72nd New York State Legislature

72nd 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, 1849
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. George W. Patterson (W)
Temporary President	Samuel J. Wilkin (W), from April 11
Party control	Whig (24-6-2)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Amos K. Hadley (W)
Party control	Whig (106-15-7)
Sessions
1st	January 2 – April 11, 1849

The 72nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 11, 1849, during the first year of Hamilton Fish's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators were elected in single-seat senatorial districts for a two-year term, the whole Senate being renewed biennially. The senatorial districts (except those in New York City) were made up of entire counties. 128 Assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually. The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all in the same county. The City and County of New York was divided into four senatorial districts, and 16 Assembly districts.

State Senator Allen Ayrault resigned on June 2, 1848, leaving a vacancy in the 29th District.

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 Barnburners walked out of the 1848 Democratic state convention and formed with a small faction of anti-slavery Whigs and a part of the Liberty Party the Free Soil Party. The uncompromising radical abolitionists ran their own tickets as the Liberty Party.

Elections

The New York state election, 1848 was held on November 7.

Whigs Hamilton Fish and George W. Patterson were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor; and the other two statewide elective offices were also carried by the Whigs.

State Comptroller Millard Fillmore was elected United States Vice President.

106 Whigs, 15 Free Soilers and 7 Hunkers were elected to the State Assembly. One Whig was elected to fill the vacancy in the State Senate.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1849; and adjourned on April 11.

Amos K. Hadley (W) was re-elected Speaker with 101 votes against 13 for Frederick P. Bellinger (Barnb.) and 6 for Charles C. Noble (Hunker).

On January 31, State Comptroller Millard Fillmore sent a letter to the Legislature, resigning the office, to take effect on February 20.

On February 6, the Legislature elected William H. Seward (W) to succeed John A. Dix (Barnb.) as U.S. Senator, for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1849.

On February 17, the Legislature elected Washington Hunt (W) to succeed Millard Fillmore as State Comptroller on February 20.

On April 11, Samuel J. Wilkin was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

State Senate

Districts

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

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	John G. Floyd*	Democrat/Barnburner
2nd	David A. Bokee*	Whig	on November 7, 1848, elected to the 31st U.S. Congress[1]
3rd	William Hall*	Whig
4th	John L. Lawrence*	Whig
5th	Samuel Frost*	Whig
6th	William Samuel Johnson*	Whig
7th	Saxton Smith*	Democrat/Barnburner
8th	Alexander J. Coffin*	Whig
9th	Samuel J. Wilkin*	Whig	on April 11, 1849, elected president pro tempore
10th	Platt Adams*	Democrat/Hunker
11th	Valentine Treadwell*	Whig
12th	Albert R. Fox*	Whig
13th	James M. Cook*	Whig
14th	James S. Whallon*	Democrat/Barnburner
15th	John Fine*	Democrat/Barnburner
16th	Thomas Burch*	Whig
17th	John M. Betts*	Democrat/Barnburner
18th	David H. Little*	Whig
19th	Thomas E. Clark*	Whig
20th	Thomas H. Bond*	Whig
21st	John W. Tamblin*	Democrat/Hunker
22nd	George Geddes*	Whig
23rd	Samuel H. P. Hall*	Whig
24th	William J. Cornwell*	Whig
25th	Timothy S. Williams*	Whig	died on March 11, 1849
26th	William M. Hawley*	Democrat/Barnburner
27th	Jerome Fuller*	Whig
28th	A. Hyde Cole*	Whig
29th	Charles Colt	Whig	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Allen Ayrault
30th	John W. Brownson*	Whig
31st	John T. Bush*	Whig
32nd	Frederick S. Martin*	Whig

Employees

Clerk: Andrew H. Calhoun

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote on Speaker, U.S. Senator and USNY Regent.[2]

