163rd New York State Legislature

The 163rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1941, to April 24, 1942, during the ninth and tenth years of Herbert H. Lehman's governorship, in Albany.

163rd New York State Legislature
162nd 164th
The facade of the New York State Capitol building in bright daylight
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1, 1941 – December 31, 1942
Senate
Members51
PresidentLt. Gov. Charles Poletti (D)
Temporary PresidentJoe R. Hanley (R)
Party controlRepublican (30–21)
Assembly
Members150
SpeakerOswald D. Heck (R)
Party controlRepublican (87–62–1)
Sessions
1stJanuary 8 – April 4, 1941
2ndJanuary 7 – April 24, 1942

Background

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Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, and amended in 1937, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The American Labor Party endorsed the whole Democratic ticket, which included one Republican judge of the Court of Appeals. The Prohibition Party also nominated a ticket.

Elections

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The New York state election, 1940, was held on November 5. All six statewide elective offices were carried by the nominees on the Democratic-American Labor fusion ticket. The approximate party strength at this election, as gathered from the results, was: Democrats 2,843,000; Republicans 2,837,000; American Labor 365,000; and Prohibition 5,000.

All three women legislators—State Senator Rhoda Fox Graves (Rep.), of Gouverneur; and Assemblywomen Jane H. Todd (Rep.), of Tarrytown, and Edith C. Cheney (Rep.), of Corning—were re-elected.

The New York state election, 1941, was held on November 4. Two vacancies in the State Senate and two vacancies in the State Assembly were filled.

On March 10, 1942, Mary A. Gillen, the widow of Assemblyman Michael J. Gillen, was elected to the seat previously held by her husband.

Sessions

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The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 164th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1941;[1] and adjourned at 2.30 a.m. on April 4.[2]

Oswald D. Heck (Rep.) was re-elected Speaker.

Joe R. Hanley (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

On December 7, 1941, happened the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered World War II. Subsequently, some legislators resigned their seats to join the armed forces, among them Robert F. Wagner Jr., Phelps Phelps, Francis E. Dorn and Henry J. Latham.

The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 165th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1942;[3] and adjourned on April 24.

State Senate

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Districts

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Members

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Francis J. McCaffrey Jr and Charles O. Burney Jr changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblymen Carmine J. Marasco and William Kirnan were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District Senator Party Notes
1st George L. Thompson* Republican Chairman of Finance; died on September 1, 1941
Perry B. Duryea Sr. Republican on November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
2nd Seymour Halpern Republican
3rd Peter T. Farrell* Democrat
4th Philip M. Kleinfeld* Democrat on January 13, 1941, appointed to the NY Supreme Court
Carmine J. Marasco Democrat on February 18, 1941, elected to fill vacancy[4]
5th John J. Howard* Democrat died on January 24, 1941
William Kirnan Democrat on March 11, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
6th Edward J. Coughlin* Democrat
7th Jacob J. Schwartzwald* Democrat on September 9, 1942, appointed to the NYC City Court
8th Joseph A. Esquirol* Democrat
9th Daniel Gutman* Democrat
10th Jeremiah F. Twomey* Democrat
11th James J. Crawford* Democrat
12th Elmer F. Quinn* Democrat
13th Phelps Phelps* Democrat on February 16, 1942, gave notice of his
return to active duty in the U.S. Army[5]
14th William J. Murray* Democrat
15th John L. Buckley* Democrat
16th Francis J. McCaffrey Jr.* Democrat on November 4, 1941, elected to the NYC Municipal Court
Thomas G. Brennan Democrat on January 13, 1942, elected to fill vacancy;[6]
and took his seat on January 26[7]
17th Frederic R. Coudert Jr.* Republican
18th Charles Muzzicato Rep./Am. Labor Chairman of Public Health
19th Charles D. Perry* Democrat
20th Alexander A. Falk Democrat
21st Lazarus Joseph* Democrat
22nd Carl Pack* Democrat
23rd John J. Dunnigan* Democrat Minority Leader
24th Robert E. Johnson Republican
25th Pliny W. Williamson* Republican
26th William F. Condon* Republican
27th Thomas C. Desmond* Republican
28th Allan A. Ryan Jr.* Republican
29th Arthur H. Wicks* Republican Chairman of Civil Service;
Chairman of Finance, from September 17, 1941[8]
30th Erastus Corning 2nd* Democrat resigned on August 1, 1941, to run for Mayor of Albany
Julian B. Erway Democrat on November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
31st Clifford C. Hastings* Republican Chairman of Civil Service, from January 7, 1942[9]
32nd Gilbert T. Seelye* Republican
33rd Benjamin F. Feinberg* Republican
34th Rhoda Fox Graves* Republican
35th Fred A. Young* Republican
36th William H. Hampton* Republican
37th Isaac B. Mitchell* Republican
38th G. Frank Wallace Republican
39th Walter W. Stokes* Rep./Am. Labor
40th Roy M. Page* Republican
41st Chauncey B. Hammond* Republican
42nd Henry W. Griffith* Republican
43rd Earle S. Warner* Republican
44th Joe R. Hanley* Republican re-elected Temporary President
45th Rodney B. Janes* Republican
46th Karl K. Bechtold* Republican resigned in April 1942, and joined the USNR[10]
47th William Bewley* Republican Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
48th Walter J. Mahoney* Republican
49th Stephen J. Wojtkowiak* Dem./Am. Labor
50th Charles O. Burney Jr.* Republican Chairman of Affairs of Villages
51st James W. Riley* Republican

