64th New York State Legislature

The 64th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to May 25, 1841, during the third year of William H. Seward's governorship, in Albany.

64th New York State Legislature
← 63rd 65th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1841
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Luther Bradish (W)
Party control	Whig (21-11)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Peter B. Porter, Jr. (W)
Party control	Whig (66-62)
Sessions
1st January 5 – May 26, 1841

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.

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

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.

Elections

The State election was held from November 2 to 4, 1840. Gov. William H. Seward and Lt. Gov. Luther Bradish were re-elected. Also, the Whig electoral ticket won, and New York's 42 electoral votes were cast for William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.

State Senator Samuel Works (8th D.) was re-elected.

1840 New York State Senate election result

District	Whig		Democrat
First	Samuel Stevens[1]	24,847	John B. Scott	26,246
Second	John T. Jansen	26,049	Robert Denniston	30,049
Third	Jonas C. Heartt	26,766	Henry W. Strong	28,334
Fourth	John W. Taylor	29,387	Gardner Stow	27,659
Fifth	Chester Buck	28,139	Henry A. Foster	29,196
Sixth	Nehemiah Platt	29,100	James Faulkner	27,971
Seventh	Elijah Rhoades	27,877	John Watson	26,068
Eighth	Samuel Works	31,430	John T. Hudson	20,381

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1841; and the Assembly adjourned on May 25, the Senate on May 26.

Peter B. Porter, Jr. (W) was elected Speaker with 65 votes against 60 for Levi S. Chatfield (D).

On January 27, the Legislature elected John A. Collier (W) to succeed Bates Cooke (W) as State Comptroller.

The Legislature re-elected State Treasurer Jacob Haight (W), and Surveyor General Orville L. Holley.

In February, the Governor and Senate removed Robert H. Morris from the office of Recorder of New York City. Three months later Morris was elected Mayor of New York City.

On May 19, Wyoming County was split from Genesee County, and was apportioned two seats in the Assembly. Genesee County remained with the other two seats.[2]

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. Robert Denniston changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	Gulian C. Verplanck*	1 year	Whig
	Gabriel Furman*	2 years	Whig
	Minthorne Tompkins*	3 years	Democrat	resigned on March 8, 1841
	John B. Scott	4 years	Democrat
Second	Henry A. Livingston*	1 year	Whig
	Daniel Johnson*	2 years	Democrat
	John Hunter*	3 years	Democrat
	Robert Denniston*	4 years	Democrat
Third	Friend Humphrey*	1 year	Whig
	Alonzo C. Paige*	2 years	Democrat
	Erastus Root*	3 years	Whig
	Henry W. Strong	4 years	Democrat	also Recorder of Troy
Fourth	Martin Lee*	1 year	Whig
	Bethuel Peck*	2 years	Whig
	James G. Hopkins*	3 years	Whig
	John W. Taylor	4 years	Whig
Fifth	Avery Skinner*	1 year	Democrat	also Postmaster of Union Square
	Joseph Clark*	2 years	Democrat
	Sumner Ely*	3 years	Democrat
	Henry A. Foster	4 years	Democrat
Sixth	Laurens Hull*	1 year	Whig
	Alvah Hunt*	2 years	Whig
	Andrew B. Dickinson*	3 years	Whig
	Nehemiah Platt	4 years	Whig
Seventh	John Maynard*	1 year	Whig	in November 1840 elected to the 27th U.S. Congress; resigned on March 4, 1841
	Robert C. Nicholas*	2 years	Whig
	Mark H. Sibley*	3 years	Whig	resigned on May 28, 1841
	Elijah Rhoades	4 years	Whig
Eighth	William A. Moseley*	1 year	Whig
	Henry Hawkins*	2 years	Whig
	Abram Dixon*	3 years	Whig
	Samuel Works*	4 years	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Samuel G. Andrews
• Deputy Clerks: Friend W. Humphrey, William H. Rice
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard M. Meigs
• Doorkeeper: Philip M. De Zeng
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Chauncey Dexter

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.[3]

