The 54th 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, 1895, to March 4, 1897, during the last two years of Grover Cleveland's second presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1890 United States census. The House had a Republican majority, and the Republicans were the largest party in the Senate.
Major events
May 27, 1896: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado: The costliest and third deadliest tornado in U.S. history levels a mile wide swath of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, incurring over $10,000,000 (over $375 mil. in 2025) in damages at contemporaneous prices, killing more than 255 and injuring over 1,000 people. November 3, 1896: U.S. presidential election, 1896: Republican William McKinley defeats Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan. This is regarded as a realigning election, that ended the old Third Party System and started the Fourth Party System February 19, 1897: United States Copyright Office established as a department in the Library of Congress.
Major legislation
May 21, 1896: Oil Pipe Line Act, ch. 212, ( et seq.) May 22, 1896: Condemned Cannon Act, May 28, 1896: United States Commissioners Act, June 1, 1896: Married Women's Rights Act (District of Columbia), June 6, 1896: Filled Cheese Act, January 13, 1897: Stock Reservoir Act, , ( et seq.) March 2, 1897: Tea Importation Act, , ( et seq.)
States admitted January 4, 1896: Utah was admitted as the 45th state.
Party summary This count 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: Adlai E. Stevenson (D) President pro tempore: William P. Frye (R)
Majority (Republican) leadership Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman
Minority (Democratic) leadership Democratic Caucus Chairman: Arthur P. Gorman
House of Representatives Speaker: Thomas B. Reed (R) Minority Leader: Charles F. Crisp (D)
Majority (Republican) leadership Republican Conference Chairman: Charles H. Grosvenor Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Babcock
Minority (Democratic) leadership Democratic Caucus Chairman: David B. Culberson 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 began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1896.
Alabama 2. John T. Morgan (D) 3. James L. Pugh (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 (R)
Connecticut 1. Joseph R. Hawley (R) 3. Orville H. Platt (R)
Delaware 1. George Gray (D) 2. Richard R. Kenney (D), from January 19, 1897
Florida 1. Samuel Pasco (D) 3. Wilkinson Call (D)
Georgia 2. Augustus O. Bacon (D) 3. John B. Gordon (D)
Idaho 2. George L. Shoup (R) 3. Fred T. Dubois (R)
Illinois 2. Shelby M. Cullom (R) 3. John McAuley Palmer (D)
Indiana 1. David Turpie (D) 3. Daniel W. Voorhees (D)
Iowa 2. John H. Gear (R) 3. William B. Allison (R)
Kansas 2. Lucien Baker (R) 3. William A. Peffer (P)
Kentucky 2. William Lindsay (D) 3. Joseph C. S. Blackburn (D)
Louisiana 2. Donelson Caffery (D) 3. Newton C. Blanchard (D)
Maine 1. Eugene Hale (R) 2. William P. Frye (R)
Maryland 1. Arthur Pue Gorman (D) 3. Charles H. Gibson (D)
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) 2. Edward C. Walthall (D)
Missouri 1. Francis Cockrell (D) 3. George G. Vest (D)
Montana 1. Lee Mantle (R) 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. David B. Hill (D)
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) 3. Calvin S. Brice (D)
Oregon 2. George W. McBride (R) 3. John H. Mitchell (R)
Pennsylvania 1. Matthew S. Quay (R) 3. J. Donald Cameron (R)
Rhode Island 1. Nelson W. Aldrich (R) 2. George P. Wetmore (R)
South Carolina 2. Benjamin R. Tillman (D) 3. John L. M. Irby (D)
South Dakota 2. Richard F. Pettigrew (R) 3. James H. Kyle (P)
Tennessee 1. William B. Bate (D) 2. Isham G. Harris (D)
Texas 1. Roger Q. Mills (D) 2. Horace Chilton (D)
Utah 1. Frank J. Cannon (R), from January 22, 1896 3. Arthur Brown (R), from January 22, 1896
Vermont 1. Redfield Proctor (R) 3. Justin S. Morrill (R)
Virginia 1. John W. Daniel (D) 2. Thomas S. Martin (D)
Washington 1. John L. Wilson (R) 3. Watson C. Squire (R)
West Virginia 1. Charles J. Faulkner Jr. (D) 2. Stephen B. Elkins (R)
Wisconsin 1. John L. Mitchell (D) 3. William F. Vilas (D)
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 . Richard H. Clarke (D) . Jesse F. Stallings (D) . George P. Harrison (D) . Gaston A. Robbins (D), until March 13, 1896 William F. Aldrich (R), from March 13, 1896 . James E. Cobb (D), until April 21, 1896 Albert T. Goodwyn (P), from April 22, 1896 . John H. Bankhead (D) . Milford W. Howard (P) . Joseph Wheeler (D) . Oscar Underwood (D), until June 9, 1896 Truman H. Aldrich (R), from June 9, 1896
