48th New York State Legislature explained

Number:	48th
Imagename:	The Old State Capitol
Imagedate:	1879
Start:	January 1
End:	December 31, 1825
Vp:	Lt. Gov. James Tallmadge, Jr. (PP)
Speaker:	Clarkson Crolius (PP)
Senators:	32
Reps:	128
S-Majority:	Bucktail plurality (13-10-9)
H-Majority:	Clintonian
Sessionnumber1:	1st
Sessionstart1:	January 4
Sessionend1:	April 21, 1825
Previous:	47th
Next:	49th

The 48th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 21, 1825, during the first year of DeWitt Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, 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.

The previous session had been dominated by the controversy about the presidential succession, and the question how to choose presidential electors. Party lines broke down when Martin Van Buren tried to have the "Bucktails" faction of the Democratic-Republican Party^[1] support William H. Crawford for U.S. president. A large part of the Bucktails favored John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun as possible presidential candidates, and proposed to have the presidential electors elected by the people in districts, similar to the congressional elections. The Anti-Crawford factions became known as the "People's Party", and they joined forces with the "Clintonians" (supporters of DeWitt Clinton, opposed to the Bucktails). The rump Bucktail faction (which followed Van Buren) was called the "Regency Party" by their opponents, a reference to the Albany Regency.

On April 3, a caucus of Bucktail legislators, consisting of the Regency men and a minority of People's men, nominated Canal Commissioner Samuel Young^[2] for Governor; and Lt. Gov. Erastus Root for re-election.

On September 22, a State convention "in favor of a new electoral law", consisting of about 30 People's men and about 90 Clintonians, nominated Ex-Gov. DeWitt Clinton^[3] for Governor, and Assemblyman James Tallmadge, Jr. (PP) for Lieutenant Governor.

Elections

The State election was held from November 1 to 3, 1824. DeWitt Clinton and James Tallmadge Jr. were elected in a landslide.

Cadwallader D. Colden (1st D.), Wells Lake (2nd D.), Richard McMichael (3rd D.), George Brayton (5th D.), Stukely Ellsworth (6th D.), John C. Spencer (7th D.); and Assemblymen John Crary (4th D.) and Samuel Wilkeson (8th D.) were elected to the Senate. Lake and Ellsworth were Bucktails, the other six were Clintonians.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1825, and adjourned on April 21.

Clarkson Crolius (PP) was elected Speaker with 109 votes out of 122.

In his message to the Legislature, Gov. Clinton recommended to enact that presidential electors be chosen by the people, by general ticket and a plurality of votes.

On February 1, the Legislature failed to elect a successor to U.S. Senator Rufus King, and the seat became vacant on March 4, 1825.

On February 16, the Legislature elected Gamaliel H. Barstow (Clint.) to succeed Abraham Keyser, Jr. (Buckt.) as New York State Treasurer.

State Senate

Districts

• The First District (4 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties.
• The Second District (4 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
• The Third District (4 seats) consisted of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.
• The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
• The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted of Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida and Oswego counties.
• The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted of Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
• The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted of Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties.
• The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara and Steuben counties.

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 Crary and Samuel Wilkeson changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

The party affiliations follow the vote for a U.S. senator on February 1 which showed that there was no majority; and that Clintonians and People's men, although having combined for the election against the Bucktails, were opposed to each other.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	John Lefferts	1 year		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jasper Ward	2 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	David Gardiner	3 years		People's Party
	Cadwallader D. Colden	4 years		Clintonian
Second	Stephen Thorn	1 year		People's Party
	James Burt	2 years		People's Party
	William Nelson	3 years		People's Party^[4]
	Wells Lake	4 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Third	Charles E. Dudley	1 year		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	James Mallory	2 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jacob Haight	3 years		People's Party
	Richard McMichael	4 years		Clintonian
Fourth	John Cramer	1 year		Clintonian
	Archibald McIntyre	2 years		Clintonian
	Silas Wright, Jr.	3 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John Crary	4 years		Clintonian
Fifth	Thomas Greenly	1 year		People's Party
	Sherman Wooster	2 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Perley Keyes	3 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	George Brayton	4 years		Clintonian
Sixth	Tilly Lynde	1 years		People's Party
	Isaac Ogden	2 years		People's Party
	Latham A. Burrows	3 years		People's Party
	Stukely Ellsworth	4 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Seventh	Jesse Clark	1 year		Clintonian
	Jonas Earll, Jr.	2 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jedediah Morgan	3 years		Clintonian
	John C. Spencer	4 years		Clintonian
Eighth	Heman J. Redfield	1 year		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	also D.A. of Genesee Co.
	John Bowman	2 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	James McCall	3 years		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Samuel Wilkeson	4 years		Clintonian

