Mapping Early American Elections

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1806

In 1806, Pennsylvania elected at least fourteen Federalists, forty Democratic-Republicans, and twenty-five Republicans who were part of a faction within the party to Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. In this election, the Republican faction was a coalition of Federalists and moderate Democratic-Republicans (Constitutionalists). This group of candidates was often referred to as Quids. Democratic-Republicans and Quids clashed over impeachments, the governor’s appointment powers, and reforms of the constitution and the court system.

While Pennsylvania’s state legislature started out as a unicameral assembly, in 1791, the Pennsylvania General Assembly became a bicameral legislature, with a House of Representatives whose members were elected annually in October and a state Senate whose members were elected to four-year terms.

Pennsylvania used a district system for electing members to Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Districts elected various numbers of Representatives (based on population), and were normally made up of a single county. However, during the early 1800s, numerous new counties were organized, especially in the sparsely settled western and northern part of the state. These new counties, for periods of time, voted with their parent county, and returns were rarely reported for them individually. This resulted in several multiple-county districts.

In this election the following counties voted together in a single district: Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler Counties. Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson and Westmoreland Counties voted together. Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren Counties voted together. The votes cast in Warren County are included in the Venango County totals. Centre and Clearfield Counties voted together. Lycoming, Tioga, and Potter Counties voted together. Northampton and Wayne Counties voted together. The votes cast in Cambria County are included in the Somerset County totals.

In October 1806, elections where held simultaneously for Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives and for Pennsylvania’s delegation to the Tenth U.S. Congress. Federalist, Democratic-Republican, and Quid candidates were elected in both contests.

