90th New York State Legislature

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 (four districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

On April 16, 1866, the Legislature re-apportioned the Assembly seats per county. Allegany, Chenango, Herkimer, Jefferson, Livingston, Steuben and Suffolk counties lost one seat each; Erie County gained one seat, Kings County gained two seats; and New York County gained four seats.

On April 25, 1866, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. During the American Civil War many War Democrats had joined the Republicans, and after the end of the war the parties re-aligned, leaving the Democrats in a minority. To increase their ranks, the Democrats now proposed to form a "Conservative Union" of Democrats and Conservative Republicans, and nominated a state ticket with Democrat John T. Hoffman for Governor, and Republican Robert H. Pruyn for Lieutenant Governor.

Elections

The 1866 New York state election was held on November 6. Gov. Reuben E. Fenton was re-elected. Stewart L. Woodford (R) was elected Lieutenant Governor, and the other two statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Republicans too. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republicans 366,000 and Conservative Union 352,000. According to the Constitution of 1846, twenty years after its elaboration the electorate was asked if they wanted a Constitutional Convention to be held, which was answered in the affirmative.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 1, 1867; and adjourned on April 20.

Edmund L. Pitts (R) was elected Speaker with 80 votes against 43 for Jarvis Lord (D).

On January 15, the Legislature elected Roscoe Conkling (R) to succeed Ira Harris as U.S. Senator from New York for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1867.

On January 25, the State Senate concluded the trial of George W. Smith, Judge of the Oneida County Court, and removed Smith from office.

On January 31, Charles J. Folger was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On April 1, John O'Donnell (R) was elected president pro tempore "for the evening."

On April 10, Henry C. Murphy (D) was elected president pro tempore "for the day."

On April 23, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were elected, resulting in a Republican majority.

On June 4, the Constitutional Convention met at Albany. William A. Wheeler was chosen President, and Luther Caldwell Secretary. On the opening day, one of the delegates, Assemblyman L. Harris Hiscock was murdered at Stanwix Hall (a hotel in Albany).

On September 23, the Constitutional Convention adjourned.

On November 5, the 1867 New York state election, was held. All eight statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Democrats, and a Democratic majority was elected to the Assembly.

On November 12, the Constitutional Convention met again, and adjourned sine die on February 28, 1868. How to put the proposed amendments before the electorate was then debated throughout the 91st and the 92nd Legislatures, and all amendments, except the re-organization of the judicial system, were eventually rejected by the voters at the 1869 New York state election.

State Senate

Districts

Note: The Senators in the 90th Legislature had been elected in November 1865 for a two-year term under the apportionment of 1857, as listed below. Although the 89th Legislature (1866) had re-apportioned the Senate districts, the first election under the new apportionment was held in November 1867, to elect the senators who sat in the 91st Legislature.

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th wards of the City of Brooklyn
• 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th wards of the City of Brooklyn; and all towns in Kings County
• 4th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 14th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New York City
• 7th District: 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
• 8th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
• 13th District: Albany County
• 14th District: Delaware, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
• 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties
• 16th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 17th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 18th District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Herkimer and Otsego counties
• 21st District: Oswego County
• 22nd District: Onondaga County
• 23rd District: Chenango, Cortland and Madison counties
• 24th District: Broome, Tompkins and Tioga counties
• 25th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 26th District: Ontario, Seneca and Yates counties
• 27th District: Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties
• 28th District: Monroe County
• 29th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 30th District: Allegany, Livingston and Wyoming counties
• 31st District: Erie County
• 32nd District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua 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.

Employees

• Clerk: James Terwilliger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Arthur Hotchkiss
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Sanders Wilson
• Doorkeeper: Herman B. Young
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Frank M. Jones
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Nathaniel Saxton
• Third Assistant Doorkeeper: August Wagner

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.

Employees

• Clerk: Luther Caldwell
• Sergeant-at-Arms: John H. Kemper
• Doorkeeper: J. B. Davis
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles G. Gardiner
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: James Tanner

Notes

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 444 for senators; pg. 450–463 for Assembly districts; pg. 506f for assemblymen; and pg. 593ff for the Constitutional Convention)
• Journal of the Senate (90th Session) (1867)
• Journal of the Assembly (90th Session) (1867; Vol. I)
• Life Sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York in 1867 by S. R. Harlow & H. H. Boone
• Journal of Proceedings of the Senate in the Matter of George W. Smith, Judge of Oneida County, in Relation to Charges Submitted to the Senate by the Governor (1867)

References

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://books.google.com/books?id=UHZZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1301 ''Laws of the State of New York'' (89th session)] (1866; pg. 1301f, Chap. 607 "AN ACT for the apportionment of the Members of Assembly of this State")
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UHZZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1762 ''Laws of the State of New York'' (89th session)] (1866; pg. 1762ff, Chap. 805 "AN ACT to organize the Senate Districts of the State")
4. Buckman had been defeated for re-election, and claimed that Dixon was not a United States citizen. Dixon showed his certificate of naturalization to the Committee on Elections, and retained his seat; see [https://books.google.com/books?id=6yMUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA397 ''A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York''] (1871; pg. 397f)
5. see [https://books.google.com/books?id=6yMUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA399 ''A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York''] (1871; pg. 399ff)
6. see [https://books.google.com/books?id=6yMUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA401 ''A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York''] (1871; pg. 401–407)