The 76th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1855 during the governorship of Henry Gardner. Henry Wetherby Benchley served as president of the Senate and Daniel C. Eddy served as speaker of the House.[4]
| 76th Massachusetts General Court | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | General Court | ||||
| Senate | |||||
| Members | 40 | ||||
| President | Henry Wetherby Benchley | ||||
| Party control | Know-Nothing[1] | ||||
| House | |||||
| Members | 380 [2] | ||||
| Speaker | Daniel C. Eddy | ||||
| Party control | Know-Nothing [1] | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
| |||||
"Know-Nothings won all 40 state Senate seats and all but three of the 379 state House seats in 1854, in addition to the governorship.... Once in power, the Know-Nothings passed legislation to deport poor or mentally ill Irish residents; to 'inspect' Catholic schools and convents; and to order daily readings from the Protestant Bible in public schools."[1]
On May 9, 1855, Joseph Hiss became the first Massachusetts state representative to be expelled from the House.[5]
Notable legislation edit
This legislature passed the nation's first statute racially integrating public education.[6]
Senators edit
- O. W. Albee [7]
- Erastus Andrews
- Elihu C. Baker
- Lemuel M. Barker
- John Batchelder
- Sylvester Baxter
- Henry W. Benchley
- James D. Black
- John A. Buttrick
- James E. Carpenter
- Albert A. Cook
- Joseph E. Dawley
- Edward Denny
- Francis DeWitt
- Streeter Evans
- Jabez Fisher
- William Fletcher
- Robert B. Hall
- Charles K. Hawks
- A. E. Hildreth
- David K. Hitchcock
- Stephen Huse
- Richard Libby
- Ivory H. Lucas
- Sebeus C. Maine
- Billings Palmer
- Bradford K. Peirce
- Gilbert Pillsbury
- Z. L. Raymond
- Andrew A. Richmond
- Simon W. Robinson
- Lewis L. Sellew
- Charles H. Stedman
- Moses Tenny, Jr.
- Alvan G. Underwood
- Ambrose Vincent
- James W. Ward
- Daniel Warren
- Benj. F. White
- Albert J. Wright
Representatives edit
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Robert David Sullivan (2005). "A Toast to the General Court". CommonWealth Magazine. 10 (4).
- ^ "Composition of the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
- ^ "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
- ^ "Organization of the Legislature Since 1780". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 340+.
- ^ Lucas, Peter (February 11, 2014). "Legislative expulsion? It started with a wayward Hiss". Lowell Sun.
- ^ "In Pursuit of Equality – Separate Is Not Equal". americanhistory.si.edu.
- ^ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Civil Government, 1855". Massachusetts Register, 1855 – via Archive.org.
Further reading edit
- "The Legislature", Boston Daily Advertiser, January 9, 1855
- Dale Baum (1978). "Know-Nothingism and the Republican Majority in Massachusetts: The Political Realignment of the 1850s". Journal of American History. 64 (4): 959–986. doi:10.2307/1890732. JSTOR 1890732.
External links edit
- Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1855, hdl:2452/725162
- Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1855, hdl:2452/92937