# 1788 Massachusetts Senate election

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Class 1: 1788
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vte :
Elections to the Massachusetts Senate were held during 1788 to elect 40 State Senators. Candidates were elected at the county level, with some counties electing multiple Senators.
For election, a candidate needed the support of a majority of those voting. If a seat remained vacant because no candidate received such majority, the Massachusetts General Court was empowered to fill it by a majority vote of its members.

## Apportionment

The apportionment of seats by population was as follows:
* Barnstable County: 1
* Berkshire County: 2
* Bristol County: 3
* Cumberland County: 1
* Dukes and Nantucket Counties: 1
* Essex County: 6
* Hampshire County: 4
* Lincoln County: 1
* Middlesex County: 5
* Plymouth County: 3
* Suffolk County: 6
* Worcester County: 5
* York County: 2

## Results
### Barnstable

1788 Barnstable Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Solomon Freeman | 231 | 50.55 |
| | Unknown | Thomas Smith (incumbent) | – | – |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 457 | 100.00 |
Exact totals for Smith, the incumbent Senator, are unknown.

### Berkshire

1788 Berkshire Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | William Whiting | 833 | 58.21 |
| | Unknown | Thompson J. Skinner (incumbent) | 609 | 42.56 |
| | Unknown | Elijah Dwight (incumbent) | 576 | 40.25 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,431 | 100.00 |
William Williams, Ebenezer Pierce, John Bacon, and William Walker also received votes, though exact totals are unknown.
Dwight was subsequently elected by the General Court.

### Bristol

1788 Bristol Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Holder Slocum (incumbent) | 991 | 58.78 |
| | Unknown | Phanuel Bishop (incumbent) | 981 | 58.19 |
| | Unknown | Abraham White | 973 | 57.71 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,686 | 100.00 |
Thomas Durfee, Walter Spooner, and Elisha May also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.

### Cumberland

1788 Cumberland Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Josiah Thacher | 396 | 61.30 |
| | Scattering | All others | 250 | 38.70 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 646 | 100.00 |

### Dukes and Nantucket

1788 Dukes and Nantucket Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Matthew Mayhew | 95 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 95 | 100.00 |

### Essex

1788 Essex Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Federalist | Tristram Dalton | 2,053 | 79.11 |
| | Federalist | Benjamin Goodhue | 1,988 | 76.61 |
| | Federalist | Azor Orne | 1,980 | 76.30 |
| | Federalist | Samuel Phillips Jr. | 1,939 | 74.72 |
| | Federalist | Stephen Choate | 1,719 | 66.24 |
| | Federalist | Samuel Holten | 1,157 | 44.59 |
| | Federalist | Jonathan Greenleaf | 934 | 35.99 |
| | Anti-Federalist | Peter Osgood Jr. | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Daniel Kilham | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Israel Hutchinson | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Aaron Wood | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | John Manning | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Richard Ward | – | – |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,595 | 100.00 |
Exact totals for the Anti-Federalist ticket were not listed.
Unaffiliated candidates Peter Coffin and John Choate also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.
Jonathan Greenleaf was subsequently elected by the General Court.

### Hampshire

1788 Hampshire Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Federalist | Caleb Strong (incumbent) | 1,460 | 55.07 |
| | Unknown | John Hastings (incumbent) | 1,441 | 54.36 |
| | Unknown | John Bliss | 1,267 | 47.79 |
| | Unknown | David Sexton | 1,240 | 46.77 |
| | Unknown | William Rodman | 1,082 | 40.81 |
| | Unknown | Oliver Phelps (incumbent) | 962 | 35.29 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,651 | 100.00 |
Incumbent Senator David Smead was not re-elected, and his exact vote total is unknown.
Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:
* Samuel Fowler
* Phinease Stebbins
* Daniel Cooley
* William Lyman
* William Shepard
* Samuel Lyman (Federalist)
* Simeon Strong
* Solomon Stoddard
* Samuel Phelps
* Samuel Field
* Robinson, unnamed
* Benjamin Eli
* Wareham Parks
* Samuel Mather
* Job Wright
* Hugh MacClellan
* Noah Goodman
* Ebenezer Mattoon (Federalist)
* William Pynchon
Bliss and Sexton were subsequently elected by the General Court.

