| 26th United States Congress | |||
United States Capitol (1846) |
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| Duration: March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841 | |||
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| Senate President: | Richard M. Johnson | ||
| Senate Pres. pro tem: | William R. King | ||
| House Speaker: | Robert M.T. Hunter | ||
| Members: | 52 Senators 242 Representatives 3 Non-voting members |
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| Senate Majority: | Democratic | ||
| House Majority: | Democratic | ||
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| Sessions | |||
| 1st: December 2, 1839 – July 21, 1840 2nd: December 7, 1840 – March 3, 1841 |
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The Twenty-sixth 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, 1839 to March 3, 1841, during the third and fourth years of Martin Van Buren's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Fifth Census of the United States in 1830. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
| Party (Shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Whig (W) |
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| End of the previous congress | 33 | 19 | 52 | 0 |
| Begin | 29 | 21 | 50 | 2 |
| End | 23 | 52 | 0 | |
| Final voting share | 55.8% | 44.2% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 22 | 29 | 51 | 1 |
| Party (Shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Masonic (AM) |
Conservative (C) |
Democratic (D) |
Whig (W) |
Other |
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| End of the previous congress | 7 | 0 | 122 | 106 | (Nullifer) 6 |
241 | 1 |
| Begin | 6 | 2 | 124 | 109 | 0 | 241 | 1 |
| End | 5 | 111 | 242 | 0 | |||
| Final voting share | 2.1% | 0.8% | 51.2% | 45.9% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 0 | 2 | 97 | 142 | 0 | 241 | 1 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
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 with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1844; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1840; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1842.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State (class) |
Former senator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
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| Pennsylvania (1) |
Vacant after previous Congress | Daniel Sturgeon (D) | Elected January 14, 1840 | |
| Michigan (1) |
Vacant after previous Congress | Augustus S. Porter (W) | Elected January 20, 1840 | |
| Tennessee (1) |
Ephraim H. Foster (W) | Resigned March 4, 1839 because he could not obey instructions given to him by the Tennessee General Assembly | Felix Grundy (D) | Elected November 19, 1839 |
| Delaware (1) |
Richard H. Bayard (W) | Resigned September 19, 1839 to become Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court | Richard H. Bayard (W) | Elected January 12, 1841 to his former position |
| Tennessee (2) |
Hugh Lawson White (W) | Resigned January 13, 1840 because he could not conscientiously obey the intentions of his constituents | Alexander O. Anderson (D) | Elected February 26, 1840 |
| Connecticut (1) |
Thaddeus Betts (W) | Died April 7, 1840 | Jabez W. Huntington (W) | Elected May 4, 1840 |
| Maryland (3) |
John S. Spence (W) | Died October 24, 1840 | John L. Kerr (W) | Elected January 5, 1841 |
| North Carolina (2) |
Bedford Brown (D) | Resigned November 16, 1840 because he could not obey instructions of the North Carolina General Assembly | Willie P. Mangum (W) | Elected November 25, 1840 |
| North Carolina (3) |
Robert Strange (D) | Resigned November 16, 1840 | William A. Graham (W) | Elected November 25, 1840 |
| Tennessee (1) |
Felix Grundy (D) | Died December 19, 1840 | Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D) | Elected December 25, 1840 |
| Massachusetts (2) |
John Davis (W) | Resigned January 5, 1841 after being elected Governor of Massachusetts | Isaac C. Bates (W) | Elected January 13, 1841 |
| Massachusetts (1) |
Daniel Webster (W) | Resigned February 22, 1841 | Rufus Choate (W) | Elected February 23, 1841 |
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
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| Indiana 7th | Vacant | Rep-elect Howard presented credentials August 5, 1839 | Tilghman Howard (D) | Seated August 5, 1839 |
| Missouri At-large | Albert G. Harrison (D) | Died September 7, 1839 | John Jameson (D) | Seated December 12, 1839 |
| Massachusetts 6th | James C. Alvord (W) | Died September 27, 1839 | Osmyn Baker (W) | Seated January 14, 1840 |
| Pennsylvania 14th | William W. Potter (D) | Died October 28, 1839 | George McCulloch (D) | Seated November 20, 1839 |
| Virginia 14th | Charles F. Mercer (W) | Resigned December 26, 1839 | William M. McCarty (W) | Seated January 25, 1840 |
| Pennsylvania 22nd | Richard Biddle (AM) | Resigned some time in 1840 | Henry M. Brackenridge (W) | Seated October 13, 1840 |
| Virginia 1st | Joel Holleman (D) | Resigned some time in 1840 | Francis Mallory (W) | Seated December 28, 1840 |
| Ohio 4th | Thomas Corwin (W) | Resigned May 30, 1840 having become a candidate for Governor of Ohio | Jeremiah Morrow (W) | Seated October 13, 1840 |
| Connecticut 2nd | William L. Storrs (W) | Resigned some time in June, 1840 | William W. Boardman (W) | Seated December 7, 1840 |
| New York 11th | Anson Brown (W) | Died June 14, 1840 | Nicholas B. Doe (W) | Seated December 7, 1840 |
| Indiana 7th | Tilghman Howard (D) | Resigned July 1, 1840 | Henry S. Lane (W) | Seated August 3, 1840 |
| Georgia At-large | Walter T. Colquitt (W) | Resigned July 21, 1840 | Hines Holt (W) | Seated February 1, 1841 |
| Louisiana 3rd | Rice Garland (W) | Resigned July 21, 1840 to accept appointment as judge of Louisiana Supreme Court | John Moore (W) | Seated December 17, 1840 |
| Kentucky 5th | Simeon H. Anderson (W) | Died August 11, 1840 | John B. Thompson (W) | Seated December 7, 1840 |
| Massachusetts 1st | Abbott Lawrence (W) | Resigned September 18, 1840 | Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Seated November 9, 1840 |
| Pennsylvania 13th | William S. Ramsey (D) | Died October 17, 1840 | Charles McClure (D) | Seated December 7, 1840 |
| Iowa Territory At-large | William W. Chapman (D) | Term expired by law October 27, 1840 | Augustus C. Dodge (D) | Seated October 28, 1840 |
| Maine 4th | George Evans (W) | Resigned March 3, 1841 after being elected to the US Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
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