108th New York State Legislature explained

Number:108th
Start:January 1
End:December 31, 1885
Vp:vacant
Pro Tem:Dennis McCarthy (R)
Speaker:George Z. Erwin (R)
Senators:32
Reps:128
S-Majority:Republican (19-13)
H-Majority:Republican (73-55)
Sessionnumber1:1st
Sessionstart1:January 6
Sessionend1:May 15, 1885
Sessionnumber2:2nd
Sessionstart2:May 15
Sessionend2:22, 1885
Previous:107th
Next:109th

The 108th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to May 22, 1885, during the first year of David B. Hill's governorship, in Albany.

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 (seven districts) and Kings County (three 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 Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In New York City the Democrats were split into three factions: Tammany Hall, "Irving Hall" and the "County Democrats". The Prohibition Party; and a fusion of the Greenback Party, the Anti-Monopoly Party and the "People's Party", also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1884 was held on November 4. Governor Grover Cleveland was elected U.S. President. The only two statewide elective offices up for election were two judgeships on the New York Court of Appeals, which were carried by the two cross-endorsed incumbents, one Democrats and one Republican.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1885; and adjourned on May 15.

On January 6, Gov. Grover Cleveland resigned, and Lt. Gov. David B. Hill succeeded to the office.

George Z. Erwin (R) was elected Speaker with 72 votes against 51 for William Caryl Ely (D).[2]

On January 20, the Legislature elected William M. Evarts (R) to succeed Elbridge G. Lapham (R) as U.S. Senator from New York, for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1885.[3]

On May 15, the Legislature adjourned. While the members were exchanging farewells, copies of Gov. Hill's proclamation for a special session, to convene on the same day at 4 p.m., were delivered to the clerks of the Senate and the Assembly. The special session was called to consider again — Hill had vetoed a census bill during the regular session — action to be taken concerning the decennial enumeration which, under the Constitution, was due in 1885. In his message to the Legislature, Hill stated that the Constitution required an "enumeration", but not a "census".[4] No enumeration or census bill was passed until 1891.

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.

DistrictSenatorPartyNotes
1stJames OtisRepublican
2ndJohn J. KiernanDemocrat
3rdAlbert DaggettRepublican
4thJohn C. JacobsDemocrat
5thMichael C. MurphyCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
6thTimothy J. CampbellCounty/Irv. H. Dem.on November 3, 1885, elected to the 49th U.S. Congress
7thJames DalyCounty Dem.
8thFrederick S. GibbsRepublican
9thJohn J. CullenTammany Dem.
10thJ. Hampden RobbDemocrat
11thGeorge W. PlunkittTammany Dem.
12thHenry C. NelsonDemocrat
13thHenry R. LowRepublican
14thJohn Van SchaickDemocrat
15thThomas NewboldDemocrat
16thAlbert C. ComstockRepublican
17thJohn B. ThacherDemocrat
18thJames ArkellRepublican
19thShepard P. BowenRepublican
20thJohn I. GilbertRepublican
21stFrederick LansingRepublican
22ndHenry J. CoggeshallRepublican
23rdAndrew DavidsonRepublican
24thEdward B. ThomasRepublican
25thDennis McCarthyRepublicanPresident pro tempore
26thEdward S. EstyRepublican
27thJ. Sloat FassettRepublican
28thThomas RobinsonRepublican
29thCharles S. BakerRepublicanon November 4, 1884, elected to the 49th U.S. Congress
30thTimothy E. EllsworthRepublican
31stRobert C. TitusDemocrat
32ndCommodore P. VedderRepublican

