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The United States on February 24, 1858

Who held every office, how Congress and the Court were made up, and what happened within a week. Diff this day against today →

President
Buchanan
James Buchanan D · since Mar 4, 1857
Senate
39 D · 20 R
64 senators · 35th Congress
House
134 D · 91 R
243 representatives
Supreme Court
8 D · 1 W
9 justices by appointing party
Union
31 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$29M
as of Jul 1, 1857
1858-02-24/executiveThe administration
President James Buchanan D
since Mar 4, 1857
Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge D
Secretary of State Lewis Cass D
since Mar 6, 1857
Attorney General Jeremiah S. Black D
since Mar 6, 1857
Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb D
since Mar 7, 1857
Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey D
since Mar 7, 1857
1858-02-24/congress35th Congress
Senate · 39 D · 20 R · 4 A · 1 U
Clement Claiborne Clay Jr. (Democrat, AL)Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democrat, AL)William King Sebastian (Democrat, AR)Robert Ward Johnson (Democrat, AR)David Colbreth Broderick (Democrat, CA)William McKendree Gwin (Democrat, CA)Martin Waltham Bates (Democrat, DE)James Asheton Bayard Jr. (Democrat, DE)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Stephen Russell Mallory (Democrat, FL)Robert Augustus Toombs (Democrat, GA)Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democrat, GA)George Wallace Jones (Democrat, IA)Stephen Arnold Douglas (Democrat, IL)Graham Newell Fitch (Democrat, IN)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)Judah Philip Benjamin (Democrat, LA)John Slidell (Democrat, LA)James Alfred Pearce (Democrat, MD)Charles Edward Stuart (Democrat, MI)James Shields (Democrat, MN)Henry Mower Rice (Democrat, MN)James Stephen Green (Democrat, MO)Trusten Polk (Democrat, MO)Albert Gallatin Brown (Democrat, MS)Jefferson Davis (Democrat, MS)David Settle Reid (Democrat, NC)Thomas Lanier Clingman (Democrat, NC)William Wright (Democrat, NJ)John Renshaw Thomson (Democrat, NJ)George Ellis Pugh (Democrat, OH)William Bigler (Democrat, PA)Philip Allen (Democrat, RI)Arthur Peronneau Hayne (Democrat, SC)James Henry Hammond (Democrat, SC)Andrew Johnson (Democrat, TN)Matthias Ward (Democrat, TX)Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (Democrat, VA)James Murray Mason (Democrat, VA)John Burton Thompson (American, KY)John Jordan Crittenden (American, KY)Anthony Kennedy (Unionist, MD)John Bell (American, TN)Samuel Houston (American, TX)Lafayette Sabine Foster (Republican, CT)James Dixon (Republican, CT)James Harlan (Republican, IA)Lyman Trumbull (Republican, IL)Henry Wilson (Republican, MA)Charles Sumner (Republican, MA)William Pitt Fessenden (Republican, ME)Hannibal Hamlin (Republican, ME)Zachariah Chandler (Republican, MI)John Parker Hale (Republican, NH)Daniel Clark (Republican, NH)William Henry Seward (Republican, NY)Preston King (Republican, NY)Benjamin Franklin Wade (Republican, OH)Simon Cameron (Republican, PA)James Fowler Simmons (Republican, RI)Jacob Collamer (Republican, VT)Solomon Foot (Republican, VT)Charles Durkee (Republican, WI)James Rood Doolittle (Republican, WI)
House · 134 D · 91 R · 15 A · 1 O · 1 W · 1 ID