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Hiram Barber[3]	Democrat/Hunker
	2nd	David Van Auken	Whig
	3rd	Robert H. Pruyn*	Whig
	4th	Joel A. Wing	Whig
Allegany	1st	Orville Boardman	Whig
Allegany	2nd	Erastus H. Willard	Whig
Broome		John O. Whittaker	Whig
Cattaraugus	1st	Seth R. Crittenden	Whig
Cattaraugus	2nd	Horace C. Young	Whig
Cayuga	1st	James D. Button	Free Soil
	2nd	John I. Brinckerhoff*	Whig
	3rd	Hector C. Tuthill*	Whig
Chautauqua	1st	Silas Terry	Whig
Chautauqua	2nd	Ezekiel B. Gurnsey	Whig
Chemung		Alvan Nash	Free Soil
Chenango	1st	James Clark	Whig
Chenango	2nd	Alonzo Johnson	Whig
Clinton		Albert G. Carver	Whig
Columbia	1st	James M. Strever	Whig
Columbia	2nd	Daniel S. Curtis	Whig
Cortland		Ira Skeel	Whig
Delaware	1st	James E. Thompson	Free Soil
Delaware	2nd	Luther Butts	Democrat/Hunker
Dutchess	1st	Edgar Vincent*	Whig
	2nd	Wesley Butts	Whig
	3rd	James Hammond*	Whig
Erie	1st	Benoni Thompson	Whig
	2nd	Augustus Raynor	Whig
	3rd	Marcus McNeal	Whig
	4th	Luther Buxton	Whig
Essex		George W. Goff	Whig
Franklin		George B. R. Gove	Whig
Fulton and Hamilton		John Culbert	Whig
Genesee	1st	Tracy Pardee*	Whig
Genesee	2nd	Martin C. Ward	Whig
Greene	1st	Alexander H. Bailey	Whig
Greene	2nd	Albert Tuttle	Whig
Herkimer	1st	Frederick P. Bellinger	Free Soil
Herkimer	2nd	Asa Wilcox	Free Soil
Jefferson	1st	George Gates	Whig
	2nd	John L. Marsh	Free Soil
	3rd	Bernard Bagley	Whig
Kings	1st	Joseph Boughton	Whig
	2nd	Edwards W. Fiske*	Whig
	3rd	John A. Cross*	Whig
Lewis		Diodate Pease	Whig
Livingston	1st	Archibald H. McLean	Whig
Livingston	2nd	Philip Woodruff	Whig
Madison	1st	David Maine	Whig
Madison	2nd	Robert G. Stewart	Whig
Monroe	1st	Levi Kelsey	Whig
	2nd	L. Ward Smith	Whig
	3rd	Elisha Harmon	Whig
Montgomery	1st	Frothingham Fish	Whig
Montgomery	2nd	Lewis Averill	Whig
New York	1st	Ephraim H. Hudson	Whig
	2nd	James Bowen*	Whig
	3rd	Henry J. Allen	Democrat/Hunker
	4th	George J. Cornell	Whig
	5th	Samuel T. McKinney	Whig
	6th	James W. Beekman	Whig
	7th	Abraham Van Orden	Whig
	8th	William Dodge	Whig
	9th	Charles Perley	Whig
	10th	Garret H. Striker	Whig
	11th	Robert B. Folger	Whig
	12th	Daniel B. Taylor	Democrat/Hunker
	13th	Joseph B. Varnum, Jr.	Whig
	14th	Robert G. Campbell*	Whig
	15th	Merwin R. Brewer*	Whig
	16th	Albert Gilbert	Whig
Niagara	1st	Hollis White	Whig
Niagara	2nd	Morgan Johnson*	Whig
Oneida	1st	Oliver Prescott	Whig
	2nd	Nehemiah N. Pierce	Whig
	3rd	James M. Elwood	Free Soil
	4th	Chauncey Stevens	Free Soil
Onondaga	1st	Joseph J. Glass	Whig
	2nd	Myron Wheaton	Free Soil
	3rd	Joseph Slocum	Whig
	4th	Samuel Hart	Whig
Ontario	1st	Dolphin Stephenson	Whig
Ontario	2nd	Josiah Porter	Whig
Orange	1st	David C. Bull	Whig
	2nd	David H. Moffatt Jr.	Whig
	3rd	Maurice Hoyt	Whig
Orleans		Reuben Roblee	Whig
Oswego	1st	Henry Fitzhugh	Whig
Oswego	2nd	Edward W. Fox	Free Soil
Otsego	1st	L. Mortimer Gilbert	Whig
	2nd	David B. St. John	Democrat/Hunker
	3rd	Charles C. Noble	Democrat/Hunker
Putnam		James J. Smalley	Democrat/Hunker
Queens		Wessell S. Smith*	Whig
Rensselaer	1st	Amos K. Hadley*	Whig	re-elected Speaker
	2nd	Benajah Allen	Whig
	3rd	William H. Budd	Whig
Richmond		Gabriel P. Disosway[4]	Whig
Rockland		Matthew D. Bogart	Free Soil
St. Lawrence	1st	Harlow Godard	Free Soil
	2nd	Justus B. Picket	Free Soil
	3rd	Noble S. Elderkin	Free Soil
Saratoga	1st	Roscius R. Kennedy	Whig
Saratoga	2nd	William W. Rockwell	Whig
Schenectady		Israel R. Green	Whig
Schoharie	1st	David B. Danforth	Whig
Schoharie	2nd	Austin Sexton	Whig
Seneca		Jacob G. Markell	Whig
Steuben	1st	Abraham J. Quackenboss	Free Soil
	2nd	John G. Mersereau*	Whig
	3rd	John K. Hale	Whig
Suffolk	1st	Edwin Rose*	Whig
Suffolk	2nd	Nathaniel Miller[5]	Whig
Sullivan		James F. Bush*	Whig
Tioga		Ezra S. Sweet	Whig
Tompkins	1st	Darius Hall	Whig
Tompkins	2nd	Charles J. Rounseville	Whig
Ulster	1st	Peter Crispell Jr.	Whig
Ulster	2nd	James G. Graham	Whig
Warren		Reuben Wells	Whig
Washington	1st	LeRoy Mowry	Whig
Washington	2nd	Alexander Robertson	Whig
Wayne	1st	Isaac Leavenworth	Whig
Wayne	2nd	Peter Boyce	Whig
Westchester	1st	William H. Robertson	Whig
Westchester	2nd	Harvey Kidd	Whig
Wyoming		Paul Richards*	Whig
Yates		John Wisewell	Whig

