140th New York State Legislature

The 140th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to October 2, 1917, during the third year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany.

140th New York State Legislature
←139th 141st→
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1 – December 31, 1917
Senate
Members51
PresidentEdward Schoeneck (R)
Temporary PresidentElon R. Brown (R)
Party controlRepublican (35-15)
Assembly
Members150
SpeakerThaddeus C. Sweet (R)
Party controlRepublican (99-49-2)
Sessions
1stJanuary 3 – May 10, 1917
2ndJuly 31 – October 2, 1917

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1906 and 1907, 51 Senators and 150 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 (twelve districts), Kings County (eight districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Socialist Party, the Prohibition Party, the Progressive Party, the Independence League, the Socialist Labor Party and the American Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1916, was held on November 7. Charles S. Whitman and Edward Schoeneck were re-elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor; both Republicans. The other eight statewide elective offices were also carried by Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republicans 836,000; Democrats 687,000; Socialists 63,000; Prohibition 22,000; Progressives 7,000; Independence League 5,000; Socialist Labor 4,000; and American 2,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1917; and adjourned on May 10.

Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) was re-elected Speaker.

Elon R. Brown (R) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

The Legislature redistricted the Senate seats,[1] and re-apportioned the number of assemblymen per county. Bronx County—which had been part of New York County at the time of the previous apportionment and occupied roughly the area of four Assembly districts—was properly separated, and was apportioned eight seats. New York County (without the Bronx) lost eight seats; and Erie, Jefferson and Ulster counties lost one seat each. Queens County gained two seats; and Broome, Nassau, Richmond, Schenectady and Westchester counties gained one seat each.[2]

The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on July 31, 1917. This session was called to enact food control legislation, which would regulate the seizure and shipping of food to the Allies in Europe, helping them with their war effort against Germany during World War I.[3]

On August 24, the Food Control Bill was passed by the Legislature. The bill established a three-member Food Control Commission. The Legislature took a recess until September 6.[4]

On September 7, the State Senate rejected the nomination of George Walbridge Perkins as Chairman of the Food Control Commission, and took a recess until September 25.[5]

On October 2, the State Senate rejected again the nomination of Perkins; and then confirmed the appointment of John Mitchell, Jacob Gould Schurman and Charles A. Wieting to the Food Control Commission. The Legislature then adjourned sine die.[6]

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Salvatore A. Cotillo, John Knight, Ross Graves and Leonard W. H. Gibbs changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District Senator Party Notes
1st George L. Thompson* Republican re-elected
2nd Peter M. Daly Democrat resigned on October 11[7]
3rd Thomas H. Cullen* Democrat re-elected
4th Charles C. Lockwood* Republican re-elected
5th William J. Heffernan* Democrat re-elected
6th Charles F. Murphy Republican
7th Daniel J. Carroll* Democrat re-elected
8th Alvah W. Burlingame, Jr.* Republican re-elected
9th Robert R. Lawson* Republican re-elected
10th Alfred J. Gilchrist* Republican re-elected
11th Bernard Downing Democrat
12th Jacob Koenig Democrat
13th Jimmy Walker* Democrat re-elected
14th James A. Foley* Democrat re-elected
15th John J. Boylan* Democrat re-elected
16th Robert F. Wagner* Democrat re-elected; Minority Leader
17th Ogden L. Mills* Republican re-elected; resigned on July 31, 1917[8]
Chairman of Affairs of the City of New York[9]
18th Albert Ottinger Republican
19th Edward J. Dowling Democrat
20th Salvatore A. Cotillo* Democrat
21st John J. Dunnigan* Democrat re-elected
22nd John V. Sheridan Democrat
23rd George Cromwell* Republican re-elected
24th George A. Slater* Republican re-elected
25th John D. Stivers* Republican re-elected
26th James E. Towner* Republican re-elected
27th Charles W. Walton* Republican re-elected
28th Henry M. Sage* Republican re-elected
29th George B. Wellington* Republican re-elected
30th George H. Whitney* Republican re-elected
31st James W. Yelverton Republican
32nd Theodore Douglas Robinson Republican
33rd James A. Emerson* Republican re-elected
34th N. Monroe Marshall* Republican re-elected
35th Elon R. Brown* Republican re-elected; re-elected Temporary President
36th Charles W. Wicks* Republican re-elected
37th Adon P. Brown Republican
38th J. Henry Walters* Republican re-elected
39th William H. Hill* Republican re-elected
40th Charles J. Hewitt* Republican re-elected
41st Morris S. Halliday* Republican re-elected
42nd William A. Carson Republican
43rd Charles D. Newton* Republican re-elected
44th John Knight* Republican
45th George F. Argetsinger* Republican re-elected
46th John B. Mullan* Republican re-elected
47th George F. Thompson* Republican re-elected
48th Ross Graves* Republican
49th Samuel J. Ramsperger* Democrat re-elected
50th Leonard W. H. Gibbs* Republican
51st (George E. Spring)* Republican re-elected; did not attend the session[10]
and died on January 25, 1917

