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The 'Thirty-seventh United States Congress' was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprised of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4 1861 to March 3 1863, during the first two years of the first administration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Seventh Census of the United States in 1850. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

Contents

Dates of sessions

Party summary

Leadership

Major events

Major legislation

Members

Senate

House of Representatives

Delegates

Changes in membership

Officers

Notes

References

External links

Dates of sessions

March 4 1861 - March 3 1863

★ Special session of the Senate: March 4 1861 – March 28 1861

★ First session: July 4 1861 – August 6 1861

★ Second session: December 2 1861 - July 17 1862

★ Third session: December 1 1862 - March 3 1863 — a lame duck session
Previous congress: 36th Congress

Next congress: 38th Congress

Party summary

Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded from the Union during this Congress.
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' ★ Democratic ''(D)'': 15 ★ Republican ''(R)'': 31 ''(majority)'' ★ Unionist ''(U)'': 3 ★ vacant: 1'TOTAL members: 50'

:'House of Representatives' ★ Democratic ''(D)'': 44 ★ Republican ''(R)'': 108 ''(majority)'' ★ Constitutional Unionist ''(CU)'': 2 ★ Union ''(UN)'': 2 ★ Unionist ''(U)'': 28 ★ Independent Democratic ''(ID)'': 1'TOTAL members: 183'

Leadership

:'Senate'

★ Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate):

★
★ Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine

★ President pro tempore of the Senate:

★
★ Solomon Foot, ''Republican'' of Vermont, first elected in this Congress March 23 1861.
:'House of Representatives'

★ Speaker of the House

★
★ Galusha A. Grow, ''Republican'' of Pennsylvania, elected July 4 1861.

Major events

:''Main article: Events of 1861; Events of 1862; Events of 1863''

★ March 4 1861 Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States

Major legislation

:''Main article: List of United States federal legislation in the 37th Congress

★ August 5, 1861 - Revenue Act of 1861, ch. 45, 12 Stat. 242

★ May 20 1862 - Homestead Act, ch. 75, 12 Stat. 392

★ July 1, 1862 - Revenue Act of 1862, ch. 119, 12 Stat. 432

★ July 1, 1862 - Pacific Railway Act, ch. 120, 12 Stat. 489

★ July 2, 1862 - Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act, ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503 ( et seq)

★ July 17, 1862 - Militia Act, ch. 201, 12 Stat. 597

★ February 24 1863 Arizona Territory was organized.

★ February 25 1863 - National Banking Act, ch 58, 12 Stat. 665

★ March 2 1863 - False Claims Act, ch. 67, 12 Stat. 696 ''et seq''

★ March 3 1863 - Enrollment Act, ch. 75, 12 Stat. 731

★ March 3 1863 Idaho Territory was organized.

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
:''See also: 37th United States Congress - political parties''
:''See also: 37th United States Congress - State Delegations''
:''See also: United States House elections, 1860''

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 1862; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1864; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1866.
:''See also:
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:'Alabama' ★ 2: vacant ★ 3: vacant :'Arkansas' ★ 2: William K. Sebastian ''(D)'' ★ 3: Charles B. Mitchel ''(D)'' :'California' ★ 1: Milton S. Latham ''(D)'' ★ 3: James A. McDougall ''(D)'' :'Connecticut' ★ 3: La Fayette S. Foster ''(R)'' ★ 1: James Dixon ''(R)'' :'Delaware' ★ 1: James A. Bayard, Jr. ''(D)'' ★ 2: Willard Saulsbury, Sr. ''(D)'' :'Florida' ★ 1: vacant ★ 3: vacant :'Georgia' ★ 2: vacant ★ 3: vacant :'Illinois' ★ 2: Stephen A. Douglas ''(D)'' ★ : Orville H. Browning ''(R)'' ★ : William A. Richardson ''(D)'' ★ 3: Lyman Trumbull ''(R)'' :'Indiana' ★ 1: Jesse D. Bright ''(D)'' ★ : Joseph A. Wright ''(U)'' ★ : David Turpie ''(D)'' ★ 3: Henry S. Lane ''(R)'' :'Iowa' ★ 3: James Harlan ''(R)'' ★ 2: James W. Grimes ''(R)'' :'Kansas' ★ 3: Samuel C. Pomeroy ''(R)'' ★ 2: James H. Lane ''(R)'' :'Kentucky' ★ 2: Lazarus W. Powell ''(D)'' ★ 3: John C. Breckinridge ''(D)'' ★ : Garrett Davis ''(U)''