James Ferguson Dowdell (Democrat, AL-3)Eli Sims Shorter (Democrat, AL-2)Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb (Democrat, AL-6)Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (Democrat, AL-7)Sydenham Moore (Democrat, AL-4)James Adams Stallworth (Democrat, AL-1)George Smith Houston (Democrat, AL-5)Alfred Burton Greenwood (Democrat, AR-1)Edward Allen Warren (Democrat, AR-2)Joseph Chambers McKibbin (Democrat, CA-AL)Samuel Arnold (Democrat, CT-2)William Darius Bishop (Democrat, CT-4)William Gustavus Whiteley (Democrat, DE-AL)George Sydney Hawkins (Democrat, FL-1)James Lindsay Seward (Democrat, GA-1)Augustus Romaldus Wright (Democrat, GA-5)Martin Jenkins Crawford (Democrat, GA-2)Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell (Democrat, GA-4)James Jackson (Democrat, GA-6)Alexander Hamilton Stephens (Democrat, GA-8)Thomas Langrell Harris (Democrat, IL-6)James Lowery Donaldson Morrison (Democrat, IL-AL)Robert Smith (Democrat, IL-8)Isaac Newton Morris (Democrat, IL-5)Samuel Scott Marshall (Democrat, IL-9)Aaron Shaw (Democrat, IL-7)James Bradford Foley (Democrat, IN-4)James Madison Gregg (Democrat, IN-6)James Hughes (Democrat, IN-3)James Lockhart (Democrat, IN-1)John Givan Davis (Democrat, IN-7)William Hayden English (Democrat, IN-2)James Brown Clay (Democrat, KY-8)John Milton Elliott (Democrat, KY-6)Joshua Husband Jewett (Democrat, KY-5)John Calvin Mason (Democrat, KY-9)Albert Gallatin Talbott (Democrat, KY-4)Samuel Oldham Peyton (Democrat, KY-2)Henry Cornelius Burnett (Democrat, KY-1)John White Stevenson (Democrat, KY-10)John Milton Sandidge (Democrat, LA-4)Thomas Green Davidson (Democrat, LA-3)Miles Taylor (Democrat, LA-2)Thomas Fielder Bowie (Democrat, MD-6)Jacob Michael Kunkel (Democrat, MD-5)James Augustus Stewart (Democrat, MD-1)William Wallace Kingsbury (Democrat, MN-AL)Samuel Caruthers (Democrat, MO-7)James Craig (Democrat, MO-4)John Bullock Clark (Democrat, MO-3)John Smith Phelps (Democrat, MO-6)John Anthony Quitman (Democrat, MS-5)William Barksdale (Democrat, MS-3)Reuben Davis (Democrat, MS-2)Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (Democrat, MS-1)Otho Robards Singleton (Democrat, MS-4)Henry Marchmore Shaw (Democrat, NC-1)Lawrence O’Bryan Branch (Democrat, NC-4)Francis Burton Craige (Democrat, NC-7)Thomas Ruffin (Democrat, NC-2)Warren Winslow (Democrat, NC-3)Alfred Moore Scales (Democrat, NC-6)Fenner Ferguson (Democrat, NE-AL)John Huyler (Democrat, NJ-4)Jacob Reynier Wortendyke (Democrat, NJ-5)Garnett Bowditch Adrain (Democrat, NJ-3)Israel Thompson Hatch (Democrat, NY-32)John Kelly (Democrat, NY-4)William Fiero Russell (Democrat, NY-11)John Alexander Searing (Democrat, NY-1)George Taylor (Democrat, NY-2)Horace Francis Clark (Democrat, NY-8)John Cochrane (Democrat, NY-6)John Bussing Haskin (Democrat, NY-9)William Brown Maclay (Democrat, NY-5)Erastus Corning (Democrat, NY-14)Elijah Ward (Democrat, NY-7)Daniel Edgar Sickles (Democrat, NY-3)Joseph Burns (Democrat, OH-15)Joseph Randolph Cockerill (Democrat, OH-6)William Slocum Groesbeck (Democrat, OH-2)Lawrence Washington Hall (Democrat, OH-9)William Lawrence (Democrat, OH-17)Joseph Miller (Democrat, OH-10)Clement Laird Vallandigham (Democrat, OH-3)George Hunt Pendleton (Democrat, OH-1)Samuel Sullivan Cox (Democrat, OH-12)Joseph Lane (Democrat, OR-AL)La Fayette Grover (Democrat, OR-1)John Alexander Ahl (Democrat, PA-16)Henry Chapman (Democrat, PA-7)William Lewis Dewart (Democrat, PA-11)James Lisle Gillis (Democrat, PA-24)Jehu Glancy Jones (Democrat, PA-8)Owen Jones (Democrat, PA-5)James Landy (Democrat, PA-3)Paul Leidy (Democrat, PA-12)Henry Myer Phillips (Democrat, PA-4)Wilson Reilly (Democrat, PA-17)Allison White (Democrat, PA-15)William Harrison