Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives

The Speaker of the Indiana State House of Representatives is the highest official in the Indiana House of Representatives, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most Anglosphere countries and provinces, the speaker presides over the lower house of the legislature.

The current Speaker is Brian C. Bosma.

List of Speakers (Since Statehood, 1816-)

Speaker	Party	City/County	Start of service	End of service	Birthyear-Death	Notes
Isaac Newton Blackford	No Party ¹	Vincennes, Knox County	November 4, 1816	January 3, 1817	(1786–1859)	First Speaker of the House after Statehood; State Supreme Court Justice (1817–53); Candidate for Governor & U.S. Senate
Amos Lane	No Party	Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County	December 1, 1817	January 29, 1818	(1778–1849)	Later U.S. Congressman (1833–37)
Williamson Dunn	No Party	Jefferson County	December 7, 1818	January 22, 1820	(1781–1854)	First Speaker to serve two terms; Father of three future State Representatives; Brother-in-law of Speaker David Hervey Maxwell
William Graham	No Party	Jackson County	November 27, 1820	January 9, 1821	(1782–1858)	Later U.S. Congressman (1837–39)
Samuel Milroy	No Party	Washington County	November 19, 1821	January 3, 1822	(1780–1845)	Father of two future State Representatives; founded town of Delphi, Indiana
General Washington Johnston	No Party	Vincennes, Knox County	December 2, 1822	January 11, 1823	(1776–1833)	Territorial Attorney-General (1811–14); Territorial Auditor (1813); Adjutant-General (1813); Territorial Treasurer (1813–14)
David Hervey Maxwell	Adams-Clay Republican	Bloomington, Monroe County	December 1, 1823	January 31, 1824	(1786–1854)	Later Mayor of Bloomington (1848); Brother-in-law of Speaker Williamson Dunn
Stephen C. Stevens	Adams Supporter	Franklin County	January 10	February 12, 1825	(c1793-1870)	Later Supreme Court Justice (1831–36); 1846 Gubernatorial Candidate
Robert Morgan Evans	Adams Supporter	Princeton, Gibson County	December 5, 1825	January 21, 1826	(1783–1844)	1833 Congressional Candidate; Brother of Speaker Thomas Jefferson Evans
Harbin H. Moore	Adams Supporter	Harrison County	December 4, 1826	January 24, 1828	(c1791-1834)	First Speaker to serve three terms (non-consecutive); Attorney-General (1822); 1828 Gubernatorial Candidate; 1833 Congressional Candidate
Isaac Howk	Adams Supporter	Clark County	December 1, 1828	January 24, 1829	(1793–1833)	1831 Congressional Candidate
Ross Smiley	Jacksonian	Dunlapsville, Union County	December 7, 1829	January 30, 1830	(1788–1878)	1828 Presidential Elector; Lived to age of 90
Isaac Howk	Anti-Jacksonian	Clark County	December 6, 1830	February 10, 1831	(1793–1833)	(See note above) 2nd Term
Harbin H. Moore	Anti-Jacksonian	Floyd County	December 5, 1831	February 3, 1832	(c1791-1834)	(See note above) 3rd Term
John Wesley Davis	Jacksonian	Carlisle, Sullivan County	December 3, 1832	February 4, 1833	(1799–1859)	Served in US Congress (1835–41; 1843–47); Speaker of the US House of Representatives (1845–47); US Commissioner to China (1848–50); Oregon Governor (1853–54)
Nathan B. Palmer	Jacksonian	Jefferson County	December 2, 1833	February 3, 1834	(1790–1875)	1832 Presidential Elector; State Treasurer (1834–41); 1841 Congressional Candidate
James Gregory	Anti-Jacksonian	Warren County	December 1, 1834	February 9, 1835	(1785–1843)	Father of three future state legislators; 1835 Congressional Candidate; Died in Yucatan, Mexico
Caleb Blood Smith	Anti-Jacksonian	Connersville, Fayette County	December 7, 1835	February 6, 1837	(1808–1864)	1840 & 1856 Presidential Elector; Served in US Congress (1843–49); 1848 U.S. Senate Candidate; US Secretary of the Interior (1861–62)
Thomas Jefferson Evans	Whig	Covington, Fountain County	December 4, 1837	February 18, 1839	(c1795-1841)	1839 Congressional Candidate; Brother of Speaker Robert Morgan Evans
James Gray Read	Democrat	Jeffersonville, Clark County	December 2, 1839	February 24, 1840	(1793–1869)	1831 Gubernatorial Candidate; 1832 U.S. Senate Candidate; 1844 Presidential Elector
Samuel Judah	Whig	Vincennes, Knox County	December 7, 1840	February 15, 1841	(1798–1869)	US Attorney for Indiana (1829–33); 1831 U.S. Senate Candidate
John Wesley Davis	Democrat	Carlisle, Sullivan County	December 6, 1841	January 31, 1842	(1799–1859)	(See note above) 2nd Term
Thomas Jefferson Henley	Democrat	Clark County	December 5, 1842	February 13, 1843	(1808–1875)	First native-born Speaker. Later US Congressman (1843–49); Moved to California during the '49 Gold Rush; 1852 Presidential Elector from California
Andrew L. Robinson	Democrat	Carroll County	December 4, 1843	January 15, 1844	(1807–1883)	1852 Gubernatorial Candidate
Alexander Campbell Stevenson	Whig	Putnam County County	December 2, 1844	January 13, 1845	(1802–1889)
John Smith Simonson	Democrat	Charlestown, Clark County	December 1, 1845	January 20, 1846	(1796–1881)	1837 Congressional Candidate
Robert N. Carnan	Whig	Vincennes, Knox County	December 7, 1846	January 28, 1847	(1805–1887)
