Massachusetts 1788 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
- Office:
- U.S. House of Representatives (Federal)
- Title:
- U.S. Congressman
- Jurisdiction:
- Federal
- Label:
- Massachusetts 1788 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
- Date:
- 1788
- State:
- Massachusetts
- Type:
- General
- Iteration:
- First Ballot
- Office/Role:
- U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Congressman
- Candidates:
- Jonathan Grout, Timothy Paine, Artemas Ward, Moses Gill, Abel Wilder, John Sprague, Jonathan Warner, Martin Kingsley, Ebenezer Chaplin, Samuel Baker, Seth Washburn, Samuel Willard, Stephen Maynard, Simon Houghton, Jeremiah Learned, John Taylor, Daniel Grosvener, Ebenezer Leonard, Peter Penniman
| Candidates: | Jonathan Grout | Timothy Paine | Artemas Ward | Moses Gill | Abel Wilder | John Sprague | Jonathan Warner | Martin Kingsley | Ebenezer Chaplin | Samuel Baker | Seth Washburn | Samuel Willard | Stephen Maynard | Simon Houghton | Jeremiah Learned | John Taylor | Daniel Grosvener | Ebenezer Leonard | Peter Penniman |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation: | Federalist | ||||||||||||||||||
| Final Result: [1][2][3] | 665 | 561 | 284 | 110 | 71 | 63 | 39 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| District of Eight | 665 | 561 | 284 | 110 | 71 | 63 | 39 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Worcester County | 665 | 561 | 284 | 110 | 71 | 63 | 39 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Town of Ashburnham | - | 10 | 12 | - | 5 | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Town of Athal | 16 | - | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Barre | 33 | 6 | 10 | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| District of Berlin | - | 7 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Bolton | 2 | 4 | 15 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Boylston | 13 | 5 | 18 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Brookfield | 37 | 7 | 50 | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Charlton | 8 | 21 | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Douglas[4] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Dudley | 21 | 2 | - | - | - | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Fitchburg | - | 1 | - | - | 37 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Gardner | 16 | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Gerry | 9 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Grafton | 49 | 11 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Hardwick | 31 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Harvard | 5 | - | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Holden | - | 21 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| Town of Hubbardston | 47 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Lancaster | - | 41 | - | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Leicester | - | 2 | - | 38 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Leominster | - | 37 | 13 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Lunenberg | 11 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 4 | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Mendon | 14 | 1 | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Milford[5][6] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of New Braintree | 23 | 12 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Northborough | 1 | - | 18 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Northbridge[7][8] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Oakham | 23 | - | 1 | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Oxford | 2 | 41 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Paxton | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Petersham | 41 | 12 | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Princetown | 19 | 1 | - | 53 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Royalston | 22 | - | 6 | - | - | - | 31 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Rutland | 33 | 24 | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Shrewsbury | 33 | - | 30 | - | - | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Southborough | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Town of Spencer | 34 | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Sterling | - | 21 | 21 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - |
| Town of Sturbridge | 38 | 26 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Sutton | - | 79 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Templeton | 13 | 19 | - | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Upton | 2 | - | - | - | - | 29 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Uxbridge | 26 | 13 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Ward | - | - | 3 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 21 | - | - | 3 | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Westborough | 17 | 10 | 9 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Western | 1 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Westminster[9] | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Winchendon | 20 | 1 | 16 | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Town of Worcester | 25 | 46 | 1 | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Notes:
[1]Massachusetts law required a majority to elect for the U.S. House of Representatives. The whole number of votes cast was 1886, therefore a candidate needed 944 votes in order to be elected. No candidates were successful in reaching the majority and a second voting was held on January 29, 1789.
[2]"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.
[3]"It was evident before the elections were completed in Worcester District that a candidate who did not support amendments to the Constitution had no chance of winning. The three leading candidates in the three Worcester District elections were Jonathan Grout, Timothy Paine, and Artemas Ward. Grout, a local leader during the Revolution, had voted against ratification of the Constitution and in 1788 was a member of the legislature. Paine, a prominent officeholder in the county for two decades before the Revolution, had been appointed to the Royal Council in 1774. Unlike most 'mandamus councillors,' he did not become a Loyalist. By 1788 he had regained much of his influence in the town of Worcester. Ward had been appointed commanding general of Massachusetts troops after Lexington and Concord, he remained in charge until George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in July 1775. The popular Ward resigned his commission in April 1776 and returned to state politics. The past records of these three men did not become a public issue until shortly before the third and final election." The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790, Vol. I. 601.
[4]There were no votes recorded in Douglas.
[5]The votes from Milford were not included in the Original Election Returns.
[6]The Thomas's Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette (Worcester, MA). states that Jonathan Grout received the majority of votes in Milford Town.
[7]The votes from Northbridge were not included in the Original Election Returns.
[8]The Thomas's Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette (Worcester, MA). states that "nearly all" of the votes cast in Northbridge Town were for Timothy Paine.
[9]There were no votes recorded in Westminster.
References:
Original Election Returns. Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
Oakham Town Records. 151.
The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). December 20, 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 14, 1789.
The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). January 20, 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. 601-603.
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