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Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233)

Chapter 24. General Records of the House of Representatives, 1789-1968

Table of Contents

General Records of the House of Representatives, 1789-1968 from Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States, 1789-1988

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Records described in this chapter:

• Records of Legislative Proceedings, 1st-90th Congresses, (1789-1968)
• Records of the Office of the Clerk of the House, 1st-90th Congresses (1789-1968)
• Records of Impeachment Proceedings, 1st-90th Congresses (1789-1968)

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Records of Impeachment Proceedings, 1st - 90th CONGRESS (1789-1968)

Record Type	Volume	Congresses (Dates)
Impeachment records	18 ft.	14th-78th (1816-1944)
TOTAL:	18 ft.

24.33 According to the Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress (3d ed., 1982), impeachment is perhaps the most awesome though least used power of Congress. In impeachment proceedings, the House of Representatives determines whether impeachment is warranted and if so, prosecutes high ranking Federal officials. The Senate's role is that of judge and jury.

24.34 Since 1789, impeachment proceedings have been initiated more than 60 times. Fifteen officers, including 1 President, 1 Senator, 1 Cabinet officer, and 12 Federal judges, have been tried. Of these, five have been convicted: John Pickering of the District Court of New Hampshire, 1804; West H. Humphries, of the District Court of the Eastern, Middle, and Western District of Tennessee, 1862; Robert W. Archbald of the Commerce Court, 1913; Halsted L. Ritter of the Southern District of Florida, 1936; and Harry E. Claiborne of the District of Nevada, 1986.

24.35 The National Archives has records relating to most of the impeachment proceedings from 1816 to 1944 (see the following list). Additional records relating to impeachments are in the records of the Committee on the Judiciary, which has a major role in the impeachment process.

Records of Impeachment Proceedings in the General Records of the U.S. House of Representatives

Name	Office	File Number
Matthias B. Tallmadge	Judge, District Court, Northern District of NY	14B-A1, 15B-B1
William Stephens	Judge, District Court, GA	15B-A1
William P. Van Ness	Judge, District Court, Southern District of NY	15B-C1
Charles Tait	Judge, District Court, AL	17B-A1
Buckner Thruston	Judge, Circuit Court, DC	18B-A1, 24B-A1
Joseph L. Smith	Judge, Supreme Court, Territory of FL	18B-B1, 19B-A1
Alfred Conkling	Judge, District Court, Northern District of NY	20B-A1, 21B-A1, 26B-A1
James H. Peck	Judge, District Court, MO	21B-B1
Benjamin Johnson	Judge, Superior Court, Territory of AR	22B-A1
P.K. Lawrence	Judge, District Court, Eastern District of LA	25B-A1
John McLean	Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 7th District	26B-B1
Robert C. Grier	Justice, U.S. Supreme Court	33B-A1
John C. Watrous	Judge, District Court, TX	34B-A1, 35B-B1, 36B-A1
Thomas Irwin	Judge, District Court, Western District of PA	35B-A1
Andrew G. Miller	Judge, District Court, WI	38B-A1
Andrew Johnson	President of the United States	40B-A1
Richard Busteed	Judge, District Court, AL	40B-B1, 41B-B1
Mark W. Delahay	Judge, District Court, KS	42B-A1
Charles T. Sherman	Judge, District Court, Northern District of OH	42B-B1
William W. Belknap	Secretary of War	44B-A1
Henry W. Blodgett	Judge, District Court, Northern District of IL	45B-A1
George F. Seward	Counsel General, Shanghai	45B-A1, 46B-A1
Samuel B. Axtell	Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Territory of NM	48B-A1
Aleck Boarman	Judge, District Court, Western District of LA	51B-A1
J.G. Jenkins	Judge, Circuit Court, 7th Circuit	53B-A1
Augustus J. Ricks	Judge, District Court, Northern District of OH	53B-B1
Charles Swayne	Judge, District Court, Northern District of FL	58B-A1
Robert W. Archbald	Judge, District Court, Middle District of PA	60B-A1, 62B-A1
A.G. Dayton	Judge, District Court, Northern District of WV	60B-B1
James B. McPherson and James B. Holland	Judges, Circuit Court, District of PA	60B-C1
Lebbeus R. Wilfley	Judge, U.S. Court for China	60B-D1
Supreme Court Justices	Justices of the Supreme Court	60B-E1
E.S. Farrington	Judge, District Court, NV	61B-A1
A.S. Moore	Judge of 2d Division, District Court of AK	61B-B1
Daniel T. Wright	Judge, District Court, DC	61B-C1
Robert W. Archbald	Associate Judge, U.S. Commerce Court	62B-A1
Cornelius H. Hanford	Judge, District Court, Western District of WA	62B-B1
H. Snowden Marshall	U.S. District Atty., Southern District of NY	64B-A1
Federal Reserve Board	Members of the Federal Reserve Board	64B-B1
Kenesaw M. Landis	Judge, District Court, Northern District of IL	66B-A1
George W. English	Judge, District Court, Eastern District of IL	69B-A1
Phillip Forman	U.S. Attorney for District of NJ	72B-A1
Harold Louderback	Judge, District Court, Northern District of CA	72B-B1, 73B-A1
Halstead L. Ritter	Judge, District Court, Southern District of FL	73B-B1, 74B-A1
Ferdinand A. Geiger	Judge, District Court, Eastern District of WI	75B-A1
Frances Perkins, James L. Houghteling, and Gerard D. Reilly	Secretary of Labor, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, and Solicitor, Department of Labor	76B-A1
Albert W. Johnson and Albert L. Watson	Judges, District Court, Middle District of PA	78B-A1

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Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245). By Charles E. Schamel, Mary Rephlo, Rodney Ross, David Kepley, Robert W. Coren, and James Gregory Bradsher. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.