District Candidate Party Vote Percentage Elected
Adams Walter Smith Federalist 1,592 46.1% ✓
Adams Andrew Shriver Federalist 1,577 45.7% ✓
Adams Other candidates 281 8.1%
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler Francis MacClure Democratic-Republican 1,892 17.4% ✓
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler Abner Lacock Democratic-Republican 1,886 17.4% ✓
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler Jacob Mechlin Democratic-Republican 1,861 17.1% ✓
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler Robert Baldwin Federalist 1,762 16.2%
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler John MacBride Federalist 1,738 16%
Allegheny, Beaver, and Butler James Carothers Federalist 1,727 15.9%
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland Brandon 7,020 133.2%
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland Allshouse 6,648 126%
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland Dickey 4,212 79.2%
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland James MacComb 1,648 31.2% ✓
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland John Wright 1,114 21.1% ✓
Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland John Lobinger 1,029 19.5% ✓
Bedford William Piper Federalist 613 30% ✓
Bedford Benjamin Martin Federalist 578 28.3% ✓
Bedford Jacob Fore Democratic-Republican 454 22.2%
Bedford George Dansdill Democratic-Republican 272 13.3%
Bedford William Alexander Democratic-Republican 128 6.3%
Berks Daniel Rose Republican Faction 1,706 11.1% ✓
Berks Elias Redge Republican Faction 1,647 10.8% ✓
Berks Valentine Brobst Republican Faction 1,589 10.4% ✓
Berks Jacob Schaffer Republican Faction 1,554 10.2% ✓
Berks Daniel Joder Republican Faction 1,527 10% ✓
Berks John M. Hyneman Democratic-Republican 1,421 9.3%
Berks Jacob Snyder Democratic-Republican 1,409 9.2%
Berks Jacob Epler Democratic-Republican 1,366 8.9%
Berks Jacob Rhoads Democratic-Republican 1,366 8.9%
Berks John Hun Democratic-Republican 1,353 8.8%
Bucks Nathaniel Shewell Republican Faction 1,911 14.6% ✓
Bucks Samuel D. Ingham Republican Faction 1,889 14.4% ✓
Bucks Paul Apple Republican Faction 1,879 14.4% ✓
Bucks John Hulme Republican Faction 1,838 14.1% ✓
Bucks Samuel Smith Democratic-Republican 1,413 10.8%
Bucks George Harrison Democratic-Republican 1,391 10.6%
Bucks John Smith Democratic-Republican 1,383 10.6%
Bucks Robert Smith Democratic-Republican 1,373 10.5%
Centre William Rankin Democratic-Republican 731 48.3% ✓
Centre Matthew Allison Federalist 587 38.7%
Centre John Culbertson Federalist 197 13%
Chester James Kelton Republican Faction 2,437 10.5% ✓
Chester Francis Gardner Republican Faction 2,430 10.5% ✓
Chester John Boyd Republican Faction 2,427 10.4% ✓
Chester John G. Bull Republican Faction 2,420 10.4% ✓
Chester Methuselah Davis Republican Faction 2,316 10% ✓
Chester Joseph Park Democratic-Republican 2,276 9.8%
Chester James John Democratic-Republican 2,251 9.7%
Chester John Ramsay Democratic-Republican 2,239 9.6%
Chester James Steel Democratic-Republican 2,231 9.6%
Chester William Harris Democratic-Republican 2,220 9.5%
Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren Wilson Smith Democratic-Republican unopposed ✓
Cumberland James Lowrey Democratic-Republican 1,072 22.2% ✓
Cumberland Philip Pepfer Democratic-Republican 822 17% ✓
Cumberland John Orr Democratic-Republican 815 16.9% ✓
Cumberland Joseph Showalter 765 15.9%
Cumberland James Lamberton 711 14.7%
Cumberland John MacCune 641 13.3%
Dauphin Jacob Bucher 1,917 26.7% ✓
Dauphin Andrew Schulze 1,901 26.5% ✓
Dauphin James Wallis 1,764 24.5% ✓
Dauphin Jacob Weirich 880 12.2%
Dauphin Christian Walborn 454 6.3%
Delaware William Pennock Federalist ✓
Delaware William Trimble Federalist ✓
Fayette Joseph Huston Democratic-Republican 1,088 25.5% ✓
Fayette Christian Tarr Democratic-Republican 910 21.3% ✓
Fayette John Cunningham Democratic-Republican 827 19.3% ✓
Fayette Charles Porter Federalist 779 18.2%
Fayette William Boyd Federalist 671 15.7%
Franklin William Findlay Democratic-Republican 1,013 18.5% ✓
Franklin William MacClelland Federalist 911 16.7% ✓
Franklin George Nigh Federalist 906 16.6% ✓
Franklin James MacConnell Democratic-Republican 905 16.5%
Franklin Jacob Dechert Democratic-Republican 904 16.5%
Franklin Christian Oyster Federalist 832 15.2%
Huntingdon James MacCune Democratic-Republican 1,263 53.7% ✓
Huntingdon Arthur Moore Democratic-Republican 1,090 46.3% ✓
Lancaster William Ramsey Republican Faction 2,726 10.1% ✓
Lancaster Jacob Gish Republican Faction 2,698 10% ✓
Lancaster Jacob Kimmel Republican Faction 2,695 10% ✓
Lancaster William Webb Republican Faction 2,690 10% ✓
Lancaster Robert Maxwell Republican Faction 2,681 9.9% ✓
Lancaster Charles Smith Republican Faction 2,662 9.9% ✓
Lancaster Henry Haines Democratic-Republican 1,832 6.8%
