Senate roll call 481 · 45th Congress · Feb 24, 1879
To amend H.R. 6145, by authorizing such railroad companies as now operate telegraph lines, to transmit telegrams both for the public and the government, subject
On Feb 24, 1879, the Senate voted 26–35 (HR 6145). Result: failed. By party: Democrats 20–12, Republicans 6–23, Independents 0–1. It was a split vote: the parties took opposite sides, with some members crossing over. 18 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
- 26
- No
- 35
- Did not vote
- 20
- Date
- Feb 24, 1879
By party
- Republicans6 yes · 23 no · 14 didn’t vote
- Democrats20 yes · 12 no · 6 didn’t vote
- Independents0 yes · 1 no
Who broke with their party
- George Eliphaz Spencer R-AL voted yes
- Augustus Hill Garland D-AR voted no
- Newton Booth R-CA voted yes
- William Henry Barnum D-CT voted no
- William Wallace Eaton D-CT voted no
- Eli Saulsbury D-DE voted no
- Thomas Francis Bayard Sr. D-DE voted no
- Samuel Jordan Kirkwood R-IA voted yes
- Daniel Wolsey Voorhees D-IN voted no
- Joseph Ewing Mcdonald D-IN voted no
- Thomas Clay Mccreery D-KY voted no
- George Robertson Dennis D-MD voted no
- Hannibal Hamlin R-ME voted yes
- Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar D-MS voted no
- Matt Whitaker Ransom D-NC voted no
- Stanley Matthews R-OH voted yes
- John James Patterson R-SC voted yes
- James Edmund Bailey D-TN voted no
How each senator voted: Yes
- George Eliphaz Spencer R-AL
- John Tyler Morgan D-AL
- Newton Booth R-CA
- Charles William Jones D-FL
- John Brown Gordon D-GA
- Samuel Jordan Kirkwood R-IA
- James Burnie Beck D-KY
- William Pinkney Whyte D-MD
- Hannibal Hamlin R-ME
- Francis Marion Cockrell D-MO
- James Shields D-MO
- Augustus Summerfield Merrimon D-NC
- John Rhoderic Mcpherson D-NJ
- Francis Kernan D-NY
- Allen Granberry Thurman D-OH
- Stanley Matthews R-OH
- La Fayette Grover D-OR
- William Andrew Wallace D-PA
- John James Patterson R-SC
- Matthew Calbraith Butler D-SC
- Isham Green Harris D-TN
- Richard Coke D-TX
- Samuel Bell Maxey D-TX
- Robert Enoch Withers D-VA
- Frank Hereford D-WV
- Henry Gassaway Davis D-WV
How each senator voted: No
- Augustus Hill Garland D-AR
- Stephen Wallace Dorsey R-AR
- Aaron Augustus Sargent R-CA
- Henry Moore Teller R-CO
- William Henry Barnum D-CT
- William Wallace Eaton D-CT
- Eli Saulsbury D-DE
- Thomas Francis Bayard Sr. D-DE
- Simon Barclay Conover R-FL
- William Boyd Allison R-IA
- David Davis I-IL
- Daniel Wolsey Voorhees D-IN
- Joseph Ewing Mcdonald D-IN
- Thomas Clay Mccreery D-KY
- William Pitt Kellogg R-LA
- George Frisbie Hoar R-MA
- Henry Laurens Dawes R-MA
- George Robertson Dennis D-MD
- James Gillespie Blaine R-ME
- Thomas White Ferry R-MI
- Zachariah Chandler R-MI
- Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar D-MS
- Matt Whitaker Ransom D-NC
- Alvin Saunders R-NE
- Bainbridge Wadleigh R-NH
- Edward Henry Rollins R-NH
- John Percival Jones R-NV
- Roscoe Conkling R-NY
- John Hipple Mitchell R-OR
- James Donald Cameron R-PA
- Ambrose Everett Burnside R-RI
- Henry Bowen Anthony R-RI
- James Edmund Bailey D-TN
- Justin Smith Morrill R-VT
- Angus Cameron R-WI
- Timothy Otis Howe R-WI
Did not vote
- Jerome Bunty Chaffee R-CO
- Benjamin Harvey Hill D-GA
- Richard James Oglesby R-IL
- Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton R-IN
- John James Ingalls R-KS
- Preston B. Plumb R-KS
- James Biddle Eustis D-LA
- Isaac Peckham Christiancy R-MI
- Samuel James Renwick Mcmillan R-MN
- William Windom R-MN
- David Hartley Armstrong D-MO
- Lewis Vital Bogy D-MO
- Blanche Kelso Bruce R-MS
- Algernon Sidney Paddock R-NE
- Theodore Fitz Randolph D-NJ
- William Sharon R-NV
- John Sherman R-OH
- Simon Cameron R-PA
- John Warfield Johnston D-VA
- George Franklin Edmunds R-VT
Other votes
From Voteview roll call records.
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Capitol Receipts, “To amend H.R. 6145, by authorizing such…: Senate Vote, Feb 24, 1879,” https://www.capitolreceipts.com/vote/45-S-481/to-amend-h-r-6145-by-authorizing-such-railroad (accessed 2026-10-17).