1840 Massachusetts legislature

61st Massachusetts General Court
← 60th (1839) 62nd (1841) →
Seal of the General Court of Massachusetts
Overview
Legislative body	Massachusetts General Court
Term	January 1, 1840 (1840-01-01) – January 6, 1841 (1841-01-06)
Senate
Members	40
President	Daniel P. King
Party control	Whig
House
Members	521 [1]
Speaker	Robert Charles Winthrop
Party control	Whig
Sessions
1st January 1, 1840 (1840-01-01) – March 24, 1840 (1840-03-24) [2][3]

The 61st Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1840 during the governorship of Marcus Morton. Daniel P. King served as president of the Senate and Robert Charles Winthrop served as speaker of the House.[4]

On January 22, 1840, the governor gave a speech.[3]

Composition by party

Overview of Senate membership by party

Begin (January 1, 1840)
	Party (shading shows control)		Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Whig (W)
Begin (January 1, 1840)	19	21	40	0
Latest voting share	47.50%	52.50%

Leadership

Senate Presiding President: Daniel P. King (W) House of Representatives Presiding Speaker: Robert Charles Winthrop (W)

Members

Senate

The 40 seats are apportioned to each county or counties, based upon population size, to be elected at-large.[5]

Barnstable

▌At-large. Charles Marsten (W)

Berkshire

▌At-large. Russell Brown (D)

▌At-large. Increase Sumner (D)

Bristol

▌At-large. Foster Hooper (D)

▌At-large. Horatio Pratt (D)

▌At-large. Seth Whitmarsh (D)

Dukes and Nantucket

▌At-large. George B. Upton (W)

Essex

▌At-large. Amos Abbott (W)

▌At-large. David Choate (W)

▌At-large. Daniel P. King (W)

▌At-large. Samuel Lane (W)

▌At-large. Josiah Little (W)

▌At-large. John S. Williams (W)

Franklin

▌At-large. George T. Davies (W)

Hampden

▌At-large. Matthew Ives Jr. (D)

▌At-large. Asa Lincoln (D)

Hampshire

▌At-large. William Bowdoin (W)

▌At-large. Timothy A. Phelps (W)

Middlesex

▌At-large. Thomas J. Greenwood (D)

▌At-large. Joseph W. Mansur (D)

▌At-large. Leonard M. Parker (D)

▌At-large. James Russell (D)

▌At-large. Sidney Willard (W)

Norfolk

▌At-large. Lucas Pond (D)

▌At-large. Bradford L. Wales (D)

▌At-large. Benjamin P. Williams (D)

Plymouth

▌At-large. Seth Sprague Jr. (W)

▌At-large. Jared Whitman (W)

Suffolk

▌At-large. Edmund Dwight (D)

▌At-large. Isaac Harris (W)

▌At-large. William J. Hubbard (W)

▌At-large. George Morey (W)

▌At-large. Josiah Quincy Jr. (W)

▌At-large. James Savage (W)

Worcester

▌At-large. Benjamin Estabrook (D)

▌At-large. Charles C. P. Hastings (W)

▌At-large. Jedediah Marcy (D)

▌At-large. Charles Sibley (D)

▌At-large. Nathaniel Wood (D)

▌At-large. Samuel Wood (W)

President of the Senate
Daniel P. King (W)

House of Representatives

The members of the House of Representatives are apportioned by incorporated township and therefore the number of representatives in the House of Representatives can vary. Every incorporated township that has at least 150 ratable polls (taxable persons) is given one representative and for every additional 225 ratable polls, another representative is given. Townships can choose not to send a representative to the House each session, therefore the total number of filled seats can fluctuate year-to-year.[6] Only the townships that sent representatives are listed below.

Barnstable

▌Barnstable. Daniel Basset (D)

▌Barnstable. Nathaniel Hinckley (D)

▌Barnstable. Thomas B. Lewis (D)

▌Brewster. Josiah Foster (W)

▌Chatham. Samuel Doane (D)

▌Chatham. Henry Gorham (D)

▌Dennis. Seth Crowell (W)

▌Dennis. Samuel Rogers (W)

▌Eastham. Barnabas Freeman (D)

▌Falmouth. Silas Jones (W)

▌Falmouth. Elijah Swift (W)

▌Harwich. Cyrus Weeks (W)

▌Harwich. Richard Baker Jr. (W)

▌Orleans. Luther Snow (W)

▌Orleans. Nathaniel Freeman (D)

▌Provincetown. John Atkins (W)

▌Provincetown. David Cook II (W)

▌Sandwich. Josiah Bacon (W)

▌Sandwich. Benjamin Bourne (W)

▌Sandwich. Charles Nye (W)

▌Truro. Freeman Atkins (W)

▌Truro. Jedediah Shed (D)

▌Wellfleet. Nathaniel P. Wiley (D)

▌Wellfleet. Solomon R. Hawes (D)

▌Yarmouth. Silvanus Crowell (W)

▌Yarmouth. Freeman Taylor (W)

Berkshire

▌Adams. Snell Babbit (W)

▌Adams. Lorenzo Rice (W)

▌Adams. Ezra D. Whitaker (W)

▌Alford. Elijah K. Williams (D)

▌Cheshire. Noah Y. Bushnell (D)

▌Dalton. John Chamberlain (D)

▌Egremont. Rich P. Brown (D)

▌Great Barrington. Perley D. Whitmore (W)

▌Great Barrington. Philip Barnes (W)

▌Hinsdale. William Hinsdale (W)

▌Lanesborough. Asahel Buck Jr. (D)

▌Lee. Eli Bradley (W)

