68th New York State Legislature

68th New York State Legislature
	The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1845
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Addison Gardiner (D)
Party control	Democratic (27-4-1)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Horatio Seymour (D)
Party control	Democratic (67-45-16)
Sessions
1st	January 7 – May 14, 1845

The 68th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 14, 1845, during the first year of Silas Wright'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.

On May 6, 1844, the Legislature enacted to reduce the number of canal commissioners from 6 to 4, and that the canal commissioners be elected statewide by popular ballot.

U.S. Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (W) resigned his seat on June 17, 1844, to take office as Governor of the Wisconsin Territory. U.S. Senator Silas Wright (D) was elected Governor of New York, and resigned his seat on November 26, 1844. On November 30, Gov. William C. Bouck appointed Lt. Gov. Daniel S. Dickinson (D) and State Senator Henry A. Foster (D) to fill the two vacancies temporarily.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party. The Democratic Party was split into two factions: the "Barnburners" and the "Hunkers." The radical abolitionists appeared as the Liberty Party. In the First District, the American Republican Party nominated tickets for the Senate and Assembly. About this time the Anti-Rent War began, and the Anti-Renters cross-endorsed Whigs or Democrats, according to their opinion on the rent issue.

The Democratic state convention met on September 4 at Syracuse, and nominated U.S. Senator Silas Wright for governor, Addison Gardiner for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged to James K. Polk.

The Whig state convention met on September 11 at Syracuse, and nominated Millard Fillmore for governor, Samuel J. Wilkin for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged to Henry Clay.

Elections

The New York state election, 1844 was held on November 5. Silas Wright and Addison Gardiner were elected governor and lieutenant governor, and four Democrats were elected canal commissioners. Also the Democratic electoral ticket won, and New York's 36 votes were cast for James K. Polk and George M. Dallas.

State Senator Robert Denniston (2nd D.) was re-elected. George Folsom (1st D.), John P. Beekman (3rd D.), Augustus C. Hand (4th D.), Enoch B. Talcott (5th D.), George D. Beers (6th D.), Henry J. Sedgwick (7th D.) and Carlos Emmons (8th D.) were also elected to the Senate. Folsom was an American Republican, Emmons was a Whig, the other six were Democrats.

Sessions

On January 6, the Democratic assemblymen met in caucus and nominated Horatio Seymour (Hunker) for Speaker with 35 votes against 30 for William C. Crain (Barnburner).

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1845; and adjourned on May 14.

Horatio Seymour (D) was elected Speaker.

On January 18, the Legislature elected John A. Dix (Barnb.) to succeed Henry A. Foster (Hunk.) as U.S. Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Silas Wright; and Daniel S. Dickinson (Hunker) to succeed himself, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge.

On February 3, the Legislature re-elected State Comptroller Azariah C. Flagg (D); and elected Nathaniel S. Benton (Hunker) to succeed Samuel Young (Barnb.) as Secretary of State; Benjamin Enos (Hunker) to succeed Thomas Farrington (Barnb.) as State Treasurer; John Van Buren (Barnb.) to succeed George P. Barker (D) as Attorney General; and Hugh Halsey (Barnb.) to succeed Nathaniel Jones (D) as Surveyor General.

On February 4, the Legislature re-elected U.S. Senator Daniel S. Dickinson (Hunker) to a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1845.

On May 13, an "Act recommending a Convention of the people of this State" was passed, calling for a convention to amend the State Constitution. This bill had been debated throughout the whole session, and was finally approved by the votes of the Barnburners, Whigs and American Republicans, against fierce opposition of the Hunkers.

State Senate

Districts

The First District (4 seats) consisted of Kings, New York and Richmond counties.
The Second District (4 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
The Third District (4 seats) consisted of Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.
The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted of Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and Otsego counties.
The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Chenango, Livingston, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted of Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties.
The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted of Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming 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.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	Isaac L. Varian*	1 year	Democrat
	John A. Lott*	2 years	Democrat/Hunker
	David R. Floyd-Jones*	3 years	Democrat/Hunker
	George Folsom	4 years	American Republican
Second	Abraham Bockee*	1 year	Democrat[1]
	Abraham A. Deyo*	2 years	Democrat/Barnburner
	Joshua B. Smith*	3 years	Democrat
	Robert Denniston*	4 years	Democrat
Third	Erastus Corning*	1 year	Democrat/Hunker
	John C. Wright*	2 years	Democrat
	Stephen C. Johnson*	3 years	Democrat/Barnburner
	John P. Beekman	4 years	Democrat
Fourth	Edmund Varney*	1 year	Democrat/Barnburner
	Thomas B. Mitchell*	2 years	Democrat/Hunker
	Orville Clark*	3 years	Democrat/Hunker
	Augustus C. Hand	4 years	Democrat
Fifth	George C. Sherman*	1 year	Democrat/Barnburner
	Carlos P. Scovil*	2 years	Democrat
	Thomas Barlow*	3 years	Democrat/Barnburner	also First Judge of the Madison County Court
	Enoch B. Talcott	4 years	Democrat/Barnburner
Sixth	James Faulkner*	1 year	Democrat
	Calvin T. Chamberlain*	2 years	Democrat
	Clark Burnham*	3 years	Democrat
	George D. Beers	4 years	Democrat
Seventh	William Bartlit*	1 year	Democrat/Hunker
	John Porter*	2 years	Democrat
	Albert Lester*	3 years	Democrat
	Henry J. Sedgwick	4 years	Democrat/Barnburner
Eighth	Gideon Hard*	1 year	Whig
	Harvey Putnam*	2 years	Whig
	Frederick F. Backus*	3 years	Whig
	Carlos Emmons	4 years	Whig