Employees

• Clerk: John F. Bacon

State Assembly

Districts

• Albany County (3 seats)
• Allegany County (1 seat)
• Broome County (1 seat)
• Cattaraugus County (1 seat)
• Cayuga County (4 seats)
• Chautauqua County (1 seat)
• Chenango County (3 seats)
• Clinton County (1 seat)
• Columbia County (3 seats)
• Cortland County (2 seats)
• Delaware County (2 seats)
• Dutchess County (4 seats)
• Erie County (1 seat)
• Essex County (1 seat)
• Franklin County (1 seat)
• Genesee County (4 seats)
• Greene County (2 seats)
• Hamilton and Montgomery counties (4 seats)
• Herkimer County (3 seats)
• Jefferson County (3 seats)
• Kings County (1 seat)
• Lewis County (1 seat)
• Livingston County (2 seats)
• Madison County (3 seats)
• Monroe County (3 seats)
• The City and County of New York (10 seats)
• Niagara County (1 seat)
• Oneida County (5 seats)
• Onondaga County (4 seats)
• Ontario County (3 seats)
• Orange County (4 seats)
• Oswego County (1 seat)
• Otsego County (4 seats)
• Putnam County (1 seat)
• Queens County (2 seats)
• Rensselaer County (4 seats)
• Richmond County (1 seat)
• Rockland County (1 seat)
• St. Lawrence County (1 seat)
• Saratoga County (3 seats)
• Schenectady County (1 seat)
• Schoharie County (2 seats)
• Seneca County (2 seats)
• Steuben County (2 seats)
• Suffolk County (2 seats)
• Sullivan County (1 seat)
• Tioga County (2 seats)
• Tompkins County (2 seats)
• Ulster County (3 seats)
• Warren County (1 seat)
• Washington (4 seats)
• Wayne County (2 seats)
• Westchester County (3 seats)
• Yates County (1 seat)

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. Silas Bowker changed from the Senate to the Assembly.

