List of speakers of the Nebraska House of Representatives explained

The speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives was an office in the Nebraska Legislature which existed from 1855 to 1936 when Nebraska had a bicameral legislature. This office was created when the Nebraska Territory was first established and remained after Nebraska became a state.^[1] When Nebraska voters adopted a unicameral legislature beginning in 1937, this office ceased to exist and was replaced by a single speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.

Speakers of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives

The lower house of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature was called the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives, and its presiding officer was called a speaker.^[2] Twelve individuals are officially recognized as having served as speaker of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives during its twelve sessions^[3] before Nebraska became a state. However, the office was briefly split when a faction of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature broke off from the meeting at Omaha, Nebraska, and convened at Florence, Nebraska, in January 1858.^[4]

	Name	Session start	Session end	County of residence	Party	Notes
1		Jan 16, 1855	Mar 16, 1855	Douglas
2		Dec 18, 1855	Jan 26, 1856	Washington
3		Jan 5, 1857	Feb 18, 1857	Otoe
4		Dec 8, 1857	Jan 16, 1858	Otoe		Departed with the majority faction that went to Florence, Nebraska, and remained speaker of that contingent.^[5]
–		Jan 7, 1858	Jan 7, 1858	Otoe		Dem	Speaker pro tempore of the minority faction that remained at Omaha.^[6]
–		Jan 8, 1858	Jan 16, 1858	Douglas		Dem	Speaker pro tempore of the minority faction that remained at Omaha.^[7] Later served as the mayor of Omaha, Nebraska.
5		Sep 21, 1858	Nov 4, 1858	Otoe		Rep
6		Dec 5, 1859	Jan 13, 1860	Sarpy		Dem^[8]
7		Dec 3, 1860	Jan 11, 1861	Washington		Rep
8		Dec 2, 1861	Jan 10, 1862	Douglas
9		Jan 7, 1864	Feb 15, 1864	Douglas		Later served as a Nebraska Supreme Court justice
10		Jan 5, 1865	Feb 13, 1865	Cass		Rep
11		Jan 4, 1866	Feb 12, 1866	Douglas		Dem
12		Jan 10, 1867	Feb 18, 1867	Cass		Rep	Later served as the second speaker of the House of Representatives and as mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska

Speakers of the Nebraska House of Representatives

After Nebraska became a state in 1867, the lower house of the Nebraska Legislature continued to be called the Nebraska House of Representatives as the successor to the Territorial House of Representatives. The Nebraska Constitution of 1866 briefly mentioned the presiding officer of this chamber, again called the speaker of the House of Representatives.^[9] The Nebraska Constitution of 1875 likewise mentioned the office of speaker of the House of Representatives.^[10] The speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives was third in line to become governor after the lieutenant governor and the president pro tempore of the Senate. This office was abolished after 1936 when Nebraska adopted a unicameral legislature, and its title was transferred to the newly created office of speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.

	Name	Tenure	Place of residence	Party^[11]	Notes
1		1866	Brownville		Rep
2		1867–1868	Cass County		Rep	Previously served as the last speaker of the Territorial House of Representatives; later served as mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska
3		1869–1870	Otoe County		Rep
4		1871–1872	Pawnee City		Rep
5		1873–1874	Lancaster County		Rep
6		1875–1876	Falls City		Rep
7		1877–1878	Osceola		Rep	Later served as Governor of Nebraska
8		1879–1880	Norfolk		Rep
9		1881–1882	Ashland		Rep	Later served as Nebraska Lieutenant Governor
10		1883–1884	Pawnee City		Rep
11		1885–1886	Lincoln		Rep
12		1887–1888	York		Rep
13		1889–1890	Nebraska City		Rep	Later served as president pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate
14		1891–1892	Clay Center		Fus
15		1893–1894	Colon		Fus	Later served as the 17th speaker
16		1895–1896	Hebron		Rep
17		1897–1898	Colon		Fus	Previously served as the 15th speaker
18		1899–1900	Lincoln		Rep
19		1901–1902	Tekamah		Rep
20		1903–1904	Lincoln		Rep
21		1905–1906	Alda		Rep
22		1907–1908	Spring Ranch		Rep
23		1909–1910	Tecumseh		Dem	Later served as Nebraska Secretary of State
24		1911–1912	Randolph		Dem
25		1913–1914	Grand Island		Dem
26		1915–1918	Nelson		Dem
27		1919–1920	Beatrice		Rep
28		1921–1922	Lincoln		Rep
29		1923–1924	Gering		Rep
30		1925–1926	Bancroft		Rep
31		1927–1928	Omaha		Rep
32		1929–1930	Bridgeport		Rep
33		1931–1932	Lincoln		Rep
34		1933–1934	Greeley		Dem
35		1935–1936	Laurel		Dem

See also

• List of Nebraska state legislatures

Notes and References

1. Book: Nebraska Blue Book 2022-23. State of Nebraska. 2023. 394-395.
2. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The First Legislature.
3. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register 1915. Territorial Legislatures. 21-29.
4. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession.
5. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession. On the morning of January 7, 1858, ...[t]he Speaker, Mr. James H. Decker, withdrew from the House, with his friends.... The following morning, Friday, the 8th, the House met, and, on motion of Mr. Donelan, to adjourn to meet at Florence the next day, the session was declared adjourned by Speaker Decker. Thereupon all but thirteen members quitted the chamber.... The seceding branch met at Florence, from which place they addressed a resolution to Acting Gov. Cuming ...over the signatures of 'J. H. Decker, Speaker of the House of Representatives,' and 'Leavitt L. Bowen, President of the Council'.....
6. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession. On the morning of January 7, 1858, ...[t]he Speaker, Mr. James H. Decker, withdrew from the House, with his friends.... Thirteen of the members remained in session, and... Mr. Morton was chosen Speaker pro tem....
7. Book: Andreas, A. T.. History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company. 1882. The Florence Secession. The following morning, Friday, the 8th, the House met, and, on motion of Mr. Donelan, to adjourn to meet at Florence the next day, the session was declared adjourned by Speaker Decker. Thereupon all but thirteen members quitted the chamber. Mr. Morton then nominated Mr. Poppleton as Speaker pro tem., and the minority adjourned to meet at the regular place of holding session, on the next day at 9 A.M..
8. Book: History of Nebraska: A Revised Edition. J. Sterling. Morton. Albert. Watkins. 1918. Western Publishing and Engraving Company. 287.
9. Web site: Nebraska Constitution of 1866, Article III, Section 17.
10. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register 1915. Constitution of the State of Nebraska, Article V, Section 18. 168.
11. Book: The Nebraska Blue Book 1936. 1936. State of Nebraska. 167. From 1877 to date, both houses have been republican, except in 1891, 1893, and 1907 [''sic'', this should have said 1897], when the populist and democratic parties controlled both houses; in 1909, 1911, 1915, 1917, 1933 and 1935 when both houses were controlled by the democratic party; and in 1913 when the House was democratic and the Senate republican.