50th United States Congress

The 50th 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, 1887, to March 4, 1889, during the third and fourth years of Grover Cleveland's first presidency. The president vetoed 212 pieces of legislation, the greatest number in a single session of Congress.

50th United States Congress
49th ←
→ 51st
March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1889
Members76 senators
325 representatives
8 non-voting delegates
Senate MajorityRepublican
Senate PresidentVacant
House MajorityDemocratic
House SpeakerJohn G. Carlisle (D)
Sessions
1st: December 7, 1887 – October 20, 1888
2nd: December 3, 1888 – March 3, 1889

The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Tenth Census of the United States in 1880. The Senate had a Republican majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.

Major events
Main articles: 1887 in the United States, 1888 in the United States, and 1889 in the United States

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation

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
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Readjuster
(RA)		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 34 2 40 76 0
Begin 35 1 38 74 2
End 37 760
Final voting share 48.7% 1.3% 50.0%
Beginning of next congress 37 0 39 76 0

House of Representatives
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Labor
(L)		Greenback
(GB)		Independent
(I)		Independent
Republican
(IR)		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 180 0 1 0 0 138 319 5
Begin 168 2 1 1 2 150 324 1
End 167 151
Final voting share 51.5% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.6% 46.6%
Beginning of next congress 160 0 0 0 0 164 324 1

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Members
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 this Congress, requiring reelection in 1892; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1888; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Changes in membership

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

Senate
  • Replacements: 1
  • Deaths: 0
  • Resignations: 1
  • Interim appointments: 1
  • Total seats with changes: 2
State
(class)		 Vacator Reason for vacancy Subsequent Date of successor's installation
West Virginia
(1)		 Vacant Filled vacancy in term. Charles J. Faulkner (D) May 5, 1887
Florida
(1)		 Vacant Filled vacancy in term. Samuel Pasco (D) May 19, 1887
New Hampshire
(2)		 Person C. Cheney (R) Successor was elected June 14, 1887 William E. Chandler (R) June 14, 1887

House of Representatives
  • Replacements: 8
  • Deaths: 4
  • Resignations: 5
  • Contested election: 0
  • Total seats with changes: 8
District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date successor seated
New York 25th Vacant Rep. Frank Hiscock resigned during previous congress James J. Belden (R) November 8, 1887
Texas 2nd John H. Reagan (D) Resigned March 4, 1887, after being elected to the U.S. Senate William H. Martin (D) November 4, 1887
Louisiana 6th Edward W. Robertson (D) Died August 2, 1887 Samuel M. Robertson (D) December 5, 1887
New York 19th Nicholas T. Kane (D) Died September 14, 1887 Charles Tracey (D) November 8, 1887
Michigan 11th Seth C. Moffatt (R) Died December 22, 1887 Henry W. Seymour (R) February 14, 1888
New York 1st Perry Belmont (D) Resigned December 1, 1888, after being appointed Minister to Spain Vacant until next Congress
Indiana 1st Alvin P. Hovey (R) Resigned January 17, 1889, after being elected Governor of Indiana.
New member elected January 29, 1889 and seated February 6, 1889.[1]		 Francis B. Posey (R) February 6, 1889
Missouri 4th James N. Burnes (D) Died January 23, 1889.
New member elected February 19, 1889 and seated February 25, 1889.[1]		 Charles F. Booher (D) February 25, 1889

Committees

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 (3 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

House of Representatives

Joint committees
  • Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
  • Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
  • To Investigate Work on the Washington Aqueduct Tunnel
  • The Library (Chairman: William G. Stahlnecker; Vice Chairman: Charles O'Neill)
  • Printing

Caucuses

Administrative officers

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Fiftieth Congress March 4, 1887, to March 3, 1889". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
    • 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.
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