# 44th United States Congress

The 44th 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, 1875, to March 4, 1877, during the seventh and eighth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1870 United States census. For the first time since the American Civil War, the House had a Democratic majority. The Senate maintained a Republican majority.

## Major events

* November 22, 1875: Vice President Henry Wilson died from a stroke
* June 25, 1876: Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn
* July 4, 1876: United States Centennial
* November 7, 1876: United States general elections, 1876, including the disputed Presidential election of 1876, later settled with the Compromise of 1877 which ended Reconstruction.

## Major legislation

* January 29, 1877: Electoral Commission Act, ch. 37, 19 Stat. 227
* March 3, 1877: Desert Land Act, ch. 107, 19 Stat. 377

## State admitted

* August 1, 1876: Colorado admitted as the 38th state

## 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.
During this Congress, two Senate seats and one House seat were added for the new state, Colorado.

### Senate

* Senate membership
* Beginning of the Congress
* Ending of the Congress
| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Anti- Monopoly (AM) | Republican (R) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 20 | 0 | 51 | 2 | 73 | 1 |
| Begin | 28 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 73 | 1 |
| End | 30 | 1 | 45 | 0 | 76 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 39.5% | 1.3% | 59.2% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 35 | 1 | 39 | 1 | 76 | 0 |

### House of Representatives

* House membership
* Beginning of the Congress
* Ending of the Congress
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |
| Affiliation | Democratic (D) | Independent Democratic (ID) | Independent (I) | Independent Republican (IR) | Republican (R) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous Congress | 95 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 199 | (Liberal Republican) 4 | 290 | 2 |
| Begin | 176 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 104 | 0 | 289 | 3 |
| End | 179 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 103 | 0 | 290 | 3 |
| Final voting share | 62.8% | 62.8% | 1.4% | 35.8% | 35.8% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of the next Congress | 144 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 0 | 292 | 1 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Henry Wilson (R), until November 22, 1875; vacant thereafter.
* President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry (R), from March 9, 1875
* Republican Conference Chairman: Henry B. Anthony
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: John W. Stevenson

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Michael C. Kerr (D), until August 19, 1876 (died)
** Samuel J. Randall (D), elected December 4, 1876
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II
* Republican Conference Chairman: George W. McCrary

## Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed 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 began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1880; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1878.

### 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: 4
** Democratic: 1 seat net gain
** Republican: 1 seat net loss
* Deaths: 3
* Resignations: 1
* Vacancy: 1
* Interim appointments: 3
* Seats of newly admitted states: 2
* Total seats with changes: 7

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 14
** Democratic: no net change
** Republican: no net change
* Deaths: 9
* Resignations: 6
* Contested election: 5
* Seats of newly admitted states: 1
* Total seats with changes: 21

