63rd New York State Legislature

The 63rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 14, 1840, during the second year of William H. Seward's governorship, in Albany.

63rd New York State Legislature
← 62nd 64th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1840
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Luther Bradish (W)
Party control	Whig (20-12)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	George W. Patterson (W)
Party control	Whig (70-58)
Sessions
1st January 7 – May 14, 1840

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.

State Senator Noadiah Johnson died on April 4, 1839; and State Senator Edward P. Livingston resigned on October 9, 1839; leaving two vacancies in the Third District.

At this time there were two political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.

Elections

The State election was held from November 4 to 6, 1839.

State Senator John Hunter (2nd D.) was re-elected.

1839 New York State Senate election result

District	Whig		Democrat
First	Philip Hone	21,396	Minthorne Tompkins	23,385
Second	Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.	22,152	John Hunter	23,669
Third	Friend Humphrey	24,716	William K. Wilson	24,549
	Mitchell Sanford	24,675	Henry W. Strong	24,533
	Erastus Root	24,551	Amasa J. Parker	24,517
Fourth	James G. Hopkins	24,312	Sidney Lawrence	22,933
Fifth	James Brackett	21,150	Sumner Ely	22,792
Sixth	Andrew B. Dickinson	23,893	William Maxwell	23,517
Seventh	Mark H. Sibley	24,049	Joshua Lee	22,831
Eighth	Abram Dixon	21,927	Isaac R. Elwood	15,603

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1840; and adjourned on May 14.

George W. Patterson (W) was re-elected Speaker with 68 votes against 56 for Levi S. Chatfield (D).

Upon taking their seats in the Senate, Humphrey, Sanford and Root drew lots to decide which one of the three senators elected in the Third District would serve which term. Sanford drew the one-year term, Humphrey the two-year term, and Root the full term.[1]

On January 14, the Legislature elected Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (W) to the seat in the U.S. Senate which he had vacated on March 4, 1839.

On January 20, Mayor of Rochester Samuel G. Andrews was elected Clerk of the Senate, to succeed John F. Bacon who had been Clerk since 1814.[2]

The Legislature appointed Thurlow Weed to succeed Edwin Croswell as State Printer.

On February 3, Lt. Gov. Bradish did not attend the session, and Frederick A. Tallmadge was elected President pro tempore of the Senate. On the same day, Jacob Haight (W) was re-elected State Treasurer.

On February 22, the Legislature elected George H. Boughton, Simon Newton Dexter, Henry Hamilton, David Hudson and Asa Whitney to succeed William Baker, William C. Bouck, John Bowman, Jonas Earll, Jr. and State Senator Samuel Young as Canal Commissioners.

On September 2, the Democratic state convention met at Syracuse, and nominated William C. Bouck for Governor, and State Senator Daniel S. Dickinson for Lieutenant Governor.

The Whig state convention nominated Gov. Seward and Lt. Gov. Bradish for re-election.

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 and Orleans 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	Frederick A. Tallmadge*	1 year	Whig	on February 3, 1840, elected President pro tempore
	Gulian C. Verplanck*	2 years	Whig
	Gabriel Furman*	3 years	Whig
	Minthorne Tompkins	4 years	Democrat
Second	Henry H. Van Dyck*	1 year	Democrat
	Henry A. Livingston*	2 years	Whig
	Daniel Johnson*	3 years	Democrat
	John Hunter*	4 years	Democrat
Third	Mitchell Sanford	1 year	Whig	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Noadiah Johnson
	Friend Humphrey	2 years	Whig	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Edward P. Livingston
	Alonzo C. Paige*	3 years	Democrat
	Erastus Root	4 years	Whig
Fourth	Samuel Young*	1 year	Democrat	until February 13, 1840, also a Canal Commissioner
	Martin Lee*	2 years	Whig
	Bethuel Peck*	3 years	Whig
	James G. Hopkins	4 years	Whig
Fifth	David Wager*	1 year	Democrat
	Avery Skinner*	2 years	Democrat	also Postmaster of Union Square
	Joseph Clark*	3 years	Democrat
	Sumner Ely	4 years	Democrat
Sixth	Daniel S. Dickinson*	1 year	Democrat
	Laurens Hull*	2 years	Whig
	Alvah Hunt*	3 years	Whig
	Andrew B. Dickinson	4 years	Whig
Seventh	Samuel L. Edwards*	1 year	Democrat
	John Maynard*	2 years	Whig	in November 1840 elected to the 27th U.S. Congress
	Robert C. Nicholas*	3 years	Whig
	Mark H. Sibley	4 years	Whig
Eighth	Samuel Works*	1 year	Whig
	William A. Moseley*	2 years	Whig
	Henry Hawkins*	3 years	Whig
	Abram Dixon	4 years	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: John F. Bacon, until January 20, 1840
  • Samuel G. Andrews, from January 20, 1840
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard M. Meigs
• Doorkeeper: Philip M. De Zeng
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Chauncey Dexter, from January 25, 1840

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 (4 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)
• 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 result given in The New Yorker.