### Lincoln

1788 Lincoln Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Samuel Thompson (incumbent) | 358 | 37.37 |
| | Unknown | Dummer Sewall | 245 | 25.57 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 958 | 100.00 |
Waterman Thomas, Daniel Cony, and Henry Dearborn also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.
Since no candidate received a majority of votes cast, the General Court elected Dummer Sewall to the seat.

### Middlesex

1788 Middlesex Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Federalist | Ebenezer Bridge (incumbent) | 1,754 | 66.44 |
| | Federalist | Joseph B. Varnum (incumbent) | 1,674 | 63.41 |
| | Federalist | Joseph Hosmer (incumbent) | 1,628 | 61.67 |
| | Federalist | Isaac Stearns (incumbent) | 1,549 | 58.67 |
| | Federalist | Eleazer Brooks | 1,441 | 54.58 |
| | Anti-Federalist | Walter MacFarland (incumbent) | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Walter Thompson | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | David Brown | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Samuel Reed | – | – |
| | Anti-Federalist | Marshall Spring | – | – |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,640 | 100.00 |
Exact totals for Anti-Federalist ticket are not listed.
Nathaniel Gorham, William Hunt, John Brooks (Federalist), William Hull, Joseph Curtis, James Winthrop and Elbridge Gerry also received votes, though their exact totals are unknown.

### Plymouth

1788 Plymouth Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | Charles Turner (incumbent) | 785 | 74.13 |
| | Unknown | Nathan Cushing (incumbent) | 779 | 73.56 |
| | Unknown | Daniel Howard | 636 | 60.06 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,059 | 100.00 |
Isaac Winslow, Hugh Orr, Joseph Bryant, James Briggs, and Ebenezer White also received votes.

### Suffolk

1788 Suffolk Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Anti-Federalist | Samuel Adams (incumbent) | 2,332 | 91.49 |
| | Unknown | Stephen Metcalf (incumbent) | 2,311 | 90.66 |
| | Federalist | Cotton Tufts (incumbent) | 2,268 | 88.98 |
| | Federalist | William Phillips Jr. (incumbent) | 2,164 | 84.90 |
| | Unknown | Thomas Dawes | 2,071 | 81.25 |
| | Unknown | Elijah Dunbar (incumbent) | 1,923 | 75.44 |
| | Unknown | Benjamin Austin Jr. (incumbent) | – | – |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,549 | 100.00 |
Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:
* Benjamin Lincoln (Federalist)
* Richard Cranch
* William Heath
* Samuel Breck
* John Metcalf
* Caleb Davis
* Stephen Higginson (Federalist)
* Jonathan Mason
* Jabez Fisher
* James Warren
* Samuel Niles
* James Sullivan

### Worcester

1788 Worcester Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Anti-Federalist | Amos Singletary | 1,687 | 32.77 |
| | Unknown | Jonathan Grout (incumbent) | 1,651 | 67.72 |
| | Unknown | John Fessenden | 1,636 | 67.72 |
| | Unknown | Peter Penneman | 1,524 | 53.25 |
| | Unknown | Abel Wilder (incumbent) | 1,240 | 53.25 |
| | Unknown | Samuel Baker | 1,036 | 47.30 |
| | Unknown | John Taylor | 990 | 28.67 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,457 | 100.00 |
Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:
* Moses Gill
* Timothy Paine
* John Sprague
* Joseph Stone
* Seth Washburn
* Samuel Willard
* Josiah Whitney
* Jonathan Warner
* Timothy Fuller
* Artemas Ward (Federalist)
* Jeremiah Learned
* Samuel Denny
* Martin Kinsley
* Stephen Maynard
* John Tysington
* Timothy Newhall
* Caleb Ammidown
* Bezaleel Taft Sr.
* Samuel Curtis
* Ezra Houghton
* Joseph Allen
* Joseph Behor
* Levi Lincoln Sr.
* Josiah Stearns

### York

1788 York Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Unknown | John Frost | 209 | 48.83 |
| | Unknown | Nathaniel Wells | 176 | 41.12 |
| | Unknown | Edward Cutts (incumbent) | 141 | 32.94 |
| | Unknown | Tristram Jordan (incumbent) | 118 | 27.57 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 428 | 100.00 |
Nathaniel Low also received votes, but his exact total is unknown.
No candidate received a majority. Edward Cutts and Nathaniel Wells were subsequently elected by the General Court.