Employees

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  • Clerk: William S. King
  • Assistant Clerk: Fred J. Slater
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Harold W. Cole
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry Whitbeck
  • Principal Doorkeeper: Lynn Corman
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: Irving Hoag
  • Stenographer: John K. Marshall

State Assembly

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Assemblymen

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Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany 1st George W. Foy* Democrat
2nd Mortimer A. Cullen Democrat
3rd John McBain* Rep./Am. Labor
Allegany William H. MacKenzie* Republican
Bronx 1st Matthew J. H. McLaughlin* Democrat
2nd Patrick J. Fogarty* Democrat
3rd Arthur Wachtel* Democrat
4th Isidore Dollinger* Democrat
5th Julius J. Gans* Democrat
6th Peter A. Quinn* Democrat
7th Louis Bennett* Democrat
8th John A. Devany Jr.* Democrat
Broome 1st Floyd E. Anderson Republican
2nd Orlo M. Brees Republican
Cattaraugus Leo P. Noonan Republican
Cayuga James H. Chase* Republican
Chautauqua 1st E. Herman Magnuson Rep./Am. Labor
2nd Carl E. Darling* Republican
Chemung Harry J. Tifft* Republican
Chenango Irving M. Ives* Republican Majority Leader
Clinton Leslie G. Ryan* Republican
Columbia Frederick A. Washburn* Republican
Cortland Harold L. Creal* Republican
Delaware William T. A. Webb* Republican
Dutchess 1st Howard N. Allen* Republican
2nd Emerson D. Fite* Republican
Erie 1st Frank A. Gugino* Republican
2nd Harold B. Ehrlich* Republican
3rd Fred Hammer Dem./Am. Labor
4th Frank J. Caffery Dem./Am. Labor resigned on November 16, 1942, and went to war[11]
5th Philip V. Baczkowski Dem./Am. Labor
6th Jerome C. Kreinheder* Republican
7th Justin C. Morgan Republican
8th John R. Pillion Republican
Essex Sheldon F. Wickes* Republican
Franklin William L. Doige* Republican
Fulton and Hamilton (Denton D. Lake)* Republican died on January 5, 1941, before the Legislature met
Joseph R. Younglove Republican on February 18, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
Genesee Herbert A. Rapp* Republican
Greene William E. Brady* Republican
Herkimer Leo A. Lawrence* Republican
Jefferson Russell Wright* Republican
Kings 1st Lewis W. Olliffe Republican
2nd Leo F. Rayfiel* Democrat
3rd Michael J. Gillen* Democrat died on February 1, 1942
Mary A. Gillen Dem./Rep. on March 10, 1942, elected to fill vacancy
4th Bernard Austin* Democrat
5th John R. Starkey Dem./Am. Labor
6th Robert J. Crews* Rep./Am. Labor
7th William Kirnan* Democrat resigned on January 31, 1941, to run for the State Senate
John F. Furey Democrat on March 11, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
8th Charles J. Beckinella* Democrat
9th Edgar F. Moran* Democrat
10th Francis E. Dorn Republican resigned on April 1, 1942, and went to war[12]
11th Eugene F. Bannigan Democrat
12th James W. Feely* Democrat
13th Ralph Schwartz* Dem./Am. Labor
14th Harry Gittleson Dem./Am. Labor
15th John Smolenski* Dem./Am. Labor
16th Carmine J. Marasco* Democrat resigned on January 14, 1941, to run for the State Senate[13]
Louis L. Friedman Democrat on February 18, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
17th Fred G. Moritt* Dem./Am. Labor
18th Irwin Steingut* Dem./Am. Labor Minority Leader
19th Max M. Turshen* Democrat
20th Roy H. Rudd* Democrat
21st Thomas A. Dwyer* Democrat
22nd James A. Corcoran* Democrat
23rd Robert Giordano* Democrat
Lewis Benjamin H. Demo Republican
