# 48th United States Congress

The 48th 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, 1883, to March 4, 1885, during the last two years of Chester A. Arthur's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1880 United States census. The Senate had a Republican majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.

## Major events

* September 5, 1883: Mary F. Hoyt became the first woman appointed to the U.S. federal civil service (and the second person appointed by examination (in which she came top) instituted under the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act) when she became a clerk in the Bank Redemption Agency of the Department of the Treasury.
* October 15, 1883: The Supreme Court of the United States declared part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, as the Court allowed private individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race.
* November 18, 1883: U.S. and Canadian railroads instituted 5 standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
* August 10, 1884: An earthquake measuring 5.5 M$_{fa}$ (based on the felt area) affected a very large portion of the eastern United States. The shock had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). Chimneys were toppled in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Property damage was severe in Jamaica and Amityville in New York.
* October 6, 1884: The United States Naval War College was established in Newport, Rhode Island.
* October 22, 1884: International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., fixed the Greenwich meridian as the world's prime meridian.
* November 4, 1884: 1884 United States presidential election: Democratic governor of New York Grover Cleveland defeated Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.
* December 6: 1884: The Washington Monument was completed.

## Territories organized

* May 17, 1884: District of Alaska was organized.

## 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) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Readjuster (RA) | Republican (R) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 37 | 1 | 37 | 1 | 76 | 0 |
| Begin | 36 | 2 | 37 | 0 | 75 | 1 |
| End | 36 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 76 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 47.4% | 2.6% | 50.0% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 34 | 2 | 37 | 0 | 73 | 3 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Independent Democratic (ID) | Readjuster (RA) | Independent (I) | Greenback (GB) | Independent Republican (IR) | Republican (R) | Anti- Monopoly (AM) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 130 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 150 | 0 | 292 | 1 |
| Begin | 192 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 120 | 0 | 324 | 1 |
| End | 197 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 113 | 1 | 323 | 2 |
| Final voting share | 61.0% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 35.0% | 0.3% | | |
| Non-voting members | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Beginning of next congress | 128 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 151 | 128 | 419 | 0 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Vacant. Chester Arthur (R), the most recent Senate president, had become U.S. president on the death of his predecessor September 19, 1881, leaving the office vacant through the end of this Congress.
* President pro tempore: George F. Edmunds (R)
* Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: George H. Pendleton

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: John G. Carlisle (D)
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: George W. Geddes
* Republican Conference Chairman: Joseph Gurney Cannon
* Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: William Rosecrans

## Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state.
    Skip to House of Representatives, below

### Senate

Senators are listed by their states and Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election.

### House of Representatives

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: 1
** Democratic: no net change
** Republican: 1 seat net gain
** Liberal Republican: 1 seat net loss
* Deaths: 1
* Resignations: 0
* Interim appointment: 1
* Late election: 1
* Total seats with changes: 3

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 15
** Democratic: 1 seat net gain
** Republican: 1 seat net loss
** National Greenback: 1 seat net gain
* Deaths: 9
* Resignations: 9
* Contested election: 8
* Total seats with changes: 25

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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.

### Joint committees

* Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Sen. William J. Sewell; Vice Chairman: Rep. Alfred H. Colquitt)
* The Library (Chairman: Sen. John Sherman; Vice Chairman: Rep. Daniel W. Voorhees)
* Printing (Chairman: Sen. Henry B. Anthony then Joseph R. Hawley; Vice Chairman: Rep. Arthur P. Gorman)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Sen. William Mahone; Vice Chairman: Rep. Charles W. Jones)
* Scientific Bureaus

## Caucuses

* Democratic (House)
* Democratic (Senate)

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
* Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
* Public Printer of the United States: Sterling P. Rounds

### Senate

* Chaplain: Joseph J. Bullock (Presbyterian), to December 18, 1883
** Elias D. Huntley (Methodist), from December 18, 1883
* Librarian: P. J. Pierce, to 1884
** George M. Weston, from 1884
* Secretary: Francis E. Shober (Acting), to December 18, 1883
** Anson G. McCook, from December 18, 1883
* Sergeant at Arms: Richard J. Bright, to December 18, 1883
** William P. Canady, from December 18, 1883

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: Frederick D. Power (Disciples of Christ), until December 3, 1883
** John S. Lindsay (Episcopalian), elected December 3, 1883
* Clerk: John B. Clark Jr., elected December 3, 1883
* Clerk at the Speaker's Table: Nathaniel T. Crutchfield
* Doorkeeper: James G. Wintersmith, elected December 3, 1883
* Postmaster: Lycurgus Dalton, elected December 3, 1883
* Reading Clerks: T.O. Walker (D) and Neill S. Brown Jr. (R)
* Sergeant at Arms: George W. Hooker, until December 4, 1883
** John P. Leedom, until December 4, 1883