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Frederick Bassler Jr.	Whig
	Peter Flagler	Whig
	Henry G. Wheaton	Whig
Allegany	Lorenzo Dana	Whig
	William Welch*	Whig
Broome	Cornelius Mersereau	Whig
Cattaraugus	George A. S. Crooker*	Whig
	Timothy H. Porter	Whig
Cayuga	Artemas Cady	Democrat
	John W. McFadden	Whig
	Andrews Preston	Democrat
Chautauqua	Odin Benedict	Whig
	George A. French	Whig
	William Rice	Whig
Chemung	Guy Hulett	Democrat
Chenango	William Church	Whig
	Demas Hubbard, Jr.*	Whig
	Samuel Plumb	Whig
Clinton	Abijah North*	Democrat
Columbia	Robert McKinstry	Whig
	Jonas H. Miller	Whig
	Justin Niles	Whig
Cortland	William Barnes	Whig
	Jabez B. Phelps	Whig
Delaware	Orson M. Allaben	Democrat
	Nathan Bristol	Democrat
Dutchess	Amos Bryan	Whig
	Henry Conklin*	Whig
	Daniel Toffey*	Whig
Erie	Seth C. Hawley	Whig
	Stephen Osborn	Whig
	Aaron Salisbury	Whig
Essex	George A. Simmons	Whig
Franklin	John S. Eldridge	Whig
Fulton and Hamilton	Langdon I. Marvin	Whig
Genesee	John W. Brownson	Whig
	Horace Healy*	Whig
	Alva Jefferson*	Whig
	George W. Lay	Whig
Greene	Gilbert Bedell	Democrat
	Sylvester Nichols	Democrat
Herkimer	Daniel Bellinger	Democrat
	George Burch	Democrat
Jefferson	Calvin Clark*	Whig
	Charles E. Clarke*	Whig
	Stephen Johnson	Whig
Kings	Jeremiah Johnson	Whig
	Adrian Hegeman	Democrat
Lewis	Chester Buck	Whig
Livingston	Elias Clark*	Whig
	George W. Patterson*	Whig	re-elected Speaker
Madison	Daniel Barker	Democrat
	Daniel Dickey	Democrat
	Benjamin Enos*	Democrat
Monroe	George Brown	Whig
	Derick Sibley	Whig
	Enoch Strong	Whig
Montgomery	John S. Veeder	Democrat
	Peter Wood	Democrat
New York	Cornelius H. Bryson	Democrat
	Ulysses D. French	Democrat
	Paul Grout	Democrat
	Thomas Herttell	Democrat
	Norman Hickok	Democrat
	Francis W. Lasak	Democrat
	William B. Maclay	Democrat
	John J. Morgan	Democrat
	Edmund J. Porter	Democrat
	James J. Roosevelt Jr.	Democrat	in November 1840 elected to the 27th U.S. Congress
	Thomas Spofford	Democrat
	Solomon Townsend	Democrat
	George Weir	Democrat
Niagara	Peter B. Porter, Jr.*	Whig
	Francis O. Pratt	Whig
Oneida	Nelson Dawley	Democrat
	Anson Knibloe	Democrat
	Charles A. Mann	Democrat
	John F. Trowbridge	Democrat
Onondaga	Victory Birdseye	Whig	in November 1840 elected to the 27th U.S. Congress
	Phares Gould*	Whig
	James R. Lawrence*	Whig
	Azariah Smith*	Whig
Ontario	Reynold Peck	Whig
	Abraham A. Post	Whig
	Henry W. Taylor*	Whig
Orange	Benjamin Brown	Democrat
	Robert Denniston*	Democrat
	William S. Little	Democrat
Orleans	John J. Walbridge	Whig
Oswego	Peter Devendorf	Democrat
	William Duer	Whig
Otsego	Levi S. Chatfield*	Democrat
	Charles Walker	Democrat
	Arnold B. Watson	Democrat
Putnam	Saxton Smith	Democrat
Queens	John A. King	Whig
Rensselaer	Garrardus Deyoe	Whig
	Samuel W. Hoag	Whig
	William H. Van Schoonhoven	Whig
Richmond	Bornt P. Winant	Democrat
Rockland	William F. Fraser	Democrat
St. Lawrence	Zenas Clark	Democrat
	Asa Sprague*	Democrat
Saratoga	Daniel Stewart	Whig
	John Stewart*	Whig
Schenectady	Theodore W. Sanders	Whig	unsuccessfully contested by John I. De Graff (D)[3]
Schoharie	Seymour Boughton	Democrat
	Charles Goodyear	Democrat
Seneca	Orange W. Wilkinson	Democrat
Steuben	Richard Brower	Democrat
	Andrew G. Chatfield*	Democrat
	Abram M. Lybolt*	Democrat
Suffolk	David Halsey	Democrat
	John M. Williamson	Democrat
Sullivan	Daniel B. St. John	Whig
Tioga	Thomas Farrington	Democrat	until January 20, 1840, also Surrogate of Tioga Co.
Tompkins	William H. L. Bogart	Whig
	Robert Swartwout	Whig
Ulster	David L. Bernard	Whig
	John V. L. Overbagh	Whig
Warren	Joseph Russell	Democrat
Washington	John H. Boyd	Whig
	Anderson Simpson	Whig
Wayne	Horace Morley	Whig
	Durfee Osband	Whig
Westchester	Samuel B. Ferris*	Democrat
	Joseph Strang*	Democrat
Yates	Samuel S. Ellsworth	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: Philander B. Prindle
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Minos McGowen
• Doorkeeper: Samuel Francis Jr.
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Abraham H. Grovesteen

Notes

1. see Journal of the Senate (63rd Session) (1840; pg. 4)
2. see Senate Journal, pg. 100ff
3. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 119–141)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 132 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 223f for assemblymen]
• The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York, from the Ratification of the Federal Constitution to 1840 by Jabez D. Hammond (4th ed., Vol. 2, Phinney & Co., Buffalo, 1850; pg. 517 to 528)
• The Politician's Register published by Horace Greeley (1840; pg. 55f)
• A Political Register for 1840 published by E. C. Markley (Philadelphia, 1840; pg. 17f)
• The New Yorker (issue of November 16, 1839)