Employees

Clerk: Isaac R. Elwood
Deputy Clerk: Hiram Leonard
Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles Niven, until February 1
- Charles Bryan, from February 1
Doorkeeper: Jared S. Halsey
Assistant Doorkeeper: Martin Miller
Janitor: Burgess Wands
Messengers: John H. Finigan, Joseph Courtney Jr.

State Assembly

Districts

Albany County (3 seats)
Allegany County (2 seats)
Broome County (1 seat)
Cattaraugus County (2 seats)
Cayuga County (3 seats)
Chautauqua County (3 seats)
Chemung County (1 seat)
Chenango County (3 seats)
Clinton County (1 seat)
Columbia County (3 seats)
Cortland County (2 seats)
Delaware County (2 seats)
Dutchess County (3 seats)
Erie County (3 seats)
Essex County (1 seat)
Franklin County (1 seat)
Fulton and Hamilton counties (1 seat)
Genesee County (2 seats)
Greene County (2 seats)
Herkimer County (2 seats)
Jefferson County (3 seats)
Kings County (2 seats)
Lewis County (1 seat)
Livingston County (2 seats)
Madison County (3 seats)
Monroe County (3 seats)
Montgomery County (2 seats)
The City and County of New York (13 seats)
Niagara County (2 seats)
Oneida County (4 seats)
Onondaga County (4 seats)
Ontario County (3 seats)
Orange County (3 seats)
Orleans County (1 seat)
Oswego County (2 seats)
Otsego County (3 seats)
Putnam County (1 seat)
Queens County (1 seat)
Rensselaer County (3 seats)
Richmond County (1 seat)
Rockland County (1 seat)
St. Lawrence County (2 seats)
Saratoga County (2 seats)
Schenectady County (1 seat)
Schoharie County (2 seats)
Seneca County (1 seat)
Steuben County (3 seats)
Suffolk County (2 seats)
Sullivan County (1 seat)
Tioga County (1 seat)
Tompkins County (2 seats)
Ulster County (2 seats)
Warren County (1 seat)
Washington (2 seats)
Wayne County (2 seats)
Westchester County (2 seats)
Wyoming County (2 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.

Party affiliations follow the statement given by the Schenectady Cabinet.

