Marquett Performs Nebraska’s First Official Acts in the Union
Window of Nebraska Territorial Seal,
United States House of Representatives
As Nebraska celebrates 150 years of statehood,
our firm celebrates 160 years of service to
Nebraskans. Nebraska joined the Union on
March 1, 1867, after Congress overrode
President Johnson’s second veto of the
statehood resolution. The next day, our firm’s
founder, Turner Marquett, elected to be sworn
in as Nebraska’s first Congressman, rather
than wait three days and be sworn in to a full
2 year term of Congress. On March 2, 1867,
Marquett performed Nebraska’s first official act
in the Union by voting to override President
Johnson’s veto of the Reconstruction Act. As a
result, after just two days in Congress, his term
ended and he returned to Nebraska.
“Another star is added to our flag, and Nebraska becomes the first-born of that higher,
nobler civilization which made our Declaration of Independence a practical truth, that proclaimed
to the world, no matter what color God painted His child, he was still a man.”
Turner Marquett, Nebraska Silver Anniversary Speech, 1892.
Nebraska’s first official acts in the Union were performed on March 2, 1867, by Turner Mastin
Marquett, this state’s first Congressman and the founder of our law practice.
Marquett was elected to Congress twice in 1866—once as United States Congressman and
once as Territorial Delegate. Which office he would hold depended upon whether Nebraska was
admitted before or after the end of the 39th Congress. President Johnson did not sign the
Statehood Proclamation until March 1, 1867. The 39th Congress ended two days later, on March
3rd. Nebraska’s two senators declined to immediately take their seats, electing to wait for full
six year terms in the 40th Congress.
As reflected in the Congressional Globe for March 2, 1867, Nebraska’s Congressman reached
a different decision. “Mr. T.M. Marquett, of Nebraska, appeared, and having taken the oath to
support the constitution and the oath prescribed by the act of June 2, 1862, took his seat.” He
then joined the Republican majority in voting to override President Johnson’s veto of the
Reconstruction Act. These were Nebraska’s first official acts in the Union.
The 39th Congressional session ended the next day and Marquett returned to Nebraska, where
newspapers ridiculed him for “trading two years for two days.” Exactly why Marquett gave up a
full Congressional term to take office on March 2nd remains unclear. Marquett said the decision
was a matter of personal honor towards his friend John Taffe, who assumed Nebraska’s seat in
the next Congress. J. Sterling Morton, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate beaten by
Marquett in the 1866 Congressional election, long and bitterly maintained that Marquett took
office only because he lacked any colorable right to sit beyond March 3rd. Later in life, some
contemporaries praised Marquett for sacrificing his own political ambitions to make sure
Nebraska’s vote was available to override the Reconstruction Act veto. Others suggested he was
simply tired of Washington and wanted to get back home to Nebraska.