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Elections to the Massachusetts Senate were held during 1788 to elect 40 State Senators. Candidates were elected at the county level, with some counties electing multiple Senators.

For election, a candidate needed the support of a majority of those voting. If a seat remained vacant because no candidate received such majority, the Massachusetts General Court was empowered to fill it by a majority vote of its members.

Apportionment

The apportionment of seats by population was as follows:

Results

Barnstable

1788 Barnstable Senate election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Solomon Freeman 231 50.55
Unknown Thomas Smith (incumbent) – –
Total votes 457 100.00

Exact totals for Smith, the incumbent Senator, are unknown.

Berkshire

1788 Berkshire Senate election[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown William Whiting 833 58.21
Unknown Thompson J. Skinner (incumbent) 609 42.56
Unknown Elijah Dwight (incumbent) 576 40.25
Total votes 1,431 100.00

William Williams, Ebenezer Pierce, John Bacon, and William Walker also received votes, though exact totals are unknown.

Dwight was subsequently elected by the General Court.

Bristol

1788 Bristol Senate election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Holder Slocum (incumbent) 991 58.78
Unknown Phanuel Bishop (incumbent) 981 58.19
Unknown Abraham White 973 57.71
Total votes 1,686 100.00

Thomas Durfee, Walter Spooner, and Elisha May also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.

Cumberland

1788 Cumberland Senate election[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Josiah Thacher 396 61.30
Scattering All others 250 38.70
Total votes 646 100.00

Dukes and Nantucket

1788 Dukes and Nantucket Senate election[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Matthew Mayhew 95 100.00
Total votes 95 100.00

Essex

1788 Essex Senate election[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Federalist Tristram Dalton 2,053 79.11
Federalist Benjamin Goodhue 1,988 76.61
Federalist Azor Orne 1,980 76.30
Federalist Samuel Phillips Jr. 1,939 74.72
Federalist Stephen Choate 1,719 66.24
Federalist Samuel Holten 1,157 44.59
Federalist Jonathan Greenleaf 934 35.99
Anti-Federalist Peter Osgood Jr. – –
Anti-Federalist Daniel Kilham – –
Anti-Federalist Israel Hutchinson – –
Anti-Federalist Aaron Wood – –
Anti-Federalist John Manning – –
Anti-Federalist Richard Ward – –
Total votes 2,595 100.00

Exact totals for the Anti-Federalist ticket were not listed.

Unaffiliated candidates Peter Coffin and John Choate also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.

Jonathan Greenleaf was subsequently elected by the General Court.

Hampshire

1788 Hampshire Senate election[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Federalist Caleb Strong (incumbent) 1,460 55.07
Unknown John Hastings (incumbent) 1,441 54.36
Unknown John Bliss 1,267 47.79
Unknown David Sexton 1,240 46.77
Unknown William Rodman 1,082 40.81
Unknown Oliver Phelps (incumbent) 962 35.29
Total votes 2,651 100.00

Incumbent Senator David Smead was not re-elected, and his exact vote total is unknown.

Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:

Bliss and Sexton were subsequently elected by the General Court.

Lincoln

1788 Lincoln Senate election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Samuel Thompson (incumbent) 358 37.37
Unknown Dummer Sewall 245 25.57
Total votes 958 100.00

Waterman Thomas, Daniel Cony, and Henry Dearborn also received votes, but their exact totals are unknown.

Since no candidate received a majority of votes cast, the General Court elected Dummer Sewall to the seat.

Middlesex

1788 Middlesex Senate election[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Federalist Ebenezer Bridge (incumbent) 1,754 66.44
Federalist Joseph B. Varnum (incumbent) 1,674 63.41
Federalist Joseph Hosmer (incumbent) 1,628 61.67
Federalist Isaac Stearns (incumbent) 1,549 58.67
Federalist Eleazer Brooks 1,441 54.58
Anti-Federalist Walter MacFarland (incumbent) – –
Anti-Federalist Walter Thompson – –
Anti-Federalist David Brown – –
Anti-Federalist Samuel Reed – –
Anti-Federalist Marshall Spring – –
Total votes 2,640 100.00

Exact totals for Anti-Federalist ticket are not listed.

Nathaniel Gorham, William Hunt, John Brooks (Federalist), William Hull, Joseph Curtis, James Winthrop and Elbridge Gerry also received votes, though their exact totals are unknown.

Plymouth

1788 Plymouth Senate election[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown Charles Turner (incumbent) 785 74.13
Unknown Nathan Cushing (incumbent) 779 73.56
Unknown Daniel Howard 636 60.06
Total votes 1,059 100.00

Isaac Winslow, Hugh Orr, Joseph Bryant, James Briggs, and Ebenezer White also received votes.

Suffolk

1788 Suffolk Senate election[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Anti-Federalist Samuel Adams (incumbent) 2,332 91.49
Unknown Stephen Metcalf (incumbent) 2,311 90.66
Federalist Cotton Tufts (incumbent) 2,268 88.98
Federalist William Phillips Jr. (incumbent) 2,164 84.90
Unknown Thomas Dawes 2,071 81.25
Unknown Elijah Dunbar (incumbent) 1,923 75.44
Unknown Benjamin Austin Jr. (incumbent) – –
Total votes 2,549 100.00

Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:

Worcester

1788 Worcester Senate election[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Anti-Federalist Amos Singletary 1,687 32.77
Unknown Jonathan Grout (incumbent) 1,651 67.72
Unknown John Fessenden 1,636 67.72
Unknown Peter Penneman 1,524 53.25
Unknown Abel Wilder (incumbent) 1,240 53.25
Unknown Samuel Baker 1,036 47.30
Unknown John Taylor 990 28.67
Total votes 3,457 100.00

Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:

York

1788 York Senate election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Unknown John Frost 209 48.83
Unknown Nathaniel Wells 176 41.12
Unknown Edward Cutts (incumbent) 141 32.94
Unknown Tristram Jordan (incumbent) 118 27.57
Total votes 428 100.00

Nathaniel Low also received votes, but his exact total is unknown.

No candidate received a majority. Edward Cutts and Nathaniel Wells were subsequently elected by the General Court.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Barnstable County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), Falmouth Town Records, The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  2. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Berkshire County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), .
  3. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Bristol County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA).
  4. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Cumberland County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  5. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Dukes and Nantucket Counties". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  6. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Essex County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA) and several newspapers.
  7. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Hampshire County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  8. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Lincoln County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA).
  9. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Middlesex County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  10. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Plymouth County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA).
  11. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Suffolk County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA).
  12. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, Worcester County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).
  13. ^ "Massachusetts 1788 State Senate, York County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1788–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved April 27, 2020., citing Governor's Council Records (Boston, MA), The Boston Gazette (June 2, 1788) and The Salem Mercury (June 3, 1788).


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