Earliest serving United States Representative

This page contains a list of the individuals who, at the time of their deaths, had served at the earliest date in the United States House of Representatives among those current or former Representatives then living and a list of the earliest serving United States Representatives among those currently living (sitting or former). Of those living, the earliest-serving representative is Merwin Coad. He was sworn in as a representative on January 3, 1957.

Earliest serving Representatives (historic)

This is a list of the representatives who were, while in office or after, the earliest-serving living before they died.

Begin Date	End Date	Representative	State	1st Entered House
March 4, 1789	August 24, 1833	Tie between the 59 original members of the 1st United States House of Representatives while alive.		March 4, 1789
August 24, 1833	August 29, 1837	John Brown	Virginia
August 29, 1837	September 21, 1842	Jeremiah Smith	New Hampshire	March 4, 1791
September 21, 1842	March 6, 1844	Gabriel Duvall	Maryland	November 11, 1794
March 6, 1844	August 12, 1849	Albert Gallatin	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1795
August 12, 1849	November 1, 1849	Elizur Goodrich	Connecticut	March 4, 1799
November 1, 1849	May 6, 1860	Littleton Waller Tazewell	Virginia	November 26, 1800
May 6, 1860	July 18, 1872	Samuel Thatcher	Massachusetts	December 6, 1802
July 18, 1872	November 1, 1874	Enos T. Throop	New York	March 4, 1815
November 1, 1874	May 10, 1875	Willard Hall	Delaware	March 4, 1817
May 10, 1875	October 7, 1883	Mark Alexander	Virginia	March 4, 1819
October 7, 1883	December 18, 1885	Hiland Hall	Vermont	January 1, 1833
December 18, 1885	May 30, 1888	John James Pearson	Pennsylvania	December 5, 1836
May 30, 1888	May 11, 1889	Henry A. Foster	New York	March 4, 1837
	May 6, 1890	Hiram Gray	New York
	May 13, 1890	Amasa J. Parker	New York
	January 11, 1892	Richard P. Marvin	New York
	June 11, 1894	John T. Andrews	New York
June 11, 1894	November 16, 1894	Robert C. Winthrop	Massachusetts	November 9, 1840
November 16, 1894	February 9, 1900	Richard W. Thompson	Indiana	March 4, 1841
February 9, 1900	September 20, 1900	John A. McClernand	Illinois	March 4, 1843
	April 22, 1903	Alexander Ramsey	Pennsylvania
April 22, 1903	July 10, 1903	Ausburn Birdsall	New York	March 4, 1847
July 10, 1903	April 5, 1904	John H. Savage	Tennessee	March 4, 1849
	May 19, 1907	Andrew J. Harlan	Indiana
May 19, 1907	February 4, 1909	Addison White	Kentucky	March 4, 1851
February 4, 1909	January 30, 1912	James C. Allen	Illinois	March 4, 1853
January 30, 1912	May 26, 1912	John Jamison Pearce	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1855
May 26, 1912	May 3, 1914	Daniel Sickles	New York	March 4, 1857
	March 12, 1916	George William Palmer	New York
March 12, 1916	March 14, 1919	Roger A. Pryor	Virginia	December 7, 1859
March 14, 1919	November 3, 1924	Cornelius Cole	California	March 4, 1863
November 3, 1924	March 15, 1926	Jackson Orr	Iowa	March 4, 1871
March 15, 1926	November 12, 1926	Joseph Gurney Cannon	Illinois	March 4, 1873
	December 6, 1926	Ira B. Hyde	Missouri
	August 14, 1928	William J. Purman	Florida
	September 4, 1930	Frederick G. Bromberg	Alabama
	May 22, 1931	Henry Otis Pratt	Iowa
	November 2, 1939	John R. Lynch	Mississippi
November 2, 1939	May 25, 1947	Perry Belmont	New York	March 4, 1881
May 25, 1947	July 29, 1948	James E. Watson	Indiana	March 4, 1895
	October 2, 1950	John F. Fitzgerald	Massachusetts
	October 22, 1954	Harrison H. Atwood	Massachusetts
October 22, 1954	February 22, 1960	Townsend Scudder	New York	March 4, 1899
	March 24, 1961	Mitchell May	New York
March 24, 1961	November 7, 1967	John Nance Garner	Texas	March 4, 1903
November 7, 1967	April 9, 1972	James F. Byrnes	South Carolina	March 4, 1911
April 9, 1972	June 1, 1981	Carl Vinson	Georgia	November 3, 1914
June 1, 1981	January 18, 1991	Hamilton Fish III	New York	November 2, 1920
January 18, 1991	October 10, 1991	Victor Christgau	Minnesota	March 4, 1929
October 10, 1991	May 15, 1994	Robert T. Secrest	Ohio	March 4, 1933
	May 8, 1998	Jennings Randolph	West Virginia
May 8, 1998	January 24, 2000	Carl Curtis	Nebraska	January 3, 1939
January 24, 2000	October 18, 2004	Edwin Arthur Hall	New York	November 7, 1939
October 18, 2004	August 13, 2005	William Jennings Bryan Dorn	South Carolina	January 3, 1947
	January 20, 2007	George Smathers	Florida
January 20, 2007	April 17, 2007	Steven Derounian	New York	January 3, 1953
	June 16, 2009	Paul A. Fino	New York
	March 6, 2010	Stuyvesant Wainwright	New York
	June 28, 2010	Robert Byrd	West Virginia
	May 23, 2011	Peter Frelinghuysen Jr.	New Jersey
	June 27, 2011	Richard H. Poff	Virginia
	August 20, 2011	Charles Gubser	California
	May 23, 2012	William C. Wampler	Virginia
	December 4, 2012	Jack Brooks	Texas
	April 3, 2016	Clarence Clifton Young	Nevada
	November 16, 2016	Melvin Laird	Wisconsin
November 16, 2016	February 7, 2019	John Dingell	Michigan	December 13, 1955
February 7, 2019	February 20, 2019	William Broomfield	Michigan	January 3, 1957
	January 16, 2020	Hal Haskell	Delaware
	present	Merwin Coad	Iowa

