55th United States Congress


The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1897, to March 4, 1899, during the first two years of William McKinley's 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 Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White, a Republican from the state of North Carolina.

Major events

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

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district.

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 re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.

[List of [United States Senators from Alabama|Alabama]]

House of Representatives

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

[List of [United States Representatives from Alabama|Alabama]]

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

Changes in membership

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

Senate

State
VacatorReason for vacancySubsequentDate of successor's installation
Ohio
John Sherman Resigned March 4, 1897 to become U.S. Secretary of State.
Elected to fill remainder of term.		Mark Hanna March 5, 1897
Florida
VacantFailure to elect.
Successor elected May 14, 1897.		Stephen R. Mallory May 15, 1897
Oregon
VacantFailure to elect.
Successor elected May 15, 1897.		Joseph Simon May 15, 1897
South Carolina
Joseph H. Earle Died May 20, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		John L. McLaurin June 1, 1897
Tennessee
Isham G. Harris Died July 8, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		Thomas B. Turley July 20, 1897
Mississippi
James Z. George Died August 14, 1897.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		Hernando Money October 8, 1897
Mississippi
Edward C. Walthall Died April 21, 1898.
Successor was appointed and subsequently elected.		William V. Sullivan May 31, 1898
Vermont
Justin S. Morrill Died December 28, 1898.
Successor was appointed.		Jonathan Ross January 11, 1899

House of Representatives

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link, in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House 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

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