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"Gorman's Triumph— A Humiliating Spectacle", cartoon by W. A. Rogers depicting President Cleveland's humiliation by the Sugar Trust.

The 53rd 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, 1893, to March 4, 1895, during the first two years of Grover Cleveland's second presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

Party summary[edit]

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[edit]

House of Representatives[edit]

Leadership[edit]

Senate President
Adlai Stevenson

Senate[edit]

  • President: Adlai Stevenson (D)
  • President pro tempore: Charles F. Manderson (D)
    • Isham G. Harris (D), elected March 22, 1893
    • Matt Whitaker Ransom (D), elected January 7, 1895
    • Isham G. Harris (D), elected January 10, 1895
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: Arthur P. Gorman
  • Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman

House of Representatives[edit]

House Speaker
Charles F. Crisp
  • Speaker: Charles F. Crisp (D)
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: William S. Holman
  • Republican Conference Chairman: Thomas J. Henderson
  • Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Babcock
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: Charles J. Faulkner
  • Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: John L. Mitchell

Major events[edit]

  • March 4, 1893: Grover Cleveland became President of the United States for a second time.
  • May 5, 1893: Panic of 1893: A crash on the New York Stock Exchange started a depression.
  • November 7, 1893: Colorado women were granted the right to vote
  • May 1, 1894: Coxey's Army, the first significant[to whom?] American protest march, arrived in Washington, D.C.

Major legislation[edit]

  • July 16, 1894: Utah Enabling Act
  • August 27, 1894: Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act
  • February 18, 1895: Maguire Act of 1895

Members[edit]

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and Members of the House are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate[edit]

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 this Congress, facing re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, facing re-election in 1894; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1896.

House of Representatives[edit]

Changes in membership[edit]

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate[edit]

  • Replacements: 6
    • Democratic: no net change
    • Republican: no net change
    • Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
  • Deaths: 4
  • Resignations: 8
  • Interim appointments: 2
  • Total seats with changes: 12

House of Representatives[edit]

  • Replacements: 22
    • Democratic: 2 seat net gain
    • Republican: 2 seat net loss
  • Deaths: 11
  • Resignations: 13
  • Contested election: 3
  • Total seats with changes: 30

Committees[edit]

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (6 links), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, on the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate[edit]

  • Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress (Select) (Chairman: Justin S. Morrill; Ranking Member: Matthew C. Butler)
  • Agriculture and Forestry (Chairman: James Z. George; Ranking Member: James McMillan)
  • Appropriations (Chairman: Francis M. Cockrell; Ranking Member: William B. Allison)
  • Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Johnson N. Camden; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
  • Bribery Attempts Investigation (Special)
  • Canadian Relations (Chairman: Edward Murphy, Jr.; Ranking Member: George F. Hoar)
  • Census (Chairman: David Turpie; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
  • Civil Service and Retrenchment (Chairman: Thomas J. Jarvis; Ranking Member: N/A)
  • Claims (Chairman: Samuel Pasco; Ranking Member: John H. Mitchell)
  • Coast Defenses (Chairman: John B. Gordon; Ranking Member: Watson C. Squire)
  • Commerce (Chairman: Matt W. Ransom; Ranking Member: William P. Frye)
  • Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Select) (Chairman: Nelson W. Aldrich)
  • Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
  • District of Columbia (Chairman: Isham G. Harris; Ranking Member: James McMillan)
  • Education and Labor (Chairman: James H. Kyle; Ranking Member: Joseph M. Carey)
  • Engrossed Bills (Chairman: William B. Allison; Ranking Member: John Martin)
  • Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Donelson Caffery; Ranking Member: Fred T. Dubois)
  • Epidemic Diseases (Chairman: John P. Jones; Ranking Member: Isham G. Harris)
  • Establish a University in the United States (Select) (Chairman: Eppa Hunton; Ranking Member: Redfield Proctor)
  • Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service (Chairman: William A. Peffer; Ranking Member: Thomas C. Power)
  • Finance (Chairman: Daniel W. Voorhees; Ranking Member: Justin S. Morrill)
  • Fisheries (Chairman: Richard Coke; Ranking Member: Francis B. Stockbridge)
  • Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Select) (Chairman: Henry M. Teller; Ranking Member: Samuel Pasco)
  • Ford Theater Disaster (Select) (Chairman: Isham G. Harris)
  • Foreign Relations (Chairman: John Tyler Morgan; Ranking Member: John Sherman)
  • Forest Reservations (Select) (Chairman: William V. Allen; Ranking Member: Henry M. Teller)
  • Geological Survey (Select) (Chairman: Anselm J. McLaurin; Ranking Member: Edward O. Wolcott)
  • Immigration (Chairman: David B. Hill; Ranking Member: William E. Chandler)
  • Indian Affairs (Chairman: James K. Jones; Ranking Member: Orville H. Platt)
  • Indian Depredations (Chairman: William Lindsay; Ranking Member: George L. Shoup)
  • Interstate Commerce (Chairman: Matthew C. Butler; Ranking Member: Shelby M. Cullom)
  • Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands (Chairman: Stephen M. White; Ranking Member: William M. Stewart)
  • Judiciary (Chairman: James L. Pugh; Ranking Member: George Frisbie Hoar)
  • Library (Chairman: Roger Q. Mills; Ranking Member: Edward O. Wolcott)
  • Manufactures (Chairman: Charles H. Gibson; Ranking Member: Anthony Higgins)
  • Military Affairs (Chairman: William B. Bate; Ranking Member: Joseph R. Hawley)
  • Mines and Mining (Chairman: William M. Stewart; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
  • Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Select) (Chairman: Newton C. Blanchard; Ranking Member: William D. Washburn)
  • National Banks (Select) (Chairman: John L. Mitchell; Ranking Member: J. Donald Cameron)
  • Naval Affairs (Chairman: John R. McPherson; Ranking Member: J. Donald Cameron)
  • Nicaraguan Claims (Select)
  • Organization, Conduct and Expeditures of Executive Departments (Chairman: James Smith, Jr.; Ranking Member: James F. Wilson)
  • Pacific Railroads (Chairman: Calvin S. Brice; Ranking Member: Cushman K. Davis)
  • Patents (Chairman: Wilkinson Call; Ranking Member: Nathan F. Dixon)
  • Pensions (Chairman: John M. Palmer; Ranking Member: George L. Shoup)
  • Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: William F. Vilas; Ranking Member: John H. Mitchell)
  • Potomac River Front (Select) (Chairman: John R. McPherson)
  • Printing (Chairman: Arthur P. Gorman; Ranking Member: Charles F. Manderson)
  • Private Land Claims (Chairman: Eugene Hale; Ranking Member: Alfred H. Colquitt)
  • Privileges and Elections (Chairman: George Gray; Ranking Member: George F. Hoar)
  • Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: George G. Vest; Ranking Member: N/A)
  • Public Distress (Select)
  • Public Lands (Chairman: James H. Berry; Ranking Member: Joseph N. Dolph)
  • Quadrocentennial (Select) (Chairman: Patrick Walsh; Ranking Member: William Lindsay)
  • Railroads (Chairman: John Martin; Ranking Member: Joseph R. Hawley)
  • Revision of the Laws (Chairman: John W. Daniel; Ranking Member: James F. Wilson)
  • Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: J. Donald Cameron; Ranking Member: Richard Coke)
  • Rules (Chairman: Joseph C.S. Blackburn; Ranking Member: Nelson W. Aldrich)
  • Tariff Regulation (Select)
  • Territories (Chairman: Charles J. Faulkner; Ranking Member: Orville H. Platt)
  • Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (Select) (Chairman: Orville H. Platt; Ranking Member: Jacob H. Gallinger)
  • Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Chairman: John L.M. Irby; Ranking Member: Jacob H. Gallinger)
  • United States Senate Committee on Trespassers upon Indian Lands (Chairman: William N. Roach; Ranking Member: Anthony Higgins)
  • Whole
  • Woman Suffrage (Select) (Chairman: George F. Hoar; Ranking Member: James Z. George)

