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The1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held during January 1855. Henry Wilson was elected to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the resignation ofEdward Everett.
Everett had resigned in 1854 over poor health and protest following his failure to vote against theKansas-Nebraska Act. Prior to the election,Julius Rockwell had been appointed to the seat on an interim basis.[1]
At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of theMassachusetts General Court, the House and the Senate.
In 1854, the anti-immigration, anti-slavery American Party (better known as Know-Nothings) swept the Massachusetts elections, taking nearly every seat in the legislature.
Henry Wilson was nominated as the American Party candidate in a legislative caucus on January 13. Most of the House participated; none of the Senators did.[2][1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing | Henry Wilson | 178 | 50.42% | |
| Know Nothing | Alfred H. Ely | 50 | 14.16% | |
| Know Nothing | Julius Rockwell (incumbent) | 45 | 12.75% | |
| Know Nothing | Alexander Bullock | 22 | 6.23% | |
| Know Nothing | Nahum F. Bryant | 16 | 4.53% | |
| Know Nothing | Nathaniel P. Banks | 14 | 3.97% | |
| Know Nothing | Charles Woodward Stearns | 8 | 2.27% | |
| Others | Scattering | 20 | 5.67% | |
| Total votes | 353 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing | Henry Wilson | 200 | 57.80% | |
| Know Nothing | Alfred B. Ely | 57 | 16.47% | |
| Know Nothing | Alexander Bullock | 30 | 8.67% | |
| Know Nothing | Julius Rockwell (incumbent) | 27 | 7.80% | |
| Know Nothing | Nahum F. Bryant | 12 | 3.47% | |
| Know Nothing | Nathaniel P. Banks | 4 | 1.16% | |
| Others | Scattering | 16 | 4.62% | |
| Total votes | 346 | 100.00% | ||
Following Wilson's endorsement by the caucus, public opposition was aroused against his election. On January 15, a printed circular called for a caucus of "all members in the House who believe in the freedom of debate, who refuse to sanction a high-handed course of political action, and who are opposed to the election of Hon. Henry Wilson to the United States Senate." The opposition caucus met and endorsedAlexander Bullock for Senator.[3]
Much of the debate in the House surrounded Wilson's loyalty to theAmerican Party, or his lack thereof.[2] Wilson had been theFree Soil Party candidate for governor in 1854 but aligned himself with the nativist Know Nothing movement after their sweeping victory, in an effort to strengthen the party's emphasis on opposition to slavery. (The Free Soil Party had been dissolved into the newRepublican Party.)
On January 23, the House convened and elected Wilson on the first ballot. His candidacy was then sent to the Senate for ratification.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing | Henry Wilson | 234 | 57.80% | |
| Know Nothing | Nahum F. Bryant | 85 | 23.35% | |
| Whig | Julius Rockwell (incumbent) | 18 | 7.80% | |
| Unknown | Alfred B. Ely | 9 | 2.47% | |
| Know Nothing | Charles A. Phelps | 3 | 2.27% | |
| Unknown | Jonathan Pierce | 3 | 0.09% | |
| Republican | John G. Palfrey | 3 | 0.09% | |
| Democratic | George S. Boutwell | 2 | 0.06% | |
| Know Nothing | Nathaniel P. Banks | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Unknown | S. M. Copeland | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Republican | Samuel Hoar | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Whig | Ephraim M. Wright | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Democratic | Henry W. Bishop | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Republican | Richard Henry Dana Jr. | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Unknown | Mr. Luscom | 1 | 0.03% | |
| Total votes | 364 | 100.00% | ||
On January 31, the State Senate convened and ratified the House's choice of Wilson.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing | Henry Wilson | 21 | 55.26% | |
| Whig | Ephraim M. Wright | 14 | 36.84% | |
| Scattering | Others | 4 | 10.53% | |
| Total votes | 38 | 100.00% | ||
Wilson joined Samuel Hoar's new anti-slavery Republican Party upon entering the Senate.
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