25th United States Congress

The 25th 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, 1837, to March 4, 1839, during the first two years of Martin Van Buren's presidency.

The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1830 United States census. Both houses of congress had a Democratic majority.

Major events

• March 4, 1837: Martin Van Buren became President of the United States
• May 10, 1837: Panic of 1837
• January 6, 1838: First public demonstration of Samuel Morse's telegraph
• May 26, 1838: Trail of Tears: The Cherokee removal began

Major legislation

• [data missing]

Territories organized

• June 12, 1838: Iowa Territory was formed from the Wisconsin Territory.

Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

• President: Richard Mentor Johnson (D)
• President pro tempore: William R. King (D)

House of Representatives

• Speaker: James K. Polk (D)

Members

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

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 ended with this Congress, ending in 1839; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, ending in 1841; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, ending in 1843.

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 the first session of this Congress.

Senate

• Replacements: 6
  • Democrats: no net change
  • Whigs: no net change
• Deaths: 1
• Resignations: 6
• Total seats with changes: 7

House of Representatives

• Replacements: 16
  • Democrats: 5-seat net loss
  • Whigs: 5-seat net gain
• Deaths: 9
• Resignations: 6
• Contested election:1
• Total seats with changes: 20

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate

• Agriculture (Chairman: Perry Smith)
• Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Samuel McKean)
• Claims (Chairman: Henry Hubbard)
• Commerce (Chairman: William R. King)
• Danger of Steam Vessels (Select)
• Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: William H. Roane)
• Engrossed Bills (Chairman: John Norvell)
• Finance (Chairman: Silas Wright)
• Foreign Relations (Chairman: James Buchanan)
• Indian Affairs (Chairman: Hugh Lawson White)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Felix Grundy)
• Letter of Mr. Ruggles (Select)
• Manufactures (Chairman: John M. Niles)
• Memorial of A. B. Quinby (Select)
• Memorial of the Citizens of Georgetown (DC) for the Retrocession of that Part of the District (Select)
• Memorial of Duff Green (Select)
• Memorial of Edward D. Tippett (Select)
• Mileage of Members of Congress (Select)
• Military Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Hart Benton)
• Militia (Chairman: Clement C. Clay)
• Naval Affairs (Chairman: William C. Rives)
• Occupation of the Columbia River (Select)
• Oregon Territory (Select)
• Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: John Ruggles then Robert Strange)
• Pensions (Chairman: Thomas Morris)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John M. Robinson)
• Private Land Claims (Chairman: Lewis F. Linn)
• Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: N/A)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Robert J. Walker)
• Purchasing Boyd Reilly's Gas Apparatus (Select)
• Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Bedford Brown)
• Roads and Canals (Chairman: Thomas Tipton)
• Tariff Regulation (Select)
• Whole

House of Representatives

• Accounts (Chairman: Joseph Johnson)
• Agriculture (Chairman: Edmund Deberry)
• Amendment to the Constitution (Select)
• Claims (Chairman: John Chambers)
• Commerce (Chairman: Samuel Cushman)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: James W. Bouldin)
• Elections (Chairman: Andrew Buchanan)
• Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: John C. Brodhead)
• Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Timothy Childs)
• Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Mathias Morris)
• Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Heman Allen)
• Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: William K. Clowney)
• Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Samuel T. Sawyer)
• Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Benjamin C. Howard)
• Indian Affairs (Chairman: John Bell)
• Invalid Pensions (Chairman: William Taylor)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Francis Thomas)
• Manufactures (Chairman: John Quincy Adams)
• Mileage (Chairman: William C. Dawson)
• Military Affairs (Chairman: James I. McKay)
• Militia (Chairman: David D. Wagener)
• Naval Affairs (Chairman: Samuel Ingham)
• Patents (Chairman: Isaac Fletcher)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Henry W. Connor)
• Private Land Claims (Chairman: William L. May)
• Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Levi Lincoln Jr.)
• Public Expenditures (Chairman: Elisha Haley)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Ratliff Boon until 1838, then Zadok Casey)
• Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Matthias Shepler)
• Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Robert Craig)
• Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: William S. Morgan)
• Roads and Canals (Chairman: Charles F. Mercer)
• Rules (Select)
• Standards of Official Conduct
• Territories (Chairman: Isaac H. Bronson)
• Ways and Means (Chairman: Churchill C. Cambreleng)
• Whole

Joint committees

• Enrolled Bills
• The Library

Employees

• Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

Senate

• Chaplain: John R. Goodman (Episcopalian), until September 11, 1837
  • Henry Slicer (Methodist), elected September 11, 1837
• Secretary: Asbury Dickins
• Sergeant at Arms: John Shackford (died)
  • Stephen Haight, elected September 4, 1837

House of Representatives

• Chaplain: Septimus Tustin (Presbyterian), elected September 4, 1837
  • Levi R. Reese (Methodist), elected December 4, 1837
• Clerk: Walter S. Franklin, until September 20, 1838 (died)
  • Hugh A. Garland, elected December 3, 1838
• Doorkeeper: Overton Carr
• Postmaster: William J. McCormick
• Reading Clerks: [data missing]
• Sergeant at Arms: Roderick Dorsey

See also

• 1836 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
  • 1836 United States presidential election
  • 1836–37 United States Senate elections
  • 1836–37 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1838 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • 1838–39 United States Senate elections
  • 1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

References

• 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

• 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
• Congressional Directory for the 25th Congress, 3rd Session.
• Congressional Directory for the 25th Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).