Employees

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

DistrictAssemblymenPartyNotes
Albany1stStephen H. NilesDemocrat
2ndLansing HotalingRepublican
3rdPatrick MurrayDemocrat
4thTerence I. HardinDemocrat
AlleganyWilliam R. McEwenRepublican
BroomeWilliam H. OlinRepublican
Cattaraugus1stFrederick W. KruseRepublican
2ndEugene A. NashRepublican
Cayuga1stWilloughby B. PriddyRepublican
2ndMichael B. Van BuskirkRepublican
Chautauqua1stDana P. HortonRepublican
2ndJulien T. WilliamsRepublican
ChemungJonas S. Van DuzerRepublican
ChenangoGeorge B. Whitmore[5] Republican
ClintonGeorge W. PalmerRepublican
ColumbiaJohn C. Hogeboom[6] Republican
CortlandHarlan P. AndrewsRepublican
DelawareSilas S. CartwrightRepublican
Dutchess1stJoseph H. StormRepublican
2ndEdward B. OsborneDemocrat
Erie1stWilliam F. SheehanDemocrat
2ndFrank M. GieseDemocrat
3rdWilliam M. HawkinsRepublican
4thTimothy W. JacksonDemocrat
5thAmos H. BakerRepublican
EssexWesley BarnesRepublican
FranklinWilliam T. O'NeilRepublican
Fulton and HamiltonAlden W. BerryRepublican
GeneseeLucien R. BaileyRepublican
GreeneStephen T. HopkinsRepublican
HerkimerJohn M. BudlongRepublican
Jefferson1stAllen E. KilbyRepublican
2ndEli J. SeeberRepublican
Kings1stMoses J. WaferDemocrat
2ndRichard NagleDemocrat
3rdPeter K. McCannDemocrat
4thHenry F. HaggertyDemocrat
5thMichael J. CoffeyDemocrat
6thThomas F. FarrellDemocrat
7thGeorge H. LindsayDemocrat
8thRobert E. ConnellyDemocrat
9thLewis A. MyersRepublican
10thJames TaylorRepublican
11thHenry HeathRepublican
12thMortimer C. EarlDemocrat
LewisG. Henry P. GouldDemocrat
LivingstonKidder M. ScottRepublican
MadisonEdward F. HaskellRepublican
Monroe1stWalter S. HubbellRepublican
2ndJames P. TumiltyDemocratunsuccessfully contested by Charles W. Voshall (R)[7]
3rdPhilip GarbuttRepublican
MontgomeryThomas LiddleRepublican
New York1stDaniel E. FinnIrving H. Dem.
2ndJames OliverDemocrat
3rdCharles EisemanTammany Dem.
4thPatrick H. RocheDemocrat
5thMichael BrennanCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
6thEdward F. ReillyTammany Dem.
7thLucas L. Van AllenRepublican
8thCharles SmithRepublican
9thJohn P. RockefellerRepublican
10thGeorge F. RoeschCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
11thWalter HoweRepublican
12thSolomon D. RosenthalCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
13thJohn P. WindolphRepublican
14thJacob KunzenmanCounty Dem.
15thJohn B. McGoldrickTammany Dem.
16thEdward P. HaganCounty Dem.
17thJohn H. O'HaraDemocrat
18thJohn F. KennyCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
19thEugene S. IvesDemocrat
20thJames HaggertyTammany Dem.
21stHenry A. BarnumRepublican
22ndJoseph L. GeretyCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
23rdJacob A. CantorTammany Dem.
24thJohn B. SheaCounty/Irv. H. Dem.
Niagara1stJacob A. DriessDemocrat
2ndWalter P. HorneDemocrat
Oneida1stHenry A. SteberLabor Reform/Rep.
2ndLewis B. ShermanDem./Labor Reform
3rdT. James OwensRepublican
Onondaga1stWallace TappanRepublican
2ndFrancis HendricksRepublican
3rdConrad ShoemakerRepublican
OntarioJohn RainesRepublican
Orange1stSamuel L. CarlisleRepublican
2ndGeorge W. GreeneDemocrat
OrleansJ. Marshall DibbleRepublican
Oswego1stHenry C. HoweRepublican
2ndGouverneur M. SweetRepublican
Otsego1stWilliam Caryl ElyDemocratMinority Leader
2ndFrank B. ArnoldRepublican
PutnamRobert A. LivingstonRepublican
Queens1stLouis K. ChurchDemocrat
2ndThomas Allen SmithRepublican
Rensselaer1stJames P. HooleyDem./Labor Reform
2ndEugene L. DemersRepublican
3rdCharles C. LodewickDemocrat
RichmondMichael S. TynanRepublican
RocklandJohn W. FelterDemocrat
St. Lawrence1stN. Martin CurtisRepublican
2ndAndrew TuckRep./Proh.
3rdGeorge Z. ErwinRepublicanelected Speaker
Saratoga1stDaniel C. BriggsRepublican
2ndBartlett B. GrippinRepublican
SchenectadyEdward D. CutlerDemocrat
SchoharieAddison H. BartleyDemocrat
SchuylerFremont ColeRepublican
SenecaWilliam B. ClarkDemocrat
Steuben1stGeorge E. WhitemanDemocrat
2ndCharles D. BakerRepublican
SuffolkSimeon S. HawkinsRepublican
SullivanJames D. DeckerDemocrat
TiogaCharles F. BaragerRepublican
TompkinsHiland K. ClarkRepublican
Ulster1stRobert A. SnyderRepublican
2ndGilbert D. B. HasbrouckRepublican
3rdCornelius A. J. HardenberghDemocrat
WarrenFrank BryneDemocrat
Washington1stGeorge ScottRepublican
2ndCharles K. BakerRepublican
Wayne1stAmmon S. FarnumRepublican
2ndEdwin K. BurnhamDemocrat
Westchester1stCharles P. McClellandDemocrat
2ndSamuel W. JohnsonDemocrat
3rdJames W. HustedRepublican
WyomingJohn E. LowingRepublican
YatesClark E. SmithRepublican

Employees

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. http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Yonkers%20NY%20Statesman/Yonkers%20NY%20Statesman%201885/Yonkers%20NY%20Statesman%201885%20-%200008.pdf TO-DAY'S NEWS; The Assembly
  3. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1885/01/22/106295767.pdf EVARTS ELECTED SENATOR
  4. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1885/05/16/103015329.pdf AN EXTRA SESSION CALLED
  5. George B. Whitmore (born 1835), brother of assemblyman Daniel E. Whitmore (in 1875)
  6. John C. Hogeboom (born 1857), grandson of state senator John C. Hogeboom (1801–05)
  7. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1899; pg. 684)

Sources

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