List of Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives holds the oldest statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1] Since its first session under the Frame of Government in 1682, presided over by William Penn, over 130 House members have been elevated to the speaker's chair. The house cannot hold an official session in the absence of the speaker or his designated speaker pro tempore.

Speaker K. Leroy Irvis was the first African-American elected speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction era. Pennsylvania has never had a female speaker.

List of speakers of the Provincial Assembly

Speakers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1682–1775) and the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (following the 1776 Constitution).

NameDate elected
unknown (probably Wynne or More, below)1682
Thomas Wynne1682/1683
Nicholas More1684
John White1685
Arthur Cook1689
Joseph Growdon1690
unknown1691
William Clark1692
Joseph Growdon1693
David Lloyd1694
Edward Shippen1695
John Simcock1696
John Blunston1697
Phineas Pemberton1698
John Blunston1699
Joseph Growdon1700
David Lloyd1703
Joseph Growden1705
David Lloyd1706
Richard Hill1710
Isaac Norris1712
Joseph Growdon1713
David Lloyd1714
Joseph Growdon1715
Richard Hill1716
William Trent1717
Jonathan Dickinson1718
William Trent1719
Isaac Norris1720
Jeremiah Langhorne1721
Joseph Growdon1722
David Lloyd1723
William Biles, Jr.1724
David Lloyd1725
Andrew Hamilton1729
Jeremiah Langhorne1733
Andrew Hamilton1734
John Kinsey1739
John Wright1745
John Kinsey1745/1746
Isaac Norris (II)1750
Thomas Leech1758
Isaac Norris (II)1758
Thomas Leech1759
Isaac Norris (II)1759
Benjamin Franklin1764
Isaac Norris (II)1764
Joseph Fox1764
Joseph Galloway1766
Joseph Fox1769
Joseph Galloway1769
Edward Biddle1774
John Morton1775
John Jacobs (under the 1776 Constitution)1776
John Bayard1777
Frederick Muhlenberg1780
George Gray1783
John Bayard1784
Thomas Mifflin1785
Gerardus Wynkoop II[2]1786 (four days)[3]
Richard Peters1788
William Bingham (under the 1790 constitution)1790