Lancaster Isaac Ferree Democratic-Republican 1,818 6.7%
Lancaster James Patterson Democratic-Republican 1,818 6.7%
Lancaster John Roberts Democratic-Republican 1,818 6.7%
Lancaster William Brisben Democratic-Republican 1,818 6.7%
Lancaster Henry Ford Democratic-Republican 1,743 6.5%
Luzerne Rosewell Wells Federalist 494 27.5% ✓
Luzerne Moses Coolbaugh Republican Faction 364 20.3% ✓
Luzerne Nathan Beach Federalist 359 20%
Luzerne Justus Gaylord, Jr. Republican Faction 333 18.6%
Luzerne John Jenkins Democratic-Republican 168 9.4%
Lycoming and Potter Isaac Smith Democratic-Republican 441 37.7% ✓
Lycoming and Potter Hugh White Federalist 427 36.5%
Lycoming and Potter John Franklin Republican Faction 301 25.7%
Mifflin William Wilson Democratic-Republican 683 36.3% ✓
Mifflin James Banks Democratic-Republican 428 22.7% ✓
Mifflin William Beale Republican Faction 391 20.8%
Mifflin John Brown Republican Faction 382 20.3%
Montgomery Samuel Gross Democratic-Republican 1,988 13.5% ✓
Montgomery John Weber Democratic-Republican 1,955 13.3% ✓
Montgomery Nathaniel B. Boileau Democratic-Republican 1,922 13.1% ✓
Montgomery Isaiah Davis Democratic-Republican 1,914 13% ✓
Montgomery William Hallman Republican Faction 1,744 11.9%
Montgomery Samuel Baird Republican Faction 1,739 11.8%
Montgomery Benjamin Brooke Republican Faction 1,710 11.6%
Montgomery Samuel Rees Republican Faction 1,710 11.6%
Northampton and Wayne William Barnet Republican Faction 1,588 16.3% ✓
Northampton and Wayne Matthias Gress Republican Faction 1,407 14.4% ✓
Northampton and Wayne Abraham Rinker Republican Faction 1,375 14.1% ✓
Northampton and Wayne George Acker Republican Faction 1,277 13.1% ✓
Northampton and Wayne John Coolbaugh Democratic-Republican 1,061 10.9%
Northampton and Wayne James Ralston Democratic-Republican 976 10%
Northampton and Wayne Jacob Newhart Democratic-Republican 968 9.9%
Northampton and Wayne Jonas Hartzell Democratic-Republican 883 9%
Northumberland Simon Snyder Democratic-Republican 2,433 29.7% ✓
Northumberland Leonard Rupert Democratic-Republican 2,388 29.1% ✓
Northumberland Abraham MacKinney Democratic-Republican 1,886 23% ✓
Northumberland Robert Smith Democratic-Republican 1,490 18.2% ✓
Philadelphia Jacob Shearer Democratic-Republican 2,521 10.6% ✓
Philadelphia James Engle Democratic-Republican 2,519 10.6% ✓
Philadelphia John Thompson Democratic-Republican 2,478 10.4% ✓
Philadelphia Christian Sheetz Democratic-Republican 2,475 10.4% ✓
Philadelphia George S. Bensell Democratic-Republican 2,447 10.3% ✓
Philadelphia Michael Leib Democratic-Republican 2,316 9.7% ✓
Philadelphia Jacob Holgate Federalist 1,652 6.9%
Philadelphia Jonathan Roberts Federalist 1,499 6.3%
Philadelphia Jacob Coates Federalist 1,494 6.3%
Philadelphia Nathan Jones Federalist 1,492 6.3%
Philadelphia Derick Peterson Federalist 1,470 6.2%
Philadelphia Joshua Humphreys Federalist 1,440 6%
Philadelphia City William S. Biddle Federalist 2,067 10.8% ✓
Philadelphia City John Clawges, Sr. Federalist 2,056 10.7% ✓
Philadelphia City Samuel Carver Federalist 2,027 10.5% ✓
Philadelphia City Horace Binney Federalist 1,971 10.3% ✓
Philadelphia City Robert Johnson Federalist 1,902 9.9% ✓
Philadelphia City James Sharswood Democratic-Republican 1,816 9.4%
Philadelphia City Clement Humphreys Democratic-Republican 1,814 9.4%
Philadelphia City Hugh Ferguson Democratic-Republican 1,796 9.3%
Philadelphia City Anthony Simmons Democratic-Republican 1,787 9.3%
Philadelphia City Philip Odenheimer Democratic-Republican 1,785 9.3%
Somerset Alexander Ogle Democratic-Republican 562 55.6% ✓
Somerset Patrick Sullivan Republican Faction 324 32%
Somerset Adam Miller Federalist 125 12.4%
Washington James Stevenson Democratic-Republican 1,804 25.5% ✓
Washington Abel MacFarland Democratic-Republican 1,735 24.5% ✓
Washington Ebenezer Jennings Democratic-Republican 1,497 21.2% ✓
Washington James Kerr Democratic-Republican 1,453 20.5% ✓
Washington Thomas Hopkins Federalist 582 8.2%
York Robert Hamersly Democratic-Republican 1,239 20.8% ✓
York Adam Hendricks Democratic-Republican 1,030 17.3% ✓
York George Spangler Democratic-Republican 995 16.7% ✓
York William Anderson Democratic-Republican 824 13.9% ✓
York Conrad Sherman Republican Faction 655 11%
York Benjamin Pedan Republican Faction 479 8.1%
York Frederick Eichelberger Republican Faction 423 7.1%
York J. MacClellan Republican Faction 303 5.1%

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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“Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1806,” Mapping Early American Elections, https://earlyamericanelections.org/maps/meae.staterepresentative.1806.pa.county.html

Mapping Early American Elections is generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

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