:'Louisiana' ★ 2: vacant ★ 3: vacant :'Maine' ★ 2: William Pitt Fessenden ''(R)'' ★ 1: Lot M. Morrill ''(R)'' :'Maryland' ★ 3: James A. Pearce ''(D)'' ★ : Thomas H. Hicks ''(U)'' ★ 1: Anthony Kennedy ''(U)'' :'Massachusetts' ★ 1: Charles Sumner ''(R)'' ★ 2: Henry Wilson ''(R)'' :'Michigan' ★ 1: Zachariah Chandler ''(R)'' ★ 2: Kinsley S. Bingham ''(R)'' ★ : Jacob M. Howard ''(R)'' :'Minnesota' ★ 1: Henry M. Rice ''(D)'' ★ 2: Morton S. Wilkinson ''(R)'' :'Mississippi' ★ 1: vacant ★ 2: vacant :'Missouri' ★ 1: Trusten Polk ''(D)'' ★ : John B. Henderson ''(U)'' ★ 3: Waldo Porter Johnson ''(D)'' ★ : Robert Wilson ''(U)'' :'New Hampshire' ★ 2: John P. Hale ''(R)'' ★ 3: Daniel Clark ''(R)'' :'New Jersey' ★ 1: John R. Thomson ''(D)'' ★ : Richard S. Field ''(R)'' ★ : James W. Wall ''(D)'' ★ 2: John C. Ten Eyck ''(R)'' :'New York' ★ 1: Preston King ''(R)'' ★ 3: Ira Harris ''(R)''

:'North Carolina' ★ 3: Thomas L. Clingman ''(D)'' ★ 2: Thomas Bragg ''(D)'' :'Ohio' ★ 1: Benjamin F. Wade ''(R)'' ★ 3: Salmon P. Chase ''(R)'' ★ : John Sherman ''(R)'' :'Oregon' ★ 2: Edward D. Baker ''(R)'' ★ : Benjamin Stark ''(D)'' ★ : Benjamin F. Harding ''(D)'' ★ 3: James W. Nesmith ''(D)'' :'Pennsylvania' ★ 1: Simon Cameron ''(R)'' ★ : David Wilmot ''(R)'' ★ 3: Edgar Cowan ''(R)'' :'Rhode Island' ★ 1: James F. Simmons ''(R)'' ★ : Samuel G. Arnold ''(R)'' ★ 2: Henry B. Anthony ''(R)'' :'South Carolina' ★ 2: James Chesnut, Jr. ''(D)'' ★ 3: vacant :'Tennessee' ★ 1: Andrew Johnson ''(D)'' ★ 2: Alfred O. P. Nicholson ''(D)'' :'Texas' ★ 2: John Hemphill ''(D)'' ★ 1: Louis T. Wigfall ''(D)'' :'Vermont' ★ 1: Solomon Foot ''(R)'' ★ 3: Jacob Collamer ''(R)'' :'Virginia' ★ 1: James M. Mason ''(D)'' ★ : Waitman T. Willey ''(U)'' ★ 2: Robert M. T. Hunter ''(D)'' ★ : John S. Carlile ''(U)'' :'Wisconsin' ★ 1: James R. Doolittle ''(R)'' ★ 3: Timothy O. Howe ''(R)''

President ''pro tempore'' Solomon Foot

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise ''at-large,'' are preceded by an "A/L," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.
Many of the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.
:''See also:
:''See also:

:'Alabama' ★ all seats vacant :'Arkansas' ★ all seats vacant :'California' [1] ★ : Frederick F. Low ''(R)'' ★ : Timothy G. Phelps ''(R)'' ★ : Aaron A. Sargent ''(R)'' :'Connecticut' ★ : Dwight Loomis ''(R)'' ★ : James E. English ''(D)'' ★ : Alfred A. Burnham ''(R)'' ★ : George C. Woodruff ''(D)'' :'Delaware' ★ : George P. Fisher ''(U)'' :'Florida' ★ all seats vacant :'Georgia' ★ all seats vacant :'Illinois' ★ : Elihu B. Washburne ''(R)'' ★ : Isaac N. Arnold ''(R)'' ★ : Owen Lovejoy ''(R)'' ★ : William Kellogg ''(R)'' ★ : William A. Richardson ''(D)'' ★ : John A. McClernand ''(D)'' ★ : Anthony L. Knapp ''(D)'' ★ : James C. Robinson ''(D)'' ★ : Philip B. Fouke ''(D)'' ★ : John A. Logan ''(D)'' ★ : William J. Allen ''(D)'' :'Indiana' ★ : John Law ''(D)'' ★ : James A. Cravens ''(D)'' ★ : William McKee Dunn ''(R)'' ★ : William S. Holman ''(D)'' ★ : George W. Julian ''(R)'' ★ : Albert G. Porter ''(R)'' ★ : Daniel W. Voorhees ''(D)'' ★ : Albert S. White ''(R)'' ★ : Schuyler Colfax ''(R)'' ★ : William Mitchell ''(R)'' ★ : John P. C. Shanks ''(R)'' :'Iowa' ★ : Samuel R. Curtis ''(R)'' ★ : James F. Wilson ''(R)'' ★ : William Vandever ''(R)'' :'Kansas' ★ : Martin F. Conway ''(R)'' :'Kentucky' ★ : Henry C. Burnett ''(D)'' ★ : Samuel L. Casey ''(U)'' ★ : James S. Jackson ''(U)'' ★ : George H. Yeaman ''(U)'' ★ : Henry Grider ''(U)'' ★ : Aaron Harding ''(U)'' ★ : Charles A. Wickliffe ''(U)'' ★ : George W. Dunlap ''(U)'' ★ : Robert Mallory ''(U)'' ★ : John J. Crittenden ''(U)'' ★ : William H. Wadsworth ''(U)'' ★ : John W. Menzies ''(U)'' :'Louisiana' ★ : Benjamin F. Flanders ''(U)'' ★ : Michael Hahn ''(U)'' :'Maine' ★ : John N. Goodwin ''(R)'' ★ : Charles W. Walton ''(R)'' ★ : Thomas A. D. Fessenden ''(R)'' ★ : Samuel C. Fessenden ''(R)'' ★ : Anson P. Morrill ''(R)'' ★ : John H. Rice ''(R)'' ★ : Frederick A. Pike ''(R)'' :'Maryland' ★ : John W. Crisfield ''(U)'' ★ : Edwin H. Webster ''(U)'' ★ : Cornelius L. L. Leary ''(U)'' ★ : Henry May ''(U)'' ★ : Francis Thomas ''(U)'' ★ : Charles B. Calvert ''(U)''

