List of the oldest living members of the United States House of Representatives

File:Ken Hechler 2008.jpg

Ken Hechler (D-WV; born 1914), is the oldest living sitting or former member of the House of Representatives.

This page contains a list of the people of the who, at the time of their death, were the oldest surviving members, sitting or former, of the United States House of Representatives, as well as a list of the currently oldest surviving sitting or former Representatives.

Historical

This is a list of the people who, at the time of their death, were the oldest surviving members of the United States House of Representatives.

Begin Date	End Date	Representative	Date of birth	House term	State served	Party	Age (years, days)
March 4, 1789	July 23, 1793	Roger Sherman	April 19, 1721	1789–1791	Connecticut	Pro-Administration
July 23, 1793	September 15, 1794	Abraham Clark	February 15, 1726	1791–1794	New Jersey	Pro-Administration
September 15, 1794	December 10, 1796	Israel Jacobs	June 9, 1726	1791–1793	Pennsylvania	Pro-Administration
December 10, 1796	October 28, 1800	Artemas Ward	November 26, 1727	1791–1795	Massachusetts	Pro-Administration
October 28, 1800	March 27, 1814	William Smith	April 12, 1728	1789–1791	Maryland	Anti-Administration
March 27, 1814	July 26, 1819	George Leonard	July 4, 1729	1789–1793 1795–1797	Massachusetts	Pro-Administration Federalist
July 26, 1819	June 1, 1832	Thomas Sumter	August 14, 1734	1789–1793 1797–1801	South Carolina	Anti-Administration Democratic-Republican
June 1, 1832	March 7, 1838	Paine Wingate	May 14, 1739	1793–1795	New Hampshire	Pro-Administration
March 7, 1838	May 22, 1842	Henry Southard	October 7, 1747	1801–1811 1815–1821	New Jersey	Democratic-Republican
May 22, 1842	October 18, 1843	Ebenezer Elmer	August 23, 1752	1801–1807	New Jersey	Democratic-Republican
October 18, 1843	March 6, 1844	Gabriel Duvall	December 6, 1752	1794–1796	Maryland	Anti-Administration Democratic-Republican
March 6, 1844	March 23, 1846	Laban Wheaton	March 13, 1754	1809–1817	Massachusetts	Federalist
March 23, 1846	January 20, 1849	Nathan Read	July 2, 1759	1800–1803	Massachusetts	Federalist
January 20, 1849	May 26, 1851	Simeon Baldwin	December 14, 1761	1803–1805	Connecticut	Federalist
May 26, 1851	March 29, 1855	John Locke	February 14, 1764	1823–1829	Massachusetts	Adams Republican
March 29, 1855	April 8, 1857	Alexander Boyd	September 14, 1764	1813–1815	New York	Federalist
April 8, 1857	January 23, 1858	Daniel Burrows	October 26, 1766	1821–1823	Connecticut	Democratic-Republican
January 23, 1858	August 3, 1863	Zadock Cook	February 18, 1769	1816–1819	Georgia	Democratic-Republican
August 3, 1863	July 1, 1864	Josiah Quincy III	February 4, 1772	1805–1813	Massachusetts	Federalist
July 1, 1864	January 2, 1866	Thomas Chandler	August 10, 1772	1829–1833	New Hampshire	Jacksonian
January 2, 1866	April 1, 1868	James Parker	March 1, 1776	1833–1837	New Jersey	Jacksonian
April 1, 1868	July 1, 1868	Samuel Tweedy	March 8, 1776	1833–1835	Connecticut	Anti-Jacksonian
July 1, 1868	December 23, 1870	James I. Van Alen	1776	1807–1809	New York	Democratic-Republican	ca. 94 yy