Employees

Clerk: Philander B. Prindle
Sergeant-at-Arms: Samuel S. Blanchard
Doorkeeper: Robert Grant
Assistant Doorkeeper: Thomas E. Osborn
Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Samuel Merclean

Notes

Bokee's term in Congress began on March 4, 1849, but he remained in his seat in the State Senate until the end of the session on April 11. The 31st Congress actually met only on December 3, and Bokee then took his seat in Congress, vacating his seat in the State Senate.
see Journal of the Assembly (72nd Session) (1849; pg. 6f and 355ff);
see also incomplete election result given in the Geneva Courier (issue of November 22, 1848
Hiram Barber (born 1820), of Westerlo, later moved to Richview, Illinois; see Hiram Barber at It's All Relative
Gabriel Poillon Disosway (1798-1868); see Find a Grave entry
Dr. Nathaniel Miller (1783–1863), physician, of Brookhaven

Sources

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 136 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 234ff for assemblymen]
Journal of the Senate (72nd Session) (1849)

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[1] Bokee's term in Congress began on March 4, 1849, but he remained in his seat in the State Senate until the end of the session on April 11. The 31st Congress actually met only on December 3, and Bokee then took his seat in Congress, vacating his seat in the State Senate.

[2] see Journal of the Assembly (72nd Session) (1849; pg. 6f and 355ff);
see also incomplete election result given in the Geneva Courier (issue of November 22, 1848

[3] Hiram Barber (born 1820), of Westerlo, later moved to Richview, Illinois; see Hiram Barber at It's All Relative

[4] Gabriel Poillon Disosway (1798-1868); see Find a Grave entry

[5] Dr. Nathaniel Miller (1783–1863), physician, of Brookhaven