95th New York State Legislature explained

Number:95th
Imagename:The Old State Capitol
Imagedate:1879
Start:January 1
End:December 31, 1872
Vp:Lt. Gov. Allen C. Beach (D)
Pro Tem:William B. Woodin (R)
Speaker:Henry Smith (R)
Senators:32
Reps:128
S-Majority:Republican (24-5-2)
H-Majority:Republican (98-26-4)
Sessionnumber1:1st
Sessionstart1:January 2
Sessionend1:May 14, 1872
Previous:94th
Next:96th

The 95th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to May 14, 1872, during the fourth year of John T. Hoffman'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 (five districts) and Kings County (two 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 Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

Elections

The 1871 New York state election was held on November 7. All seven 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 387,000 and Democrats 368,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1872; and adjourned on May 14.

Henry Smith (R) was elected Speaker with 95 votes against 26 for John C. Jacobs (D).

In his annual message to the Legislature, Gov. John T. Hoffman suggested that a bi-partisan Constitutional Commission of 32 members should be formed. The Commission had four members from each judicial district, appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the State Senate, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.

William B. Woodin (R) was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On May 1, Supreme Court Justice Albert Cardozo tendered his resignation, just before the report of the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly, which proposed his impeachment, was read. No further action was taken against Cardozo.[2]

On May 2, the Assembly impeached Supreme Court Justice George G. Barnard.[3]

On May 23, the Senate set the opening of the trial of Judge John McCunn, of the New York City Marine Court, for June 18.[4]

On June 18, the Senate met for the trials of Judge McCunn, and Chenango County Judge Horace G. Prindle.[5]

On July 2, the Senate removed Judge McCunn from office.[6]

On July 17, the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments met at Saratoga Springs to open the trial of Justice Barnard.

On August 19, Barnard was convicted by the Impeachment Court, was removed from office, and barred from ever holding public office again.[7]

On December 4, the Constitutional Commission met.

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. Isaac V. Baker Jr., Webster Wagner and James H. Graham changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

DistrictSenatorPartyNotes
1stTownsend D. CockDemocrat
2ndJohn C. PerryRepublican
3rdHenry C. MurphyDemocratre-elected
4th(William M. Tweed)*Democratre-elected; did not take his seat;
unsuccessfully contested by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa[8]
5thErastus C. BenedictRepublican
6thAugustus WeismannRepublican
7thJames O'BrienReform Democrat
8thDaniel F. TiemannReform Democrat
9thWilliam H. RobertsonRepublican
10thEdward M. MaddenRepublican
11thAbiah W. PalmerRepublican
12thIsaac V. Baker Jr.Republican
13thCharles H. AdamsRepublican
14thJacob HardenberghDemocratre-elected; died on April 29, 1872
William F. ScoresbyLib. Rep./Dem.elected to fill vacancy; seated on November 22[9]
15thWebster WagnerRepublican
16thSamuel AmesRepublican
17thWells S. DickinsonRepublican
18thNorris WinslowRepublicanre-elected
19thSamuel S. LoweryRepublican
20thArchibald C. McGowanRepublican
21stWilliam FosterRepublican
22ndDaniel P. WoodRepublican
23rdJames H. GrahamRepublican
24thThomas I. ChatfieldRepublican
25thWilliam B. WoodinRepublicanre-elected
26thWilliam JohnsonDemocrat
27thGabriel T. HarrowerRepublican
28thJarvis LordDemocratre-elected
29thGeorge BowenRepublicanre-elected
30thJames WoodRepublicanre-elected
31stLoran L. LewisRepublicanre-elected
32ndNorman M. AllenRepublican

Employees

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker.

