1862 and 1863 United States House of Representatives elections

1862 and 1863 United States House of Representatives elections

June 2, 1862 – November 3, 1863
All 184 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives 93 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Galusha Grow Samuel Cox Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat T (lost re-election) T Last election 108 seats 45 seats Seats won 85 72 Seat change 23 27   Third party Fourth party   Leader Francis Thomas Party Unionist Independent Republican Leader's seat T Last election 28 seats 0 seats Seats won 25 2 Seat change 3 2
Speaker before election Galusha Grow (defeated) Republican Elected Speaker Schuyler Colfax Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held during President Abraham Lincoln's first term at various dates in different states from June 1862 to November 1863. Republicans lost 22 seats and the majority, while Democrats gained 28.

The Civil War to date had been only weakly successful for the Union, but had wrought major, disruptive change in the size and reach of the Federal Government, which before the war had been small and little seen beyond post offices, customs houses in ports, and scattered military posts. The Republican Party was also relatively new, yet had led the Union down a radical path of rapid industrialization and destructive total war.

Voters turned on the Administration. Points of dissatisfaction included failure to deliver a speedy victory at times verging on military incompetence, rising inflation, new taxes, rumors of corruption, suspension of habeas corpus, conscription or the draft law, and racist fear of a future in which larger numbers of free African-Americans would compete for jobs and depress wages. For example, expressing a typical sentiment, the Cincinnati Gazette editorialized that voters "are depressed by the interminable nature of this war, as so far conducted, and by the rapid exhaustion of the national resources without progress."

Short of a majority, Republicans retained control with the support of the Unionist Party. In September 1862, President Lincoln warned the South that he planned by executive order, and as a war measure, to liberate all slaves in rebelling states as of January 1, 1863. The popularity of emancipation varied by region. It was more popular in New England and areas near the Great Lakes, and less popular in cities with large immigrant populations and in the southern portion of the North. Democrats hailed the elections as a repudiation of emancipation, but the results did not alter Lincoln's plan or hamper prosecution of the war.

In Lincoln's home district of Springfield, Illinois, John T. Stuart, a Democrat and one of Lincoln's former law partners, defeated the Republican incumbent. Racism, including fear of an influx freed slaves and a desire by white voters to prevent black suffrage, helped drive the result. The sitting House Speaker, Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania, also lost re-election. He would return to the House in 1894.

Election summaries

The eight Representatives remaining from Tennessee and Virginia in the 37th Congress were absent from the 38th Congress. Other seceded states remained unrepresented, leaving 58 vacancies Upon admission, West Virginia was allotted three Representatives and during the second session one seat was added for the new state of Nevada.

Reapportionment transpired according to the 1860 Census, under the 1850 Apportionment Act providing a total of 233 seats. A later Act added eight seats, increasing the total to 241.

↓

72	2	85	25
Democratic	IR	Republican	Unionist

State	Type	Date ↑	Total seats (Reapportionment)		Democratic		Independent Republican		Republican		Unionist
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Oregon	At-large	June 2, 1862	1		0	1	0		1	1	0
Maine	Districts	September 8, 1862	5	1	1	1	0		4	2	0
Indiana	Districts	October 14, 1862	11		7	3	0		4	3	0
Iowa	Districts		6	4	0		0		6	4	0
Ohio	Districts		19	2	14	6	0		5	8	0
Pennsylvania	Districts		24	1	12	6	2	2	10	9	0
Delaware	At-large	November 1, 1862	1		1	1	0		0		0	1
Massachusetts	Districts		10	1	0		0		10		0	1
Illinois	Districts	November 4, 1862 (Election Day)	14	5	9	4	0		5	1	0
Kansas	At-large		1		0		0		1		0
Michigan	Districts		6	2	1	1	0		5	1	0
Minnesota	Districts		2		0		0		2		0
Missouri	Districts		9	2	0	5	0		1		8	7
New Jersey	Districts		5		4	1	0		1	1	0
New York	Districts		31	2	17	7	0		14	9	0
Wisconsin	Districts		6	3	3	3	0		3		0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1863 beginning of the term)
New Hampshire	Districts	March 10, 1863	3		1	1	0		2	1	0
Rhode Island	Districts	April 1, 1863	2		0		0		2	2	0	2
Connecticut	Districts	April 6, 1863	4		1	1	0		3	1	0
Kentucky	Districts	August 3, 1863	9	1	0	1	0		0		9
Vermont	Districts	September 1, 1863	3		0		0		3		0
California	At-large	September 2, 1863	3		0		0		3		0
West Virginia	Districts	October 22, 1863	3	3	0		0		0		3	3
Maryland	Districts	November 3, 1863	5	1	1	1	0		0		4	2
Secessionist States
Alabama	Districts	None	6	1
Arkansas	Districts	None	3	1
Florida	At-large	None	1
Georgia	Districts	None	7	1
Louisiana	Districts	None	5	1								2
Mississippi	Districts	None	5
North Carolina	Districts	None	7	1
South Carolina	Districts	None	4	2
Tennessee	Districts	None	8	2								3
Texas	Districts	None	4	2
Virginia	Districts	None	11	2								5
Total			184	3	72	27	2	2	85	25	25	5
			58 Vacancies		39.1%		1.1%		46.2%		13.6%

House seats
Democratic			39.1%
Independent Republican			1.1%
Republican			46.2%
Unionist			13.6%

California

See also: List of United States Representatives from California

Note: From statehood to 1866, California's representatives were elected state-wide at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858. In 1860, when California gained a seat, the top three vote-getters were elected.

