The Senate Chaplains
Samuel Provoost, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: April 25, 1789
Note: First Bishop of New York
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William White, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 9, 1790
Note: First Bishop of Pennsylvania
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Thomas John Claggett, S.T.D., D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: November 27, 1800
Note: First Bishop of Maryland
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Edward Gantt, M.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 9, 1801
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Alexander Thomas McCormick
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: November 7, 1804
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Edward Gantt, M.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 4, 1805
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John Johnson Sayrs
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 3, 1806
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A.T. McCormick
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: November 10, 1807
Note: On October 29, 1807, Edward Gantt was elected but declined to serve.
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Robert Elliott
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: November 10, 1808
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James Jones Wilmer
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: May 24, 1809
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Obadiah Bruen Brown
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: December 5, 1809
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Walter Dulaney Addison
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 12, 1810
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John Brackenridge, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: November 13, 1811
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Jesse Lee
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: September 27, 1814
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John Glendy
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: December 8, 1815
Note: On December 6, 1816, John Glendie was elected but declined to serve.
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Sereno Edward Dwight, D.D.
Denomination: Congregationalist
Date of Appointment: December 16, 1816
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William Dickinson Hawley
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 9, 1817
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John Clark
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: November 19, 1818
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Reuben Post, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: December 9, 1819
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William Ryland
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: November 17, 1820
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Charles Petit McIlvaine, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 9, 1822
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William Staughton, D.D.
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: December 10, 1823
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Charles Petit McIlvaine, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 14, 1824
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William Staughton, D.D.
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: December 12, 1825
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William Ryland
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 8, 1826
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Henry Van Dyke Johns, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 14, 1829
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John Price Durbin, D.D., LL.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 19, 1831
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Charles Constantine Pise, D.D.
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Date of Appointment: December 11, 1832
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Frederick Winslow Hatch, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 10, 1833
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Edward Young Higbee, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 23, 1835
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John Reinhard Goodman
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 28, 1836
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Henry Slicer
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: September 11, 1837
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George Grimston Cookman
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 31, 1839
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Septimus Tustin, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: June 12, 1841
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Henry Slicer
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 16, 1846
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Clement Moore Butler, D.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: January 9, 1850
Note: There being a tie vote (30 for Henry Slicer and 30 for C.M. Butler), Vice President Millard Fillmore voted for C.M. Butler and broke the tie.
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Henry Slicer
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 7, 1853
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Henry Clay Dean
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 4, 1855
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Stephen P. Hill, D.D.
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: December 8, 1856
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Phineas Densmore Gurley, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: December 15, 1859
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Byron Sunderland, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: July 10, 1861
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Thomas Bowman, LL.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: May 11, 1864
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Edgar Harkness Gray, D.D.
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: March 9, 1865
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John Philip Newman, D.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: March 8, 1869
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Byron Sunderland, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: December 8, 1873
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Joseph J. Bullock, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: March 24, 1879
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Elias DeWitt Huntley, D.D., LL.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: December 18, 1883
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John George Butler, D.D., LL.D.
Denomination: Lutheran
Date of Appointment: March 15, 1886
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William Henry Milburn, D.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: April 6, 1893
Note: W.H. Milburn resigned, because of ill health, on December 2, 1902, his resignation to take effect when the Senate elected a new chaplain. His letter stated that a friend would take his place until that time and from the records it would appear that F. J. Prettyman was the "friend." W.H. Milburn is listed as the official Senate chaplain until the election of F.J. Prettyman on November 23, 1903.
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F.J. Prettyman, D.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: November 23, 1903
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Edward Everett Hale, D.D., LL.D.
Denomination: Unitarian
Date of Appointment: December 14, 1903
Note: Died in office on June 10, 1909.
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Ulysses Grant Baker Pierce, D.D., Ph.D.
Denomination: Unitarian
Date of Appointment: June 18, 1909
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F.J. Prettyman, D.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: March 13, 1913
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Joseph Johnstone Muir, D.D.
Denomination: Baptist
Date of Appointment: January 21, 1921
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ZeBarney Thorne Phillips, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.
Denomination: Episcopalian
Date of Appointment: December 5, 1927
Note: Died in office on May 10, 1942.
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Frederick Brown Harris, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: October 10, 1942
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Peter Marshall, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: January 4, 1947
Note: Died in office on January 24, 1949.
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Frederick Brown Harris, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D.
Denomination: Methodist
Date of Appointment: February 3, 1949
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Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., S.T.D., Litt.D., LL.D., L.H.D., D.Hum., D.Min.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: January 9, 1969
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Richard C. Halverson, D.D., LL.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: February 2, 1981
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Lloyd John Ogilvie, D.D.
Denomination: Presbyterian
Date of Appointment: March 11, 1995
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Barry C. Black, Ph.D., D. Min., D.D.
Denomination: Seventh-day Adventist
Date of Appointment: July 7, 2003
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Note: The 35th Congress (1857-1859) discontinued the custom of electing a Senate chaplain, and extended an invitation to the clergy of the District of Columbia to alternate in opening the daily sessions with prayer. The 36th Congress returned to the former practice.
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Denomination Totals:
Episcopalian = 19
Methodist = 17
Presbyterian = 14
Baptist = 6
Unitarian = 2
Congregationalist = 1
Lutheran = 1
Roman Catholic = 1
Seventh-day Adventist = 1
Total: 62