December 23, 1870	July 18, 1872	Samuel Thatcher	July 1, 1776	1802–1805	Massachusetts	Federalist
July 18, 1872	August 12, 1875	Horace Binney	January 4, 1780	1833–1835	Pennsylvania	Anti-Jacksonian
August 12, 1875	February 16, 1880	Daniel Sheffer	May 24, 1783	1837–1839	Pennsylvania	Democratic
February 16, 1880	September 22, 1881	John Alfred Cuthbert	June 3, 1788	1819–1821	Georgia	Democratic-Republican
September 22, 1881	February 7, 1885	Joseph Grinnell	November 17, 1788	1843–1851	Massachusetts	Whig
February 7, 1885	August 8, 1885	James Garland	June 6, 1791	1835–1841	Virginia	Jacksonian Democratic Conservative
August 8, 1885	May 7, 1886	David Fisher	December 3, 1794	1847–1849	Ohio	Whig
May 7, 1886	January 9, 1887	Elijah Babbitt	July 29, 1795	1859–1863	Pennsylvania	Republican
January 9, 1887	June 9, 1887	John Hoge Ewing	October 8, 1796	1845–1847	Pennsylvania	Whig
June 9, 1887	July 26, 1891	Paul Dillingham	August 10, 1799	1843–1847	Vermont	Democratic
July 26, 1891	May 9, 1892	Sidney Lawrence	December 31, 1801	1847–1849	New York	Democratic
May 9, 1892	June 11, 1894	John T. Andrews	May 29, 1803	1837–1839	New York	Democratic
June 11, 1894	February 12, 1896	Emery D. Potter	October 7, 1804	1843–1845 1849–1851	Ohio	Democratic
February 12, 1896	January 12, 1897	John W. Crisfield	November 8, 1806	1847–1849 1861–1863	Maryland	Whig Unionist
January 12, 1897	April 16, 1900	John W. Hunter	October 15, 1807	1866–1867	New York	Democratic
April 16, 1900	March 18, 1902	Daniel Wells, Jr.	July 16, 1808	1853–1857	Wisconsin	Democratic
March 18, 1902	April 24, 1902	Edwin Hickman Ewing	December 2, 1809	1845–1847	Tennessee	Whig
April 24, 1902	March 8, 1903	Martin I. Townsend	February 6, 1810	1875–1879	New York	Republican
March 8, 1903	March 27, 1908	Ephraim R. Eckley	December 9, 1811	1863–1869	Ohio	Republican
March 27, 1908	September 18, 1910	James McGrew	September 14, 1813	1869–1873	West Virginia	Republican
September 18, 1910	March 14, 1911	John H. Rice	February 5, 1816	1861–1867	Maine	Republican
March 14, 1911	October 3, 1911	John Morgan Bright	January 20, 1817	1871–1881	Tennessee	Democratic
October 3, 1911	March 12, 1916	George William Palmer	January 13, 1818	1857–1861	New York	Republican
March 12, 1916	November 3, 1924	Cornelius Cole	September 17, 1822	1863–1865	California	Republican
November 3, 1924	February 28, 1926	William W. Crapo	May 16, 1830	1875–1883	Massachusetts	Republican
February 28, 1926	January 6, 1929	John H. Lewis	July 21, 1830	1881–1883	Illinois	Republican
January 6, 1929	April 22, 1932	J. Warren Keifer	January 30, 1836	1877–1885 1905–1911	Ohio	Republican
April 22, 1932	May 25, 1938	Henry R. Gibson	December 24, 1837	1895–1905	Tennessee	Republican
May 25, 1938	September 8, 1938	George Frederic Kribbs	November 8, 1846	1891–1895	Pennsylvania	Democratic
September 8, 1938	December 18, 1946	Lemuel W. Royse	January 19, 1847	1895–1899	Indiana	Republican
December 18, 1946	June 10, 1947	Addison James	February 27, 1850	1907–1909	Kentucky	Republican
June 10, 1947	February 25, 1948	Amos R. Webber	January 21, 1852	1904–1907	Ohio	Republican
February 25, 1948	September 10, 1949	John E. Weeks	June 14, 1853	1931–1933	Vermont	Republican
