1855 Massachusetts legislature

American state legislature

76th
Massachusetts General Court

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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
| 1st| January 3, 1855 (1855-01-03) – May 21, 1855 (1855-05-21) [3]

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Henry Benchley, Senate president.

Daniel Eddy, House speaker.

Leaders of the Massachusetts General Court, 1855.

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]

"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

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This legislature passed the nation's first statute racially integrating public education.[6]

## Senators

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* 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

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2020)

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## See also

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* 34th United States Congress
* List of Massachusetts General Courts

## References

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1. ^ a b c Robert David Sullivan (2005). "A Toast to the General Court". CommonWealth Magazine. 10 (4).
2. ^ "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
3. ^ "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
4. ^ "Organization of the Legislature Since 1780". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 340+.
5. ^ Lucas, Peter (February 11, 2014). "Legislative expulsion? It started with a wayward Hiss". Lowell Sun.
6. ^ "In Pursuit of Equality – Separate Is Not Equal". americanhistory.si.edu.
7. ^ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Civil Government, 1855". Massachusetts Register, 1855 - via Archive.org.

## Further reading

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* "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

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* Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1855, hdl:2452/725162
* Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1855, hdl:2452/92937

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Massachusetts General Courts by year convened

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1 (1780)
2 (1781)
3 (1782)
4 (1783)
5 (1784)
6 (1785)
7 (1786)
8 (1787)
9 (1788)
10 (1789)
11 (1790)
12 (1791)
13 (1792)
14 (1793)
15 (1794)
16 (1795)
17 (1796)
18 (1797)
19 (1798)
20 (1799)
21 (1800)
22 (1801)
23 (1802)
24 (1803)
25 (1804)

26 (1805)
27 (1806)
28 (1807)
29 (1808)
30 (1809)
31 (1810)
32 (1811)
33 (1812)
34 (1813)
35 (1814)
36 (1815)
37 (1816)
38 (1817)
39 (1818)
40 (1819)
41 (1820)
42 (1821)
43 (1822)
44 (1823)
45 (1824)
46 (1825)
47 (1826)
48 (1827)
49 (1828)
50 (1829)

51 (1830)
52 (1831)
53 (1832)
54 (1833)
55 (1834)
56 (1835)
57 (1836)
58 (1837)
59 (1838)
60 (1839)
61 (1840)
62 (1841)
63 (1842)
64 (1843)
65 (1844)
66 (1845)
67 (1846)
68 (1847)
69 (1848)
70 (1849)
71 (1850)
72 (1851)
73 (1852)
74 (1853)
75 (1854)

76 (1855)
77 (1856)
78 (1857)
79 (1858)
80 (1859)
81 (1860)
82 (1861)
83 (1862)
84 (1863)
85 (1864)
86 (1865)
87 (1866)
88 (1867)
89 (1868)
90 (1869)
91 (1870)
92 (1871)
93 (1872)
94 (1873)
95 (1874)
96 (1875)
97 (1876)
98 (1877)
99 (1878)
100 (1879)

101 (1880)
102 (1881)
103 (1882)
104 (1883)
105 (1884)
106 (1885)
107 (1886)
108 (1887)
109 (1888)
110 (1889)
111 (1890)
112 (1891)
113 (1892)
114 (1893)
115 (1894)
116 (1895)
117 (1896)
118 (1897)
119 (1898)
120 (1899)
121 (1900)
122 (1901)
123 (1902)
124 (1903)
125 (1904)

126 (1905)
127 (1906)
128 (1907)
129 (1908)
130 (1909)
131 (1910)
132 (1911)
133 (1912)
134 (1913)
135 (1914)
136 (1915)
137 (1916)
138 (1917)
139 (1918)
140 (1919)
141 (1920)
142 (1921)
143 (1923)
144 (1925)
145 (1927)
146 (1929)
147 (1931)
148 (1933)
149 (1935)
150 (1937)

151 (1939)
152 (1941)
153 (1943)
154 (1945)
155 (1947)
156 (1949)
157 (1951)
158 (1953)
159 (1955)
160 (1957)
161 (1959)
162 (1961)
163 (1963)
164 (1965)
165 (1967)
166 (1969)
167 (1971)
168 (1973)
169 (1975)
170 (1977)
171 (1979)
172 (1981)
173 (1983)
174 (1985)
175 (1987)

176 (1989)
177 (1991)
178 (1993)
179 (1995)
180 (1997)
181 (1999)
182 (2001)
183 (2003)
184 (2005)
185 (2007)
186 (2009)
187 (2011)
188 (2013)
189 (2015)
190 (2017)
191 (2019)
192 (2021)
193 (2023)
194 (2025)

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Commons

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Districts of the Massachusetts General Court

Senate|

* Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden
* Bristol and Norfolk
* Bristol and Plymouth: 1st, 2nd
* Cape and Islands
* Essex: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
* Essex and Middlesex: 1st, 2nd
* Hampden
* Hampden and Hampshire: 1st, 2nd
* Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester
* Middlesex: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
* Middlesex and Norfolk: 1st, 2nd
* Middlesex and Suffolk
* Middlesex and Worcester
* Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex
* Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth
* Norfolk and Plymouth
* Norfolk and Suffolk
* Plymouth and Barnstable
* Plymouth and Bristol: 1st, 2nd
* Plymouth and Norfolk
* Suffolk: 1st, 2nd
* Suffolk and Middlesex: 1st, 2nd
* Worcester: 1st, 2nd
* Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex
* Worcester and Middlesex
* Worcester and Norfolk
* Obsolete districts

House|

| Barnstable|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th

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Berkshire|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th

Bristol|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th

Cape and Islands|

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket

Essex  |

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th

Franklin|

1st, 2nd

Hampden|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Hampshire|

1st, 2nd, 3rd

Middlesex|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th

Norfolk  |

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th

Plymouth|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Suffolk|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th

Worcester|

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th

Defunct districts  |

Former districts

Commons

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Government of Massachusetts

Legislative|

* General Court
* Senate (Members, President)
* House of Representatives (Members, Speaker)

Executive|

* Governor (List)
* Lt. Governor
* Attorney General
* Auditor
* Secretary of the Commonwealth
* Treasurer and Receiver-General
* Office for Administration and Finance
* Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
* Department of Higher Education
* Emergency Management Agency
* Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
* Department of Environmental Protection
* Department of Revenue
* Office of Health and Human Services
* Office of Housing and Economic Development
* Office of Labor and Workforce Development
* Department of Mental Health
* Department of Public Health
* Office of Public Safety and Security
* Department of Public Utilities
* Department of Transportation
* Department of Youth Services

Judicial|

* Boston Municipal Court
* District Court
* Superior Court
* Land Court
* Juvenile Court
* Housing Court
* Massachusetts Probate and Family Court
* Appeals Court (Judges)
* Supreme Judicial Court
* Essex Probate and Family Court
* Middlesex Probate and Family Court

Independent agencies|

* Board of Library Commissioners
* Commission Against Discrimination
* Commission on the Status of Women
* Disabled Persons Protection Commission
* Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board
* Massachusetts District Attorneys
* Massachusetts Inspector General
* Office of Campaign and Political Finance
* Office of the Comptroller
* Massachusetts Sheriffs
* State Ethics Commission

Law|

* Constitution
* General Laws
* Code of Massachusetts Regulations
* Abortion
* Alcohol
* Cannabis
* Capital punishment
* Crime
* Elder law
* Gambling
* Gun laws
* LGBT rights
* Taxation

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