List of United States Senators in the 4th Congress by seniority

This is a classification of United States Senators by seniority from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1797.

The United States Senate has an official chronological list of senators, accessible from its website, which provides information about the seniority of senators serving in the relevant Congress.

Seniority rules

A Chronological List of United States Senators includes the following explanation of how it assigns seniority.

From 1789 to 1958, senators whose terms began on the same day are listed alphabetically. Beginning in 1959, senators are listed according to commencement of first Senate term by order of service, determined by former service in order as senator, vice president, House member, cabinet secretary, governor, and then by state population. This latter system for calculating order of service has been used by the modern Senate for many years for the purposes of office assignment. It is unclear just when the Senate first began applying such criteria.

[1]

Rank column: This consecutively numbers Senators, serving in the relevant Congress, according to seniority in that Congress. Seniority is based upon the method used by the chronological list. If the senator is not the first person to hold the seat, in the Congress, then he is given the number of the preceding senator followed by a lower case letter. In addition, if the senator would have had different seniority (if the method used from 1959 was followed) a further number is given in brackets and italicised

A senator with broken service is placed before other senators starting service on the same day, but after senators with unbroken service starting before that date.

Senate No. column: The chronological guide gives an official number to each senator. This is the number set out in this column. That number is retained even if the senator has broken service.

As an historical article, the states and party affiliations listed reflect those during the Congress. Seats and party affiliations on similar lists for other Congresses will be different for certain members. During this Congress, there were two parties represented. Senators are classified as Democratic-Republican (DR) or Federalist (F).

Seniority list

Rank Name (Party-State) Seniority date Current Term to Senator No.
1 Pierce Butler[2] (DR-SC) March 4, 1789 October 25, 1796 (March 3, 1799) 2
2 Oliver Ellsworth[3] (F-CT) March 8, 1796 (March 3, 1797) 5
3 James Gunn (F-GA) March 3, 1801 9
4 John Henry (F-MD) March 3, 1801 10
5 John Langdon (DR-NH) March 3, 1801 13
6 Caleb Strong[4] (F-MA) June 1, 1796 (March 3, 1799) 20
7 Rufus King[5] (F-NY) July 16, 1789 May 1796 (March 3, 1801) 22
8 Theodore Foster (F-RI) June 7, 1790 March 3, 1797 26
9 Aaron Burr (DR-NY) March 4, 1791 March 3, 1797 31
10 George Cabot[6] (F-MA) June 9, 1796 (March 3, 1797) 32
11 John Rutherfurd (F-NJ) March 3, 1797 33
12 Moses Robinson[7] (DR-VT) October 17, 1791 October 15, 1796 (March 3, 1797) 35
13 John Brown (DR-KY) June 18, 1792 March 3, 1799 36
14 Richard Potts[8] (F-MD) January 10, 1793 October 24, 1796 (March 3, 1797) 39
15 (19) William Bradford (F-RI) March 4, 1793 March 3, 1799 40
16 (18) Frederick Frelinghuysen[9] (F-NJ) November 12, 1796 (March 3, 1799)' 41
17 (16) James Jackson[10] (DR-GA) 1795 (March 3, 1799) 42
18 (15) Samuel Livermore (F-NH) March 3, 1799 43
19 (17) Alexander Martin (DR-NC) March 3, 1799 44
20 John Vining (F-DE) March 3, 1799 45
21 James Ross (F-PA) April 24, 1794 March 3, 1797 47
22 Stevens Thomson Mason (DR-VA) November 18, 1794 March 3, 1797 48
23 Henry Tazewell (DR-VA) March 3, 1799 49
24 Henry Latimer (F-DE) February 7, 1795 March 3, 1797 50
25 (27) William Bingham (F-PA) March 4, 1795 March 3, 1801 51
26 Timothy Bloodworth (DR-NC) March 3, 1801 52
27 (30) Humphrey Marshall (F-KY) March 3, 1801 53
28 (29) Elijah Paine (F-VT) March 3, 1801 54
29 (28) Jacob Read (F-SC) March 3, 1801 55
30 (25) Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.[11] (F-CT) June 10, 1796 (March 3, 1801) 56
30a George Walton[12] (F-GA) November 16, 1795 February 20, 1796 (March 3, 1799) 57
30b Josiah Tattnall (DR-GA) February 20, 1796 March 3, 1799 58
30c James Hillhouse (F-CT) March 12, 1796 March 3, 1797 59
30d Benjamin Goodhue (F-MA) June 11, 1796 March 3, 1797 60
30e Theodore Sedgwick (F-MA) March 3, 1799 61
31 William Blount (DR-TN) August 2, 1796 March 3, 1799 62
32 William Cocke (DR-TN) March 3, 1797 63
32a Uriah Tracy (F-CT) October 13, 1796 March 3, 1801 64
32b Isaac Tichenor (F-VT) October 18, 1796 March 3, 1797 65
32c John Laurance (F-NY) November 9, 1796 March 3, 1801 66
32d Richard Stockton (F-NJ) November 12, 1796 March 3, 1799 67
32e John Eager Howard (F-MD) November 30, 1796 March 3, 1797 68
32f John Hunter (DR-SC) December 8, 1796 March 3, 1799 69

Notes on basis of alternative rank:-

References

  1. A Chronological List of United States Senators 1789-Present, via www.Senate.gov
  2. Pierce Butler resigned October 25, 1796
  3. Oliver Ellsworth resigned March 8, 1796 to become Chief Justice of the United States
  4. Caleb Strong resigned on June 1, 1796
  5. Rufus King resigned in May 1796, to become Minister to Great Britain
  6. George Cabot resigned June 9, 1796
  7. Moses Robinson resigned October 15, 1796
  8. Richard Potts resigned October 24, 1796 to become Chief Judge of the 5th Circuit
  9. Frederick Frelinghuysen resigned November 12, 1796
  10. James Jackson resigned in 1795
  11. Jonathan Trumbull resigned June 10, 1796 to become Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
  12. George Walton served an interim appointment until February 20, 1796

See also

External links