Earliest serving members currently living

This is a list of the 30 earliest-serving living members of the House of Representatives, who first entered the House at least 20-50 years ago. Nonvoting delegates are included but not ranked.

Rank	Member	Date of birth	Entered House	Left House	State	Party	Time since entry
1	Merwin Coad	September 28, 1924	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1963	Iowa	Democratic	67 years, 324 days
2	Lucien Nedzi	May 28, 1925	November 7, 1961	January 3, 1981	Michigan	Democratic	63 years, 15 days
3	Don Fuqua	August 20, 1933	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1987	Florida	Democratic	61 years, 324 days
	Alec G. Olson	September 11, 1930		January 3, 1967	Minnesota	Democratic
5	William J. Green III	June 24, 1938	April 28, 1964	January 3, 1977	Pennsylvania	Democratic	60 years, 208 days
6	Lee Hamilton	April 20, 1931	January 3, 1965	January 3, 1999	Indiana	Democratic	59 years, 324 days
	Richard Ottinger	January 27, 1929		January 3, 1971	New York	Democratic
8	Edward G. Biester Jr.	January 5, 1931	January 3, 1967	January 3, 1977	Pennsylvania	Republican	57 years, 324 days
	Benjamin B. Blackburn	February 14, 1927		January 3, 1975	Georgia	Republican
	Jim Gardner	April 8, 1933		January 3, 1969	North Carolina	Republican
	Donald Riegle	February 4, 1938		December 30, 1976	Michigan	Democratic
	Philip Ruppe	September 29, 1926		January 3, 1979	Michigan	Republican
	W. S. Stuckey Jr.	May 25, 1935		January 3, 1977	Georgia	Democratic
14	Bill Alexander	January 16, 1934	January 3, 1969	January 3, 1993	Arkansas	Democratic	55 years, 324 days
	Bill Clay	April 30, 1931		January 3, 2001	Missouri	Democratic
	James W. Symington	September 28, 1927		January 3, 1977	Missouri	Democratic
	G. William Whitehurst	March 12, 1925		January 3, 1987	Virginia	Republican
18	Dave Obey	October 3, 1938	April 1, 1969	January 3, 2011	Wisconsin	Democratic	55 years, 235 days
19	Barry Goldwater Jr.	July 15, 1938	April 29, 1969	January 3, 1983	California	Republican	55 years, 207 days
20	Michael J. Harrington	September 2, 1936	September 30, 1969	January 3, 1979	Massachusetts	Democratic	55 years, 53 days
21	Robert H. Steele	November 3, 1938	November 3, 1970	January 3, 1975	Connecticut	Republican	54 years, 19 days
22	Bill Archer	March 22, 1928	January 3, 1971	January 3, 2001	Texas	Democratic Republican	53 years, 324 days
	Charles Rangel	June 11, 1930		January 3, 2017	New York	Democratic
N/A	Walter Fauntroy	February 6, 1933	March 23, 1971	January 3, 1991	District of Columbia	Democratic	53 years, 244 days
24	John Breaux	March 1, 1944	September 30, 1972	January 3, 1987	Louisiana	Democratic	52 years, 53 days
25	David R. Bowen	October 21, 1932	January 3, 1973	January 3, 1983	Mississippi	Democratic	51 years, 324 days
	Yvonne Brathwaite Burke	October 5, 1932		January 3, 1979	California	Democratic
	William Cohen	August 28, 1940			Maine	Republican
	Harold V. Froehlich	May 12, 1932		January 3, 1975	Wisconsin	Republican
	Elizabeth Holtzman	August 11, 1941		January 3, 1981	New York	Democratic
	James R. Jones	May 5, 1939		January 3, 1987	Oklahoma	Democratic

See also

• List of the oldest living members of the United States House of Representatives
• Dean of the United States House of Representatives
• Dean of the United States Senate
• Earliest serving United States Senator
• Longest living United States Senator
• Oldest living United States governor
• List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service
• Father of the House

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