97th New York State Legislature

The 97th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 30, 1874, during the second year of John A. Dix's governorship, in Albany.

97th New York State Legislature
96th 98th
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1 – December 31, 1874
Senate
Members32
PresidentLt. Gov. John C. Robinson (R)
Temporary PresidentWilliam H. Robertson (R)
Party controlRepublican (18-12-2)
Assembly
Members128
SpeakerJames W. Husted (R)
Party controlRepublican (71-53-3)
Sessions
1stJanuary 6 – April 30, 1874

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators and 128 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts were made up of entire counties, except New York County (five districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards,[1] forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Liberal Republican Party also nominated a ticket.

Elections

The New York state election, 1873 was held on November 4. The statewide elective offices up for election were carried by five Democrats and two Republicans, all of which had been nominated also on the Liberal Republican ticket.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1874; and adjourned on April 30.

James W. Husted (R) was elected Speaker against Smith M. Weed (D).

On April 7, the Legislature elected Neil Gilmour as Superintendent of Public Instructions, with 87 votes against 51 for Abram B. Weaver, to succeed Weaver for a term of three years.[2]

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. John C. Jacobs, Frank Abbott, Benjamin Ray and Franklin W. Tobey changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District Senator Party Notes
1st John A. King Republican
2nd John W. Coe Lib. Rep./Dem.
3rd John C. Jacobs* Democrat
4th John Fox Democrat
5th James W. Booth Republican
6th Jacob A. Gross Democrat
7th Thomas A. Ledwith Democrat
8th Hugh H. Moore Democrat contested by Walter S. Pinckney (R),
decision postponed to the next session
9th William H. Robertson* Republican re-elected; elected president pro tempore
10th Frank Abbott Lib. Rep./Dem. contested; seat vacated on February 4[3]
Edward M. Madden Republican seated on February 5
11th Benjamin Ray* Democrat
12th Roswell A. Parmenter Democrat
13th Jesse C. Dayton Democrat
14th Henry C. Connelly Republican
15th Webster Wagner* Republican re-elected
16th Franklin W. Tobey* Republican
17th Wells S. Dickinson* Republican re-elected
18th Andrew C. Middleton Ind./Lib. Rep./Dem.[4]
19th Samuel S. Lowery* Republican re-elected
20th Archibald C. McGowan* Republican re-elected
21st Charles Kellogg Republican
22nd Daniel P. Wood* Republican re-elected
23rd James G. Thompson Republican contested by William Yeomans Jr.[5]
24th John H. Selkreg Republican
25th William B. Woodin* Republican re-elected
26th William Johnson* Democrat re-elected
27th George B. Bradley Democrat
28th Jarvis Lord* Democrat re-elected
29th Dan H. Cole Republican
30th Abijah J. Wellman Republican
31st John Ganson Democrat died on September 28, 1874
32nd Albert G. Dow Republican

Employees

  • Clerk: Henry A. Glidden
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel K. Schram
  • Doorkeeper: Frederick M. Burton

