89th New York State Legislature

The 89th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 20, 1866, during the second year of Reuben E. Fenton's governorship, in Albany.

89th New York State Legislature
88th 90th
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1 – December 31, 1866
Senate
Members32
PresidentLt. Gov. Thomas G. Alvord (R)
Temporary PresidentCharles J. Folger (R), from February 6
Party controlRepublican (27-5)
Assembly
Members128
SpeakerLyman Tremain (R)
Party controlRepublican (90-38)
Sessions
1stJanuary 2 – April 20, 1866
2nd (Senate only)June 12 – 15, 1866
3rd (Senate only)August 28 – 31, 1866

Background

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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 (four districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, 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.

Elections

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The 1865 New York state election was held on November 7. All ten statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Republicans 301,000 and Democrats 273,000.

Sessions

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The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1866; and adjourned on April 20.

Lyman Tremain (R) was elected Speaker with 88 votes against 33 for Smith M. Weed (D).

On January 29, DeWitt C. Littlejohn (R) was elected Speaker pro tempore of the Assembly.

On February 6, Charles J. Folger (R) was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On February 16, the Legislature elected Benjamin F. Manierre (R) to succeed William McMurray (D) on March 1 as a Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

On April 16, the Legislature re-apportioned the Assembly seats per county. Allegany, Chenango, Herkimer, Jefferson, Livingston, Steuben and Suffolk counties lost one seat each; Erie County gained one seat, Kings County gained two seats; and New York County gained four seats.[1]

On April 25, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts.[2]

The State Senate met for a special session on June 12; adjourned on June 15; met again on August 28; and adjourned again on August 31. This session was called to hold the trial of George W. Smith, Judge of the Oneida County Court. The trial continued during the next session, and Smith was removed from office on January 25, 1867.

State Senate

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Districts

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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

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Charles Stanford changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District Senator Party Notes
1st Nicholas B. La Bau Republican
2nd Henry R. Pierson Republican
3rd Henry C. Murphy* Democrat re-elected
4th Benjamin Wood Democrat took his seat on January 9
5th Charles G. Cornell Democrat until November 17, 1866, also New York City Street Commissioner
6th Abraham Lent Republican
7th Thomas Murphy Republican
8th Edmund G. Sutherland Democrat
9th Henry R. Low* Republican re-elected
10th George Chambers Democrat
11th Edward G. Wilbor Republican
12th James Gibson Republican
13th Lorenzo D. Collins Republican
14th Charles Stanford* Republican
15th Adam W. Kline Republican
16th Moss K. Platt Republican
17th Abel Godard Republican
18th John O'Donnell Republican
19th Samuel Campbell Republican
20th George H. Andrews* Republican re-elected
21st John J. Wolcott Republican
22nd Andrew D. White* Republican re-elected
23rd James Barnett Republican
24th Ezra Cornell* Republican re-elected
25th Stephen K. Williams* Republican re-elected
26th Charles J. Folger* Republican re-elected
27th Stephen T. Hayt* Republican re-elected;
on November 6, 1866, elected a Canal Commissioner
28th Thomas Parsons Republican
29th Richard Crowley Republican
30th Wolcott J. Humphrey Republican
31st David S. Bennett Republican
32nd Walter L. Sessions Republican

Employees

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  • Clerk: James Terwilliger
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Arthur Hotchkiss
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Sanders Wilson
  • Doorkeeper: Herman B. Young
  • First Assistant Doorkeeper: Frank M. Jones
  • Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Nathaniel Saxton
  • Third Assistant Doorkeeper: August Wagner

State Assembly

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Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker and Police Commissioner.

