# legislature/party_1820_1871/ — members' party for the 1st–50th Legislatures from contemporary newspapers (P-005)

The Law Library's member records give no party before 1872. This folder holds a transcription, member by member, of the party
lists that Maine newspapers printed after each election, read from the page images on Newspapers.com (Matt's account), and the
scripts that tie each printed name to the member record in `../members.csv`.

Started 2026-10-15 at Matt's request ("find each legislator's party for the 1st–50th Legislatures ... start with the Eastern Argus /
Portland Advertiser issues Dubin footnotes, and check against Dubin's chamber totals"). Work goes in batches; each batch ends with
`../scripts/fix_v1_5_party_1820_1871.py` and a rebuilt Legislature page.

## Files

| File | What it is |
|---|---|
| `transcriptions/legNN_<paper>_<date>.csv` | One file per newspaper list, as printed: `leg, chamber, county, town (as printed), name (as printed), party, src_id (Newspapers.com page id), src, mark (how the paper showed the party: italics, an asterisk, the heading the name is listed under), note`. Party codes: DEM (Republicans/Jackson men before 1834, Democrats after), NR (Federalists/Adams men/National Republicans), WHIG, FS (Free Soil), LTY (Liberty), REP (Republican from 1854), AMA (Anti-Masonic), KN (American/Know Nothing), OPP ("Not on the Democratic list": a member the Eastern Argus left unmarked in the three-way race of 1833, which may be a National Republican, an Anti-Mason or a Smith Democrat). |
| `manual_links.csv` | Hand links where the printed name and the Law Library record differ but are the same seat and person, with the evidence. |
| `members_party_1820_1871.csv` | The result: one row per member-term found, `record_id, leg, chamber, name, residence, party, basis, sources`. `basis` = `agree` (two or more lists agree), `one source`, or `CONFLICT …` (the lists disagree; the party of the first-listed, most complete list is used and the other is named). |
| `review_1820_1871.csv` | Members not found and printed names not matched to a member, for a later pass or Matt's decision. |
| `match.py`, `merge.py` | Matching (surname similarity + first initial + town) and combining of the lists for a Legislature: `python3 merge.py ../members.csv <leg> <primary list> <other lists>`. |
| `batches.md` | What each batch covered, the lists used, and the check against Dubin. |

## Rules

* A party is recorded only where a contemporary list prints it. Nothing is inferred from a town's vote, a later career or a
  chamber total; members not found stay blank ("party not recorded" on the page).
* The most complete list for the Legislature is the primary source; earlier partial lists (election returns as they came in) and
  the other party's paper are cross-checks. Disagreements are kept as `CONFLICT` with both readings.
* Dubin's chamber totals (`../dubin_maine_composition.csv`) are the check figure; he compiled them from the same Portland papers.
* Newspaper terminology changes: the Eastern Argus (Jackson/Democratic paper) called its own side "Republicans" and the other
  "Federalists" until about 1833; the Kennebec Journal and Portland Advertiser called the Adams/Clay side "Republicans". The codes
  above follow the party, not the word.

## Floor votes (2026-10-16, P-186)

`floor_votes_1820_1845.csv` — the House's opening-day vote for Speaker (and a few Senate President / House Clerk votes) for the sessions of 1820–1845, read from Newspapers.com (Eastern Argus, Kennebec Journal, Penobscot Journal, The Democrat, Lincoln Telegraph, Eastern Republican) and A New Nation Votes. Used by `../scripts/fix_v1_6_estimates.py` to estimate House seats whose party Dubin's sources do not give, and as the basis for the Democratic-Republican one-party era label (1820–1828). `chamber_totals_other_sources_2026-10-16.csv` keeps the same findings with comparisons to Dubin and the Whig Almanac.