House of Representatives[edit]

  • Accounts (Chairman: Harry Welles Rusk; Ranking Member: Owen A. Wells)
  • Agriculture (Chairman: William H. Hatch; Ranking Member: John S. Williams)
  • Alcoholic Liquor Traffic (Select) (Chairman: Thomas Dunn English; Ranking Member: Michael J. McEttrick)
  • Appropriations (Chairman: Joseph D. Sayers; Ranking Member: James R. Williams)
  • Banking and Currency (Chairman: William M. Springer; Ranking Member: James R. Williams)
  • Claims (Chairman: Benjamin H. Bunn; Ranking Member: Thomas Hammond)
  • Coinage, Weights and Measures (Chairman: Richard P. Bland; Ranking Member: Henry A. Coffeen)
  • Disposition of Executive Papers (Chairman: John S. Henderson; Ranking Member: John A. Caldwell)
  • District of Columbia (Chairman: John T. Heard; Ranking Member: Charles M. Cooper)
  • Education (Chairman: Benjamin A. Enloe; Ranking Member: Charles D. Haines)
  • Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress (Chairman: Henry St. George Tucker; Ranking Member: Jesse F. Stallings)
  • Elections (Chairman: Jason B. Brown; Ranking Member: Frederick A. Woodard)
  • Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Albert J. Pearson; Ranking Member: Alva L. Hager)
  • Expenditures in the Agriculture Department (Chairman: Paul C. Edmunds; Ranking Member: Omer Madison Kem)
  • Expenditures in the Interior Department (Chairman: Henry G. Turner; Ranking Member: William W. Grout)
  • Expenditures in the Justice Department (Chairman: Richard D. Dunphy; Ranking Member: Byron F. Ritchie)
  • Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Benton McMillin; Ranking Member: Seth L. Milliken)
  • Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: James A.D. Richards; Ranking Member: Ashley B. Wright)
  • Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Rufus E. Lester; Ranking Member: Charles W. Stone)
  • Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Charles Barwig; Ranking Member: William A. Stone)
  • Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Alexander B. Montgomery; Ranking Member: Robert R. Hitt)
  • Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: William H. Crain; Ranking Member: John W. Moon)
  • Foreign Affairs (Chairman: James B. McCreary; Ranking Member: William Everett)
  • Immigration and Naturalization (Chairman: Jacob A. Geissenhainer; Ranking Member: James G. Maguire)
  • Irrigation of Arid Lands (Chairman: George W. Cooper; Ranking Member: Francis G. Newlands)
  • Indian Affairs (Chairman: William S. Holman; Ranking Member: William H. Bower)
  • Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Chairman: George D. Wise; Ranking Member: William H. Brawley)
  • Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Augustus N. Martin; Ranking Member: George B. Fielder)
  • Judiciary (Chairman: David B. Culberson; Ranking Member: Joseph W. Bailey)
  • Labor (Chairman: Lawrence E. McGann; Ranking Member: Lafe Pence)
  • Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River (Chairman: John M. Allen; Ranking Member: Frederick A. Woodard)
  • Library (Chairman: Franklin Bartlett; Ranking Member: Charles O'Neill)
  • Manufactures (Chairman: Charles H. Page; Ranking Member: Johnston Cornish)
  • Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Chairman: George W. Fithian; Ranking Member: Johnston Cornish)
  • Mileage (Chairman: Thomas Lynch; Ranking Member: George C. Pendleton)
  • Military Affairs (Chairman: Joseph H. Outhwaite; Ranking Member: Charles H. Morgan)
  • Militia (Chairman: Adolph Meyer; Ranking Member: John C. Bell)
  • Mines and Mining (Chairman: Thomas A.E. Weadock; Ranking Member: William A. Baker)
  • Naval Affairs (Chairman: Jacob A. Geissenhainer; Ranking Member: D. Gardiner Tyler)
  • Pacific Railroads (Chairman: James B. Reilly; Ranking Member: Joseph C. Hendrix)
  • Patents (Chairman: James W. Covert; Ranking Member: Robert Neill)
  • Pensions (Chairman: Charles L. Moses; Ranking Member: Champ Clark)
  • Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John S. Henderson; Ranking Member: Claude A. Swanson)
  • Printing (Chairman: James D. Richardson; Ranking Member: Case Broderick)
  • Private Land Claims (Chairman: John O. Pendleton; Ranking Member: Thomas J. Hudson)
  • Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: John H. Bankhead; Ranking Member: Robert C. Davey)
  • Public Lands (Chairman: Thomas Chipman McRae; Ranking Member: Asbury C. Latimer)
  • Railways and Canals (Chairman: Seth W. Cobb; Ranking Member: Marion Cannon)
  • Reform in the Civil Service (Chairman: Robert E. De Forest; Ranking Member: Arthur H. Taylor)
  • Revision of Laws (Chairman: William T. Ellis; Ranking Member: John W. Maddox)
  • Rivers and Harbors (Chairman: Thomas C. Catchings; Ranking Member: Philip D. McCulloch)
  • Rules (Chairman: Charles F. Crisp; Ranking Member: Thomas B. Reed)
  • Standards of Official Conduct
  • Territories (Chairman: Joseph Wheeler; Ranking Member: Haldor E. Boen)
  • Ventilation and Acoustics (Chairman: George W. Shell; Ranking Member: Joseph H. Walker)
  • War Claims (Chairman: Frank E. Beltzhoover; Ranking Member: Byron F. Ritchie)
  • Ways and Means (Chairman: William L. Wilson; Ranking Member: William D. Bynum)
  • Whole

Joint committees[edit]

  • Celebrate the Centennial of the Laying of the Capitol Cornerstone
  • Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
  • Dedication of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
  • Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
  • Ford's Theater Disaster
  • The Library
  • Printing
  • Naval Affairs
  • Naval Personnel

Caucuses[edit]

  • Democratic (House)
  • Democratic (Senate)

Employees[edit]

Legislative branch agency directors[edit]

  • Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
  • Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
  • Public Printer of the United States: Francis W. Palmer, until 1894
    • Thomas E. Benedict, from 1894

Senate[edit]

  • Chaplain of the Senate: William H. Millburn (Methodist)
  • Secretary of the Senate: Anson G. McCook, until April 6, 1893
    • William Ruffin Cox, elected April 6, 1893
  • Librarian of the Senate: Alonzo M. Church
  • Sergeant at Arms of the Senate: Edward K. Valentine, until August 8, 1893
    • Richard J. Bright, elected August 8, 1893

House of Representatives[edit]

  • Chaplain of the House: Samuel W. Haddaway (Methodist), elected August 7, 1893
    • Edward B. Bagby (Christian), elected December 4, 1893
  • Clerk of the House: James Kerr
  • Doorkeeper of the House: Alvin B. Hurt, elected August 7, 1893
  • Postmaster of the House: Lycurgus Dalton, elected August 7, 1893
  • Reading Clerks: Thomas S. Pettit (D) and Neill S. Brown, Jr. (R)
  • Clerk at the Speaker's Table: Charles R. Crisp
  • Sergeant at Arms of the House: Samuel S. Yoder, until August 7, 1893
    • Herman W. Snow, from August 7, 1893

See also[edit]

  • United States elections, 1892 (elections leading to this Congress)
    • 1892 United States presidential election
    • United States Senate elections, 1892
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 1892
  • United States elections, 1894 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
    • United States Senate elections, 1894
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 1894

References[edit]

  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

External links[edit]

  • Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
  • U.S. House of Representatives: House History
  • U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, Extraordinary Session.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 1st Session.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 1st Session (Revision). hdl:2027/mdp.39015022758133.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 2nd Session.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 2nd Session (1st Revision).
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 2nd Session (2nd Revision). 1894.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 3rd Session. 1895.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 53rd Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).