In Washington, DC, the Forty-fourth Congress of the United States is sitting in its "lame duck" second session. Samuel J. Crawford of Pennsylvania, is in the Speaker's chair. (By John Osborne)

In Washington, DC, the Forty-fourth Congress of the United States opens its second "lame duck" session. The first order of business is to elect a new Speaker of the House to replace Speaker Michael Crawford Kerr of Indiana who had died of illness four days after the end of the first session in August. Congressman Samuel J. Crawford of Pennsylvania, like Kerr a Democrat, is elected to the post. (By John Osborne)

Speaker Michael Crawford Kerr of Indiana dies of cancer at the Rockbridge Alum Springs health retreat in Virginia four days after the end of the first session of the 44th Congress. He will be buried in New Albany, Indiana. At the beginning of the second session the the Congress in December, the House will elect another Democrat, Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania to fill the Speaker's chair. (By John Osborne)

In Washington, DC, Speaker Michael Crawford Kerr of Indiana gavels the end of the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress of the United States. The House has sat for a total of 254 days. Speaker Kerr will die at the Rockbridge Alum Springs health retreat in Virginia four days later. (By John Osborne)

The Forty-fourth Congress of the United States is sitting in Washington, DC. It will sit until August 15, 1876. Congressman Michael Crawford Kerr of Indiana is in the Speaker's chair. (By John Osborne)

The Forty-fourth Congress of the United States returned from its holiday recess on this day. It sat until August 15, 1876. Congressman Michael Crawford Kerr of Indiana was in the Speaker's chair. (By John Osborne)

The Forty-fourth Congress of the United States is in its usual holiday recess. This first session will return to deliberations on January 6, 1876. (By John Osborne)

The Forty-fourth Congress of the United States is in session in Washington, D.C. It will sit for two weeks until its usual holiday recess which begins on December 21, 1875. Michael Crawford Kerr, Democrat of Indiana, is in the Speaker's chair in the House. (By John Osborne)

The Forty-fourth Congress of the United States opens in Washington, D.C. Of the 293 representatives who will sit in the House, 182 are Democrats, and 103 are Republicans. Four others sit as Independents, three as Independent Republicans, and one, Methodist minister William Harrell Felton of Georgia, sits as an Independent Democrat. On this opening day, Michael Crawford Kerr, Democrat of Indiana, is elected Speaker of the House. (By John Osborne)