Livingston James J. Wadsworth* Republican resigned on May 27, 1941[14]
Joseph W. Ward Republican on November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
Madison Wheeler Milmoe* Republican
Monroe 1st Frank J. Sellmayer Jr.* Republican
2nd Abraham Schulman* Republican
3rd George T. Manning* Republican
4th Nelson E. Owen Jr. Democrat
5th William B. Mann* Republican
Montgomery John F. Bennison Republican
Nassau 1st John D. Bennett* Republican
2nd Norman F. Penny* Republican
New York 1st James J. Dooling* Democrat
2nd Louis DeSalvio Democrat
3rd Maurice E. Downing* Democrat
4th Leonard Farbstein* Democrat
5th Owen McGivern* Democrat
6th Morris M. Mintz Democrat
7th Irwin D. Davidson* Democrat
8th Stephen J. Jarema* Democrat
9th Ira H. Holley* Democrat
10th MacNeil Mitchell* Republican
11th Patrick H. Sullivan* Democrat
12th Edmund J. Delany* Democrat
13th James T. McNamara Democrat
14th Warren J. McCarron Democrat
15th Abbot Low Moffat* Republican Chairman of Ways and Means
16th Robert F. Wagner Jr.* Dem./Am. Labor resigned on January 13, 1942, and went to war
John P. Morrissey Dem./Am. Labor on March 10, 1942, elected to fill vacancy[15]
17th Hulan E. Jack Democrat
18th Hamlet O. Catenaccio Rep./Am. Labor
19th Daniel L. Burrows* Democrat
20th Anthony Guida* Democrat
21st William T. Andrews* Democrat
22nd Daniel Flynn* Democrat
23rd William J. A. Glancy* Democrat
Niagara 1st Jacob E. Hollinger Republican
2nd Harry D. Suitor* Republican
Oneida 1st Frank A. Emma Democrat
2nd William R. Williams* Republican
3rd C. Dean Williams* Republican
Onondaga 1st Leo W. Breed* Republican
2nd George B. Parsons* Republican
3rd Frank J. Costello* Republican
Ontario Harry R. Marble* Republican
Orange 1st Lee B. Mailler* Republican
2nd Charles N. Hammond* Republican
Orleans John S. Thompson* Republican
Oswego Ernest J. Lonis* Republican
Otsego Chester T. Backus* Republican
Putnam D. Mallory Stephens* Republican
Queens 1st Mario J. Cariello* Democrat resigned on September 25, 1941, to run for Municipal Court
Charles J. Dalzell Democrat on November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
2nd George F. Torsney Democrat died on December 28, 1942
3rd John V. Downey* Democrat
4th Henry J. Latham Republican in July 1942, joined the U.S. Navy[16]
5th John H. Ferril* Democrat
6th George Archinal Republican
Rensselaer 1st J. Eugene Zimmer Am. Labor/Rep.
2nd Maurice Whitney* Republican Chairman of Taxation
Richmond 1st Charles Bormann* Democrat
2nd Albert V. Maniscalco* Democrat
Rockland Robert Doscher Republican
St. Lawrence 1st Grant F. Daniels* Republican
2nd Allan P. Sill Republican
Saratoga Richard J. Sherman* Republican
Schenectady 1st Oswald D. Heck* Republican re-elected Speaker
2nd Harold Armstrong* Republican
Schoharie Arthur L. Parsons* Republican
Schuyler Dutton S. Peterson* Republican
Seneca Lawrence W. Van Cleef* Republican
Steuben 1st Edith C. Cheney* Republican
2nd William M. Stuart* Republican
Suffolk 1st Edmund R. Lupton* Republican
2nd Elisha T. Barrett* Republican
Sullivan James G. Lyons* Democrat
Tioga Myron D. Albro* Republican
Tompkins Stanley C. Shaw* Republican
Ulster John F. Wadlin Republican
Warren Harry A. Reoux* Republican Chairman of Judiciary
Washington Henry Neddo Republican
Wayne Henry V. Wilson Republican previously a member from Ontario Co.
Westchester 1st Christopher H. Lawrence* Republican
2nd Theodore Hill Jr.* Republican
3rd James E. Owens* Republican
4th Jane H. Todd* Republican
5th Malcolm Wilson* Republican
Wyoming Harold C. Ostertag* Republican
Yates Fred S. Hollowell* Republican