## 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.

### Senate

* Agriculture (Chairman: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen; Ranking Member: Henry G. Davis)
* Appropriations (Chairman: William Windom; Ranking Member: Stephen W. Dorsey)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: John P. Jones; Ranking Member: George R. Dennis)
* Civil Service and Retrenchment (Chairman: Thomas F. Bayard; Ranking Member: John J. Patterson)
* Claims (Chairman: George G. Wright; Ranking Member: Samuel J.R. McMillan)
* Commerce (Chairman: Roscoe Conkling; Ranking Member: Samuel J.R. McMillan)
* Counting the Electoral Vote (Select)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: George E. Spencer; Ranking Member: Thomas J. Robertson)
* Education and Labor (Chairman: John J. Patterson; Ranking Member: William Sharon)
* Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Thomas F. Bayard; Ranking Member: Henry B. Anthony)
* Enrolled Bills
* Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service (Select) (Chairman: James M. Harvey; Ranking Member: Augustus S. Merrimon)
* Finance (Chairman: John Sherman; Ranking Member: John P. Jones)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: Simon Cameron; Ranking Member: Roscoe Conkling)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: William B. Allison; Ranking Member: Powell Clayton)
* Judiciary (Chairman: George F. Edmunds; Ranking Member: Timothy O. Howe)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Thomas J. Robertson; Ranking Member: William A. Wallace)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: John A. Logan; Ranking Member: Ambrose E. Burnside)
* Mines and Mining (Chairman: Aaron A. Sargent; Ranking Member: William Sharon)
* Mississippi River Levee System (Select) (Chairman: James L. Alcorn; Ranking Member: Henry Cooper)
* Mississippi Election Frauds, 1876 (Chairman: George S. Boutwell; Ranking Member: Joseph E. McDonald)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Aaron H. Cragin; Ranking Member: Simon B. Conover)
* Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
* Patents (Chairman: Bainbridge Wadleigh; Ranking Member: John W. Johnston)
* Pensions (Chairman: John J. Ingalls; Ranking Member: Blanche Bruce)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin; Ranking Member: Algernon S. Paddock)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Allen G. Thurman; Ranking Member: George F. Edmunds)
* Privileges and Elections (Chairman: Oliver P. Morton; Ranking Member: Samuel J.R. McMillan)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Justin S. Morrill; Ranking Member: Newton Booth)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Richard J. Oglesby; Ranking Member: Newton Booth)
* Railroads (Chairman: Joseph R. West; Ranking Member: John H. Mitchell)
* Revision of the Laws (Chairman: George S. Boutwell; Ranking Member: Isaac P. Christiancy)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: John W. Stevenson; Ranking Member: George G. Wright)
* Rules (Chairman: Thomas W. Ferry; Ranking Member: Augustus S. Merrimon)
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Territories (Chairman: Phineas W. Hitchcock; Ranking Member: William Sharon)
* Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Select)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: Charles B. Roberts; Ranking Member: George G. Hoskins)
* Agriculture (Chairman: John H. Caldwell; Ranking Member: William B. Anderson)
* Appropriations (Chairman: William S. Holman; Ranking Member: William A. Wheeler)
* Banking and Currency (Chairman: Samuel S. Cox; Ranking Member: Scott Wike)
* Claims (Chairman: John M. Bright; Ranking Member: John F. Philips)
* Coinage, Weights and Measures (Chairman: Alexander H. Stephens; Ranking Member: Levi Maish)
* Commerce (Chairman: Elijah Ward; Ranking Member: Henry Myer Phillips)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Aylett H. Buckner; Ranking Member: George Willard)
* Education and Labor (Chairman: Gilbert C. Walker; Ranking Member: William M. Springer)
* Elections (Chairman: John T. Harris; Ranking Member: Earley F. Poppleton)
* Enrolled Bills
* Expenditures in the Interior Department (Chairman: William Mutchler; Ranking Member: Laurin D. Woodworth)
* Expenditures in the Justice Department (Chairman: Bernard G. Caulfield; Ranking Member: Edwin R. Meade)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: George M. Beebe; Ranking Member: John H. Burleigh)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: William H. Stone; Ranking Member: William H.H. Stowell)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: William M. Springer; Ranking Member: John W. Wallace)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: John M. Bright; Ranking Member: John S. Savage)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: John Robbins; Ranking Member: Lyman K. Bass)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Henry B. Metcalfe; Ranking Member: Samuel N. Bell)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Swann; Ranking Member: William H. Forney)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: Alfred M. Scales; Ranking Member: Lafayette Lane)
* Invalid Pensions (Chairman: George A. Jenks; Ranking Member: Jesse J. Yeates)
* Judiciary (Chairman: J. Proctor Knott; Ranking Member: Bernard G. Caulfield)
* Manufactures (Chairman: William H. Stone; Ranking Member: Samuel D. Burchard)
* Mileage (Chairman: Albert G. Egbert; Ranking Member: Nathaniel H. Odell)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: Henry B. Banning; Ranking Member: Augustus A. Hardenbergh)
* Militia (Chairman: Jacob P. Cowan; Ranking Member: John K. Tarbox)
* Mines and Mining (Chairman: Richard P. Bland; Ranking Member: Alexander Campbell)
* Mississippi Levees (Chairman: E. John Ellis; Ranking Member: James Sheakley)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Washington C. Whitthorne; Ranking Member: John Robbins)
* Pacific Railroads (Chairman: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II; Ranking Member: John F. Philips)
* Patents (Chairman: Robert B. Vance; Ranking Member: William E. Smith)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John B. Clark Jr.; Ranking Member: William F. Slemons)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Thomas M. Gunter; Ranking Member: Lucien L. Ainsworth)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: William S. Holman; Ranking Member: Casey Young)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: Charles W. Milliken; Ranking Member: Alexander Campbell)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Milton Sayler; Ranking Member: Lafayette Lane)
* Railways and Canals (Chairman: Thomas L. Jones; Ranking Member: Levi A. Mackey)
* Reform in the Civil Service (Chairman: John O. Whitehouse; Ranking Member: Augustus W. Cutler)
* Revision of Laws (Chairman: Milton J. Durham; Ranking Member: Milton J. Durham)
* Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812 (Chairman: Eppa Hunton; Ranking Member: John G. Schumaker)
* Rules (Select) (Chairman: Michael C. Kerr; Ranking Member: James G. Blaine)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: Milton I. Southard; Ranking Member: Peter D. Wigginton)
* War Claims (Chairman: John R. Eden; Ranking Member: John H. Caldwell)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: William R. Morrison; Ranking Member: James G. Blaine)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Rep. Henry R. Harris; Vice Chairman: Rep. Harris M. Plaisted)
* Frame a Form of Government for the District of Columbia
* Investigate Chinese Immigration
* The Library (Chairman: Rep. Hiester Clymer; Vice Chairman: Rep. James Monroe)
* Printing (Chairman: Rep. John L. Vance; Vice Chairmam: Rep. Latimer W. Ballou)

## 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: Almon M. Clapp, from 1876

### Senate

* Chaplain: Byron Sunderland (Presbyterian)
* Librarian: George F. Dawson
* Secretary: George C. Gorham
* Sergeant at Arms: John R. French

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: John George Butler (Lutheran), until December 6, 1875
** I. L. Townsend (Episcopalian), from December 6, 1875
* Clerk: Edward McPherson, until December 6, 1875
** George M. Adams, elected December 6, 1875
* Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: William H. Scudder
* Doorkeeper: Lafayette H. Fitzhugh
* Postmaster: James M. Steuart
* Reading Clerks: Thomas S. Pettit (D) and Neill S. Brown Jr. (R)
* Sergeant at Arms: Nehemiah G. Ordway, until December 6, 1875
** John G. Thompson, elected December 6, 1875