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	George Batterman
	Samuel S. Lush
	Stephen Willes
Allegany	Lazarus S. Rathbun		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Broome	Briant Stoddard
Cattaraugus	Daniel Hodges
Cayuga	Elijah Devoe
	Roswell Enos
	John W. Hulbert
	Ephraim C. Marsh
Chautauqua	Nathan Mixer
Chenango	Russel Case
	Charles Medbury
	Robert Monell
Clinton	Josiah Fisk
Columbia	Ambrose L. Jordan		Clintonian	also Recorder of the City of Hudson
	Joseph Lord
	Killian Miller
Cortland	James Chatterton
	Josiah Hart		unsuccessfully contested by Jabez B. Phelps
Delaware	Jabez Bostwick
	Herman I. Quackenboss
Dutchess	John Armstrong Jr.
	Eli Augerine
	Enos Hopkins
	vacant?
Erie	Calvin Fillmore
Essex	William Smith
Franklin	Asa Hascall
Genesee	Jeremiah Brown
	Fitch Chipman
	Shubeal Dunham
	Gaius B. Rich
Greene	Gilbert Bedell		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Alvin Bushnell		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Henry Cunningham		Clintonian
	Samuel Jackson
	Alexander St. John
	Peter Smith
Herkimer	Samuel Dexter Jr.
	Warner Folts
	Jacob Wire
Jefferson	John B. Esselstyn		Clintonian
	Richard Goodell		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	George White		C/PP
Kings	William Furman		C/PP
Lewis	Amos Buck Jr.
Livingston	James Faulkner		Clintonian
	Robert McKay		Clintonian	previously a member from Genesee Co.
	Elias P. Benjamin
	Nehemiah Huntington
	James Nye
Monroe	Gustavus Clark
	Henry Fellows		previously a member from Ontario Co.
	Thurlow Weed
New York	James Benedict		People's Party
	Gilbert Coutant		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Clarkson Crolius		People's Party	elected Speaker
	Maltby Gelston		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Samuel L. Gouverneur		People's Party
	John Morss		People's Party
	Jonathan E. Robinson		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	David Seaman		People's Party
	Ira B. Wheeler		People's Party
	George Zabriskie		People's Party
Niagara	Daniel Washburn		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Oneida	Joseph Kirkland
	David Pierson
	Israel Stoddard
	Broughton White
	Samuel Woodworth		previously a member from Herkimer Co.
	Erastus Barber
	Moses Kinne
	James R. Lawrence
	James Pettit
	Claudius V. Boughton		Clintonian
	Gideon Pitts
	Bowen Whiting		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	William Finn
	Nathaniel P. Hill
	Joseph McLaughlin
	Samuel J. Wilkin		Clintonian
Oswego	Chester Hayden
Otsego	Henry Barber
	Isaac Hayes
	Oliver Judd
	John Woodbury
Putnam	David Knapp
Queens	William Jones		People's Party
	Thomas Tredwell		People's Party
Rensselaer	John Carpenter
	Jacob C. Lansing
	Fenner Palmer
	Jacob G. Vanderheyden
Richmond	Harmanus Garretson
Rockland	Abraham Gurnee		People's Party
St. Lawrence	Jacob A. Vanden Heuvel^[5]
Saratoga	Nicholas B. Doe
	Alpheus Goodrich
	Philip Schuyler
Schenectady	John S. Vrooman
Schoharie	Joseph I. Borst		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Freeman Stanton		Clintonian
Seneca	James De Mott		People's Party
	Daniel Rhoad		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Steuben	John Kennedy
	James McBurney
Suffolk	David Hedges Jr.		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Joshua Smith		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Sullivan	John Hall Jr.
Tioga	Charles Pumpelly
	Samuel Winton
Tompkins	Joshua North
	Jared Patchin
Ulster	James Cockburn		Clintonian
	Jacobus Hardenburgh		Clintonian
	Jacob J. Hasbrouck		Clintonian
Warren	William Cook
Washington	David Campbell
	Lemuel Hastings
	Ezra Smith		C/PP
	Samuel Stevens		People's Party
Wayne	William H. Adams		Clintonian
	Enoch Morse		Clintonian
Westchester	Jeremiah Anderson		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Thaddeus Crane		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Joseph Scofield		Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Yates	Philip Robinson

Employees

• Clerk: Horatio Merchant
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel Shields
• Doorkeeper: Chester Stebbins
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Conrad Moore

Notes

1. Originally, the Anti-Federalists called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.
2. Young was an old Bucktail, and supported Henry Clay in 1824.
3. Clinton supported Andrew Jackson in 1824; most of the People's men supported John Quincy Adams and were hostile to Clinton.
4. Nelson did not vote for a U.S. senator, but had been a People's man at the previous session.
5. Jacob Adrian Vanden Heuvel; changed his name to "Van Heuvel" by Act of the Legislature in 1832; see Documents of the Assembly of the Staate of New York (55th Session; 1832; pg. 15)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 126 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 202f for assemblymen]
• The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York, from the Ratification of the Federal Constitution to 1840 by Jabez D. Hammond (4th ed., Vol. 2, Phinney & Co., Buffalo, 1850; pg. 175 to 205)
• Election result Assembly, Albany Co. at project "A New Nation Votes", compiled by Phil Lampi, hosted by Tufts University Digital Library
• Election result Assembly, Cayuga Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Chautauqua Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Chenango Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Clinton Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Erie Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Greene Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Jefferson Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Kings Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Livingston Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Monroe Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Niagara Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Queens Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Richmond Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Rockland Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Schoharie Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Seneca Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Suffolk Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Ulster Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Wayne Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Westchester Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Partial election result Senate, First D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Kings, Richmond and Suffolk Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Second D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Rockland, Ulster and Westchester Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Third D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Albany, Greene and Schoharie Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Fourth D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Clinton Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Sixth D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Chenango Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Seventh D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Eighth D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Chautauqua, Erie, Livingston, Monroe and Niagara Co.]