49th United States Congress
The 49th 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, 1885, to March 4, 1887, during the first two years of Grover Cleveland's first presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1880 United States census. The Senate had a Republican majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.
Major events
- March 4, 1885: Grover Cleveland became President of the United States
- November 25, 1885: Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks died
Major legislation
- January 19, 1886: Presidential Succession Act of 1886, ch. 4,
- February 3, 1887: Electoral Count Act, ch. 90,
- February 4, 1887: Commerce Act">United States House Committee on Commerce">Commerce Act, ch. 104,
- February 8, 1887: Indian General Allotment Act, ch. 119,
- March 2, 1887: Agricultural Experiment Stations Act of 1887
- March 2, 1887: Hatch Act of 1887, ch. 314,
- March 3, 1887: Tucker Act, ch. 359,
- March 3, 1887: Edmunds–Tucker Act, ch. 397
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.Leadership
Senate
- President: Thomas A. Hendricks, until November 25, 1885; vacant thereafter
- President pro tempore: John Sherman, December 7, 1885 – February 26, 1887
- * John J. Ingalls, from February 26, 1887
- Republican Conference Chairman: George F. Edmunds
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: James B. Beck
- Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Arthur Pue Gorman
House of Representatives
- Speaker of the [United States House of Representatives|Speaker]: John G. Carlisle
- Minority Leader: Thomas B. Reed
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: John Randolph Tucker
- Republican Conference Chairman: Joseph Gurney Cannon
Members
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 reelection in 1886; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1888; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.Georgia">List of United States senators from Georgia">Georgia
Maryland">List of United States senators from Maryland">Maryland
New Hampshire">List of United States senators from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
South Carolina">List of United States senators from South Carolina">South Carolina
House of Representatives
The names of representatives are listed by district.Georgia">List of United States representatives from Georgia">Georgia
Maryland">List of United States representatives from Maryland">Maryland
New Hampshire">List of United States representatives from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
South Carolina">List of United States representatives from South Carolina">South Carolina
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.Senate
- Replacements: 7
- * Democratic: 1 seat net gain
- * Republican: 1 seat net loss
- * Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
- Deaths: 3
- Resignations: 6
- Interim appointments: 1
- Total seats with changes: 9
| State | Vacated by | Reason for vacancy | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
| New Hampshire | Vacant | Appointed to fill vacancy in term. | Henry W. Blair | March 5, 1885 |
| Illinois | Vacant | Legislature failed to elect, with several delays in election process held from February 18 to May 19. Incumbent Logan eventually chosen to retake seat. | John A. Logan | May 19, 1885 |
| Oregon | Vacant | Failure to elect. | John H. Mitchell | November 18, 1885 |
| Arkansas | Augustus H. Garland | Resigned March 6, 1885, after being appointed United States Attorney General. Successor was elected. | James H. Berry | March 20, 1885 |
| Delaware | Thomas F. Bayard | Resigned March 6, 1885, after being appointed Secretary of State">Secretary of the United States Senate">Secretary of State. Successor was elected. | George Gray | March 18, 1885 |
| Mississippi | Lucius Q. C. Lamar II | Resigned March 6, 1885, after being appointed United States Secretary of the Interior. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. | Edward C. Walthall | March 9, 1885 |
| California | John F. Miller | Died March 8, 1886. Successor was appointed. | George Hearst | March 23, 1886 |
| Tennessee | Howell E. Jackson | Resigned April 14, 1886, after being appointed judge for the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit. Successor was appointed. | Washington C. Whitthorne | April 16, 1886 |
| California | George Hearst | Successor was elected August 4, 1886. | Abram Williams | August 4, 1886 |
| New Hampshire | Austin F. Pike | Died October 8, 1886. Successor was appointed. | Person C. Cheney | November 24, 1886 |
| Illinois | John A. Logan | Died December 26, 1886. Successor was elected. | Charles B. Farwell | January 19, 1887 |
House of Representatives
- Replacements: 11
- * Democratic: 2 seat net gain
- * Republican: 2 seat net loss
- Deaths: 8
- Resignations: 7
- Contested election: 1
- '''Total seats with changes: 16'''
Committees
Senate
- Library of Congress|Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress]
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- United States Senate [Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate|Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate]
- Civil Service and Retrenchment
- Claims
- Coast Defenses
- Commerce
- Compensation of Members of Congress
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States
- District of Columbia
- United States Senate [Committee on Education and Labor|Education and Labor]
- Engrossed Bills
- Enrolled Bills
- Epidemic Diseases
- Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
- Executive Departments Methods
- Expenditures of Public Money
- Finance
- Fisheries
- Foreign Relations
- Indian Affairs
- Indian Traders
- Interstate Commerce
- Judiciary
- Library
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River and its Tributaries|Mississippi River and its Tributaries]
- Naval Affairs
- Nicaraguan Claims
- Ordnance and War Ships
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Potomac River Front
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railroads
- Revision of the Laws
- Revolutionary Claims
- Rules
- Tariff Regulation
- Tenth Census
- Territories
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
- Whole
- Woman Suffrage
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Admission to the Floor
- Agriculture
- Alcoholic Liquor Traffic
- American Ship building
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Education
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Justice Department
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Judiciary
- Labor
- Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railways and Canals
- Revision of Laws
- Rivers and Harbors
- Rules
- United States House [Committee on Standards of Official Conduct|Standards of Official Conduct]
- Territories
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole (United States House of Representatives)|Whole]
Joint committees
Caucuses
- Democratic Caucus|Democratic]
- Democratic
Employees
Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States#United States Congress">Legislative branch agency directors
- Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
- Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
- Public Printer of the United States: Sterling P. Rounds, until 1886
- * Thomas E. Benedict, starting 1886
Senate
- Secretary: Anson G. McCook
- Librarian: George M. Weston
- Sergeant at Arms: William P. Canady
- Chaplain: Elias D. Huntley, Methodist, until March 15, 1886
- * John G. Butler, Lutheran, elected March 15, 1886
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: John Summerfield Lindsay, until December 7, 1885
- * William H. Milburn, elected December 7, 1885
- Doorkeeper: Samuel Donelson, elected December 7, 1885
- Clerk: John B. Clark Jr.
- Clerk at the Speaker's Table: Nathaniel T. Crutchfield
- Postmaster: Lycurgus Dalton
- Clerk of the United States House of Representatives|Reading Clerks]: Thomas S. Pettit and Neill S. Brown Jr.
- Sergeant at Arms: John P. Leedom