60th New York State Legislature

60th New York State Legislature

The Old State Capitol (1879)
Duration: January 1 – December 31, 1837
President of the State Senate: Lt. Gov. John Tracy (D)
Temporary President of the State Senate:
Speaker of the State Assembly: Edward Livingston (D)
Members: 32 Senators
128 Assemblymen
Senate Majority: Democratic (27-5)
Assembly Majority: Democratic (94-34)
Sessions
1st: January 3 – May 16, 1837
<59th 61st>

The 60th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to May 16, 1837, during the fifth year of William L. Marcy's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1821, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in eight senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year eight Senate seats came up for election. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually.

State Senator John C. Kemble resigned on May 20, 1836; and State Senator Isaac W. Bishop on May 23; leaving vacancies in the Third and Fourth District.

On May 23, 1836, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate and Assembly districts, according to the State census of 1835. Queens and Suffolk counties were transferred from the First to the Second District; Delaware County from the Second to the Third; Herkimer County from the Fifth to the Fourth; Otsego from the Sixth to the Fifth; Allegany, Cattaraugus and Livingston counties from the Eighth to the Sixth; and Cortland County from the Sixth to the Seventh. The total number of assemblymen remained 128. The new county of Chemung was apportioned one seat. Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Kings, Niagara, Oswego and Steuben counties gained one seat each; New York County gained two; and Cayuga, Dutchess, Herkimer, Oneida, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins, Washington and Westchester counties lost one seat each.[1]

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party. In New York City, a radical faction of the Democratic Party organized as the Equal Rights Party, and became known as the Locofocos.

The Democratic state convention met on September 14 at Herkimer and nominated Gov. William L. Marcy and Lt. Gov. John Tracy for re-election; and an electoral ticket pledged to Martin Van Buren for President and Richard M. Johnson for Vice President.

The Whig state convention nominated Jesse Buel for Governor, and Gamaliel H. Barstow for Lieutenant Governor; and an electoral ticket pledged to William Henry Harrison for President.

The Equal Rights state convention met on September 15 at Utica, and nominated Isaac S. Smith for Governor; and Moses Jaques for Lieutenant Governor. In New York City, they nominated Frederick A. Tallmadge for the State Senate; and a full ticket for the Assembly, among them Clinton Roosevelt and Robert Townsend Jr.. Tallmadge, Roosevelt and Townsend were then endorsed by the Whigs, and elected.

Elections

The State election was held from November 7 to 9, 1836. Gov. William L. Marcy and Lt. Gov. John Tracy were re-elected to a third term. Also, the Democratic electoral ticket won; the 42 New York votes were cast for Martin Van Buren and Richard M. Johnson. In New York City, the combined vote of the Whigs and Locofocos upset the Tammany Hall political machine, electing the State Senator of the First District, and 7 of 13 assemblymen.

State Senators Samuel Young (4th D.),[2] David Wager (5th D.) and Samuel L. Edwards (7th D.) were re-elected.

1836 New York State Senate election result
District Democrat Whig
First Morgan L. Smith 18,992 Frederick A. Tallmadge 20,173
Second Henry H. Van Dyck 20,824 Stephen W. Fullerton 12,040
Third Alonzo C. Paige 23,243 Elisha Jenkins 16,812
Noadiah Johnson 23,218 Amos Briggs 15,805
Fourth Samuel Young 23,575 Gerrit Wendell 14,707
John McLean 20,616 Anthony C. Brown 14,251
Fifth David Wager 17,851 Samuel Comstock 17,241
Sixth Daniel S. Dickinson 21,497 Peter Robinson 17,813
Seventh Samuel L. Edwards 20,316 James R. Lawrence 17,227
Eighth Alexis Ward 15,894 Samuel Works 22,346

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1837; and adjourned on May 16.

Edward Livingston (D) was elected Speaker with 80 votes against 27 for Luther Bradish (W).

Upon taking their seats in the Senate, Johnson and Paige (3rd D.), and McLean and Young (4th D.), drew lots to decide which one of the two senators elected in each district would serve the short term, and which one the full term. Paige and McLean drew the short term, and Johnson and Young the full term.[3]

On February 6, State Treasurer Abraham Keyser was re-elected.

