# Effingham Lawrence > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Effingham_Lawrence > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Effingham_Lawrence.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effingham_Lawrence > Source revision: 1329572589 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American politician (1820–1878) Effingham Lawrence From Volume II of 1875's "The American Government" Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district In office March 3, 1875 – March 4, 1875 Preceded by J. Hale Sypher Succeeded by Randall L. Gibson Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 1st district In office 1871–1875 Personal details Born (1820-03-02)March 2, 1820 Bayside, Queens, New York, U.S. Died December 9, 1878(1878-12-09) (aged 58) Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, U.S. Party Democratic Spouse Mary Ann George Children 10 Profession Sugar planter **Effingham Lawrence** (March 2, 1820 – December 9, 1878) was an American politician known for serving for the shortest term in congressional history, serving—along with [George A. Sheridan](/source/George_A._Sheridan)—for just one day in the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives).[1] ## Biography Lawrence was born in Bayside, [Queens, New York](/source/Queens%2C_New_York), in 1820. He was a descendant of [John Lawrence](/source/John_Lawrence_(New_York_politician)) and [John Bowne](/source/John_Bowne), both [Quakers](/source/Quakers) and pioneer English settlers of Queens, NY. Lawrence moved to Louisiana in 1843 and engaged in the planting and refining of sugar. He served in the [Louisiana State House of Representatives](/source/Louisiana_House_of_Representatives) for some time and then successfully contested the re-election of [Jacob Hale Sypher](/source/Jacob_Hale_Sypher). Lawrence then served for one day in Congress but was not reelected. He died at Magnolia Plantation, [Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana](/source/Plaquemines_Parish%2C_Louisiana) in 1878. ## Contested election The voting in the 1872 election was characterized by a number of irregularities, with Sypher initially being declared the winner and returned to Congress while Lawrence appealed the election results. Lawrence's belated replacement of Sypher, after courts intervened to nullify the original results and instead deliver the seat to Lawrence, marked the first time since the Civil War that a Democrat had defeated a [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) for a seat in Congress from Louisiana. The 1874 voting in which Lawrence failed "re-election" to the seat had already been held before he was seated for the term to which he had, by the later court order, been elected in 1872. Thus, under the congressional calendar in effect at the time, Lawrence was able to serve for one day of the 1873–1875 term to which he had, in the end, been elected. On the following day—March 4, 1875—he was succeeded by [Randall Lee Gibson](/source/Randall_Lee_Gibson), a Democrat who had defeated him during the preceding autumn. ## See also - [Cornelius Lawrence](/source/Cornelius_Lawrence), his cousin - [Thomas Johnson](/source/Thomas_Johnson_(jurist)), shortest-serving [U.S. Supreme Court](/source/U.S._Supreme_Court) justice - [William Henry Harrison](/source/William_Henry_Harrison), shortest-serving [president of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States). ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Two House Members Served for Only One Day"](https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/hh_1875_03_03_served_congress_one_day/). Retrieved January 4, 2023. ## External links - [Congressional Biography](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000132) - [Political Graveyard](http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/lawrence.html) U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by Jacob Hale Sypher United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana 1875 Succeeded by Randall Lee Gibson v t e United States representatives from Louisiana 1st district E. Livingston White H. Johnson White Slidell La Sére St. Martin Dunbar Eustis Bouligny Sypher Lawrence Gibson Hunt St. Martin Wilkinson Meyer Estopinal O'Connor Fernández Hébert Tonry B. Livingston Vitter Jindal Scalise 2nd district Gurley Thomas Ripley Chinn Dawson la Branche Thibodeaux Conrad Bullard J. A. Landry Hunt Taylor Mann Sheldon Ellis Hahn Wallace Lagan Coleman Lagan Davey Buck Davey Gilmore Dupré Spearing Maloney H. Boggs Maloney H. Boggs L. Boggs Jefferson Cao Richmond Carter 3rd district Brent Overton Bullard Garland J. Moore Dawson Harmanson Penn Perkins Davidson Newsham Darrall Acklen Darrall Kellogg Gay Price Broussard Martin Montet Mouton Domengeaux Willis Caffery Treen Tauzin Melançon J. M. Landry Boustany Higgins 4th district Bossier Morse J. Moore Jones Sandidge Landrum Vidal Newsham McCleery Boarman Smith Levy Elam Blanchard Ogden Breazeale Watkins Sandlin Brooks Waggonner Leach Roemer McCrery Fields McCrery Fleming M. Johnson 5th district Blackburn Morey Spencer Leonard Young King Newton Boatner Baird Ransdell Elder Wilson Mills McKenzie Passman Huckaby McCrery Cooksey Alexander McAllister Abraham Letlow 6th district Nash E. Robertson Lewis Irion E. Robertson S. Robertson Favrot Wickliffe Morgan Sanders Sr. Favrot Kemp Sanders Jr. Griffith Sanders Jr. Morrison Rarick H. Moore Baker Cazayoux Cassidy Graves Fields 7th district Pujo Lazaro De Rouen Plauché Larcade Thompson Edwards Breaux Hayes John Boustany 8th district Aswell Overton Dear Allen G. S. "Doc" Long McSween G. W. Long S. Long G. W. Long C. Long Holloway At-large Robertson Butler Johnston Sheridan Territory Clark Poydras Authority control databases: People US Congress This article about a Louisiana politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Louisiana-politician-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3ALouisiana-politician-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Louisiana-politician-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Effingham Lawrence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effingham_Lawrence) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effingham_Lawrence?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.