Episode 2 of 2

Cobb Elected Speaker

When: December 22, 1849
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: Event of 1849: After 17 days of deadlock and 63 votes, Democrat Howell Cobb of Georgia is elect

Democrat Howell Cobb was elected Speaker on December 22, 1849, at age 34, after 63 ballots.

After the deadlock, Howell Cobb, a five-term member and southern Democrat, was elected Speaker of the House after 63 ballots. The election concluded on December 22, 1849. Cobb served as Speaker during the 31st Congress, a role he held until 1851 when he left to become Governor of Georgia.

Sources

31st United States Congress Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-19
Howell Cobb Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-06

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.