On February 7, the Legislature re-elected U.S. Senator Silas Wright, Jr. to a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1837.

Near the end of the session, the Panic of 1837 erupted.

State Senate

Districts

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Senators who resided in counties which were transferred to a different district continued to represent the district in which they were elected.

District Senators Term left Party Notes
First Charles L. Livingston* 1 year Democrat
Coe S. Downing* 2 years Democrat
Henry Floyd-Jones* 3 years Democrat resided in Queens Co., elected in the old 1st D.
Frederick A. Tallmadge 4 years Locofoco/Whig
Second Leonard Maison* 1 year Democrat
John P. Jones* 2 years Democrat
John Hunter* 3 years Democrat
Henry H. Van Dyck 4 years Democrat
Third Alonzo C. Paige 1 year Democrat elected to fill vacancy, in place of John C. Kemble;
also Reporter of the New York Court of Chancery
Abraham L. Lawyer* 2 years Democrat
James Powers* 3 years Democrat
Noadiah Johnson 4 years Democrat
Fourth John McLean 1 year Democrat elected to fill vacancy, in place of Isaac W. Bishop;
also First Judge of the Washington County Court
Jabez Willes* 2 years Democrat
David Spraker* 3 years Democrat
Samuel Young* 4 years Democrat also a Canal Commissioner and First Judge of the Saratoga Co. Court
Fifth Francis Seger* 1 year Democrat
Abijah Beckwith* 2 years Democrat resided in Herkimer Co., elected in the old 5th D.
Micah Sterling* 3 years Democrat
David Wager* 4 years Democrat
Sixth Ebenezer Mack* 1 year Democrat
Levi Beardsley* 2 years Democrat resided in Otsego Co., elected in the old 6th D.
George Huntington* 3 years Democrat
Daniel S. Dickinson 4 years Democrat
Seventh Thomas Armstrong* 1 year Democrat
Chester Loomis* 2 years Democrat also Postmaster of Rushville
John Beardsley* 3 years Democrat
Samuel L. Edwards* 4 years Democrat
Eighth Albert H. Tracy* 1 year Whig
Isaac Lacey* 2 years Whig
Chauncey J. Fox* 3 years Whig resided in Cattaraugus Co., elected in the old 8th D.
Samuel Works 4 years Whig

Employees

State Assembly

Districts

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.

Party affiliations follow the vote on State officers on February 6 and 7;,[4] the result given by the Whig Almanac,[5] and the result for New York City given in Niles' Register.[6]