District	Incumbent	Party	Results	Candidates
California at-large Plural district with 3 seats	Timothy Phelps	Republican	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.	Y Cornelius Cole (Republican) 20% Y William Higby (Republican) 19.9% Y Thomas B. Shannon (Republican) 19.9% John Bigler (Independent) 13.4% John B. Weller (Independent) 13.4% Ninian E. Whiteside (Democratic) 13.4%
	Aaron A. Sargent	Republican	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.
	Frederick F. Low	Republican	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.

Ohio

Main article: 1862 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio

See also: List of United States Representatives from Ohio

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Ohio 1	George H. Pendleton	Democratic	1856	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George H. Pendleton (Democratic) 54.0% William S. Groesbeck (Republican) 46.0%
Ohio 2	John A. Gurley	Republican	1858	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Alexander Long (Democratic) 50.5% John A. Gurley (Republican) 49.5%
Ohio 3	Clement Vallandigham	Democratic	1858 (Contested)	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Robert C. Schenck (Republican) 52.5% Clement Vallandigham (Democratic) 47.5%
Ohio 4	William Allen	Democratic	1858	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y John F. McKinney (Democratic) 52.0% William H. West (Republican) 48.0%
Ohio 5	New district			New district. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Francis C. Le Blond (Democratic) 63.0% Conduce H. Gatch (Republican) 37.0%
Ohio 6	Chilton A. White	Democratic	1860	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Chilton A. White (Democratic) 52.0% Robert M. Briggs (Republican) 48.0%
Ohio 7	Richard A. Harrison	Unionist	1861 (Special)	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic loss.	Y Samuel S. Cox (Democratic) 50.7% Samuel Shellabarger (Republican) 49.3%
	Samuel S. Cox Redistricted from the C	Democratic	1856	Incumbent re-elected.
	Samuel Shellabarger Redistricted from the C	Republican	1860	Incumbent lost renomination. New member elected. Democratic gain.
Ohio 8	New district			New district. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y William Johnston (Democratic) 51.0% James H. Godman (Republican) 49.0%
Ohio 9	Warren P. Noble	Democratic	1860	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Warren P. Noble (Democratic) 52.8% Samuel T. Worcester (Republican) 47.2%
	Samuel T. Worcester Redistricted from the C	Republican	1861 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican loss.
Ohio 10	James M. Ashley Redistricted from the C	Republican	1858	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James M. Ashley (Republican) 38.6% Morrison R. Waite (ind-R) 32.2% James W. Phelps (Democratic) 29.2%
Ohio 11	Valentine B. Horton	Republican	1860	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Wells A. Hutchins (Democratic) 56.2% Hezekiah S. Bundy (Republican) 43.8%
Ohio 12	Carey A. Trimble Redistricted from the C	Republican	1858	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y William E. Finck (Democratic) 62.9% Carey A. Trimble (Republican) 37.1%
Ohio 13	New district			New district. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y John O'Neill (Democratic) 56.8% George B. Wright (Republican) 43.2%
Ohio 14	Harrison G. O. Blake	Republican	1859 (Special)	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y George Bliss (Democratic) 50.09% Martin Welker (Republican) 49.91%
Ohio 15	Robert H. Nugen	Democratic	1860	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y James R. Morris (Democratic) 52.9% William P. Cutler (Republican) 47.1%
	James R. Morris Redistricted from the C	Democratic	1860	Incumbent re-elected.
	William P. Cutler Redistricted from the C	Republican	1860	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican loss.
Ohio 16	New district			New district. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Joseph W. White (Democratic) 55.2% John Bingham (Republican) 44.8%
Ohio 17	New district			New district. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Ephraim R. Eckley (Republican) 52.4% George Belden (Democratic) 47.6%
Ohio 18	Sidney Edgerton	Republican	1858	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.	Y Rufus P. Spalding (Republican) 69.0% David R. Paige, Sr. (Democratic) 31.0%
Ohio 19	Albert G. Riddle	Republican	1860	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.	Y James A. Garfield (Republican) 66.3% George W. Wood (Democratic) 33.7%

See also

• 1862 United States elections
  • 1862 and 1863 United States Senate elections
• 37th United States Congress
• 38th United States Congress

Bibliography

• Carson, Jamie L. et al. "The Impact of National Tides and District-Level Effects on Electoral Outcomes: The U.S. Congressional Elections of 1862–63," American Journal of Political Science, October 2001, Vol. 45 Issue 4, pp 887–898 in JSTOR
• Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union: vol 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863 (1960)
• Shankman, Arnold. "Francis W. Hughes and the 1862 Pennsylvania Election." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 1971 95(3): 383-393. ISSN 0031-4587
• Tap, Bruce. "Race, Rhetoric, and Emancipation: the Election of 1862 in Illinois." Civil War History 1993 39(2): 101-125. ISSN 0009-8078
• Voegeli, Jacque. "The Northwest and the Race Issue, 1861–1862," Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol. 50, No. 2 (September 1963), pp. 235–251 IN jstor

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)