▌Lee. Leonard Church (W)

▌Lenox. Henry H. Cook (D)

▌New Ashford. Phineas Harmon (W)

▌New Marlborough. George Smith (W)

▌Otis. Curtis Hunt (D)

▌Peru. Edward T. Nash (W)

▌Pittsfield. James Francis (W)

▌Pittsfield. Jabez Peck (W)

▌Pittsfield. Comfort B. Platt (W)

▌Richmond. Seneca Pettee (D)

▌Sandisfield. David Belden (D)

▌Savoy. Philip Pierce (D)

▌Sheffield. Orrin Curtis (D)

▌Sheffield. Moses Forbes (D)

▌Stockbridge. John M. Cooper (D)

▌Stockbridge. Charles Webster (D)

▌Tyringham. Amos Langdon Jr. (D)

▌Washington. John S. Noble (D)

▌Williamstown. James Corbin (D)

▌Williamstown. Henry Johnson (D)

▌Windsor. Moses Ford (D)

Bristol

Dukes

▌Chilmark. Daniel Flanders (D)

▌Edgartown. David Davis (D)

▌Edgartown. Elihu P. Norton (D)

▌Tisbury. Bartlett Allen (D)

▌Tisbury. Asa Johnson (D)

Essex

Franklin

Hampden

Hampshire

Middlesex

Nantucket

▌Nantucket. George Bradburn (W)

▌Nantucket. Jonathan C. Briggs (W)

▌Nantucket. Benjamin Gardner (W)

▌Nantucket. Samuel H. Jenks (W)

▌Nantucket. William B. Mitchell (W)

▌Nantucket. David Joy (W)

Norfolk

Plymouth

Suffolk

▌Boston. Amos Binney (W)

▌Boston. George T. Bigelow (W)

▌Boston. John Boles (W)

▌Boston. Noah Brooks (W)

▌Boston. William C. Brown (D)

▌Boston. Francis Brown (W)

▌Boston. George T. Curtis (W)

▌Boston. George Darracott (W)

▌Boston. Isaac P. Davis (W)

▌Boston. Thomas A. Davis (W)

▌Boston. Daniel Denny (W)

▌Boston. Franklin Dexter (W)

▌Boston. Frederic Emerson (W)

▌Boston. David Francis (W)

▌Boston. John Gardner (W)

▌Boston. James W. Gates (W)

▌Boston. John C. Gray (W)

▌Boston. Samuel Greele (W)

▌Boston. John Green Jr. (W)

▌Boston. Ozias Goodwin (W)

▌Boston. Frederick Gould (W)

▌Boston. Nathan Gurney (W)

▌Boston. Samuel W. Hall (W)

▌Boston. James Harris (W)

▌Boston. Eliphalet P. Hartshorn (W)

▌Boston. John P. Healy (W)

▌Boston. Robert Hooper Jr. (W)

▌Boston. Cranston Howe (W)

▌Boston. Thomas Hunting (W)

▌Boston. Robert Keith (W)

▌Boston. William Lawrence (W)

▌Boston. Ezekiel W. Leach (W)

▌Boston. Benson Leavitt (W)

▌Boston. Joseph Lewis (W)

▌Boston. Theophilus R. Marvin (W)

▌Boston. Nahum Mitchell (W)

▌Boston. Francis J. Oliver (W)

▌Boston. William W. Parrott (W)

▌Boston. Theophilus Parsons (W)

▌Boston. Thomas Patten (W)

▌Boston. George W. Phillips (W)

▌Boston. Lewis G. Pray (W)

▌Boston. Samuel Quincy (W)

▌Boston. John Raynor (W)

▌Boston. Joseph W. Revere (W)

▌Boston. Jeffrey Richardson (W)

▌Boston. Daniel Safford (W)

▌Boston. J. Thomas Stevenson (W)

▌Boston. Woodbridge Strong (W)

▌Boston. Josiah Vinton Jr. (W)

▌Boston. Thomas B. Wales (W)

▌Boston. John B. Wells (W)

▌Boston. James M. Whiton (W)

▌Boston. William Willett (W)

▌Boston. Horatio M. Willis (W)

▌Boston. Robert C. Winthrop (W)

Worcester

Speaker of the House
Robert Charles Winthrop (W)

Officers and officials

Congressional officers

• Sergeant-at-Arms to the Legislature: Benjamin Stevens
• Messenger to Governor and Council: William Manning
• Watchman to State-House: Edmund S. Brigham

Senate officers

• Chaplain: Rev. Daniel M. Lord
• Clerk: Charles Calhoun
• Assistant Clerk: W. P. Gregg
• Doorkeeper to Senate: Milton Hall

House of Representatives officers

• Chaplain: Rev. Joy H. Fairchild
• Chaplain: Rev. Benjamin Whittemore
• Clerk: Luther S. Cushing
• Doorkeeper to the House of Representatives: Elijah W. Cutting
• Doorkeeper to the House of Representatives: David Murphey
• Doorkeeper to the House of Representatives: Alexis Pool

See also

• 26th United States Congress
• List of Massachusetts General Courts

References

1. "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
2. "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
3. S. N. Dickinson, Boston Almanac for the Year 1841, Boston: Thomas Groom, hdl:2027/njp.32101056187543
4. "Organization of the Legislature Since 1780". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 340+.
5. "Civil Government of Massachusetts". Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar for 1840 – via HathiTrust.
6. Chapter I, Section III, Article II of the Constitution of Massachusetts (1780)

External links

• Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1840, hdl:2452/738674
• Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1840, hdl:2452/92922