57th New York State Legislature explained

Number:	57th
Imagename:	The Old State Capitol
Imagedate:	1879
Start:	January 1
End:	December 31, 1834
Vp:	Lt. Gov. John Tracy (J)
Speaker:	William Baker (J)
Senators:	32
Reps:	128
S-Majority:	Jacksonian (25-7)
H-Majority:	Jacksonian
Sessionnumber1:	1st
Sessionstart1:	January 7
Sessionend1:	May 6, 1834
Previous:	56th
Next:	58th

The 57th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 6, 1834, during the second year of William L. Marcy's governorship, 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.

At the time of the state election in 1833, there were three political parties: the Jacksonian Democrats, the Anti-Masonic Party, and the National Republican Party. The latter two parties had formed an Anti-Jacksonian bloc at the previous election.

Elections

The State election was held from November 4 to 6, 1833. State Senators Thomas Armstrong (7th D.) and Albert H. Tracy (8th D.) were re-elected. Leonard Maison (2nd D.), John C. Kemble (3rd D.), Isaac W. Bishop (4th D.), Ebenezer Mack (6th D.); and Assembly Speaker Charles L. Livingston (1st D.) and Assembly Clerk Francis Seger (5th D.) were also elected to the Senate. Tracy was an Anti-Jacksonian, the other seven were Jacksonians.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1834; and adjourned on May 6.

William Baker (J) was elected Speaker unopposed.

On February 7, the Legislature re-elected State Treasurer Abraham Keyser, Jr.

On January 15, Assemblyman Samuel S. Bowne introduced "An act to abolish capital punishment, and to provide for the punishment of certain crimes". On March 8, the Assembly rejected the bill, after much debate, with a vote of 49 to 37.^[1]

About the time of the New York City election in April 1834, the Anti-Jacksonians assumed the name of Whig Party, and the Jacksonians became the Democratic Party.

The Whig state convention nominated State Senator William H. Seward for governor, and Silas M. Stilwell for lieutenant governor.

The Democratic state convention met on September 10 at Herkimer and nominated Gov. Marcy and Lt. Gov. Tracy for re-election.

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 Delaware, 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, Otsego, Steuben, 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 Orleans 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. Charles L. Livingston changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	Jonathan S. Conklin	1 year		Jacksonian
	Harman B. Cropsey	2 years		Jacksonian
	Myndert Van Schaick	3 years		Jacksonian
	Charles L. Livingston	4 years		Jacksonian
Second	David M. Westcott	1 year		Jacksonian
	Allan Macdonald	2 years		Jacksonian	also Postmaster of White Plains
	John Sudam	3 years		Jacksonian
	Leonard Maison	4 years		Jacksonian
Third	Herman I. Quackenboss	1 year		Jacksonian
	John W. Edmonds	2 years		Jacksonian
	Peter Gansevoort	3 years		Jacksonian
	John C. Kemble	4 years		Jacksonian
Fourth	William I. Dodge	1 year		Jacksonian
	Josiah Fisk	2 years		Jacksonian
	Louis Hasbrouck	3 years		Anti-Jacksonian	died on August 20, 1834
	Isaac W. Bishop	4 years		Jacksonian
Fifth	Henry A. Foster	1 year		Jacksonian
	Robert Lansing	2 years		Jacksonian
	John G. Stower	3 years		Jacksonian
	Francis Seger	4 years		Jacksonian
Sixth	Charles W. Lynde	1 year		Anti-Jacksonian
	John G. McDowell	2 years		Jacksonian	also Postmaster of Chemung
	John F. Hubbard	3 years		Jacksonian
	Ebenezer Mack	4 years		Jacksonian
Seventh	William H. Seward	1 year		Anti-Jacksonian
	Jehiel H. Halsey	2 years		Jacksonian
	Samuel L. Edwards	3 years		Jacksonian
	Thomas Armstrong	4 years		Jacksonian
Eighth	Trumbull Cary	1 year		Anti-Jacksonian
	(John Birdsall*)	2 years		Anti-Jacksonian	did not take his seat during this session,^[2] and resigned on June 5, 1834
	John Griffin	3 years		Anti-Jacksonian
	Albert H. Tracy	4 years		Anti-Jacksonian

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 (2 seats)
• 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 (2 seats)
• Essex County (1 seat)
• Franklin County (1 seat)
• Genesee County (3 seats)
• Greene County (2 seats)
• Hamilton and Montgomery counties (3 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 (11 seats)
• Niagara County (1 seat)
• Oneida County (5 seats)
• Onondaga County (4 seats)
• Ontario County (3 seats)
• Orange County (3 seats)
• Orleans County (1 seat)
• Oswego County (1 seat)
• Otsego County (4 seats)
• Putnam County (1 seat)
• Queens County (1 seat)
• Rensselaer County (4 seats)
• Richmond County (1 seat)
• Rockland County (1 seat)
• St. Lawrence County (2 seats)
• 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 (3 seats)
• Ulster County (2 seats)
• Warren County (1 seat)
• Washington (3 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.

