Representatives had been elected in April 1798 to a term in the 6th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1797.

Dem.-Rep. Thomas Tillotson, who had been elected in the 5th D., was appointed Secretary of State of New York on August 10, 1801, and resigned his seat before Congress met.

John Bird, who had been re-elected in the 6th D. to a second term, resigned his seat on July 25, 1801, before Congress met.

Special elections to fill the vacancies were held in October 1801, and were won by Theodorus Bailey and John P. Van Ness, both Dem.-Rep.

[2] John P. Van Ness was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as a major in the militia of the Territory of Columbia and on January 17, 1803, his seat was declared vacant.