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Clarkson F. Crosby	Whig
	Ira Harris	Whig/Anti-Rent
	Leonard Litchfield	Whig
Allegany	Nathaniel Coe*	Whig
Allegany	John G. Collins	Whig
Broome	Cyrus Johnson	Whig
Cattaraugus	Seth Field	Whig
Cattaraugus	Roderick White	Whig
Cayuga	David Gould	Democrat
	Leonard Searing	Democrat
	William Titus	Democrat
Chautauqua	Samuel A. Brown	Whig
	Henry C. Frisbee	Whig
	Jeremiah Mann	Whig
Chemung	Patrick McKey	Democrat
Chenango	Joel Burdick	Democrat
	Solomon S. Hall	Democrat
	Charles B. Miller	Democrat
Clinton	Noyes P. Gregory	Democrat
Columbia	Peter I. Bachman	Democrat
	Elijah Bagg	Democrat
	William M. Bunker	Democrat
Cortland	George J. J. Barber	Whig	unsuccessfully contested by Abraham Acker (D)[2]
Cortland	John Pierce 2d	Democrat
Delaware	John McDonald	Democrat
Delaware	Linus Porter	Democrat
Dutchess	Epenetus Crosby	Whig
	Freeborn Garretson	Whig
	Walter Sherman	Whig
Erie	John T. Bush	Whig
	Truman Dewey	Whig
	Daniel Lee*	Whig
Essex	John T. Hammond	Whig
Franklin	Hiram Horton	Whig
Fulton and Hamilton	Garret A. Newkirk	Democrat
Genesee	Chester Hannum*	Whig
Genesee	Aaron Long	Whig
Greene	Deliverance B. Hervey	Democrat
Greene	Gerret W. Sager	Democrat
Herkimer	Alexander H. Buell	Democrat
Herkimer	William C. Crain	Democrat/Barnburner
Jefferson	Lysander H. Brown	Democrat
	Azel W. Danforth	Democrat
	Edward S. Salisbury	Democrat
Kings	Richard L. Wyckoff	American Republican
Kings	Daniel D. Wynant	American Republican
Lewis	Dean S. Howard	Democrat
Livingston	Harlow W. Wells	Whig
Livingston	John Young	Whig
Madison	Stephen G. Sears	Democrat
	William Smith	Democrat
	John I. Walrath	Democrat
Monroe	William C. Bloss	Whig
	John McVean	Whig
	Isaac T. Raymond	Whig
Montgomery	John L. Bevens	Democrat
Montgomery	Peter H. Fonda	Democrat
New York	Eli C. Blake	American Republican
	John Culver	American Republican
	John J. R. De Puy	American Republican
	Jacob L. Fenn	American Republican
	Harvey Hunt	American Republican
	James Jarvis	American Republican
	Frederick E. Mather	American Republican
	Roderick N. Morrison	American Republican
	Severn D. Moulton	American Republican
	Thomas H. Oakley	American Republican
	William S. Ross	American Republican
	Abraham G. Thompson Jr.	American Republican
	David E. Wheeler	American Republican
Niagara	Levi F. Bowne	Whig
Niagara	John Sweeney*	Whig
Oneida	Andrew Billings	Democrat
	Merit Brooks	Democrat
	Calvert Comstock	Democrat
	Horatio Seymour*	Democrat/Hunker	elected Speaker
Onondaga	Julius C. Kinne	Democrat
	Dennis McCarthy	Democrat
	David Preston	Democrat
	Lake I. Tefft	Democrat
Ontario	Timothy Buel Jr.	Whig
	Israel Huntington*	Whig
	Alvah Worden	Whig
Orange	John Brooks	Democrat
	Thornton M. Niven	Democrat
	Richard M. Tuthill Jr.	Democrat
Orleans	Gardner Goold	Whig
Oswego	Thomas Skelton	Democrat
Oswego	Luny Thayer	Democrat
Otsego	Franklin B. Carpenter	Democrat/Barnburner
	Christopher D. Fellows	Democrat
	Harry G. Harden	Democrat/Barnburner
Putnam	Benjamin Bailey	Democrat
Queens	Elbert Floyd-Jones	Democrat
Rensselaer	Harry Betts	Whig/Anti-Rent
	Ryer Heermance	Whig/Anti-Rent
	William H. Van Schoonhoven	Whig/Anti-Rent
Richmond	Peter Mersereau	American Republican
Rockland	Joseph P. Brower	Democrat
St. Lawrence	Asa L. Hazelton	Democrat
St. Lawrence	John L. Russell	Democrat
Saratoga	Edward Edwards	Whig
Saratoga	William Wilcox	Whig
Schenectady	William Gifford	Whig
Schoharie	Seymour Boughton	Democrat/Anti-Rent
Schoharie	Henry Tibbets	Whig/Anti-Rent
Seneca	Robert L. Stevenson	Democrat
Steuben	William C. Rogers	Democrat
	Ansel C. Smith	Democrat
	Jacob Van Valkenburgh	Democrat
Suffolk	John H. Dayton	Democrat	also Collector of Customs at Sag Harbor[3]
Suffolk	Darling B. Whitney	Democrat
Sullivan	Harvey R. Morris	Democrat
Tioga	Gideon O. Chase	Democrat
Tompkins	Sherman Miller	Democrat
Tompkins	Lyman Strobridge	Democrat
Ulster	Reuben H. Hine	Democrat
Ulster	Irwin Pardee	Democrat
Warren	James Cameron	Democrat
Washington	James Rice	Whig
Washington	John Stevenson	Whig
Wayne	John J. Dickson	Democrat
Wayne	Alanson M. Knapp	Democrat
Westchester	J. Anthony Constant	Democrat
Westchester	Thomas R. Lee	Democrat
Wyoming	Leverett Spring	Whig
Wyoming	Andrew W. Young	Whig
Yates	Ezekiel Casner	Whig

Employees

Clerk: James R. Rose
Sergeant-at-Arms: David B. Grout
Doorkeeper: Elbridge B. Fenn
Assistant Doorkeeper: Israel B. Neahr
Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Isaac C. Sheldon

Notes

Bockee was originally a Hunker, but changed sides when the Constitutional Convention bill was debated in the Senate, and remained thereafter a Barnburner.
see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 146–149)
Dayton was appointed Collector at Sag Harbor on November 27, 1845, after the election, but before his Assembly term began. The question arose, if the acceptance of this federal office vacted his Assembly seat, but was answered in the negative, and Dayton took his seat on January 24, 1846; see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 149–163)

Sources

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 134f for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 230f for assemblymen; pg. 322 and 330 for presidential election]
Political History of the State of New York from January 1, 1841, to January 1, 1847, Vol III, including the Life of Silas Wright (Hall & Dickson, Syracuse NY, 1848; pg. 503 to 570)
Journal of the Senate (68th Session) (1845)
The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics 1839 to 1865 by Charles W. McCurdy (The University of South Carolina Press, 2001; pg. 162 and 362)

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[1] Bockee was originally a Hunker, but changed sides when the Constitutional Convention bill was debated in the Senate, and remained thereafter a Barnburner.

[2] see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 146–149)

[3] Dayton was appointed Collector at Sag Harbor on November 27, 1845, after the election, but before his Assembly term began. The question arose, if the acceptance of this federal office vacted his Assembly seat, but was answered in the negative, and Dayton took his seat on January 24, 1846; see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 149–163)