Employees
  • Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
  • Stenographer:

State Assembly

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Assemblymen
District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany 1st Clarence F. Welsh* Republican
2nd John G. Malone* Republican
3rd William C. Baxter* Republican
Allegany William Duke, Jr.* Republican
Broome Edmund B. Jenks Republican
Cattaraugus DeHart H. Ames* Republican
Cayuga L. Ford Hager Republican
Chautauqua 1st Leon L. Fancher* Republican
2nd Joseph A. McGinnies* Republican
Chemung Robert P. Bush* Democrat
Chenango Bert Lord* Republican
Clinton Wallace E. Pierce Republican
Columbia William Wallace Chace* Republican
Cortland George H. Wiltsie* Republican
Delaware James S. Allen Republican
Dutchess 1st James C. Allen* Republican
2nd Frank L. Gardner* Republican
Erie 1st Alexander Taylor* Republican
2nd John W. Slacer Republican
3rd Nicholas J. Miller* Republican
4th James M. Mead* Democrat
5th John A. Lynch* Democrat
6th Alexander A. Patrzykowski Democrat
7th Earl G. Danser Republican
8th Herbert A. Zimmerman Republican
9th Nelson W. Cheney* Republican
Essex Raymond T. Kenyon* Republican
Franklin Warren T. Thayer* Republican
Fulton and Hamilton Burt Z. Kasson* Republican
Genesee Louis H. Wells* Republican
Greene Harding Showers Republican
Herkimer Edward O. Davies Republican
Jefferson 1st H. Edmund Machold* Republican Chairman of Ways and Means
2nd Willard S. Augsbury* Republican
Kings 1st George H. Ericson Republican
2nd Patrick H. Larney Democrat
3rd Frank J. Taylor* Democrat
4th Peter A. McArdle* Democrat
5th James H. Caulfield, Jr. Republican
6th Nathan D. Shapiro* Republican
7th Daniel F. Farrell* Democrat
8th John J. McKeon* Democrat
9th Frederick S. Burr* Democrat
10th Fred M. Ahern* Republican
11th George R. Brennan* Republican
12th William T. Simpson* Republican
13th Morgan T. Donnelly Democrat
14th John Peter La Frenz* Democrat
15th Jeremiah F. Twomey* Democrat
16th Samuel R. Green Republican
17th Frederick A. Wells* Republican
18th Wilfred E. Youker Republican
19th Benjamin C. Klingmann Democrat
20th August C. Flamman* Republican
21st Joseph A. Whitehorn Socialist unsuccessfully contested by Isaac Mendelsohn (D)[11]
22nd Charles H. Duff* Republican
23rd Abraham I. Shiplacoff* Socialist
Lewis Henry L. Grant* Republican
Livingston George F. Wheelock* Republican
Madison Morell E. Tallett* Republican
Monroe 1st James A. Harris* Republican
2nd Simon L. Adler* Republican Majority Leader
3rd Harry B. Crowley Republican
4th Frank Dobson* Republican
5th Franklin W. Judson* Republican
Montgomery Erastus Corning Davis* Republican
Nassau Thomas A. McWhinney* Republican
New York 1st John J. Ryan* Democrat
2nd Peter J. Hamill* Democrat
3rd Caesar B. F. Barra* Democrat
4th Henry S. Schimmel* Democrat
5th Maurice McDonald* Democrat
6th Nathan D. Perlman* Republican
7th Peter P. McElligott* Democrat
8th Abraham Goodman* Democrat
9th Charles D. Donohue* Democrat
10th Abner Greenberg Democrat contested by Max S. Seidler (R)
11th James F. Mahony* Democrat
12th Joseph D. Kelly* Democrat
13th Fredolin F. Straub Democrat
14th Robert Lee Tudor* Democrat
15th Abram Ellenbogen* Republican
16th Martin G. McCue* Democrat
17th Martin Bourke Republican
18th Mark Goldberg* Democrat
19th Perry M. Armstrong* Democrat
20th Frank Aranow* Democrat
21st Harold C. Mitchell Republican
22nd Maurice Bloch* Democrat
23rd Earl A. Smith Democrat
24th Owen M. Kiernan* Democrat
25th Robert McC. Marsh* Republican
26th Meyer Levy* Democrat
27th Schuyler M. Meyer Republican
28th Charles Novello Republican contested by James M. Vincent (D)
29th Alfred D. Bell* Republican
30th Timothy F. Gould* Democrat
31st Jacob Goldstein* Democrat
Bronx 32nd William S. Evans* Democrat
33rd Earl H. Miller* Democrat
34th M. Maldwin Fertig* Democrat
35th Joseph M. Callahan* Democrat Minority Leader; on November 6, 1917, elected Clerk of Bronx Co.
Niagara 1st William Bewley* Republican
2nd Alan V. Parker* Republican
Oneida 1st Albert H. Geiersbach Democrat
2nd Louis M. Martin* Republican
3rd George T. Davis* Republican
Onondaga 1st Manuel J. Soule Republican
2nd Harley J. Crane Republican
3rd George R. Fearon* Republican
Ontario Heber E. Wheeler* Republican
Orange 1st William F. Brush Republican
2nd Charles L. Mead* Republican
Orleans Frank H. Lattin Republican
Oswego Thaddeus C. Sweet* Republican re-elected Speaker
Otsego Allen J. Bloomfield* Republican
Putnam John P. Donohoe Republican
Queens 1st Peter A. Leininger Democrat
2nd Peter J. McGarry* Democrat
3rd William H. O'Hare* Democrat
4th Frank E. Hopkins Republican
Rensselaer 1st John F. Shannon* Democrat
2nd Arthur Cowee* Republican
Richmond Henry A. Seesselberg Democrat
Rockland William A. Serven* Republican
St. Lawrence 1st Frank L. Seaker* Republican
2nd Edward A. Everett* Republican
Saratoga Gilbert T. Seelye* Republican
Schenectady Walter S. McNab* Republican
Schoharie George A. Parsons Democrat
Schuyler Henry J. Mitchell* Republican
Seneca Lewis W. Johnson Republican
Steuben 1st Samuel E. Quackenbush Republican
2nd Richard M. Prangen* Republican
Suffolk 1st DeWitt C. Talmage* Republican
2nd Henry A. Murphy* Republican
Sullivan Seymour Merritt Democrat
Tioga Daniel P. Witter* Republican
Tompkins Casper Fenner* Republican
Ulster 1st Joel Brink Republican
2nd Abram P. Lefevre* Republican
Warren Henry E. H. Brereton* Republican
Washington Charles O. Pratt* Republican Chairman of Judiciary
Wayne Frank D. Gaylord Republican
Westchester 1st George Blakely* Republican
2nd William S. Coffey* Republican
3rd Walter W. Law, Jr.* Republican
4th Floy D. Hopkins* Republican
Wyoming Bert P. Gage Republican
Yates Howard S. Fullagar* Republican