September 10, 1949	April 1, 1953	Schuyler Merritt	December 16, 1853	1917–1931 1933–1937	Connecticut	Republican
April 1, 1953	July 27, 1954	Joseph E. Ransdell	October 7, 1858	1899–1913	Louisiana	Democratic
July 27, 1954	May 12, 1956	Franklin Menges	October 26, 1858	1925–1931	Pennsylvania	Republican
May 12, 1956	July 5, 1956	Addison T. Smith	September 5, 1862	1913–1933	Idaho	Republican
July 5, 1956	January 17, 1958	Michael Donohoe	February 22, 1864	1911–1915	Pennsylvania	Democratic
January 17, 1958	April 29, 1958	Warren A. Haggott	May 18, 1864	1907–1909	Colorado	Republican
April 29, 1958	February 22, 1960	Townsend Scudder	July 26, 1865	1899–1901 1903–1905	New York	Democratic
February 22, 1960	October 11, 1960	Daniel K. Hoch	January 31, 1866	1943–1947	Pennsylvania	Democratic
October 11, 1960	September 12, 1963	Charles Nelson Pray	April 6, 1868	1907–1913	Montana	Republican
September 12, 1963	November 7, 1967	John Nance Garner	November 22, 1868	1903–1933	Texas	Democratic
November 7, 1967	July 12, 1971	Earl Hanley Beshlin	April 28, 1870	1917–1919	Pennsylvania	Democratic
July 12, 1971	January 6, 1973	Maurice Hudson Thatcher	August 15, 1870	1923–1933	Kentucky	Republican
January 6, 1973	January 10, 1974	Charles G. Bond	May 29, 1877	1921–1923	New York	Republican
January 10, 1974	January 9, 1975	Virginia E. Jenckes	November 6, 1877	1933–1939	Indiana	Democratic
January 9, 1975	March 4, 1977	Miles C. Allgood	February 22, 1878	1923–1935	Alabama	Democratic
March 4, 1977	December 27, 1980	Charles S. Dewey	November 10, 1880	1941–1945	Illinois	Republican
December 27, 1980	June 1, 1981	Carl Vinson	November 18, 1883	1914–1965	Georgia	Democratic
June 1, 1981	November 2, 1989	Elizabeth Hawley Gasque	February 26, 1886	1938–1939	South Carolina	Democratic
November 2, 1989	January 18, 1991	Hamilton Fish III	December 7, 1888	1920–1945	New York	Republican
January 18, 1991	April 3, 1993	Peter J. De Muth	January 1, 1892	1937–1939	Pennsylvania	Democratic
April 3, 1993	May 29, 1995	Margaret Chase Smith	December 14, 1897	1940–1949	Maine	Republican
May 29, 1995	May 15, 1996	Newt V. Mills	September 27, 1899	1937–1943	Louisiana	Democratic
May 15, 1996	January 4, 1997	Harry P. Jeffrey	December 26, 1901	1943–1945	Ohio	Republican
January 4, 1997	May 8, 1998	Jennings Randolph	March 8, 1902	1933–1947	West Virginia	Democratic
May 8, 1998	April 1, 1999	Ellis Yarnal Berry	October 6, 1902	1951–1971	South Dakota	Republican
April 1, 1999	October 5, 2001	Mike Mansfield	March 16, 1903	1943–1953	Montana	Democratic
October 5, 2001	March 11, 2003	John Goodchild Dow	May 6, 1905	1965–1969 1971–1973	New York	Democratic
March 11, 2003	November 10, 2007	Augustus F. Hawkins	August 31, 1907	1963–1991	California	Democratic
November 10, 2007	September 25, 2008	Glenn Andrews	January 15, 1909	1965–1967	Alabama	Republican
September 25, 2008	November 4, 2009	William H. Avery	August 11, 1911	1955–1965	Kansas	Republican
November 4, 2009	January 8, 2011	William F. Walsh	July 11, 1912	1973–1979	New York	Republican–Conservative
January 8, 2011	October 25, 2011	Perkins Bass	October 6, 1912	1955–1963	New Hampshire	Republican
October 25, 2011		Ken Hechler	September 20, 1914	1959–1977	West Virginia	Democratic

