To amend H.R. 2478 by extending the legal rights of any claimant sustaining a loss or injury through carelessness, negligence, or willful misconduct of master,

On Jan 24, 1878, the House voted 80–159 (HR 2478). Result: failed. By party: Democrats 38–85, Republicans 42–72, Others 0–2. It was a bipartisan vote: majorities of both parties voted no. 80 members voted against their own party.

During the 45th Congress (1877–1878), Rutherford B. Hayes was president, and Democrats held the House majority and Republicans the Senate majority.

Yes: 80
No: 159
Did not vote: 63
Date: Jan 24, 1878

By party

Democrats38 yes · 85 no · 35 didn’t vote
Others0 yes · 2 no
Republicans42 yes · 72 no · 28 didn’t vote

Who broke with their party

Jeremiah Norman Williams D-AL voted yes
Charles Miller Shelley D-AL voted yes
William Henry Forney D-AL voted yes
John King Luttrell D-CA voted yes
James Phelps D-CT voted yes
William Ephraim Smith D-GA voted yes
Philip Cook D-GA voted yes
Hiram Price R-IA voted yes
Theodore Weld Burdick R-IA voted yes
Nathaniel Cobb Deering R-IA voted yes
Rush Clark R-IA voted yes
Ezekiel Silas Sampson R-IA voted yes
Henry Johnson Brodhead Cummings R-IA voted yes
William Fletcher Sapp R-IA voted yes
Samuel Addison Oliver R-IA voted yes
William Aldrich R-IL voted yes
Lorenzo Brentano R-IL voted yes
William Lathrop R-IL voted yes
Horatio Chapin Burchard R-IL voted yes
Philip Cornelius Hayes R-IL voted yes
Thomas Alexander Boyd R-IL voted yes
Benjamin Franklin Marsh R-IL voted yes
William McKendree Springer D-IL voted yes
Thomas Foster Tipton R-IL voted yes
Joseph Gurney Cannon R-IL voted yes
John Rice Eden D-IL voted yes
Thomas McLelland Browne R-IN voted yes
Milton Stapp Robinson R-IN voted yes
John Hanna R-IN voted yes
Michael Doherty White R-IN voted yes
Albert Shelby Willis D-KY voted yes
Joseph Barton Elam D-LA voted yes
Benjamin Winslow Harris R-MA voted yes
Leopold Morse D-MA voted yes
Benjamin Franklin Butler R-MA voted yes
William Claflin R-MA voted yes
George Dexter Robinson R-MA voted yes
William Walsh D-MD voted yes
Edwin William Keightley R-MI voted yes
Mark Spencer Brewer R-MI voted yes
Henry Moses Pollard R-MO voted yes
John Bullock Clark Jr. D-MO voted yes
Charles Edward Hooker D-MS voted yes
James Ronald Chalmers D-MS voted yes
Curtis Hooks Brogden R-NC voted yes
Walter Leak Steele D-NC voted yes
William McKendree Robbins D-NC voted yes
Frank Welch R-NE voted yes
Frank Jones D-NH voted yes
James Frankland Briggs R-NH voted yes
Henry William Blair R-NH voted yes
Alvah Augustus Clark D-NJ voted yes
Thomas Wren R-NV voted yes
William Davis Veeder D-NY voted yes
Clarkson Nott Potter D-NY voted yes
George Monroe Beebe D-NY voted yes
Stephen Lorenzo Mayham D-NY voted yes
Martin Ingham Townsend R-NY voted yes
Solomon Bundy R-NY voted yes
John Newton Hungerford R-NY voted yes
Elizur Kirke Hart D-NY voted yes
Charles Brewster Benedict D-NY voted yes
Daniel Newton Lockwood D-NY voted yes
George Washington Patterson R-NY voted yes
John A. Mcmahon D-OH voted yes
Henry Luther Dickey D-OH voted yes
John Sills Jones R-OH voted yes
Milton Isaiah Southard D-OH voted yes
Ebenezer Byron Finley D-OH voted yes
Jacob Miller Campbell R-PA voted yes
William Shearer Stenger D-PA voted yes
Levi Maish D-PA voted yes
Harry White R-PA voted yes
Richard Harvey Cain R-SC voted yes
John Morgan Bright D-TN voted yes
John Ford House D-TN voted yes
Lucien Bonaparte Caswell R-WI voted yes
Edward Stuyvesant Bragg D-WI voted yes
Gabriel Bouck D-WI voted yes
Benjamin Franklin Martin D-WV voted yes

How each representative voted: Yes

How each representative voted: No

Did not vote

Other votes

From Voteview roll call records.

Cite or embed this page

Capitol Receipts, “To amend H.R. 2478 by extending the legal…: House Vote, Jan 24, 1878,” https://www.capitolreceipts.com/vote/45-H-61/to-amend-h-r-2478-by-extending-the-legal (accessed 2026-10-17).