Deputy Clerk Harry Newlin Megill assumed Clerk of the House South Trimble’s responsibilities

August 02, 1946

Due to the poor health of House Clerk South Trimble, Deputy Clerk Harry Newlin Megill assumed his responsibilities on August 2, 1946, when the House approved H. Res. 753, authorizing the “appointment of an acting Clerk.” The 24th Clerk of the House, Megill is often overlooked since he served only a five-month term—the shortest of any Clerk in House history. Megill’s understated, business-like style contrasted with that of the colorful and popular South Trimble. Trimble, who served 12 Congresses as Clerk and three terms as a Representative from Kentucky, died on November 23, 1946. With the party change in the 80th Congress (1947–1949), Megill stayed on as an assistant to the new Clerk, John Andrews. Joe Bartlett, a House reading clerk who later went on to serve as Minority Clerk, described Megill as “very well informed. And the many, many details that come into running the Clerk's office, particularly in those days, the statutory requirements, and the rules of the House, as they applied to the work of the Clerk, Harry knew all of that. And he worked long hours. He really was one of those devoted people.”

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• Clerk of the House (18)
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South Trimble served three terms as a Representative from Kentucky, but earned notoriety as the longest serving Clerk of the House. Image courtesy of Library of Congress