William Anderson Porter	Whig	Corydon, Harrison County	December 6, 1847	February 17, 1848	(1800–1884)	Last Whig Speaker
Thomas A. Hendricks	Democrat	East Fultonham, Muskingum County	February 17, 1848	December 4, 1848	(1819–1885)	U.S. Congressman (1851-55), U.S. Senator (1863-69), Governor of Indiana (1873-77), U.S. Vice President (1885)
George Whitfield Carr	Democrat	Leesville, Lawrence County	December 4, 1848	January 21, 1850	(1807–1892)	1848 Presidential Elector; President of the Constitutional Convention (1850–51); 1858 & 1872 Congressional Candidate
Ebenezer Dumont	Democrat	Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County	December 30, 1850	February 14, 1851	(1814–1871)	1852 Presidential Elector; US Congressman (1863–67)
John Wesley Davis²	Democrat	Carlisle, Sullivan County	December 1, 1851	June 21, 1852³	(1799–1859)	(See note above) 3rd Term
William Hayden English²	Democrat	Lexington, Scott County	(See above)	(See above)	(1822–1896)	Later US Congressman (1853–61); Smithsonian Institution Regent (1853–61); 1880 Vice-Presidential Candidate
Oliver Brooks Torbet	Democrat	Dearborn County	January 6	March 7, 1853⁴	(1827–1864)	Youngest Speaker (25); Died at 37
David Kilgore	Fusion/Oppositionist⁵	Delaware County	January 4	March 5, 1855	(1804–1879)	Later US Congressman (1857–61)
Ballard Smith	Democrat	Cannelton, Perry County	January 8	March 9, 1857	(1821–1866)
Jonathan W. Gordon	Republican	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 6	March 7, 1859⁶	(1820–1887)	1872 Presidential Elector; Clerk of the State Supreme Court (1881–82)
Cyrus McCracken Allen	Republican	Vincennes, Knox County	January 10	March 11, 1861⁷	(1817–1883)	1860 Presidential Elector; 1864 Congressional Candidate
Samuel Hamilton Buskirk	Democrat	Monroe County	January 8	March 9, 1863	(1820–1879)	1856 Presidential Elector; State Supreme Court Justice (1870–76)
John Upfold Pettit	Republican	Wabash, Wabash County	January 5	March 6, 1865⁸	(1820–1881)	US Congressman (1855–61); Father of Speaker Henry Corbin Pettet
David Cummins Branham	Republican	Madison, Jefferson County	January 10	March 11, 1867	(1812–1877)
Ambrose P. Stanton⁹	Republican	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 7	March 8, 1869	(1834–1912)
George Abraham Buskirk⁹	Republican	Bloomington, Monroe County	April 8	May 17, 1869	(1829–1874)
William Gray Mack	Democrat	Terre Haute, Vigo County	January 5	February 27, 1871	(1827–1898)
William Kirkpatrick Edwards	Republican	Terre Haute, Vigo County	January 9	March 10, 1873¹⁰	(1820–1878)	Mayor of Terre Haute (1853); 1860 Presidential Elector
David Turpie	Democrat	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 7	March 8, 1875¹¹	(1829–1909)	1862, 1864 & 1866 Congressional Candidate; U.S. Senator (1863; 1887–1899); U.S. District Attorney for Indiana (1886–87)
John Overmyer	Republican	North Vernon, Jennings County	January 4	March 5, 1877¹²	(1844–1919)	Later switched to Democratic party in 1892
Henry Sullivan Cauthorn			January ?	March ?, 1879¹³
William Marion Ridpath	Republican	Clay County	January 6	March 7, 1881¹⁴	(1845–1914)	Moved to Dakota Territory after leaving Speakership
William D. Bynum	Democrat	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 4	March 5, 1883	(1846–1927)	Mayor of Washington, Indiana (1875–79); 1876 Presidential Elector; US Congressman (1885–95)
Charles LaFayette Jewett	Democrat	New Albany, Floyd County	January 8	March 9, 1885¹⁵	(1848–1931)
Warren Grover Sayre	Republican	Wabash, Wabash County	January 6	March 7, 1887	(1844–1931)	Mayor of Wabash (1868–76)
Mason Jenks Niblack	Democrat	Vincennes, Knox County	January 10, 1889	March 9, 1891	(1857–1926)	U.S. House Parliamentarian; First consecutively reelected Speaker since 1849
James B. Curtis	Democrat	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 5	March 6, 1893	(1859–1922)
Justus C. Adams	Republican	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 10	March 11, 1895	(1841–1904)
Henry Corbin Pettit	Republican	Wabash, Wabash County	January 7	March 8, 1897	(1863–1913)	Mayor of Wabash (1888–90); Son of Speaker John Upfold Pettit
Frank Leslie Littleton	Republican	Indianapolis, Marion County	January 5	March 6, 1899	(1868–1935)
Samuel Raleigh Artman	Republican	Lebanon, Boone County	January 1901		(1866–1930)
Henry Wright Marshall, Sr.	Republican	Lafayette, Tippecanoe County	January 1903		(1865–1957)	Lived to age of 92.
Emmett Forrest Branch	Republican	Martinsville, Morgan County	1907	1909	(May 16, 1874 - February 23, 1932)	Later Governor of Indiana (1924-1925)
Harry G. Leslie	Republican	Lafayette, Tippecanoe County	1925	1927	(April 6, 1878 - December 10, 1937)	Later Governor of Indiana (1929-1933)
Edward H. Stein	Democrat	Bloomfield, Greene County	1935	1937	(September 1, 1891 - October 1, 1965)
J. Roberts Dailey	Republican		January 1981		(June 22, 1919 – August 13, 2005)
John R. Gregg	Democrat	Sandborn, Knox County	1996	2002
B. Patrick Bauer	Democrat	South Bend, St. Joseph County	January 2003	January 2005
Brian C. Bosma	Republican		January 2005	January 2007
B. Patrick Bauer	Democrat		January 2007	January 2011
Brian C. Bosma	Republican		January 2011	present