:'Massachusetts' ★ : Thomas D. Eliot ''(R)'' ★ : James Buffinton ''(R)'' ★ : Charles F. Adams, Sr. ''(R)'' ★ : Benjamin F. Thomas ''(U)'' ★ : Alexander H. Rice ''(R)'' ★ : William Appleton ''(CU)'' ★ : Samuel Hooper ''(R)'' ★ : John B. Alley ''(R)'' ★ : Daniel W. Gooch ''(R)'' ★ : Charles R. Train ''(R)'' ★ : Goldsmith F. Bailey ''(R)'' ★ : Amasa Walker ''(R)'' ★ : Charles Delano ''(R)'' ★ : Henry L. Dawes ''(R)'' :'Michigan' ★ : Bradley F. Granger ''(R)'' ★ : Fernando C. Beaman ''(R)'' ★ : Francis W. Kellogg ''(R)'' ★ : Rowland E. Trowbridge ''(R)'' :'Minnesota' ★ : Cyrus Aldrich ''(R)'' ★ : William Windom ''(R)'' :'Mississippi' ★ all seats vacant :'Missouri' ★ : Francis P. Blair, Jr. ''(R)'' ★ : James S. Rollins ''(CU)'' ★ : John B. Clark ''(D)'' ★ : William A. Hall ''(D)'' ★ : Elijah H. Norton ''(D)'' ★ : John W. Reid ''(D)'' ★ : Thomas L. Price ''(D)'' ★ : John S. Phelps ''(D)'' ★ : John W. Noell ''(D)'' :'New Hampshire' ★ : Gilman Marston ''(R)'' ★ : Edward H. Rollins ''(R)'' ★ : Thomas M. Edwards ''(R)'' :'New Jersey' ★ : John T. Nixon ''(R)'' ★ : John L. N. Stratton ''(R)'' ★ : William G. Steele ''(D)'' ★ : George T. Cobb ''(D)'' ★ : Nehemiah Perry ''(D)'' :'New York' ★ : Edward H. Smith ''(D)'' ★ : Moses F. Odell ''(D)'' ★ : Benjamin Wood ''(D)'' ★ : James E. Kerrigan ''(ID)'' ★ : William Wall ''(R)'' ★ : Frederick A. Conkling ''(R)'' ★ : Elijah Ward ''(D)'' ★ : Isaac C. Delaplaine ''(D)'' ★ : Edward Haight ''(D)'' ★ : Charles H. Van Wyck ''(R)'' ★ : John B. Steele ''(D)'' ★ : Stephen Baker ''(R)'' ★ : Abram B. Olin ''(R)'' ★ : Erastus Corning ''(D)'' ★ : James B. McKean ''(R)'' ★ : William A. Wheeler ''(R)'' ★ : Socrates N. Sherman ''(R)'' ★ : Chauncey Vibbard ''(D)'' ★ : Richard Franchot ''(R)'' ★ : Roscoe Conkling ''(R)'' ★ : R. Holland Duell ''(R)'' ★ : William E. Lansing ''(R)'' ★ : Ambrose W. Clark ''(R)'' ★ : Charles B. Sedgwick ''(R)'' ★ : Theodore M. Pomeroy ''(R)'' ★ : Jacob P. Chamberlain ''(R)'' ★ : Alexander S. Diven ''(R)'' ★ : Robert B. Van Valkenburg ''(R)'' ★ : Alfred Ely ''(R)'' ★ : Augustus Frank ''(R)'' ★ : Burt Van Horn ''(R)'' ★ : Elbridge G. Spaulding ''(R)'' ★ : Reuben E. Fenton ''(R)'' :'North Carolina' ★ all seats vacant

:'Ohio' ★ : George H. Pendleton ''(D)'' ★ : John A. Gurley ''(R)'' ★ : Clement L. Vallandigham ''(D)'' ★ : William Allen ''(D)'' ★ : James M. Ashley ''(R)'' ★ : Chilton A. White ''(D)'' ★ : Thomas Corwin ''(R)'' ★ : Richard A. Harrison ''(U)'' ★ : Samuel Shellabarger ''(R)'' ★ : Warren P. Noble ''(D)'' ★ : Carey A. Trimble ''(R)'' ★ : Valentine B. Horton ''(R)'' ★ : Samuel S. Cox ''(D)'' ★ : John Sherman ''(R)'' ★ : Samuel T. Worcester ''(R)'' ★ : Harrison G. O. Blake ''(R)'' ★ : Robert H. Nugen ''(D)'' ★ : William P. Cutler ''(R)'' ★ : James R. Morris ''(D)'' ★ : Sidney Edgerton ''(R)'' ★ : Albert G. Riddle ''(R)'' ★ : John Hutchins ''(R)'' ★ : John A. Bingham ''(R)'' :'Oregon' ★ : Andrew J. Thayer ''(D)'' ★ : George K. Shiel ''(D)'' :'Pennsylvania' ★ : William E. Lehman ''(D)'' ★ : Edward Joy Morris ''(R)'' ★ : Charles J. Biddle ''(D)'' ★ : John P. Verree ''(R)'' ★ : William D. Kelley ''(R)'' ★ : William Morris Davis ''(R)'' ★ : John Hickman ''(R)'' ★ : Thomas B. Cooper ''(D)'' ★ : John D. Stiles ''(D)'' ★ : Sydenham E. Ancona ''(D)'' ★ : Thaddeus Stevens ''(R)'' ★ : John W. Killinger ''(R)'' ★ : James H. Campbell ''(R)'' ★ : George W. Scranton ''(R)'' ★ : Hendrick B. Wright ''(D)'' ★ : Philip Johnson ''(D)'' ★ : Galusha A. Grow ''(R)'' ★ : James T. Hale ''(R)'' ★ : Joseph Bailey ''(D)'' ★ : Edward McPherson ''(R)'' ★ : Samuel S. Blair ''(R)'' ★ : John Covode ''(R)'' ★ : Jesse Lazear ''(D)'' ★ : James K. Moorhead ''(R)'' ★ : Robert McKnight ''(R)'' ★ : John W. Wallace ''(R)'' ★ : John Patton ''(R)'' ★ : Elijah Babbitt ''(R)'' :'Rhode Island' ★ : William P. Sheffield ''(U)'' ★ : George H. Browne ''(U)'' :'South Carolina' ★ all seats vacant :'Tennessee' ★ : Horace Maynard ''(U)'' ★ : George W. Bridges ''(U)'' ★ : Andrew J. Clements ''(U)'' :'Texas' ★ all seats vacant :'Vermont' ★ : Eliakim P. Walton ''(R)'' ★ : Justin S. Morrill ''(R)'' ★ : Portus Baxter ''(R)'' :'Virginia' ★ : Joseph E. Segar ''(U)'' ★ : Charles H. Upton ''(U)'' ★ : Lewis McKenzie ''(U)'' ★ : William G. Brown ''(U)'' ★ : John S. Carlile ''(U)'' ★ : Jacob B. Blair ''(U)'' ★ : Kellian V. Whaley ''(U)'' :'Wisconsin' ★ : John F. Potter ''(R)'' ★ : Luther Hanchett ''(R)'' ★ : Walter D. McIndoe ''(R)'' ★ : A. Scott Sloan ''(R)''

