. Hepburn (R) . Alva L. Hager (R) . Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) . George D. Perkins (R)
Kansas . Case Broderick (R) . Mason S. Peters (P) . Edwin R. Ridgely (P) . Charles Curtis (R) . William D. Vincent (P) . Nelson B. McCormick (P) . Jeremiah Simpson (P) . Jeremiah D. Botkin (P)
Kentucky . Charles K. Wheeler (D) . John D. Clardy (D) . John S. Rhea (D) . David Highbaugh Smith (D) . Walter Evans (R) . Albert S. Berry (D) . Evan E. Settle (D) . George M. Davison (R) . Samuel J. Pugh (R) . Thomas Y. Fitzpatrick (D) . David G. Colson (R)
Louisiana . Adolph Meyer (D) . Robert C. Davey (D) . Robert F. Broussard (D) . Henry W. Ogden (D) . Samuel T. Baird (D) . Samuel M. Robertson (D)
Maine . Thomas B. Reed (R) . Nelson Dingley Jr. (R), until January 13, 1899 . Seth L. Milliken (R), until April 18, 1897 Edwin C. Burleigh (R), from June 21, 1897 . Charles A. Boutelle (R)
Maryland . Isaac A. Barber (R) . William B. Baker (R) . William S. Booze (R) . William W. McIntire (R) . Sydney E. Mudd (R) . John McDonald (R)
Massachusetts . Ashley B. Wright (R), until August 14, 1897 George P. Lawrence (R), from November 2, 1897 . Frederick H. Gillett (R) . Joseph H. Walker (R) . George W. Weymouth (R) . William S. Knox (R) . William H. Moody (R) . William E. Barrett (R) . Samuel W. McCall (R) . John F. Fitzgerald (D) . Samuel J. Barrows (R) . Charles F. Sprague (R) . William C. Lovering (R) . John Simpkins (R), until March 27, 1898 William S. Greene (R), from May 31, 1898
Michigan . John B. Corliss (R) . George Spalding (R) . Albert M. Todd (D) . Edward L. Hamilton (R) . William Alden Smith (R) . Samuel W. Smith (R) . Horace G. Snover (R) . Ferdinand Brucker (D) . Roswell P. Bishop (R) . Rousseau O. Crump (R) . William S. Mesick (R) . Carlos D. Shelden (R)
Minnesota . James Albertus Tawney (R) . James T. McCleary (R) . Joel Heatwole (R) . Frederick C. Stevens (R) . Loren Fletcher (R) . R. Page W. Morris (R) . Frank Eddy (R)
Mississippi . John M. Allen (D) . William V. Sullivan (D), until May 31, 1898 Thomas Spight (D), from July 5, 1898 . Thomas C. Catchings (D) . Andrew F. Fox (D) . John Sharp Williams (D) . William F. Love (D), until October 16, 1898 Frank A. McLain (D), from December 12, 1898 . Patrick Henry (D)
Missouri . James T. Lloyd (D), from June 1, 1897 . Robert N. Bodine (D) . Alexander M. Dockery (D) . Charles F. Cochran (D) . William S. Cowherd (D) . David A. De Armond (D) . James Cooney (D) . Richard P. Bland (D) . James Beauchamp Clark (D) . Richard Bartholdt (R) . Charles F. Joy (R) . Charles E. Pearce (R) . Edward Robb (D) . Willard D. Vandiver (D) . Maecenas E. Benton (D)
Montana . Charles S. Hartman (SR)
Nebraska . Jesse B. Strode (R)