District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany Richard Kimmey Democrat
Edward Livingston Democrat elected Speaker
Abraham Verplanck Democrat
Allegany Calvin T. Chamberlain* Democrat also Postmaster of Cuba
Azel Fitch Democrat
Broome Judson Allen* Democrat also Postmaster of Harpursville
Cattaraugus Tilly Gilbert Democrat
Phineas Spencer Democrat
Cayuga Curtiss C. Cady Democrat
Charles E. Shepard* Democrat
William Wilbur* Democrat
Chautauqua Alvin Plumb Whig
Calvin Rumsey Whig
William Wilcox Whig
Chemung Jacob Westlake Democrat
Chenango John F. Hill Democrat
Squire Smith* Democrat
Isaac Stokes Democrat
Clinton Cornelius Halsey Democrat
Columbia William W. Hoysradt Democrat
Rufus Reed Democrat
John S. Vosburgh Democrat
Cortland Josiah Hine Whig
John Thomas Whig
Delaware Jesse Booth Democrat
Thomas J. Hubbell Democrat
Dutchess Taber Belding Democrat
John R. Myer Democrat
David Shelden Democrat
Erie Benjamin O. Bivins Whig
Squire S. Case Whig
Elisha Smith Whig
Essex Gideon Hammond Whig
Franklin Luther Bradish* Whig
Genesee Reuben Benham Whig
John A. McElwain Whig
Leverett Seward Whig
Charles O. Shepard* Whig
Greene Stephen Tryon Democrat
John Watson Democrat
Hamilton and
Montgomery 		Joseph Blair* Democrat
Jacob Hees Democrat
Richard Peck Democrat
Herkimer Henry L. Easton Democrat
Aaron Hackley Democrat
Jefferson Jotham Bigelow Democrat
Richard Hulbert* Democrat
John W. Tamblin Democrat
Kings Joseph Conselyea Democrat
Richard V. W. Thorne Democrat
Lewis George D. Ruggles Democrat
Livingston George W. Patterson* Whig
William Scott Whig
Madison Wait Clark Democrat
Isaac Coe Jr. Democrat
Silas Sayles Democrat
Monroe Levi Russell Whig
Derick Sibley Whig
Silas Walker Whig
New York Henry Andrew Whig
Charles P. Clinch* Democrat
Francis B. Cutting* Democrat
Morris Franklin Whig elected in a special election on December 21 and 22, 1836, after
there was a tie for the thirteenth seat at the regular election
Thomas Herttell* Democrat
John I. Labagh Whig
Clinton Roosevelt Locofoco/Whig
Thomas G. Talmage Democrat
Robert Townsend Jr. Locofoco/Whig
Thomas W. Tucker Democrat
James I. M. Valentine Democrat
Anson Willis Whig
George Zabriskie Whig
Niagara Reuben H. Boughton Democrat contested by Davis Hurd (W) who was seated on January 24[7]
Hiram McNeil Whig
Oneida Levi Buckingham Democrat
John I. Cook Democrat
Lester N. Fowler Democrat
Andrew S. Pond Democrat
Onondaga Daniel Denison* Democrat
George Pettit Democrat
William Porter Jr. Democrat
Nathan Soule Democrat
Ontario Amos Jones* Whig
Henry Pardee* Whig
Henry W. Taylor Whig
Orange Merit H. Cash Democrat
William Jackson Democrat
William Morrison Democrat
Orleans Silas M. Burroughs Democrat
Oswego Caleb Carr Democrat
Orville Robinson* Democrat also Surrogate of Oswego Co.
Otsego Edmund B. Bigelow Democrat
Ivory Holland* Democrat
Harvey Strong Democrat
Putnam John Crawford Democrat
Queens Jarvis Jackson* Democrat
Rensselaer Randall A. Brown Democrat
Alexander Bryan Democrat
Abraham Van Tuyl Democrat
Richmond Lawrence Hillyer Whig unsuccessfully contested by John Garretson Jr.[8]
Rockland Abraham J. Demarest Democrat
St. Lawrence Preston King* Democrat
William S. Paddock* Democrat
Saratoga Seabury Allen Democrat
Halsey Rogers Democrat
Schenectady Thomas Knight Democrat
Schoharie Philip Mann Democrat
Reuben Merchant Democrat
Seneca John L. Bigelow Democrat
Steuben Henry G. Cotton Democrat
John I. Poppino Democrat
Benjamin Smead Democrat
Suffolk Josiah C. Dayton Democrat
John M. Williamson Democrat
Sullivan George S. Joscelyn Democrat
Tioga Ezra Canfield Democrat
Tompkins Lewis Halsey Democrat
Benjamin Jennings Democrat
Ulster Ephraim E. Depuy Democrat
Samuel Elmore Democrat
Warren Walter Geer Jr. Democrat
Washington Joseph W. Richards Whig
Charles Rogers Whig
Wayne David Arne Jr. Democrat
Pomeroy Tucker Democrat
Westchester William Fisher* Democrat
Barnardus Montross Democrat
Yates Mordecai Ogden* Democrat

Employees

Notes

  1. ↑ see Laws of the State of New York (59th Session) (1836; Chapter 436, pg. 653ff)
  2. ↑ Young had resigned his seat on May 23, 1836, and did not sit in the subsequent session of the Court for the Correction of Errors, but was elected at the next election to succeed himself.
  3. ↑ see Journal of the Senate (60th Session) (1837; pg. 4)
  4. ↑ see Journal of the Assembly (60th Session) (1837; pg. 229f and 243f)
  5. ↑ see The Whig Almanac for 1838 (pg. 26)
  6. ↑ see Niles' Weekly Register (issue of November 13, 1836; pg. 177)
  7. ↑ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 118f)
  8. ↑ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 117)

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.