Speaker of the House Galusha A. Grow Delegates :'Colorado Territory' ★ : Hiram P. Bennet ''(R)'' :'Dakota Territory' ★ : John B. S. Todd ''(D)'' :'Nebraska Territory' ★ : Samuel G. Daily ''(R)'' :'Nevada Territory' ★ : John Cradlebaugh ''(I)'' :'New Mexico Territory' ★ : John S. Watts ''(R)'' :'Utah Territory' ★ : John M. Bernhisel ''(I)'' :'Washington Territory' ★ : William H. Wallace ''(R)''

Changes in membership

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

:'Senate' ★ replacements: 12 ★ ★ Democratic: 6 seat net loss ★ ★ Republican: 1 set net gain ★ ★ Unionist Party: 5 seat net gain ★ deaths: 4 ★ resignations: 4 ★ expulsions: 9 ★ withdrawals: 4 ★ vacancy: 11 ★ interim appointments: 4 ★ seats from newly admitted states: 2 ★ 'Total seats with changes: 20'

:'House of Representatives' ★ replacements: 19 ★ ★ Democratic: 1 seat net gain ★ ★ Republican: 3 seat net loss ★ ★ Constitutional Unionist: 1 seat net loss ★ ★ Unionist Party: 1 seat net gain ★ deaths: 4 ★ resignations: 13 ★ expulsions: 3 ★ contested election: 3 ★ 'Total seats with changes: 23'

Officers

:'Senate' ★ Secretary of the Senate: ★ ★ Asbury Dickens of North Carolina elected December 12 1836 ★ ★ John W. Forney of Pennsylvania elected July 15 1861 ★ Sergeant at Arms of the Senate: ★ ★ Dunning R. McNair of Pennsylvania, elected March 17 1853 ★ ★ George T. Brown of Illinois, elected July 6 1861 ★ Chaplain of the Senate ★ ★ The Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, ''Presbyterian'', elected December 15 1859 ★ ★ The Rev. Byron Sunderland, ''Presbyterian'', elected July 10 1861:'Other' ★ Architect of the Capitol: ★ ★ Thomas U. Walter, appointed June 11 1851

:'House of Representatives' ★ Clerk of the House: ★ ★ Emerson Etheridge of Tennessee, elected July 4 1861 ★ Sergeant at Arms of the House: ★ ★ Edward Ball of Ohio, elected July 4 1861 ★ Doorkeeper of the House: ★ ★ Ira Goodnow of New York, elected July 4 1861 ★ Postmaster of the House: ★ ★ William S. King of Minnesota, elected July 4 1861 ★ Messenger to the Speaker: ★ ★ Thaddeus Morrice ★ Chaplain of the House ★ ★ The Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, ''Methodist'', elected July 4 1861

Notes

1. all representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket

References

★ The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, , Kenneth C., Martis, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989,

★ The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, , Kenneth C., Martis, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1982,

External links

★ Statutes at Large, 1789-1875

★ Senate Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress

★ House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress

★ Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

★ U.S. House of Representatives: House History

★ U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists