Mapping Early American Elections

Maryland House of Delegates, 1820

In 1820, Maryland elected eighty representatives to the state’s House of Delegates. At least twenty-seven of them were Federalists, and at least forty-eight of them were Democratic-Republicans.

Members of Maryland’s House of Delegates were chosen through popular elections. Each of Maryland’s nineteen counties elected four members using a county-level at-large method. Annapolis and the City of Baltimore each elected two members.

In the 1820 legislative election, the Democratic-Republicans maintained their majority in Maryland’s House of Delegates. Maryland’s election for the Seventeenth U.S. Congress was also held the same year, and shows similar party voting patterns. In both elections, the Democratic-Republicans maintained their majority, but party competition between the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists was intense, especially in the eastern half of the state, such as in Cecil, Kent, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties.

Maryland had three legislative bodies: The House of Delegates, which was elected annually in October and had eighty members; a State Senate, comprised of fifteen members, chosen every five years in early September; and a Governor’s Council made up of five members chosen yearly by the Legislature.

District Candidate Party Vote Percentage Elected
Allegany William Hilleary Federalist 675 13.8% ✓
Allegany John Scott Federalist 673 13.7% ✓
Allegany William Reed Federalist 656 13.4% ✓
Allegany Thomas Blair Federalist 654 13.3% ✓
Allegany Thomas Greenwell Democratic-Republican 576 11.7%
Allegany Benjamin Tomlinson Democratic-Republican 571 11.6%
Allegany William Price Democratic-Republican 558 11.4%
Allegany Brice W. Howard Democratic-Republican 543 11.1%
Annapolis City James Boyle Democratic-Republican 152 29.5% ✓
Annapolis City Lewis Duvall Democratic-Republican 149 28.9% ✓
Annapolis City Henry Maynidier Federalist 109 21.1%
Annapolis City Alexander C. Magruder Federalist 106 20.5%
Anne Arundel William H. Marriott Democratic-Republican 808 21.1% ✓
Anne Arundel Charles Stewart Democratic-Republican 780 20.4% ✓
Anne Arundel Thomas W. Hall Democratic-Republican 778 20.4% ✓
Anne Arundel Walter W. Wyvill Democratic-Republican 778 20.4% ✓
Anne Arundel William Warfield Federalist 357 9.3%
Anne Arundel John H. D. Lane Federalist 321 8.4%
Baltimore Tobais E. Stansbury Democratic-Republican 1,387 24% ✓
Baltimore Adam Showers Democratic-Republican 1,230 21.3% ✓
Baltimore John B. Snowden Democratic-Republican 1,165 20.1% ✓
Baltimore Edward Orrick Democratic-Republican 1,050 18.2% ✓
Baltimore Abraham H. Price Federalist 841 14.5%
Baltimore City John Barney Democratic-Republican 3,703 34.8% ✓
Baltimore City John P. Kennedy Democratic-Republican 2,301 21.6% ✓
Baltimore City John S. Tyson Democratic-Republican 1,707 16.1%
Baltimore City Reverdy Johnson Federalist 1,564 14.7%
Baltimore City John Glen Democratic-Republican 824 7.7%
Calvert Sutton J. Weems Democratic-Republican 406 13.5% ✓
Calvert Daniel Kent Democratic-Republican 404 13.4% ✓
Calvert John Beckett Democratic-Republican 400 13.3% ✓
Calvert James A. Dalrymple Democratic-Republican 390 13% ✓
Calvert Gustavus Weems Federalist 359 11.9%
Calvert Joseph W. Reynolds Federalist 356 11.8%
Calvert Thomas Blake Federalist 349 11.6%
Calvert Samuel Turner Federalist 342 11.4%
Caroline Frederick Holbrook Democratic-Republican 686 13.2% ✓
Caroline Peter Willis Democratic-Republican 673 12.9% ✓
Caroline William M. Hardcastle Democratic-Republican 668 12.8% ✓
Caroline William Whiteley Democratic-Republican 666 12.8% ✓
Caroline William Potter Federalist 651 12.5%
Caroline Richard Hughlett Federalist 630 12.1%
Caroline James Houston Federalist 623 12%
Caroline Thomas Goldsborough Federalist 611 11.7%
Cecil Robert H. Archer Democratic-Republican 1,098 13% ✓
Cecil John S. Moffitt Democratic-Republican 1,094 12.9% ✓
Cecil Thomas Williams Democratic-Republican 1,093 12.9% ✓
Cecil John Wroth Democratic-Republican 1,087 12.9% ✓
Cecil Nicholas Hyland Federalist 1,025 12.1%
Cecil George B. Milligan Federalist 1,024 12.1%
Cecil James Janney Federalist 1,021 12.1%
Cecil Henry Stump Federalist 1,010 11.9%
Dorchester William W. Eccleston Democratic-Republican 1,020 12.8% ✓
Dorchester Levin Lake Democratic-Republican 1,009 12.7% ✓
Dorchester Solomon Frazier Democratic-Republican 999 12.6% ✓
Dorchester Benjamin Lecompte Federalist 998 12.5%
Dorchester George Lake Democratic-Republican 998 12.5%
Dorchester Edward Griffith Federalist 988 12.4%
Dorchester Michael Lucas Federalist 980 12.3%
Dorchester William Jackson Federalist 962 12.1%
Frederick Alexander Warfield Federalist 2,994 12.6% ✓
Frederick Robert G. MacPherson Federalist 2,993 12.6% ✓
Frederick Ignatius Davis Federalist 2,989 12.5% ✓
Frederick Joshua Cockey Democratic-Republican 2,988 12.5% ✓
Frederick Thomas Hawkins Democratic-Republican 2,975 12.5%
Frederick Lewis Motter Federalist 2,971 12.5%
Frederick Patrick Owings Democratic-Republican 2,960 12.4%
Frederick Plummer Ijams Democratic-Republican 2,951 12.4%
Harford Israel D. Maulsby Democratic-Republican 907 17.6% ✓
Harford William H. Allen Democratic-Republican 887 17.2% ✓
Harford Abel Anderson Democratic-Republican 828 16.1% ✓
Harford Alexander Norris Democratic-Republican 778 15.1% ✓
Harford John Forwood Democratic-Republican 777 15.1%
Harford James Steel Democratic-Republican 491 9.5%
Harford Thomas W. Bond Democratic-Republican 331 6.4%
Kent James F. Brown Federalist 589 12.7% ✓
Kent John B. Eccleston Federalist 589 12.7% ✓
Kent Frederick Boyer Federalist 583 12.6% ✓
Kent Richard S. Thomas Federalist 582 12.5% ✓
Kent Edward Brown Democratic-Republican 578 12.4%
Kent Isaac Cannell Democratic-Republican 578 12.4%
Kent Josiah Massey Democratic-Republican 574 12.4%
Kent William Moffitt Democratic-Republican 567 12.2%
Montgomery Ephraim Gaither Federalist 863 13.1% ✓
Montgomery Henry Harding Federalist 850 12.9% ✓
Montgomery Benjamin S. Forrest Federalist 842 12.8% ✓
Montgomery William Darne Federalist 842 12.8% ✓
Montgomery Edward Burgess Democratic-Republican 798 12.1%
Montgomery John Wooton Democratic-Republican 795 12.1%
Montgomery John A. Kilgour Democratic-Republican 790 12%
Montgomery Solomon Davis Democratic-Republican 790 12%
Prince George’s Joseph Cross Democratic-Republican 812 13.1% ✓
Prince George’s Thomas Lyles Democratic-Republican 807 13% ✓
Prince George’s Richard T. Hall Democratic-Republican 797 12.8% ✓
Prince George’s Julius Forrest Democratic-Republican 783 12.6% ✓
Prince George’s George Semmes Federalist 764 12.3%
Prince George’s Thomas Sommerville Federalist 760 12.2%
Prince George’s Francis M. Hall Federalist 755 12.2%
Prince George’s Thomas Brooke Federalist 727 11.7%
Queen Anne’s Henry E. Wright Democratic-Republican 611 30.7% ✓
Queen Anne’s Robert Stevens Democratic-Republican 536 26.9% ✓
Queen Anne’s Richard Moffett Democratic-Republican 429 21.6% ✓
Queen Anne’s Charles R. Nicholson Democratic-Republican 413 20.8% ✓
Saint Mary’s Henry G.S. Key Federalist 635 23.1% ✓
Saint Mary’s George Plater Federalist 562 20.5% ✓
Saint Mary’s Alexander W. Reeder Federalist 542 19.8% ✓
Saint Mary’s John L. Millard Federalist 512 18.7% ✓
Saint Mary’s William H. Lewellyn Federalist 493 18%
Somerset Matthias Dashiell Federalist 851 20.3% ✓
Somerset Littleton P. Dennis Federalist 808 19.3% ✓
Somerset Levin R. King Federalist 791 18.9% ✓
Somerset Josiah F. Polk Federalist 778 18.6% ✓
Somerset Joshua Bratton Democratic-Republican 517 12.4%
Somerset John Rider Democratic-Republican 441 10.5%
Talbot Daniel Martin Democratic-Republican 790 13.4% ✓
Talbot Nicholas Martin Democratic-Republican 779 13.3% ✓
Talbot William Hayward, Jr. Democratic-Republican 779 13.3% ✓
Talbot Samuel Stevens, Jr. Democratic-Republican 772 13.1% ✓
Talbot Nicholas Thomas Federalist 704 12%
Talbot Robert Banning Federalist 685 11.7%
Talbot William Tilghman Federalist 685 11.7%
Talbot John Goldsborough Federalist 684 11.6%
Washington Joseph Gabby Democratic-Republican 1,387 17% ✓
Washington Thomas Kennedy Democratic-Republican 1,268 15.6% ✓
Washington Andrew Kershner Democratic-Republican 1,022 12.6% ✓
Washington John Bowles Democratic-Republican 1,010 12.4% ✓
Washington Thomas Keller Democratic-Republican 933 11.5%
Washington Ezra Slifer Democratic-Republican 909 11.2%
Washington Otho H.W. Stull Federalist 882 10.8%
Washington Henry Aukeny Democratic-Republican 725 8.9%
Worcester Thomas N. Williams Federalist 1,176 12.8% ✓
Worcester Ephraim K. Wilson Federalist 1,170 12.7% ✓
Worcester Charles Parker Federalist 1,159 12.6% ✓
Worcester William F. Selby Federalist 1,153 12.6% ✓
Worcester Ara Spence Democratic-Republican 1,143 12.4%
Worcester John S. Spence Democratic-Republican 1,140 12.4%
Worcester William Riley Democratic-Republican 1,122 12.2%
Worcester William Quinton Democratic-Republican 1,120 12.2%

In most cases, only candidates who received more than 5 percent of the vote in a district are reported. Other candidates are reported as a group, but only if they in aggregate received more than 5 percent of the vote. In addition, percentages for each district may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. The term Dissenting Republican includes various breakaway factions of the Democratic-Republican party.

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“Maryland House of Delegates, 1820,” Mapping Early American Elections, https://earlyamericanelections.org/maps/meae.staterepresentative.1820.md.county.html

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