Arkansas . Philip D. McCulloch Jr. (D) . John S. Little (D) . Thomas C. McRae (D) . William L. Terry (D) . Hugh A. Dinsmore (D) . Robert Neill (D)
California . John A. Barham (R) . Grove L. Johnson (R) . Samuel G. Hilborn (R) . James G. Maguire (D) . Eugene F. Loud (R) . James McLachlan (R) . William W. Bowers (R)
Colorado . John F. Shafroth (R) . John C. Bell (P)
Connecticut . E. Stevens Henry (R) . Nehemiah D. Sperry (R) . Charles A. Russell (R) . Ebenezer J. Hill (R)
Delaware . Jonathan S. Willis (R)
Florida . Stephen M. Sparkman (D) . Charles M. Cooper (D)
Georgia . Rufus E. Lester (D) . Benjamin E. Russell (D) . Charles F. Crisp (D), until October 23, 1896 Charles R. Crisp (D), from December 19, 1896 . Charles L. Moses (D) . Leonidas F. Livingston (D) . Charles L. Bartlett (D) . John W. Maddox (D) . Thomas G. Lawson (D) . Farish C. Tate (D) . James C. C. Black (D), until March 4, 1895 James C. C. Black (D), from October 2, 1895 . Henry G. Turner (D)
Idaho . Edgar Wilson (R)
Illinois . J. Frank Aldrich (R) . William Lorimer (R) . Lawrence E. McGann (D), until December 27, 1895 Hugh R. Belknap (R), from December 27, 1895 . Charles W. Woodman (R) . George E. White (R) . Edward D. Cooke (R) . George E. Foss (R) . Albert J. Hopkins (R) . Robert R. Hitt (R) . George W. Prince (R), from December 2, 1895 . Walter Reeves (R) . Joseph G. Cannon (R) . Vespasian Warner (R) . Joseph V. Graff (R) . Benjamin F. Marsh (R) . Finis E. Downing (D), until June 5, 1896 John I. Rinaker (R), from June 5, 1896 . James A. Connolly (R) . Frederick Remann (R), until July 14, 1895 William F. L. Hadley (R), from December 2, 1895 . Benson Wood (R) . Orlando Burrell (R) . Everett J. Murphy (R) . George Washington Smith (R)
Indiana . James A. Hemenway (R) . Alexander M. Hardy (R) . Robert J. Tracewell (R) . James E. Watson (R) . Jesse Overstreet (R) . Henry U. Johnson (R) . Charles L. Henry (R) . George W. Faris (R) . J. Frank Hanly (R) . Jethro A. Hatch (R) . George W. Steele (R) . Jacob D. Leighty (R) . 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) . Orrin L. Miller (R) . Snyder S. Kirkpatrick (R) . Charles Curtis (R) . William A. Calderhead (R) . William Baker (P) . Chester I. Long (R) . Richard W. Blue (R)
Kentucky . John K. Hendrick (D) . John D. Clardy (D) . W. Godfrey Hunter (R) . John W. Lewis (R) . Walter Evans (R) . Albert S. Berry (D) . William C. Owens (D) . James B. McCreary (D) . Samuel J. Pugh (R) . Joseph M. Kendall (D), until February 18, 1897 Nathan T. Hopkins (R), from February 18, 1897 . David G. Colson (R)
Louisiana . Adolph Meyer (D) . Charles F. Buck (D) . Andrew Price (D) . Henry W. Ogden (D) . Charles J. Boatner (D), until March 20, 1896 Charles J. Boatner (D), from June 10, 1896 . Samuel M. Robertson (D)
Maine . Thomas B. Reed (R) . Nelson Dingley Jr. (R) . Seth L. Milliken (R) . Charles A. Boutelle (R)
Maryland . Joshua W. Miles (D) . William B. Baker (R) . Henry W. Rusk (D) . John K. Cowen (D) . Charles E. Coffin (R) . George L. Wellington (R)
Massachusetts . Ashley B. Wright (R) . Frederick H. Gillett (R) . Joseph H. Walker (R) . Lewis D. Apsley (R) . William S. Knox (R) . William Cogswell (R), until May 22, 1895 William H. Moody (R), from November 5, 1895 . William E. Barrett (R) . Samuel W. McCall (R) . John F. Fitzgerald (D) . Harrison H. Atwood (R) . William F. Draper (R) . Elijah A. Morse (R) . John Simpkins (R)
Michigan . John B. Corliss (R) . George Spalding (R) . Alfred Milnes (R), from December 2, 1895 . Henry F. Thomas (R) . William Alden Smith (R) . David D. Aitken (R) . Horace G. Snover (R) . William S. Linton (R) . Roswell P. Bishop (R) . Rousseau O. Crump (R) . John Avery (R) . Samuel M. Stephenson (R)
Minnesota . James Albertus Tawney (R) . James T. McCleary (R) . Joel Heatwole (R) . Andrew R. Kiefer (R) . Loren Fletcher (R) . Charles A. Towne (R) . Frank Eddy (R)
Mississippi . John M. Allen (D) . John C. Kyle (D) . Thomas C. Catchings (D) . Hernando D. Money (D) . John Sharp Williams (D) . Walter McKennon Denny (D) . James G. Spencer (D)
Missouri . Charles N. Clark (R) . Uriel S. Hall (D) . Alexander M. Dockery (D) . George C. Crowther (R) . John C. Tarsney (D), until February 27, 1896 Robert T. Van Horn (R), from February 27, 1896 . David A. De Armond (D) . John P. Tracey (R) . Joel D. Hubbard (R) . William M. Treloar (R) . Richard Bartholdt (R) . Charles F. Joy (R) . Seth W. Cobb (D) . John H. Raney (R) . Norman A. Mozley (R) . Charles G. Burton (R)
Montana . Charles S. Hartman (R)
Nebraska . Jesse B. Strode (R) . David H. Mercer (R) . George D. Meiklejohn (R) . Eugene J. Hainer (R) . William E. Andrews (R) . Omer M. Kem (P)
Nevada . Francis G. Newlands (S)
New Hampshire . Cyrus A. Sulloway (R) . Henry M. Baker (R)
New Jersey