References

1. No party labels from 1816–1823, as there were no organized partisan political groups in the state during this period (although all federal officeholders during this period were Democrat-Republicans).
2. Reference sources list the 36th General Assembly having 2 Speakers (Davis & English)
3. The 36th General Assembly had two separate sessions, the first from December 1, 1851 until March 10, 1852 and April 20, 1852 until June 21, 1852. This was the first time the legislature convened outside of the late fall and winter.
4. Beginning in 1853, regular legislature sessions convened every 2 years.
5. The Fusionists were the remaining members of differing factions of former Whigs, Free-Soilers, anti-slavery Democrats, most of whom would become Republicans.
6. A special session of the 40th General Assembly was convened previously to the regular session from November 20 to December 25, 1858.
7. A special session of the 41st General Assembly was convened after the regular session from April 24 to June 2, 1861. This session was mistakenly considered the 42nd General Assembly, but was later considered a special session. Because of this error, the following regular session became the 43rd General Assembly, hence there was no official 42nd General Assembly convened.
8. A special session of the 44th General Assembly was convened after the regular session from November 13 to December 22, 1865.
9. Ambrose P. Stanton only served as Speaker during the regular session of the 46th General Assembly. George Buskirk served as Speaker during the special session.
10. A special session of the 48th General Assembly was convened before the regular session from November 13 to December 22, 1872.
11. A brief special session of the 49th General Assembly was convened the day after the regular session ended, from March 9 to March 15, 1875.
12. A brief special session of the 50th General Assembly was convened the day after the regular session ended, from March 6 to March 15, 1877.
13. A special session of the 51st General Assembly was convened the day after the regular session ended, from March 11 to March 31, 1879.
14. A special session of the 51st General Assembly was convened the day after the regular session ended, from March 8 to April 16, 1881.
15. A special session of the 53rd General Assembly was convened the day after the regular session ended, from March 10 to April 13, 1885.

Source: A Biographical Directory of the Indiana General Assembly

Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives

List of Speakers (Since Statehood, 1816-)

References

See also