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

NameCountyTenureNotes
William BinghamPhiladelphia1791
Gerardus Wynkoop IIPhiladelphia1793
George LatimerPhiladelphia1794
Cadwalader EvansMontgomery1799
Isaac Weaver, Jr.Greene1800
Simon SnyderNorthumberland1804
Charles PorterFayette1806
Simon SnyderNorthumberland1807
Nathaniel BoileauMontgomery1808
James EnglePhiladelphia1809
John WeberMontgomery1810
John TodBedford1812
Robert SmithFranklin1813resigned February 14, 1813
John St. ClairFayette1814
Jacob HolgatePhiladelphia1815
Rees HillGreene1816
William DavidsonFayette1818
Rees HillGreene1819
Joseph LawrenceWashington1820
John GilmoreAllegheny, Butler1821
Joseph LawrenceWashington1822
Joel B. SutherlandPhiladelphia1825
Joseph RitnerWashington1826
Ner MiddleswarthUnion1828
Frederick SmithFranklin1830
John LaporteBradford, Tioga1832
James FindleyWestmoreland1833
Samuel AndersonDelaware1833
William PattersonWashington1834
James ThompsonVenango, Warren1835
Ner MiddleswarthUnion1836
Lewis DewartNorthumberland1837
William HopkinsWashington1839
William A. CrabbPhiladelphia1841
James Ross SnowdenVenango, Clarion1842
Hendrick Bradley WrightLuzerne, Wyoming1843
James Ross SnowdenVenango, Clarion1844
Findley PattersonWashington1845
Findley PattersonWashington1846
James CooperAdams1847
William F. PackerLycoming, Clinton1848
William F. PackerPotter, Sullivan1849
John S. McCalmontVenango1850
John CessnaBedford1851
John S. RheyArmstrong, Cambria1852
William P. SchellBedford1853
E.B. ChaseSusquehanna, Wyoming1854
Henry K. StrongPhiladelphia1855
Richard L. WrightPhiladelphia1856
J. Lawrence GetzBerks1857
A.B. LongakerMontgomery1858
William LawrenceDauphin1859
William LawrenceDauphin1860
Elisha W. DavisMercer, Venango1861
William KinseyBucks1862
John CessnaBedford1863
Henry C. JohnsonCrawford1864
Arthur G. OlmstedPotter1865
James R. KelleyFulton1866
John P. GlassAllegheny1867
Elisha W. DavisPhiladelphia1868
John ClarkWashington1869
Butler B. StrangTioga1870
James H. WebbBradford1871
William ElliottPhiladelphia1872
H.H. McCormickAllegheny1874
Samuel D. PattersonAllegheny1875[4]
E. Reed MyerBradford1877
Henry M. LongAllegheny1879
Benjamin L. HewitBlair1881
John E. FauncePhiladelphia1883
James L. GrahamAllegheny1885
Henry K. BoyerPhiladelphia1887
Henry K. BoyerPhiladelphia1889
Caleb C. ThompsonWarren1891
Caleb C. ThompsonWarren1893
Henry F. WaltonPhiladelphia1895
Henry K. BoyerPhiladelphia1897resigned January 17, 1898
John R. FarrLackawanna1899
William T. MarshallAllegheny1901
Henry F. WaltonPhiladelphia1903
Henry F. WaltonPhiladelphia1905
Frank B. McClainLancaster1907
John F. CoxAllegheny1909
John F. CoxAllegheny1911died in office November 6, 1911
Milton W. ShreveErie1911
George E. AlterAllegheny1913
Charles A. AmblerMontgomery1915died August 29, 1940
Richard J. BaldwinDelaware1917
Robert S. SpanglerYork1919
Robert S. SpanglerYork1921unseated April 26, 1921
Samuel A. WhitakerChester1921elected to fill unexpired term April 26, 1921
C.J. GoodnoughCameron1923
Thomas BluettPhiladelphia1925
Thomas BluettPhiladelphia1927resigned to become a judge
James H. McClureAllegheny1927elected to fill an unexpired term
Aaron B. HessLancaster1929
C.J. GoodnoughCameron1931
Grover C. TalbotDelaware1933
Wilson G. SarigBerks1935died in office March 14, 1936
Roy E. FurmanGreene1936
Roy E. FurmanGreene1937
Ellwood J. TurnerDelaware1939
Elmer KilroyPhiladelphia1941
Ira T. FissSnyder1943
Ira T. FissSnyder1945
Franklin H. LichtenwalterLehigh1947
Herbert P. SorgElk1949
Herbert P. SorgElk1951
Charles C. SmithPhiladelphia1953
Hiram G. AndrewsCambria1955
W. Stuart HelmArmstrong1957
Hiram G. AndrewsCambria1959
Hiram G. AndrewsCambria1961
W. Stuart HelmArmstrong1963
Robert K. HamiltonBeaver1965
Kenneth B. LeeSullivan1967
Herbert FinemanPhiladelphia1969-1971
Kenneth B. LeeSullivan1973
Herbert FinemanPhiladelphia1975-1977
K. Leroy IrvisAllegheny1977elected May 23, 1977
H. Jack SeltzerLebanon1979
Matthew J. RyanDelaware1981
K. Leroy IrvisAllegheny1983-1987
James J. ManderinoWestmoreland1989died in office December 26, 1989
Robert W. O'DonnellPhiladelphia1990-1992
H. William DeWeeseGreene19931994
Matthew J. RyanDelaware19952003died in office March 29, 2003
John M. PerzelPhiladelphia20032006elected to fill unexpired term April 15, 2003
Dennis M. O'BrienPhiladelphia20072008Minority-party Speaker
Keith R. McCallCarbon20092010
Samuel H. SmithJefferson20112015
Michael C. TurzaiAllegheny20152020Resigned June 15, 2020
Bryan Cutler Lancaster 2020Present


See also

References

  1. Pennsylvania House of Representatives web site Archived 2007-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Philadelphia, December 27". Freeman's Journal. 1786-12-27. p. 2.
  3. Hiltzheimer, Jacob; Parsons, Jacob Cox (1893). Extracts from the diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer: of Philadelphia. 1765-1798. Press of W. F. Fell & co.
  4. legis.state.pa.us https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5818&body=H. Retrieved March 25, 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • Schmedlen, Jeanne Hearn (1998). Wisdom, Vision and Diplomacy: Speakers of the Pennsylvania House (A Biographical History of the Speakers of the Provincial Assembly and the House of Representatives, 1682-1998). Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania House of Representatives. ISBN 978-0-9667794-0-0. OCLC 40553654.
  • "Speakers of the Provincial Assembly (1682-1790)" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  • "Speakers of the House of Representatives since 1791" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
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