The party affiliations follow the vote on State officers on February 7 and April 17.^[3]

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Aaron Livingston		Jacksonian
	Barent P. Staats		Jacksonian
	Prentice Williams Jr.		Jacksonian
Allegany	Lewis Wood		Jacksonian
Broome	David C. Case		Jacksonian
Cattaraugus	Chauncey J. Fox		Anti-Jacksonian
Cayuga	Dennis Arnold		Jacksonian
	Cornelius Cuykendall		Jacksonian
	Andrew Groom		Jacksonian
	Noyes Palmer		Jacksonian
Chautauqua	James Hall		Jacksonian
	Thomas A. Osborne		Jacksonian
Chenango	Joseph P. Chamberlin		Jacksonian
	Milo Hunt		Jacksonian
	Wells Wait		Jacksonian
Clinton	Miles Stevenson		Jacksonian
Columbia	Henry C. Barnes
	John F. Collin
	John Snyder
Cortland	Stephen Bogardus		Jacksonian
	Oliver Kingman		Jacksonian
Delaware	Samuel Gordon		Jacksonian	also Postmaster of Delhi
	Amasa J. Parker		Jacksonian
Dutchess	Theodore V. W. Anthony		Jacksonian
	William H. Bostwick		Jacksonian
	Henry Conklin		Jacksonian
	James Mabbett		Jacksonian
Erie	Joseph Clary		Jacksonian
	Carlos Emmons		Anti-Jacksonian
Essex	Barnabas Myrick		Jacksonian
Franklin	Jabez Parkhurst		Anti-Jacksonian
Genesee	Truman Lewis		Anti-Jacksonian
	Peter Patterson		Anti-Jacksonian
	Rufus Robertson		Anti-Jacksonian
Greene	Benedict Bagley
	Sylvester Nichols		Jacksonian
	Clark S. Grinnell		Jacksonian
	Azel Hough		Jacksonian
	Daniel Morrell		Jacksonian
Herkimer	Augustus Beardslee		Jacksonian
	Timothy L. Campbell		Jacksonian
	Charles Dyer		Jacksonian
Jefferson	William H. Angel		Jacksonian
	Calvin McKnight		Jacksonian
	Eli West		Jacksonian
Kings	Philip Brasher		Jacksonian
Lewis	George D. Ruggles		Jacksonian
Livingston	Salmon G. Grover
	Tabor Ward		Jacksonian
	Sardis Dana		Jacksonian
	Benjamin Enos		Jacksonian
	Henry T. Sumner		Jacksonian
Monroe	Elihu Church		Jacksonian
	Fletcher Mathews Haight		Jacksonian
	Jeremy S. Stone		Jacksonian
New York	Abraham Cargill		Jacksonian
	John W. Degrauw		Jacksonian
	Daniel Dusenbury		Jacksonian
	Thomas Herttell		Jacksonian
	Henry Hone		Jacksonian
	John McKeon		Jacksonian
	Robert H. Morris		Jacksonian
	Mordecai Myers		Jacksonian
	Benjamin Ringgold		Jacksonian
	Peter S. Titus		Jacksonian
	Minthorne Tompkins		Jacksonian
Niagara	Robert Fleming		Anti-Jacksonian
Oneida	Pomeroy Jones		Jacksonian
	Israel S. Parker		Jacksonian
	Hiram Shays		Jacksonian
	Aaron Stafford		Jacksonian
	Ithai Thompson		Jacksonian
	Squire M. Brown		Jacksonian
	Jared H. Parker		Jacksonian
	Oliver R. Strong		Jacksonian
	Horace Wheaton		Jacksonian
	Peter Mitchell		Jacksonian
	Oliver Phelps		Jacksonian
	Aaron Younglove		Jacksonian
	Merit H. Cash		Jacksonian
	Gilbert O. Fowler		Jacksonian
	Charles Winfield		Jacksonian
Orleans	Asa Clark Jr.		Jacksonian
Oswego	Orville Robinson		Jacksonian	also Surrogate of Oswego Co.
Otsego	William Baker		Jacksonian	elected Speaker
	Samuel S. Bowne		Jacksonian
	Ransom Spafard		Jacksonian
	William Temple
Putnam	Jonathan Morehouse		Jacksonian
Queens	Thomas B. Jackson		Jacksonian
Rensselaer	Archibald Bull		Jacksonian
	Smith Germond		Jacksonian
	Nicholas B. Harris		Anti-Jacksonian
	James Yates		Jacksonian
Richmond	Paul Mersereau		Jacksonian
Rockland	Daniel Johnson		Jacksonian
St. Lawrence	Sylvester Butrick		Jacksonian
	Jabez Willes		Jacksonian
Saratoga	Solomon Ellithorp		Jacksonian
	Thomas J. Marvin		Jacksonian
	Eli M. Todd		Jacksonian
Schenectady	Simeon Schermerhorn		Jacksonian
Schoharie	Watson Orr		Jacksonian
	John G. Young		Jacksonian
Seneca	Peter Bockoven		Jacksonian
	John D. Coe		Jacksonian
Steuben	Joshua Healy		Jacksonian
	William Kernan		Jacksonian
Suffolk	William Sidney Smith		Jacksonian
	John Terry		Jacksonian
Sullivan	Anthony Hasbrouck		Jacksonian
Tioga	John R. Drake		Jacksonian	also First Judge of the Tioga Co. Court
	George Gardner		Jacksonian
Tompkins	George B. Guinnip		Jacksonian
	Charles Humphrey		Anti-Jacksonian
	Thomas B. Sears
Ulster	Samuel Culver		Jacksonian
	Daniel Le Fever		Jacksonian
Warren	Thomas Archibald		Jacksonian
Washington	Charles F. Ingalls		Jacksonian
	Melancton Wheeler		Jacksonian
	James Wright		Jacksonian
Wayne	James P. Bartle		Jacksonian
	Russell Whipple		Jacksonian
Westchester	Joseph H. Anderson		Jacksonian
	Edwin Crosby		Jacksonian
	Horatio Lockwood		Jacksonian
Yates	James P. Robinson		Jacksonian

Employees

• Clerk: Philip Reynolds Jr.
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel Dygert
• Doorkeeper: Alonzo Crosby
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Samuel Campbell

Notes

1. see Journal of the Assembly (pg. 93, 355, 365, 387, 398 and 410)
2. see Journal of the Senate (57th Session)
3. see Journal of the Assembly (57th Session) (1834, pg. 222f and 807f)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 130 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 214ff 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. 435 to 442)