Current

This is a list of the oldest currently living former and current members of the United States House of Representatives. The list includes some politicians who were or are Senators. The oldest sitting member is John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, who was born in 1929. He is also Dean of the House, or longest serving member.

Rank	Representative	Date of birth	House term	State served	Party	Age (years, days)
1	Ken Hechler	September 20, 1914	1959–1977	West Virginia	Democratic
2	John S. Wold	August 31, 1916	1969–1971	Wyoming	Republican
3	James D. Martin	September 1, 1918	1965–1967	Alabama	Republican
4	Lester L. Wolff	January 4, 1919	1965–1981	New York	Democratic
5	Larry Winn	August 22, 1919	1965–1985	Kansas	Republican
6	Burt L. Talcott	February 22, 1920	1963–1977	California	Republican
7	Neal Edward Smith	March 23, 1920	1959–1995	Iowa	Democratic
8	Edward Lunn Young	September 7, 1920	1973–1975	South Carolina	Republican
9	Marjorie Holt	September 17, 1920	1973–1987	Maryland	Republican
10	Cornelius Edward Gallagher	March 2, 1921	1959–1973	New Jersey	Democratic
11	Berkley Bedell	March 5, 1921	1975–1987	Iowa	Democratic
12	Harry G. Haskell, Jr.	May 27, 1921	1957–1959	Delaware	Republican
13	Paul Findley	June 23, 1921	1961–1983	Illinois	Republican
14	Roger H. Zion	September 17, 1921	1967–1975	Indiana	Republican
15	Mike McCormack	December 14, 1921	1971–1981	Washington	Democratic
16	John R. Schmidhauser	January 3, 1922	1965–1967	Iowa	Democratic
17	John B. Anderson	February 15, 1922	1961–1981	Illinois	Republican
18	Doug Barnard, Jr.	March 20, 1922	1977–1993	Georgia	Democratic
19	William Broomfield	April 28, 1922	1957–1993	Michigan	Republican
20	R. James Harvey	July 4, 1922	1961–1975	Michigan	Republican
21	Melvin R. Laird	September 1, 1922	1953–1971	Wisconsin	Republican
22	Benjamin A. Gilman	December 6, 1922	1973–2003	New York	Republican
23	Samuel H. Young	December 26, 1922	1973–1975	Illinois	Republican
24	Robert H. Michel	March 2, 1923	1957–1995	Illinois	Republican
25	Ralph Hall	May 3, 1923	1981–2015	Texas	Democratic, Republican
26	Bernard F. Grabowski	June 11, 1923	1963–1967	Connecticut	Democratic
27	Bob Dole	July 22, 1923	1961–1969	Kansas	Republican
28	Andrew J. Hinshaw	August 4, 1923	1973–1976	California	Republican
29	Al Quie	September 18, 1923	1958–1979	Minnesota	Republican
30	Fred Richmond	November 15, 1923	1975–1982	New York	Democratic
31	Helen Delich Bentley	November 28, 1923	1985–1995	Maryland	Republican
32	Charles Thone	January 4, 1924	1971–1979	Nebraska	Republican
33	Edwin Reinecke	January 7, 1924	1965–1969	California	Republican
34	Catherine Small Long	February 7, 1924	1985–1987	Louisiana	Democratic
35	Donald M. Fraser	February 20, 1924	1963–1979	Minnesota	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
36	George H. W. Bush	June 12, 1924	1967–1971	Texas	Republican
37	Shirley Neil Pettis	July 12, 1924	1975–1979	California	Republican
38	Frank Joseph Guarini	August 20, 1924	1979–1993	New Jersey	Democratic
39	John Melcher	September 6, 1924	1969–1977	Montana	Democratic
40	Daniel Akaka	September 11, 1924	1977–1990	Hawaii	Democratic
41	Howard C. Nielson	September 12, 1924	1983–1991	Utah	Republican
42	Merwin Coad	September 28, 1924	1957–1963	Iowa	Democratic
43	Weston E. Vivian	October 25, 1924	1965–1967	Michigan	Democratic
44	Ralph Regula	December 3, 1924	1973–2009	Ohio	Republican
45	Fletcher Thompson	February 5, 1925	1967–1973	Georgia	Republican
46	G. William Whitehurst	March 12, 1925	1967–1987	Virginia	Republican
47	Lucien N. Nedzi	May 28, 1925	1961–1981	Michigan	Democratic
48	Ogden R. Reid	June 24, 1925	1963–1975	New York	Republican, Democratic
49	Tom Luken	July 9, 1925	1974–1975 1977–1991	Ohio	Democratic
50	Fred B. Rooney	November 6, 1925	1963–1979	Pennsylvania	Democratic
