Has "congressman" ALWAYS meant "representative, not senator"?

[Garson O'Toole]

The citations below are not in the early timeframe requested, but I
think they may be of interest. They show disagreement about the term
congressman in the late 1800s and 1900s.

In 1884 the children's magazine St. Nicholas contains an article by a
former page in the Senate. The article states that "every senator is a
Congressman".

Cite: 1884 November, St. Nicholas edited by Mary Mapes Dodge, Among
the Law-Makers (Recollections of a Page in the United States Senate by
Edmund Alton, Page 58, Volume 12, Number 1, The Century Co., New York.
(Google Books full view)

The members of Congress are, therefore, law-makers, and are called
Congressmen; every senator is a Congressman, and so is every member of
the House of Representatives.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9vLQAAAAMAAJ&q=%22senator+is+a%22#v=snippet&


In 1892 a Dictionary of American Politics defines the term
"Congressman" by referring only to the House of Representatives which
is defined as the lower house.

Cite: 1892, A Dictionary of American Politics by Everit Brown and
Albert Strauss. Page 116 and 261, A.L. Burt. New York. (Google Books
full view)

On page 116 "Congressman" is defined via a crosslink:

Congressman. (See House of Representatives; Congressman-at-Large.)
http://books.google.com/books?id=PXEqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22congressman+at%22#v=snippet&

On page 261 "House of Representatives" is defined as follows:

House of Representatives is the name of the lower House of the
Legislature in many of the States, also of the corresponding House of
the United States Legislature. ...
http://books.google.com/books?id=PXEqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Representatives+is+the%22#v=snippet&


In 1917 an interchange during a House Committee hearing indicates
there is disagreement about whether Senators are Congressmen.

Cite: 1917, Alleged Divulgence of President's Note to Belligerent
Powers: Hearings Before The Committee on Rules: House of
Representatives: Sixty-Fourth Congress: Second Session, On H. Res.
420, Page 159, United States Government Printing Office, Washington.
(Google Books full view)

Mr. LAWSON. Oh, yes; I had a nice chat with Bill Gallivan last night.
I met him here. He is a nice fellow.

Mr. HARRISON. A splendid fellow. And have you come in contact with any
of the New York Congressmen?

Mr. LAWSON. Well, I came down last week with Senator Owen and Senator
O'Gorman—but they are not Congressmen; they are Senators.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, they are Congressmen.

Mr. LAWSON. Are they Congressmen?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; Senators are Congressmen.

Mr. LAWSON. Well, we came down all the way from New York together, and
we chatted together, Senator O'Gorman and Senator Owen and I, about
anything and everything that was interesting.

http://books.google.com/books?id=jCwVAAAAIAAJ&q=%22senators+are%22#v=snippet&



In 1921 a book titled "Illinois and the Nation" tackles this question
in its chapter on national government. The authors present a preferred
meaning for the term "Congressmen", but also reveal that there is
disagreement.

Cite: 1921, "Illinois and the Nation: a Practical Treatise on State
and National Civics" by Oliver R. Trowbridge and Gilbert P. Randle,
Chapter XI: National Government, Page 142, A. Flanagan Company,
Chicago. (Google Books full view)

Senators are "Congressmen" and "Members of Congress" just as truly as
are the Representatives, although these terms are often erroneously
limited to the members of the House of Representatives.

http://books.google.com/books?id=InVIAAAAYAAJ&q=%22as+truly%22#v=snippet&

Garson

On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 2:37 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Has "congressman" ALWAYS meant "representative, not senator"?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> For election day, I'm writing a column about the usage of "congressman" to
> mean "representative", as opposed to "member of Congress, from either
> house". I haven't found the topic in the archives here, although I did find
> a 2002-2003 thread in alt.usage.english, and it got pretty heated.
> (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/cc0d775685b36c58/45c97680c26fcba3?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=congressman#45c97680c26fcba3)
>
> I'll summarize the main viewpoints that emerged in the AUE thread, with the
> intention being that if you subscribe to one of these views, you can know
> that your view is in the record. The question I'm trying to answer comes
> after the summary. ...

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