Employees

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  • Clerk: Ansley B. Borkowski
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard Schnor
  • First Assistant Doorkeeper: Joseph G. Bates
  • Second Assistant Doorkeeper: M. C. Mansolillo
  • Stenographer: Walter F. Berry

Notes

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  1. ^ LEHMAN DEMANDS FULLEST STATE AID IN "TOTAL DEFENSE" in The New York Times on January 9, 1941 (subscription required)
  2. ^ LEGISLATURE ENDS SESSION AT ALBANY in The New York Times on April 4, 1941 (subscription required)
  3. ^ LEHMAN PLEDGES STATE TAX SLASH, ASKS PRICE LIMITS in The New York Times on January 8, 1942 (subscription required)
  4. ^ C. J. MARASCO WINS STATE SENATE SEAT in The New York Times on February 19, 1941 (subscription required)
  5. ^ PHELPS PHELPS GOES TO ACTIVE ARMY DUTY in The New York Times on February 17, 1942 (subscription required)
  6. ^ NAMED STATE SENATOR in The New York Times on January 14, 1942 (subscription required)
  7. ^ Brennan Seated in Senate in The New York Times on January 27, 1942 (subscription required)
  8. ^ Wicks Heads Finance Committee in The New York Times on September 18, 1941 (subscription required)
  9. ^ HASTINGS MADE CHAIRMAN in The New York Times on January 8, 1942 (subscription required)
  10. ^ Bechtold—Fowler in The New York Times on August 30, 1942 (subscription required)
  11. ^ Assemblyman Caffery Enlists in The New York Times on November 17, 1942 (subscription required)
  12. ^ DORN LEAVES ASSEMBLY in The New York Times on April 2, 1942 (subscription required)
  13. ^ SEEKS KLEINFELD'S SEAT in The New York Times on January 15, 1941 (subscription required)
  14. ^ WADSWORTH QUITS SEAT IN ASSEMBLY in The New York Times on May 28, 1941 (subscription required)
  15. ^ ASSEMBLY POST WON BY TAMMANY LEADER in The New York Times on March 11, 1942 (subscription required)
  16. ^ Navy Takes Candidate of Queens Republicans in The New York Times on July 14, 1942 (subscription required)

Sources

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