District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany 1st William Aley Democrat
2nd Lyman Tremain Republican elected Speaker
3rd Clark B. Cochrane Republican previously a member from Montgomery Co.
4th James F. Crawford Democrat unsuccessfully contested by Joseph M. Murphy (R)[3]
Allegany 1st William Wilson Republican
2nd Albon A. Lewis* Republican
Broome Milo B. Eldredge Republican
Cattaraugus 1st William McVey Republican
2nd E. Curtis Topliff* Republican
Cayuga 1st Homer N. Lockwood Republican
2nd John L. Parker* Republican
Chautauqua 1st Joseph B. Fay Republican
2nd Orson Stiles Republican
Chemung Henry C. Hoffman Democrat
Chenango 1st George C. Rice Republican
2nd Romeo Warren Republican
Clinton Smith M. Weed* Democrat unsuccessfully contested by Andrew Williams (R)[4]
Columbia 1st Josiah Kniskern Democrat
2nd John W. Van Valkenburgh Democrat
Cortland Stephen Patrick Republican
Delaware 1st Ira E. Sherman* Republican
2nd John Ferris Republican
Dutchess 1st Abiah W. Palmer Republican
2nd Mark D. Wilber* Republican
Erie 1st William Williams Democrat unsuccessfully contested by James S. Lyon (R)[5]
2nd John J. L. C. Jewett Republican
3rd John G. Langner* Democrat
4th Levi Potter Republican
Essex William H. Richardson* Republican
Franklin James W. Kimball* Republican
Fulton and Hamilton Joseph Covell Republican
Genesee John W. Brown* Republican
Greene Ezekiel P. More Democrat
Herkimer 1st Stephen Turtelot Republican
2nd Archibald C. McGowan Republican
Jefferson 1st Theodore Canfield Republican
2nd Nelson D. Ferguson Republican
3rd Russell B. Biddlecom* Republican
Kings 1st John Oakey Republican
2nd William D. Veeder* Democrat
3rd Morris Reynolds Republican
4th Andrew Walsh Democrat
5th William W. Goodrich Republican
6th Ira Buckman Jr. Republican
7th Jacob Worth* Republican
Lewis Alexander Y. Stewart Republican
Livingston 1st Hugh D. McColl* Republican
2nd Samuel D. Faulkner Democrat
Madison 1st Gardner Morse Republican
2nd Caleb Calkins Republican
Monroe 1st Fairchild Andrus* Republican
2nd Henry R. Selden Republican
3rd Abner I. Wood Republican
Montgomery Isaac S. Frost Democrat
New York 1st William Minor Democrat
2nd Constantine Donoho Democrat took his seat on January 9
3rd George M. Curtis Democrat
4th Henry McCloskey Democrat
5th William Hepburn Republican
6th William H. Tracy Democrat
7th Thomas E. Stewart* Republican on November 6, 1866, elected to the 40th U.S. Congress
8th Jacob Seebacher* Democrat
9th George Stevenson Democrat
10th Thomas J. Creamer* Democrat
11th Alexander Frear Democrat
12th Joseph A. Lyons* Democrat
13th Wilson Berryman Republican
14th Gideon J. Tucker Democrat also Surrogate of New York Co.
15th Edward H. Anderson Democrat
16th Adolph Levinger Republican
17th Charles E. Jenkins Republican
Niagara 1st Solon S. Pomroy Democrat
2nd Guy C. Humphrey* Republican
Oneida 1st George Graham Democrat
2nd Alva Penny Republican
3rd Benjamin N. Huntington Republican
4th Silas L. Snyder Republican
Onondaga 1st Luke Ranney Republican
2nd Daniel P. Wood* Republican
3rd L. Harris Hiscock Republican
Ontario 1st Hiram Schutt Republican
2nd Edward Brunson* Republican
Orange 1st Frederick Bodine Republican
2nd George W. Millspaugh Democrat
Orleans Edmund L. Pitts* Republican
Oswego 1st DeWitt C. Littlejohn Republican on January 29, elected Speaker pro tempore
2nd William H. Rice Republican
3rd John Parker Republican
Otsego 1st Luther I. Burditt* Democrat
2nd Sheffield Harrington Republican
Putnam Stephen Baker Republican
Queens 1st Obadiah J. Downing Republican
2nd James Maurice Democrat
Rensselaer 1st James S. Thorn Republican
2nd Marshall F. White Republican
3rd Eleazer Wooster Republican
Richmond Thomas Child Republican
Rockland Prince W. Nickerson* Democrat
St. Lawrence 1st George M. Gleason Republican
2nd William R. Chamberlain Republican took his seat on January 4
3rd Daniel Shaw* Republican
Saratoga 1st Truman G. Younglove Republican
2nd Austin L. Reynolds Republican
Schenectady John C. Ellis Republican
Schoharie Benjamin E. Smith Democrat
Schuyler Samuel M. Barker Republican
Seneca Lewis Post Democrat
Steuben 1st William B. Boyd Republican
2nd Amaziah S. McKay Republican
3rd Frederick M. Kreidler Republican
Suffolk 1st James H. Tuthill Republican
2nd Richard A. Udall Republican
Sullivan Alfred J. Baldwin Democrat
Tioga John H. Deming Republican
Tompkins Lyman Congdon Republican
Ulster 1st Frederick Stephan Republican
2nd James G. Graham Republican
3rd Andrew S. Weller* Democrat
Warren David Aldrich Republican
Washington 1st Alexander Barkley* Republican
2nd James C. Rogers Republican
Wayne 1st John Vandenberg Republican
2nd William H. Rogers* Republican
Westchester 1st Orrin A. Bills Democrat
2nd Lawrence D. Huntington Democrat
3rd George A. Brandreth* Republican
Wyoming George G. Hoskins* Republican also Postmaster of Bennington
Yates Eben S. Smith* Republican

Employees

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  • Clerk: Joseph B. Cushman
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Frederick T. Hempstead
  • Doorkeeper: S. P. Remington
  • First Assistant Doorkeeper: Alexander Frier
  • Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Oscar K. Dean

Notes

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  1. ^ Laws of the State of New York (89th session) (1866; pg. 1301f, Chap. 607 "AN ACT for the apportionment of the Members of Assembly of this State")
  2. ^ Laws of the State of New York (89th session) (1866; pg. 1762ff, Chap. 805 "AN ACT to organize the Senate Districts of the State")
  3. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 380–395)
  4. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 395ff)
  5. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 369–380)

Sources

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