1816 United States House of Representatives elections in New York explained

Election Name:United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 1816
Country:New York
Type:legislative
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 1814
Previous Year:1814
Next Election:United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 1818
Next Year:1818
Seats For Election:All 27 New York seats to the United States House of Representatives
Election Date:April 23–25, 1816
Party1:Democratic-Republican Party
Last Election1:21
Seats1:22
Seat Change1: 1
Party2:Federalist Party (United States)
Last Election2:6
Seats2:5
Seat Change2: 1

The 1816 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held from April 23 to 25, 1816, to elect 27 U.S. Representatives to represent the State of New York in the United States House of Representatives of the 15th United States Congress. At the same time, a vacancy was filled in the 14th United States Congress.

Background

27 U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1814 to a term in the 14th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1815. Representative-elect Benjamin Pond died on October 6, 1814, and Asa Adgate was elected in April 1815 to fill the vacancy. Jonathan Fisk resigned his seat in March 1815, and James W. Wilkin was elected in April 1815 to fill the vacancy. John Adams and William S. Smith had been declared elected, and credentials issued by the Secretary of State of New York, but did not take or claim their seats. In December 1815, Erastus Root and Westel Willoughby, Jr. contested the former's elections, and were seated. Peter B. Porter resigned his seat on January 23, 1816, leaving a vacancy in the 21st District. The other 26 representatives' term would end on March 3, 1817. The congressional elections were held together with the State elections in late April 1816, about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1817, and about a year and a half before Congress actually met on December 1, 1817.

Congressional districts

The districts remained the same as at the previous elections in 1814.

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.

Result

22 Democratic-Republicans and 5 Federalists were elected to the 15th Congress; and one Democratic-Republican to fill the vacancy in the 14th Congress. The incumbents Townsend, Irving, Wendover, Wilkin, Taylor, Savage and Comstock were re-elected; the incumbents Lovett, Throop and Brooks were defeated.

1816 United States House election result
District colspan="2" Democratic-Republican colspan="2" Federalist colspan="2" Democratic-Republican colspan="2" Federalist
1stGeorge Townsend3,798Nathaniel Smith3,268
Tredwell Scudder3,781Samuel Jones3,267
2ndWilliam Irving5,225Josiah Ogden Hoffman3,792
Peter H. Wendover5,199Isaac Ely3,771
3rdCaleb Tompkins1,787Abraham Odell1,347
4thHenry B. Lee[1] 2,530Henry A. Livingston2,271
5thJames I. Van Alen2,208Philip J. Schuyler3,157
6thJames W. Wilkin1,613James Burt[2] 1,298
7thJosiah Hasbrouck1,826John Sudam[3] 1,703
8thDorrance Kirtland2,252Samuel Sherwood1,752
9thElisha Jenkins1,418Rensselaer Westerlo2,180John Lovett277
10thThomas Turner[4] 2,107John P. Cushman2,573
11thJohn W. Taylor1,804Elisha Powell[5] 1,574
12thJohn Savage4,597Henry H. Ross4,106
John Palmer4,137Zebulon R. Shipherd4,071
13thThomas Lawyer2,145William Beekman[6] 1,760
14thJohn Herkimer2,579Richard Van Horne[7] 2,495
15thIsaac Williams, Jr.5,027James Clapp[8] 4,417
John R. Drake5,019James Hyde[9] 4,416
16thNathan Williams2,540Henry R. Storrs2,818
17thThomas H. Hubbard3,128Simeon Ford[10] 2,939
18thEla Collins2,349David A. Ogden2,391
19thJames Porter2,789James Geddes2,244
20thDaniel Cruger6,361Elijah Miller2,597Enos T. Throop1,271Eleazer Lindsley[11] 712
Oliver C. Comstock5,142Benjamin Johnson1,814
21stBenjamin Ellicott8,765Philip Church[12] 6,152Micah Brooks670Samuel Colt73
John C. Spencer8,053Graham Newell6,071Ebenezer F. Norton39
21st SpecialArchibald S. Clarke

Note: 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.

Aftermath and special elections

After being defeated for re-election, Enos T. Throop resigned his seat on June 4, 1816. A special election to fill the vacancy was held in September 1816, and was won by Daniel Avery, of the same party. Avery took his seat in the 14th United States Congress on December 3, 1816.

1816 United States House special election result
District colspan="2" Democratic-Republican colspan="2" Democratic-Republican
20thDaniel Avery1,915Charles Kellogg1,641

Archibald S. Clarke took his seat in the 14th Congress on December 2, 1816.

Henry B. Lee, elected in the 4th District, died on February 18, 1817, before his congressional term began. A special election to fill the vacancy was held at the time of the annual State election in April 1817, and was won by James Tallmadge, Jr., of the same party.

1817 United States House special election result
District colspan="2" Democratic-Republican colspan="2" colspan="2" Democratic-Republican
4thJames Tallmadge, Jr.1,457Lemuel Clift[13] 1,176Abraham Adriance[14] 421

The House of Representatives of the 15th United States Congress met for the first time at the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1817, and 26 representatives took their seats. Only David A. Ogden arrived later, and took his seat on January 8, 1818.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. Henry B. Lee (d. 1817), of Putnam Co., assemblyman 1816
  2. James Burt (b. 1760), of Warwick; assemblyman 1798, 1798–99, 1800, 1802, 1808, 1816, 1820–21, 1822; state senator 1823–26; presidential elector 1840
  3. John Sudam, of Kingston, state senator 1823–24 and 1833–35
  4. Thomas Turner, Sheriff of Rensselaer Co. 1806–07, 1808–10 and 1811–13; assemblyman 1818
  5. Elisha Powell, assemblyman 1818 and 1820
  6. William Beekman, of Sharon, state senator 1799–1802
  7. Richard Van Horne (b. ca. 1770, d. March 12, 1823 Danube), assemblyman 1808–09
  8. James Clapp, First Judge of Chenango Co. 1819
  9. James Hyde, of Otsego Co., assemblyman 1812–13 and 1814
  10. Simeon Ford, DA of Herkimer Co. 1818–23, assemblyman 1820–21 and 1822
  11. Eleazer Lindsley, assemblyman from Ontario Co. 1792
  12. Philip Church, First Judge of Allegany Co. 1807–1823
  13. Lemuel Clift, of Dutchess Co., assemblyman 1798, 1798–99, 1810 and 1811
  14. Abraham Adriance, of Poughkeepsie, assemblyman 1798–99, 1800, 1800–01 and 1802; state senator 1803–06
  15. https://books.google.com/books?id=YV0LAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA58 Abridgment of the Debates in Congress

Sources