51	Abner J. Mikva	January 21, 1926	1969–1973 1975–1979	Illinois	Democratic
52	J. Roy Rowland	February 3, 1926	1983–1995	Georgia	Democratic
53	Elwood Hillis	March 6, 1926	1971–1987	Indiana	Republican
54	Alvin Baldus	April 27, 1926	1975–1981	Wisconsin	Democrat
55	Carrie P. Meek	April 29, 1926	1993–2003	Florida	Democrat
56	Dick Nichols	April 29, 1926	1991–1993	Kansas	Republican
57	Earl Dewitt Hutto	May 12, 1926	1979–1995	Florida	Democrat
58	Mark Andrews	May 19, 1926	1963–1981	North Dakota	Republican
59	Roscoe Bartlett	June 3, 1926	1993–2013	Maryland	Republican
60	Raymond F. Clevenger	June 6, 1926	1965–1967	Michigan	Democrat
61	John Dingell	July 8, 1926	1955–2015	Michigan	Democrat
62	Orval H. Hansen	August 3, 1926	1969–1975	Idaho	Republican
63	Amo Houghton	August 7, 1926	1987–2005	New York	Republican
64	John Otho Marsh, Jr.	August 7, 1926	1963–1971	Virginia	Democrat
65	Joseph P. Kolter	September 3, 1926	1983–1993	Pennsylvania	Democrat
66	Robert J. Lagomarsino	September 4, 1926	1975–1993	California	Republican
67	Philip Ruppe	September 29, 1926	1967–1979	Michigan	Republican
68	Richard Fulton	January 27, 1927	1963–1975	Tennessee	Democrat
69	Marc L. Marks	February 12, 1927	1977–1983	Pennsylvania	Republican
70	Benjamin B. Blackburn	February 14, 1927	1967–1975	Georgia	Republican
71	John Brademas	March 2, 1927	1959–1981	Indiana	Democratic
72	Arthur Ravenel, Jr.	March 29, 1927	1987–1995	South Carolina	Republican
73	William J. Keating	March 30, 1927	1971–1974	Ohio	Republican
74	Eugene Atkinson	April 5, 1927	1979–1983	Pennsylvania	Republican
75	Austin Murphy	June 17, 1927	1977–1995	Pennsylvania	Democratic
76	Bud Brown	June 18, 1927	1965–1983	Ohio	Republican
77	Leo C. Zeferetti	July 15, 1927	1975–1983	New York	Democratic
78	Al McCandless	July 23, 1927	1983–1995	California	Republican
79	Edwin Edwards	August 7, 1927	1965–1972	Louisiana	Democratic
80	Jim Weaver	August 8, 1927	1975—1987	Oregon	Democratic
81	Jim Broyhill	August 19, 1927	1963–1986	North Carolina	Republican
82	Kika de la Garza	September 22, 1927	1965–1997	Texas	Democratic
83	James W. Symington	September 28, 1927	1969–1977	Missouri	Democratic
84	Pete McCloskey	September 29, 1927	1967–1983	California	Republican
85	William F. Goodling	December 5, 1927	1975–2001	Pennsylvania	Republican
86	John Hall Buchanan, Jr.	March 19, 1928	1965–1981	Alabama	Republican
87	William Reynolds Archer, Jr.	March 22, 1928	1971–2001	Texas	Republican
88	Douglas Applegate	March 27, 1928	1977–1995	Ohio	Democrat
89	Manuel Lujan, Jr.	May 12, 1928	1969–1989	New Mexico	Republican
90	Jan Meyers	July 20, 1928	1985–1997	Kansas	Republican
91	Nick Galifianakis	July 22, 1928	1967–1973	North Carolina	Democrat
92	Robert Bergland	July 22, 1928	1971–1977	Minnesota	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
93	William Sheldrick Conover	August 27, 1928	1972–1973	Pennsylvania	Republican
94	Jack Edwards	September 20, 1928	1965–1985	Alabama	Republican
95	Lawrence Hogan	September 30, 1928	1969–1975	Maryland	Republican
96	Guy Molinari	November 23, 1928	1981–1989	New York	Republican
97	Bill Gradison	December 28, 1928	1975–1993	Ohio	Republican
98	Marilyn Lloyd	January 3, 1929	1975–1995	Tennessee	Democratic
99	Richard Ottinger	January 27, 1929	1965–1971 1975–1985	New York	Democratic
100	Bill Barrett	February 9, 1929	1991–2001	Nebraska	Republican

See also

• Earliest serving United States Representative
• Oldest living United States president
• Dean of the United States House of Representatives
• Dean of the United States Senate
• Longest living United States Senator
• Earliest serving United States Senator
• Oldest living United States governor
• List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service

External links

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
• The Political Graveyard