Dimmick (Democrat, PA-13)Thomas Birch Florence (Democrat, PA-1)William Montgomery (Democrat, PA-20)John Hickman (Democrat, PA-6)Preston Smith Brooks (Democrat, SC-AL)James Lawrence Orr (Democrat, SC-5)Milledge Luke Bonham (Democrat, SC-4)William Waters Boyce (Democrat, SC-6)Laurence Massillon Keitt (Democrat, SC-3)John McQueen (Democrat, SC-1)William Porcher Miles (Democrat, SC-2)George Washington Jones (Democrat, TN-6)John Houston Savage (Democrat, TN-4)Samuel Axley Smith (Democrat, TN-3)Albert Galiton Watkins (Democrat, TN-1)William Tecumsah Avery (Democrat, TN-10)John Vines Wright (Democrat, TN-7)John DeWitt Clinton Atkins (Democrat, TN-9)Guy Morrison Bryan (Democrat, TX-2)John Henninger Reagan (Democrat, TX-1)John Samuels Caskie (Democrat, VA-3)George Washington Hopkins (Democrat, VA-13)John Letcher (Democrat, VA-9)Paulus Powell (Democrat, VA-6)Thomas Stanley Bocock (Democrat, VA-5)Sherrard Clemens (Democrat, VA-10)Henry Alonzo Edmundson (Democrat, VA-12)Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett (Democrat, VA-1)William Osborne Goode (Democrat, VA-4)Albert Gallatin Jenkins (Democrat, VA-11)John Singleton Millson (Democrat, VA-2)William Smith (Democrat, VA-7)Charles James Faulkner (Democrat, VA-8)Isaac Ingalls Stevens (Democrat, WA-AL)Robert Pleasant Trippe (American, GA-3)Joshua Hill (American, GA-7)Humphrey Marshall (American, KY-7)Warner Lewis Underwood (American, KY-3)George Eustis Jr. (American, LA-1)James Barroll Ricaud (American, MD-2)James Morrison Harris (American, MD-3)Henry Winter Davis (American, MD-4)Thomas Lilbourne Anderson (American, MO-2)Samuel Hughes Woodson (American, MO-5)Francis Preston Blair Jr. (Ind. Democrat, MO-1)John Adams Gilmer (American, NC-5)Zebulon Baird Vance (American, NC-8)Miguel Antonio Otero (?, NM-AL)Charles Ready (American, TN-5)Felix Kirk Zollicoffer (American, TN-8)Horace Maynard (American, TN-2)John Milton Bernhisel (Whig, UT-AL)Ezra Clark Jr. (Republican, CT-1)Sidney Dean (Republican, CT-3)Timothy Davis (Republican, IA-2)Samuel Ryan Curtis (Republican, IA-1)William Kellogg (Republican, IL-4)Owen Lovejoy (Republican, IL-3)Elihu Benjamin Washburne (Republican, IL-1)John Franklin Farnsworth (Republican, IL-2)Samuel Brenton (Republican, IN-10)David Kilgore (Republican, IN-5)John Upfold Pettit (Republican, IN-11)James Wilson (Republican, IN-8)Schuyler Colfax (Republican, IN-9)Marcus Junius Parrott (Republican, KS-AL)Calvin Clifford Chaffee (Republican, MA-10)Linus Bacon Comins (Republican, MA-4)William Shapleigh Damrell (Republican, MA-3)Timothy Davis (Republican, MA-6)Robert Bernard Hall (Republican, MA-1)Chauncey Langdon Knapp (Republican, MA-8)Anson Burlingame (Republican, MA-5)Eli Thayer (Republican, MA-9)Daniel Wheelwright Gooch (Republican, MA-7)James Buffinton (Republican, MA-2)Henry Laurens Dawes (Republican, MA-11)Nehemiah Abbott (Republican, ME-3)Charles Jervis Gilman (Republican, ME-2)John M. Wood (Republican, ME-1)Stephen Clark Foster (Republican, ME-6)Freeman Harlow Morse (Republican, ME-4)Israel Washburn Jr. (Republican, ME-5)David Safford Walbridge (Republican, MI-3)William Alanson Howard (Republican, MI-1)De Witt Clinton Leach (Republican, MI-4)Henry Waldron (Republican, MI-2)James Pike (Republican, NH-1)Mason Weare Tappan (Republican, NH-2)Aaron Harrison Cragin (Republican, NH-3)Isaiah Dunn Clawson (Republican, NJ-1)George Robbins Robbins (Republican, NJ-2)Samuel George Andrews (Republican, NY-29)Henry Bennett (Republican, NY-21)Edward Dodd (Republican, NY-15)Henry