1788 Massachusetts Senate election
Elections to the Massachusetts Senate
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Elections to the Massachusetts Senate were held in 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 a 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:
- Barnstable County: 1
- Berkshire County: 2
- Bristol County: 3
- Cumberland County: 1
- Dukes and Nantucket Counties: 1
- Essex County: 6
- Hampshire County: 4
- Lincoln County: 1
- Middlesex County: 5
- Plymouth County: 3
- Suffolk County: 6
- Worcester County: 5
- York County: 2
Results
Barnstable
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Solomon Freeman | 231 | 50.55 | |
| Unknown | Thomas Smith (incumbent) | â | â | |
| Total votes | 457 | 100.00 | ||
Exact totals for Smith, the incumbent Senator, are unknown.
Berkshire
| 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
| 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
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Josiah Thacher | 396 | 61.30 | |
| Scattering | All others | 250 | 38.70 | |
| Total votes | 646 | 100.00 | ||
Dukes and Nantucket
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Matthew Mayhew | 95 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 95 | 100.00 | ||
Essex
| 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. | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Daniel Kilham | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Israel Hutchinson | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Aaron Wood | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | John Manning | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Richard Ward | â | â | |
| 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
| 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:
- Samuel Fowler
- Phinease Stebbins
- Daniel Cooley
- William Lyman
- William Shepard
- Samuel Lyman (Federalist)
- Simeon Strong
- Solomon Stoddard
- Samuel Phelps
- Samuel Field
- Robinson, unnamed
- Benjamin Eli
- Wareham Parks
- Samuel Mather
- Job Wright
- Hugh MacClellan
- Noah Goodman
- Ebenezer Mattoon (Federalist)
- William Pynchon
Bliss and Sexton were subsequently elected by the General Court.
Lincoln
| 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
| 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) | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Walter Thompson | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | David Brown | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Samuel Reed | â | â | |
| Anti-Federalist | Marshall Spring | â | â | |
| 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
| 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
| 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) | â | â | |
| Total votes | 2,549 | 100.00 | ||
Many other candidates received votes throughout the county, but their exact totals are unknown:
- Benjamin Lincoln (Federalist)
- Richard Cranch
- William Heath
- Samuel Breck
- John Metcalf
- Caleb Davis
- Stephen Higginson (Federalist)
- Jonathan Mason
- Jabez Fisher
- James Warren
- Samuel Niles
- James Sullivan
Worcester
| 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:
- Moses Gill
- Timothy Paine
- John Sprague
- Joseph Stone
- Seth Washburn
- Samuel Willard
- Josiah Whitney
- Jonathan Warner
- Timothy Fuller
- Artemas Ward (Federalist)
- Jeremiah Learned
- Samuel Denny
- Martin Kinsley
- Stephen Maynard
- John Tysington
- Timothy Newhall
- Caleb Ammidown
- Bezaleel Taft Sr.
- Samuel Curtis
- Ezra Houghton
- Joseph Allen
- Joseph Behor
- Levi Lincoln Sr.
- Josiah Stearns
York
| 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.