# Who was the first member of the US Congress to become a father while in office?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-member-of-the-us-congress-to-become-a-father-while-in-office/812839>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 21, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-member-of-the-us-congress-to-become-a-father-while-in-office/812839 "2018-04-21T02:30:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-member-of-the-us-congress-to-become-a-father-while-in-office/812839/1 "2018-04-21T02:30:55Z")

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Out of curiosity who was the first member of each House to become a father while in office? What about the Congress of the Confederation and the Continental Congress?

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-member-of-the-us-congress-to-become-a-father-while-in-office/812839/2 "2018-04-21T02:48:28Z")

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If we limit it to the United State Congress, it probably was Senator Rufus King of New York. He was a member of the 1st United States Congress which convened on March 4, 1789. King’s son Charles was born twelve days later on March 16.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-member-of-the-us-congress-to-become-a-father-while-in-office/812839/3 "2018-04-21T02:57:22Z")

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Update: It wasn’t King. While the first Congress convened on March 4, King wasn’t a part of it. The New York state legislature (which chose Senators back then) didn’t get around to naming anyone until July 16 and King didn’t take office until July 25.