Massachusetts 1788 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
- Office:
- U.S. House of Representatives (Federal)
- Title:
- U.S. Congressman
- Jurisdiction:
- Federal
- Label:
- Massachusetts 1788 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
- Date:
- 1788
- State:
- Massachusetts
- Type:
- General
- Iteration:
- First Ballot
- Office/Role:
- U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Congressman
- Candidates:
- Fisher Ames, Samuel Adams, Samuel A. Otis, Charles Jarvis, Benjamin Austin, Jr., John Adams, William Heath, Benjamin Lincoln, James Bowdoin, Jr., John Sewell, Oliver Wendell, Richard Cranch, Thomas Dawes, James Bowdoin, John Read
| Candidates: | Fisher Ames[1] | Samuel Adams | Samuel A. Otis | Charles Jarvis | Benjamin Austin, Jr. | John Adams | William Heath | Benjamin Lincoln | James Bowdoin, Jr. | John Sewell | Oliver Wendell | Richard Cranch | Thomas Dawes | James Bowdoin | John Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation: | Federalist | Anti-Federalist | Federalist | Federalist | |||||||||||
| Final Result: [2][3][4][5] | 818 | 521 | 70 | 45 | 43 | 30 | 28 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| District of One | 818 | 521 | 70 | 45 | 43 | 30 | 28 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Suffolk County | 818 | 521 | 70 | 45 | 43 | 30 | 28 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Town of Bellingham | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Boston | 445 | 439 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - |
| Town of Braintree | 43 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Brookline | 6 | - | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Chelsea | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Cohasset[6] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Dedham | 20 | 8 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Dorchester | 41 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| District of Dover | 1 | - | - | - | - | 29 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Foxborough | 4 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - |
| Town of Franklin | 29 | - | 1 | 21 | - | - | 3 | 18 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Hingham | 28 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Hull[7] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Medfield | 6 | - | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Medway | - | - | - | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Milton | 16 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Needham | 26 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Roxbury | 45 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Town of Sharon | 26 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Stoughton | 17 | - | - | - | 43 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Walpole | 23 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Weymouth | - | 20 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - |
| Town of Wrentham | 34 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Notes:
[1]Elected.
[2]Massachusetts law required a majority to elect for the U.S. House of Representatives. The whole number of votes cast was 1613, therefore a candidate needed 807 votes in order to be elected.
[3]"The Boston Gazette gave a new turn to the campaign on 8 December by renewing the demand for amendments to the Constitution, by nominating Samuel Adams, and by raising the issue of Samuel A. Otis's bankruptcy. Two days later the Massachusetts Centinel, which had supported Otis, joined in the attack upon him, and Federalist leaders soon switched their support from Otis to Fisher Ames as the candidate who might be able to defeat Adams. In the week before the election on 18 December, the Massachusetts Centinel and the Herald of Freedom denounced Anti-Federalist adn amendments and assured the voters that Adams was unsuitable, whatever his past services might have been. The Boston Gazette and the Indepedent Chronicle praised Adams at length and supported amendments." The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790, Vol. I. 544.
[4]"At a meeting of a numerous body of Federalists, held in this town, it was unanimously determined to support the election of Fisher Ames, Equire, as a Representative for Suffolk District, in the federal legislature; also, the Hon. Jabez Fisher, Esq., the Hon. Caleb Davis, Esq., as candidates for Elector of President and Vice President." Massachusetts Centinel. December 17, 1788.
[5]"The elections in the country have, in general, been very thinly attended - owing in some measure to the late fall of snow, making the passing bad." The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). December 20, 1788.
[6]There were no votes recorded in Cohasset.
[7]There were no votes recorded in Hull.
References:
Original Election Returns. Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). December 17, 1788.
The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). December 20, 1788.
The Salem Mercury (Salem, MA). December 23, 1788.
The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). December 24, 1788.
Thomas's Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette (Worcester, MA). December 25, 1788.
The Hampshire Chronicle (Springfield, MA). December 31, 1788.
The Hampshire Chronicle (Springfield, MA). January 7, 1789.
The Hampshire Chronicle (Springfield, MA). January 14, 1789.
Jensen, Merrill and Robert A. Becker, ed. The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790. Vol. I. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976. 544-575.
Muddy River and Brookline Records, 1634-1838. J. E. Farwell, 1875. 363.
A Volume of Records Relating to the Early History of Boston Containing Boston Town Records. 1784 to 1796. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1903. 183.
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