Charles Goodwin (Republican, NY-22)Amos Phelps Granger (Republican, NY-24)Orsamus Benajah Matteson (Republican, NY-20)Edwin Barber Morgan (Republican, NY-25)Oliver Andrew Morse (Republican, NY-19)Ambrose Spencer Murray (Republican, NY-10)John Mason Parker (Republican, NY-27)Judson W. Sherman (Republican, NY-30)John Thompson (Republican, NY-12)Silas Mainville Burroughs (Republican, NY-31)Clark Betton Cochrane (Republican, NY-18)Charles Brooks Hoard (Republican, NY-23)George William Palmer (Republican, NY-16)Emory Bemsley Pottle (Republican, NY-26)Francis Elias Spinner (Republican, NY-17)Abram Baldwin Olin (Republican, NY-13)Reuben Eaton Fenton (Republican, NY-33)William Henry Kelsey (Republican, NY-28)Philemon Bliss (Republican, OH-14)Joshua Reed Giddings (Republican, OH-20)Aaron Harlan (Republican, OH-7)Benjamin Franklin Leiter (Republican, OH-18)Richard Mott (Republican, OH-5)Matthias H. Nichols (Republican, OH-4)Benjamin Stanton (Republican, OH-8)Cydnor Bailey Tompkins (Republican, OH-16)Edward Wade (Republican, OH-19)Valentine Baxter Horton (Republican, OH-11)John Armor Bingham (Republican, OH-21)John Sherman (Republican, OH-13)John Rufus Edie (Republican, PA-18)John Christian Kunkel (Republican, PA-10)Samuel Anderson Purviance (Republican, PA-22)David Ritchie (Republican, PA-21)Anthony Ellmaker Roberts (Republican, PA-9)John Dick (Republican, PA-25)William Stewart (Republican, PA-23)Edward Joy Morris (Republican, PA-2)John Covode (Republican, PA-19)Galusha Aaron Grow (Republican, PA-14)Nathaniel Briggs Durfee (Republican, RI-1)William Daniel Brayton (Republican, RI-2)Homer Elihu Royce (Republican, VT-3)Eliakim Persons Walton (Republican, VT-1)Justin Smith Morrill (Republican, VT-2)Charles Billinghurst (Republican, WI-3)John Fox Potter (Republican, WI-1)Cadwallader Colden Washburn (Republican, WI-2)
1858-02-24/supreme-courtThe bench
John McLean D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 7, 1829
James Moore Wayne D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Jan 9, 1835
Roger Brooke Taney D
Chief Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 15, 1836
John Catron D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 8, 1837
Peter Vivian Daniel D
Associate Justice · appointed by Martin Van Buren · since Mar 3, 1841
Samuel Nelson W
Associate Justice · appointed by John Tyler · since Feb 13, 1845
Robert Cooper Grier D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Aug 4, 1846
John Archibald Campbell D
Associate Justice · appointed by Franklin Pierce · since Mar 22, 1853
Nathan Clifford D
Associate Justice · appointed by James Buchanan · since Jan 12, 1858
1858-02-24/weekWithin a week · Feb 17, 1858 – Mar 3, 1858
Ruling Fisher v. Haldeman
Feb 22, 1858 · 61 U.S. 186
Ruling Day v. The Union India Rubber Company
Feb 22, 1858 · 61 U.S. 216
Ruling McGavock v. Woodlie
Feb 22, 1858 · 61 U.S. 221
Ruling White v. Burnley
Feb 22, 1858 · 61 U.S. 235
Ruling Leitensdorfer v. Webb
Feb 24, 1858 · 61 U.S. 176
Ruling Payne v. Niles
Feb 24, 1858 · 61 U.S. 219
Ruling The Covington Drawbridge Company v. Shepherd
Feb 24, 1858 · 61 U.S. 227
Ruling Watterston v. Payne
Feb 24, 1858 · 154 U.S. 534
Ruling Gilbert L. Thompson v. Selden
Feb 25, 1858 · 61 U.S. 194
Ruling United States v. Gotlieb Breitling
Feb 25, 1858 · 61 U.S. 252
Ruling Eliphas Spencer v. Lapsley
Feb 25, 1858 · 61 U.S. 264

Each office is shown as it stood at the end of the day. Cabinet records come from Wikidata and have gaps for some historical offices.