Archives of Maryland
Historical List
General Assembly of 17771

First Session: February 5, 1777 - April 20, 1777
Second Session: June 16, 1777 - June 29, 1777

Source:
Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., Archives of Maryland,Historical List, new series, Vol. 1. Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives, 1990.
Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789, Vols. 1&2.  Annapolis, MD: Maryland State
Archives, 1985.

a - appointed; d - died; dcl - declined; dns - did not serve; ds - dismissed; e - elected; ev - election voided;
pres - president of the Senate; pres p. t. - president pro tem of the Senate; psa - post-session appointment; psd - post-session death;
psr - post-session resignation; r - resigned; s - suspended; spkr - speaker of the House; spkr p.t. - speaker pro tem of the House;
(D) - Democrat; (R) - Republican.

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, President of the Senate
Thomas Sprigg Wooton, Nicholas Thomas,2 Speaker of the House
Senate
Western Shore
Eastern Shore
George Plater
William Paca
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, pres
Charles Carroll, barrister
Thomas Johnson, dcl
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Thomas Stone
Brice T. B. Worthington
Thomas Contee
Charles Grahame, e-1
Matthew Tilghman
Joseph Nicholson, Jr.
Robert Goldsborough
Turbett Wright
James Tilghman, dcl
Samuel Wilson
Edward Tilghman, e-1, dcl
Thomas B. Hands, e-1, dcl3
Henry Hooper, e-1, dcl3
William Hindman, e-1

 
 
House of Delegates
Annapolis
Samuel Chase
John Brice
Allen Quynn
Anne Arundel County
Thomas Tillard
Rezin Hammond
John Hall
Benjamin Galloway
Baltimore Town
John Smith
Jeremiah Townley Chase
Baltimore County
Thomas Cockey Deye
Charles Ridgely
John Stevenson
Peter Shepherd
Calvert County
William Fitzhugh
John Mackall, Jr., ds-14
William Allein
Richard Parran
Alexander Somerville, e-3
Caroline County
Henry Downes
William Douglass
Richard Mason
Henry Dickinson
Cecil County
Richard Bond
John Veazy, Jr.
Joseph Gilpin
Patrick Ewing
Charles County
Joseph Hanson Harrison
Thomas Semmes
Zephaniah Turner
Alexander McPherson
Dorchester County
William Ennalls
John Henry, Jr.
James Murray, dns, r-1
Henry Steele, dns, r-2
John Smoot, e-1
Frederick County
Christopher Edelin
Upton Sheredine
John Hanson, Jr., dns, r-1
Philip Thomas
David Shriver, e-2
Harford County
Jacob Bond
Thomas Bond
John Archer
William Smithson
Kent County
Peregrine Lethrbury
Isaac Perkins
John Maxwell
Donaldson Yeates
Montgomery County
Elisha Williams
Thomas Sprigg Wooton, spkr-1, r
Richard Crabb
Edward Burgess
Prince George's County
Walter Bowie
David Craufurd
Osborn Sprigg
Jeremiah Magurder
Queen Anne's County
James Kent
William Bruff
Robert Wright
James Bordley
St. Mary's County
John Hatton Read
James Jordan
William Thomas
Athanasius Ford
Somerset County5
Henry Lowes, dns, ev
William Horsey, ev
William Stone, ev
John Waters, dns, ev
Henry Jackson, e-1
John Stewart, e-1, dns, ds-1
Thomas Maddux, e-1
William Polk, e-1
William Winder, Jr. , e-2
Talbot County
John Gibson
James Benson
Henry Banning, ds-1, e-16
Edward Lloyd, dns, r-1
Nicholas Thomas, e-1, spkr-1,2
John Bracco, e-1, dns, r-1
Washington County
Samuel Beall
Joseph Sprigg
Samuel Hughes
Henry Schnebeley
Worcester County
Peter Chaille
John Selby
Smith Bishop
Josiah Mitchell

1 The Constitution of Maryland, as framed by the Ninth Convention, provided for two distinct legislative branches, a Senate and a House of Delegates. The House of Delegates consisted of four representatives from each of the eighteen counties and two delegates from both Annapolis and Baltimore Town. House members, elected viva voce, served one year terms. A popularly chosen electoral college, comprised of two men from each county and one from both Annapolis and Baltimore Town, elected members of the Senate, who served five-year terms. The method of selection was by
ballot, with the electoral college choosing fifteen senators—nine from the Western Shore and six from the Eastern Shore—either from their own number or from the population at large. The Senate, unlike the House, had constitutional authority to fill its own vacancies. The Senate and House, collectively termed the General Assembly, was directed to meet annually on the first Monday of November and more frequently if necessary.

The Constitution mandated that the governor and a five member Executive Council be selected by joint ballots of both houses of the legislature. The governor and Council served one-year terms, but they could be reelected. The governor, however, could serve no more than three successive terms, and he was ineligible to occupy that office again until four years after his last gubernatorial term. The Ninth Convention directed that special elections be held in November and December of 1776, and that the first General Assembly convene in Annapolis in February 1777. The Council of Safety adjourned for the last time on March 20, 1777, the day on which the first governor and Council qualified; the Assembly dissolved the Council of Safety by resolution two days later.

2. Speaker Wooton was granted a leave of absence because of the indisposition of his brother. Thomas was chosen to replace him as speaker on March 13, 1777.

3. It is presumed that Hands declined to serve, and that Hooper (first name not given in the proceedings, but probably Henry) was chosen in his place. There is no record in the proceedings of either Hand's refusal or Hooper's election, but the Eastern Shore's delegation of six senators would be accurately accounted for by this presumption. After Hooper declined on April 12, 1777, William Hindman was elected to complete the Eastern Shore roster.

4. Mackall was discharged on February 19, 1777, because he was not a resident of Calvert County at the time of his election.

5. After hearing depositions regarding the election of delegates from Somerset County in which it was reported that "a number of men armed with fire arms, to the amount of thirty, and a number with sticks and spears fixed in the end of them, came from several parts of said county, to the place of election," the Lower House declared the election void on March 5, 1777. Four new delegates were elected on March 19, 1777, three of whom were qualified on March 27. The fourth delegate, John Stewart, a field officer at the time of election, was ruled ineligible and discharged.

6. Banning was declared ineligible because he was a field officer at the time of the election. He was discharged on February 12, 1777, and Thomas was chosen to replace him. Banning was later reelected and qualified on April 10, 1777.

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