This started out as a not especially important research project – figuring out how many of our Representatives in Washington had hailed from Steuben County. It tuned out to be trickier than I’d expected, but also became more interesting as I “met” these men (all white males, so far).
Steuben County, created in 1796 when George Washington was still president, will be 225 years old in March. And in that time, there have been 117 Congressional elections. Rural Steuben has always been in multi-county Congressional districts, but for almost half of its history, that district has been represented by someone actually FROM Steuben – of 116 terms, 53 (46%) were filled by Steubeners.
Sterling Cole served the longest – 11 terms – before resigning to become the first Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Amo Houghton (nine terms) comes next for longevity, followed by Charles W. Gillet. Gillet’s six terms were unusual for the 19th century – he was the only one until Sterling to serve more than two terms, and most served only one.
Being a Representative was sort of an honor, but not much more. The salary was low, and expenses included uncomfortable trips to southern, swampy Washington at least once a year, plus boarding while there. Since there was almost no federal construction, “pork barrel” projects were undreamed of, and appointments were limited to a few service academy cadets, and maybe a say on a few postmasterships. Most members probably took the job out of a sense of obligation, either to the community or to their party.
Assuming Tom Reed serves out his full upcoming term, he will edge Mr. Gillet out of third place. Eric Massa served the shortest period – a little more than half of his term before resigning.
Alanson Houghton and Amo Houghton were grandfather and grandson. (Alanson was on the cover of Time magazine back in 1926.) Bath has streets named for John Magee, Reuben Robie, David Rumsey, and Daniel Cruger (or their families). The homes of Magee, Robie, William Spring Hubble, and Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh are all Bath landmarks.
Eric Massa is a graduate of the Naval Academy. John Magee, Daniel Cruger, and William B. Rochester were in the War of 1812.
William Irvine, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, and Charles W. Gillet were veterans of the Civil War. Amo Houghton was a World War II veteran.
Our most recent three repesentatives (Massa, Reed, and Randy Kuhl) are still living, and Amo Houghton just passed away earlier this year.
Four of our Representatives were Democratic-Republicans, the pioneering party that morphed into the Democrats, and four were Democrats. David Rumsey was a Whig, and Grattan Wheeler was an Anti-Masonic. There have been ten Republicans, but they racked up 40 of the 53 terms, 31 of those with Cole, Amo Houghton, Gillet, and Reed.
Many of our Representatives were lawyers… indeed, Robie and Van Valkenburgh studied under Rumsey. Magee, Hubbell, Gillet, and both Houghtons were businessmen, Grattan Wheeler a farmer, Edwin S. Underhill and Harry H. Pratt were publishers, and Massa a naval officer. Several resigned their seats to become judges, while Rochester, Van Valkenburgh, and Alanson Houghton became ambassadors. Rochester died in a shipwreck in 1838.
I believe that Massa was the only one to unseat an incumbent in the general election, though one or two of them defeated incumbents in their party primaries.
It’s no surprise to say that this is a solid Republican seat. Out of 11 Steuben-based Representatives starting in 1859, only Underhill (1911-1915) and Massa (2009-2010) have been Democrats.
What does the future hold for our seat? Odds are that Tom Reed will keep it as long as he likes. Though Americans vitriolically excoriate Congress, they are also overwhelmingly convinced that THEIR Representative is doing a GREAT job. Clearly both can’t be true, but getting elected to Congress, and then winning your first re-election, pretty much means a lifetime pass.
Since the district’s overwhelmingly Republican, odds are that future Representatives will also be white, male, and at least vaguely Christian. EXCEPT that the party is currently going through a transformation worthy of Dr. Who, even as the country overall is becoming less white, less Christian, less male-dominant, and less Republican. Will the district change with it? Stay tuned!
(Our Steuben-based U. S. Representatives have been: Daniel Cruger 1817-1819; William B. Rochester 1821-1823; William Woods 1823-1825; John Magee 1827-1831; Grattan H. Wheeler 1831-1833; William S. Hubbell 1843-1845; David Rumsey 1847-1851; Reuben Robie 1851-1853; William Irvine 1859-1861; Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh 1861-1865; Charles W. Gillet 1893-1905; Edwin S. Underhill 1911-1915; Harry H. Pratt 1915-1919; Alanson B. Houghton 1919-1922; W. Sterling Cole 1935-1957; Amo Houghton 1987-2005; Randy Kuhl 2005-2009; Eric Massa 2009-2010; and Tom Reed, 2010-?.)