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany 1st Frederick Schifferdecker Republican
2nd Leopold C. G. Kshinka Democrat
3rd Terrence J. Quinn Democrat
4th Waters W. Braman Republican
Allegany Orrin T. Stacy Republican
Broome George Sherwood Republican
Cattaraugus 1st Commodore P. Vedder* Republican
2nd John Manley* Republican
Cayuga 1st Leonard F. Hardy* Republican
2nd Erastus H. Hussey Republican
Chautauqua 1st Francis B. Brewer* Republican
2nd John D. Hiller* Republican
Chemung Edmund Miller Democrat
Chenango Harris H. Beecher Republican
Clinton Smith M. Weed* Democrat
Columbia 1st Henry Lawrence Democrat
2nd Alonzo H. Farrar Republican
Cortland George W. Phillips* Republican
Delaware 1st Benjamin J. Bassett Republican
2nd Matthew Griffin* Republican
Dutchess 1st James Mackin* Democrat
2nd Harvey G. Eastman Republican
Erie 1st Patrick Hanrahan Democrat
2nd Joseph W. Smith Democrat
3rd Franklin A. Alberger* Republican
4th John Nice* Republican
5th Robert B. Foote* Republican
Essex Gardiner Pope Democrat
Franklin John P. Badger* Republican
Fulton and Hamilton John Sunderlin Republican
Genesee Elbert Townsend* Republican
Greene Augustus Hill* Democrat
Herkimer Warner Miller Republican
Jefferson 1st Elam Persons* Republican
2nd Hugh Smith[6] Republican
Kings 1st James F. Donohue* Democrat
2nd John J. Allen Republican
3rd Michael J. Coffey Democrat
4th Theodore N. Melvin Democrat
5th Eugene D. Berri Republican
6th Jacob Worth* Republican
7th Stephen J. Colahan Democrat
8th George C. Bennett Republican
9th John McGroarty Democrat
Lewis John Herrick Democrat
Livingston Jonathan B. Morey Republican
Madison 1st Edward C. Philpot* Republican
2nd Henry W. Carpenter Republican
Monroe 1st George A. Goss* Republican
2nd George Taylor Democrat
3rd Leonard Burritt* Republican
Montgomery Martin L. Stover Republican
New York 1st James Healey* Democrat
2nd William P. Kirk Democrat
3rd James Hayes* Democrat
4th James Ryan* Democrat
5th Austin Leake Republican
6th Matthew Patten Democrat
7th Alfred Wagstaff Jr. Democrat
8th George Scherman Rep./Apollo H.
9th George B. Deane Jr. Republican
10th Louis C. Waehner Democrat
11th Knox McAfee Republican
12th Francis Murray Democrat
13th Charles S. Spencer Republican
14th James Daly Democrat
15th Joseph Blumenthal* Democrat
16th Peter Woods* Democrat
17th Andrew Blessing* Democrat
18th Bernard Biglin* Republican
19th Thomas O'Callaghan Democrat
20th John D. Coughlin Democrat
21st vacant Assemblyman-elect Henry W. Genet (D) forfeited his seat[7]
James E. Sullivan elected to fill vacancy
Niagara 1st Artemas W. Comstock Republican
2nd Orville C. Bordwell Republican
Oneida 1st George W. Chadwick Republican
2nd Arthur F. Brown Republican
3rd John J. Parry Republican
4th Griffith O. Jones Republican
Onondaga 1st Thomas G. Alvord Independent
2nd George Barrow[8] Republican
3rd Charles Simon Democrat
Ontario 1st Stephen H. Hammond Democrat
2nd Cyrillo S. Lincoln* Republican
Orange 1st Augustus Denniston* Republican
2nd Charles B. Wood Democrat
Orleans Elisha S. Whalen* Republican
Oswego 1st George B. Sloan Republican
2nd Willard Johnson* Democrat
3rd J. Lyman Bulkley* Republican
Otsego 1st William H. Ely Democrat
2nd Henry Thorp Lib. Rep./Dem.
Putnam Hamilton Fish II Republican
Queens 1st L. Bradford Prince* Republican
2nd James M. Oakley* Democrat
Rensselaer 1st William V. Cleary* Democrat
2nd Robert Dickson Republican
3rd Jacob M. Witbeck Democrat
Richmond Stephen D. Stephens Jr. Democrat
Rockland William R. Knapp Democrat
St. Lawrence 1st Seth G. Pope Republican
2nd Dolphus S. Lynde* Republican
3rd Jonah Sanford[9] Republican
Saratoga 1st George West* Republican
2nd George S. Batcheller* Republican
Schenectady Daniel P. McQueen* Republican
Schoharie John B. Hoag Democrat
Schuyler Harmon L. Gregory Republican
Seneca William C. Hazelton Democrat
Steuben 1st Stephen D. Shattuck Democrat
2nd Charles F. Houghton Republican
Suffolk Nathan D. Petty Republican
Sullivan George M. Beebe* Democrat on November 3, 1874, elected to the 44th U.S. Congress
Tioga Jerome B. Landfield* Republican
Tompkins William S. Bostwick Republican
Ulster 1st Robert A. Snyder Republican
2nd Hector Abeel Democrat
3rd John D. Winfield Democrat
Warren Austin W. Holden Democrat
Washington 1st Alexander B. Law Republican
2nd Emerson E. Davis Democrat
Wayne 1st Emory W. Gurnee Democrat
2nd Henry M. Clark Ind. Rep.
Westchester 1st William Cauldwell Democrat
2nd Amherst Wight Jr.* Republican
3rd James W. Husted* Republican elected Speaker
Wyoming Samuel W. Tewksbury Republican
Yates George W. Spencer Democrat

Employees

  • Clerk: John O'Donnell
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Frederick C. Fiske
  • Doorkeeper: Eugene L. Demers
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: James Hogan
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: Michael Maher
  • Stenographer: Worden E. Payne

Notes

  1. Except New York City where the wards were apportioned into election districts, and then some whole wards and some election districts of other wards were gerrymandered together into Assembly districts.
  2. Journal of the State Senate (1874; pg. 568)
  3. see Abbott vs. Madden in Utica Daily Observer on February 5, 1874
  4. Middleton was nominated as an Independent by a convention of farmers in favor of reform, and then endorsed by the Liberal Republicans and Democrats; and defeated the Republican incumbent Norris Winslow at the election.
  5. THE STATE LEGISLATURE; SENATE in NYT on February 5, 1874
  6. Hugh Smith, brother-in-law of State Senator James A. Bell
  7. Genet was elected on November 4, but was convicted in December 1873 for fraud, and fled from justice before sentencing. He thus forfeited the right to the seat, and a special election was called for January 20, 1874.
  8. George Barrow (born 1839 NYC), brother of Edmund P. Barrow (c.1829–1857) who was assemblyman in 1854
  9. Jonah Sanford (born 1821), son of Congressman Jonah Sanford

Sources

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