Employees

Notes
  1. For the exact boundaries of the senate districts see Manual for the Use of the Legislature (1921; pg. 549–560)
  2. For the number of assemblymen per county, and the exact boundaries of the Assembly districts, see Manual for the Use of the Legislature (1921; pg. 596–633)
  3. LEGISLATURE MEETS TO PASS FOOD ACT in NYT on August 1, 1917
  4. FOOD BILL WINS IN LEGISLATURE in NYT on August 25, 1917
  5. REJECTS PERKINS FOR FOOD BOARD in NYT on September 8, 1917
  6. PERKINS REJECTED; MITCHELL CHOSEN in NYT on October 3, 1917
  7. Journal of the Senate (140th Session) (1918; pg. 3f)
  8. MILLS QUITS STATE SENATE in NYT on August 1, 1917
  9. COMMITTEE ON CITY NAMED in NYT on January 11, 1917
  10. State Senator Spring Is Dying in NYT on January 6, 1917
  11. Mendelsohn claimed that Whitehorn was ineligible because he was not a resident of the 21st District. Whitehorn admitted that he resided in the 6th District of Kings County, but the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary rejected Mendelsohn's claim, upholding previous decisions in similar cases: while the voters were legally required to reside within the district where they vote, the candidates were not; see Whitehorn Keeps His Place in NYT on April 6, 1917

Sources
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