Senate roll call 579 · 45th Congress · Mar 3, 1879
To amend H.R. 4318, by increasing the commission from five to seven persons.
On Mar 3, 1879, the Senate voted 26–23 (HR 4318). Result: passed. By party: Democrats 17–11, Republicans 10–13, Independents 0–1. It was a split vote: the parties took opposite sides, with some members crossing over. 21 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
- 23
- Did not vote
- 30
- Date
- Mar 3, 1879
By party
- Republicans10 yes · 13 no · 20 didn’t vote
- Democrats17 yes · 11 no · 10 didn’t vote
- Independents0 yes · 1 no
Who broke with their party
- George Eliphaz Spencer R-AL voted yes
- John Tyler Morgan D-AL voted no
- Augustus Hill Garland D-AR voted no
- Stephen Wallace Dorsey R-AR voted yes
- Eli Saulsbury D-DE voted no
- John Brown Gordon D-GA voted no
- Joseph Ewing Mcdonald D-IN voted no
- James Burnie Beck D-KY voted no
- William Pitt Kellogg R-LA voted yes
- Hannibal Hamlin R-ME voted yes
- James Gillespie Blaine R-ME voted yes
- Thomas White Ferry R-MI voted yes
- William Windom R-MN voted yes
- Blanche Kelso Bruce R-MS voted yes
- Augustus Summerfield Merrimon D-NC voted no
- Matt Whitaker Ransom D-NC voted no
- John Rhoderic Mcpherson D-NJ voted no
- James Donald Cameron R-PA voted yes
- Samuel Bell Maxey D-TX voted no
- Angus Cameron R-WI voted yes
- Henry Gassaway Davis D-WV voted no
How each senator voted: Yes
- George Eliphaz Spencer R-AL
- Stephen Wallace Dorsey R-AR
- William Henry Barnum D-CT
- William Wallace Eaton D-CT
- Thomas Francis Bayard Sr. D-DE
- Benjamin Harvey Hill D-GA
- James Biddle Eustis D-LA
- William Pitt Kellogg R-LA
- George Robertson Dennis D-MD
- William Pinkney Whyte D-MD
- Hannibal Hamlin R-ME
- James Gillespie Blaine R-ME
- Thomas White Ferry R-MI
- William Windom R-MN
- Francis Marion Cockrell D-MO
- James Shields D-MO
- Blanche Kelso Bruce R-MS
- Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar D-MS
- La Fayette Grover D-OR
- James Donald Cameron R-PA
- Matthew Calbraith Butler D-SC
- Isham Green Harris D-TN
- James Edmund Bailey D-TN
- Richard Coke D-TX
- Robert Enoch Withers D-VA
- Angus Cameron R-WI
- Frank Hereford D-WV
How each senator voted: No
- John Tyler Morgan D-AL
- Augustus Hill Garland D-AR
- Aaron Augustus Sargent R-CA
- Newton Booth R-CA
- Henry Moore Teller R-CO
- Eli Saulsbury D-DE
- Simon Barclay Conover R-FL
- John Brown Gordon D-GA
- William Boyd Allison R-IA
- David Davis I-IL
- Joseph Ewing Mcdonald D-IN
- Preston B. Plumb R-KS
- James Burnie Beck D-KY
- George Frisbie Hoar R-MA
- Zachariah Chandler R-MI
- Augustus Summerfield Merrimon D-NC
- Matt Whitaker Ransom D-NC
- Edward Henry Rollins R-NH
- John Rhoderic Mcpherson D-NJ
- Stanley Matthews R-OH
- Ambrose Everett Burnside R-RI
- Henry Bowen Anthony R-RI
- Samuel Bell Maxey D-TX
- George Franklin Edmunds R-VT
- Henry Gassaway Davis D-WV
Did not vote
- Jerome Bunty Chaffee R-CO
- Charles William Jones D-FL
- Samuel Jordan Kirkwood R-IA
- Richard James Oglesby R-IL
- Daniel Wolsey Voorhees D-IN
- Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton R-IN
- John James Ingalls R-KS
- Thomas Clay Mccreery D-KY
- Henry Laurens Dawes R-MA
- Isaac Peckham Christiancy R-MI
- Samuel James Renwick Mcmillan R-MN
- David Hartley Armstrong D-MO
- Lewis Vital Bogy D-MO
- Algernon Sidney Paddock R-NE
- Alvin Saunders R-NE
- Bainbridge Wadleigh R-NH
- Theodore Fitz Randolph D-NJ
- John Percival Jones R-NV
- William Sharon R-NV
- Francis Kernan D-NY
- Roscoe Conkling R-NY
- Allen Granberry Thurman D-OH
- John Sherman R-OH
- John Hipple Mitchell R-OR
- Simon Cameron R-PA
- William Andrew Wallace D-PA
- John James Patterson R-SC
- John Warfield Johnston D-VA
- Justin Smith Morrill R-VT
- Timothy Otis Howe R-WI
Other votes
From Voteview roll call records.
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Capitol Receipts, “To amend H.R. 4318, by increasing the…: Senate Vote, Mar 3, 1879,” https://www.capitolreceipts.com/vote/45-S-579/to-amend-h-r-4318-by-increasing-the-commission (accessed 2026-10-17).