DistrictAssemblymenPartyNotes
Albany1stStephen SpringstedRepublican
2ndHenry SmithRepublicanelected Speaker
3rdDaniel L. BabcockRepublican
4thGeorge B. MosherDemocrat
AlleganyWilliam W. CrandallRepublican
BroomeWilliam M. ElyRepublicandied on February 6, 1872[10]
William L. FordRepublicanelected to fill vacancy
Cattaraugus1stCommodore P. VedderRepublican
2ndEnoch HoldridgeRepublican
Cayuga1stIra D. BrownRepublican
2ndElijah E. BrownRepublican
Chautauqua1stMatthew P. BemusRepublican
2ndJerome PrestonRepublican
ChemungDavid B. HillDemocrat
ChenangoAndrew ShepardsonRepublican
ClintonEdmund Kingsland 2dRepublican
Columbia1stBenjamin RayDemocrat
2ndMilton M. TompkinsDemocrat
CortlandDan C. SquiresRepublican
Delaware1stWilliam Lewis Jr.Republican
2ndMatthew GriffinRepublican
Dutchess1stEdward M. GoringRepublican
2ndHarvey G. EastmanRepublicanalso Mayor of Poughkeepsie
Erie1stGeorge ChambersDemocrat
2ndGeorge BaltzRepublican
3rdFranklin A. AlbergerRepublican
4thJohn SimsonRepublican
5thJohn M. WileyDemocrat
EssexFranklin W. TobeyRepublican
FranklinJames H. PierceRepublican
Fulton and HamiltonSamuel W. BuellDemocrat
GeneseeVolney G. KnappRepublican
GreeneAugustus HillDemocrat
HerkimerEleazer C. RiceRepublican
Jefferson1stOliver C. WymanRepublican
2ndWilliam W. EnosRepublican
Kings1stDavid C. AitkenDemocrat
2ndEdward D. WhiteRepublican
3rdDominick H. RocheDemocrat
4thWilliam W. MoseleyDemocrat
5thEugene D. BerriRepublican
6thPeter G. PeckRepublican
7thCharles B. MortonRepublican
8thGeorge C. BennettRepublican
9thJohn C. JacobsDemocrat
LewisAmos V. SmileyRepublican
LivingstonArchibald KennedyRepublican
Madison1stJohn W. LippittRepublican
2ndFrancis A. HyattRepublican
Monroe1stGeorge A. GossRepublican
2ndGeorge D. LordDemocrat
3rdLeonard BurrittRepublican
MontgomeryWilliam J. Van DusenRepublican
New York1stJames HealeyDemocrat
2ndJames DunphyDemocratcontested by Henry G. Leash
3rdJames HayesDemocrat
4thJohn J. BlairDemocratcontested by William McMahon
5thDavid S. PaigeReform Democrat
6thTimothy J. CampbellDemocrat
7thHoratio N. TwomblyRepublican
8thConrad GeibRepublican
9thStephen Pell[11] Republican
10thHenry H. HaightReform Democrat
11thRush C. HawkinsRepublican
12thWilliam W. CookDemocrat
13thGeorge H. MackayRepublican
14thJohn A. FoleyReform Democrat
15thAlexander FrearDemocratcontested;[12] seat vacated on March 1
Frederick KilianRepublicanseated on March 1[13]
16thNicholas HaughtonDemocrat
17thCharles A. FlammerRepublican
18thSamuel J. TildenReform Democrat
19thThomas C. FieldsDemocratunsuccessfully contested[14]
20thSevern D. MoultonRepublican
21stWilliam A. WhitbeckRepublican
Niagara1stIsaac H. BabcockRepublican
2ndGeorge M. SwainRepublican
Oneida1stMartin L. HungerfordRepublican
2ndEleazer BeckwithRepublican
3rdGeorge K. CarrollDemocrat
4thAlbert L. HayesRepublican
Onondaga1stThomas G. AlvordRepublican
2ndPeter BurnsRepublican
3rdGustavus SniperRepublican
Ontario1stAmbrose L. Van DusenRepublican
2ndCyrillo S. LincolnRepublican
Orange1stRobert H. StrahanRepublican
2ndFrank AbbottRepublican
OrleansE. Kirke HartRepublican
Oswego1stDaniel G. FortRepublican
2ndThomas W. GreenRepublican
3rdChauncey S. SageRepublican
Otsego1stAlfred ChamberlainDemocrat
2ndJ. Lee TuckerRepublican
PutnamJames B. DykemanRepublican
Queens1stL. Bradford PrinceRepublican
2ndJames M. OakleyDemocrat
Rensselaer1stJason C. OsgoodRepublican
2ndJohn L. SnyderRepublican
3rdCastle W. HerrickRepublican
RichmondDavid W. JuddRepublican
RocklandDaniel TompkinsRepublican
St. Lawrence1stDarius A. MooreRepublican
2ndDolphus S. LyndeRepublican
3rdParker W. RoseRepublican
Saratoga1stGeorge WestRepublican
2ndNathaniel M. HoughtonRepublican
SchenectadyWilliam GreenhalghRepublican
SchohariePeter CouchmanDemocrat
SchuylerHarmon L. GregoryRepublican
SenecaPeter LottRepublican
Steuben1stThomas M. FowlerRepublican
2ndJames B. MurdockRepublican
SuffolkJohn S. MarcyRepublican
SullivanFrank BuckleyDemocrat
TiogaWilliam SmythRepublican
TompkinsAnson W. KnettlesRepublican
Ulster1stRobert LoughranRepublican
2ndC. Meech WoolseyRepublican
3rdAllen A. WhitakerRepublican
WarrenJoseph WoodwardRepublican
Washington1stEdmund W. HollisterRepublican
2ndGeorge W. L. SmithRepublican
Wayne1stEdward B. WellsRepublican
2ndLucien T. YeomansRepublican
Westchester1stWilliam W. NilesRepublican
2ndAlbert BadeauRepublican
3rdJames W. HustedRepublican
WyomingJohn N. DavidsonRepublican
YatesGeorge P. LordRepublican

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. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/05/02/79181303.pdf OUR CORRUPT JUDGES
  3. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/05/03/78778169.pdf ALBANY; The Impeachment of Judge George G. Barnard
  4. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/05/24/78780173.pdf THE STATE SENATE; Executive Session on the Accused Judges' Cases
  5. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/06/19/79022797.pdf TRIAL OF THE JUDGES
  6. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/07/03/82730831.pdf EXIT McCUNN
  7. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/08/20/79188108.pdf Exit Barnard
  8. Tweed did not claim the seat, and his chair remained empty throughout the session. A resolution to vacate the seat, and then call a special election to fill the seat, was proposed, but no action was taken. O'Donovan Rossa, who had lost the senatorial election to Tweed, claimed the seat, but was not seated; see THE STATE LEGISLATURE; Tweeds Empty Chair in NYT on March 5, 1873; and ALBANY; AN ASPIRANT TO TWEED'S SEAT in NYT on April 15, 1873
  9. see THE STATE SENATE in NYT on November 23, 1872
  10. see OBITUARY; William M. Ely in NYT on February 7, 1872
  11. Stephen Pell (1822–1896), see DEATH LIST OF A DAY; Stephen Pell in NYT on November 29, 1896
  12. see HOW FREAR WAS ELECTED in NYT on February 29, 1872
  13. see ALBANY NEWS; Frederick Killian (sic) Accorded His Seat in the Assembly in NYT on March 2, 1872
  14. A number of voters from the 19th District petitioned the Assembly to vacate Fields's seat, and then call a special election to fill the vacancy, but no action was taken by the Assembly.
  15. see Journal of the Assembly, Vol. 2, pg. 1625

Sources

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