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Aaron Houghtailing	Whig
	Francis Lansing	Democrat
	Henry G. Wheaton*	Whig
Allegany	Lorenzo Dana*	Whig
	Horace Hunt	Whig
Broome	Gideon M. Hotchkiss	Whig
Cattaraugus	Alonzo Hawley	Whig
	Chester Howe	Whig
Cayuga	Darius Adams	Whig
	John W. McFadden*	Whig
	Osman Rhoades	Whig
Chautauqua	Benjamin Douglass	Whig
	George A. French*	Whig
	Robertson Whiteside	Whig
Chemung	Jefferson B. Clark	Whig
Chenango	Calvin Cole	Whig
	Eber Dimmick	Whig
	Benson H. Wheeler	Whig
Clinton	George M. Beckwith	Whig
Columbia	Waterman Lippitt	Democrat
	William G. Mandeville	Democrat
	John Milham	Democrat
Cortland	Nathan Heaton	Whig
	Lovel G. Mickels	Whig
Delaware	Stephen H. Keeler	Democrat
	Charles Knapp	Democrat
Dutchess	Jonathan Akin	Democrat
	Edmund Elmendorf	Democrat
	John Thompson	Democrat
Erie	Carlos Emmons	Whig
	Seth C. Hawley*	Whig
	Stephen Osborn*	Whig
Essex	George A. Simmons*	Whig
Franklin	John S. Eldridge*	Whig
Fulton and Hamilton	Jenison G. Ward	Whig
Genesee	John W. Brownson*	Whig
	Samuel Richmond	Whig
	David Scott	Whig
	Isaac N. Stoddard	Whig
Greene	Turhand K. Cooke	Democrat
	Daniel G. Quackenboss	Democrat
Herkimer	Michael Hoffman	Democrat
	Arphaxed Loomis	Democrat
Jefferson	William McAllister	Whig
	William C. Pierrepoint	Whig
	Joseph Webb	Whig
Kings	William Conselyea	Whig
	Jeremiah Johnson*	Whig
Lewis	Eliphalet Sears	Democrat
Livingston	Augustus Gibbs	Whig
	Reuben P. Wisner	Whig
Madison	Seneca B. Burchard	Whig
	Oliver Pool	Whig
	Daniel Van Vleck	Whig
Monroe	Alexander Kelsey	Whig
	Lucius Lilley	Whig
	Enoch Strong*	Whig
Montgomery	Reuben Howe	Democrat
	Daniel F. Nellis	Democrat
New York	Cornelius H. Bryson*	Democrat
	Abraham B. Davis	Democrat
	David R. Floyd-Jones	Democrat
	Paul Grout*	Democrat
	Norman Hickok*	Democrat
	William B. Maclay*	Democrat
	William McMurray	Democrat
	Absalom E. Miller[4]	Democrat
	John L. O'Sullivan	Democrat
	Edmund J. Porter*	Democrat
	Conrad Swackhamer	Democrat
	Solomon Townsend*	Democrat
	George Weir*	Democrat
Niagara	Peter B. Porter, Jr.*	Whig	elected Speaker
	Francis O. Pratt*	Whig
Oneida	Calvin Dawley	Democrat
	Joseph Halleck	Democrat
	Luke Hitchcock	Democrat
	Nathaniel Odell	Democrat
Onondaga	Moses D. Burnet	Democrat
	William Fuller	Democrat
	David Munro	Democrat
	William Taylor	Democrat
Ontario	Isaac Mills	Whig
	Daniel A. Robinson	Whig
	Alvah Worden	Whig
Orange	Gideon W. Cock	Democrat
	Lewis Cuddeback	Democrat
	Robert Sly	Democrat
Orleans	Richard W. Gates	Whig
Oswego	William Duer*	Whig
	Edward B. Judson	Whig
Otsego	Olcott C. Chamberlin	Democrat
	Levi S. Chatfield*	Democrat
	Joel Gillett	Democrat	also Postmaster of Westville
Putnam	James H. Cornwall	Democrat
Queens	John W. Lawrence	Democrat
Rensselaer	Claudius Moffit	Whig	also Postmaster of South Stephentown
	John Tilley	Whig
	William H. Van Schoonhoven*	Whig
Richmond	Israel Oakley	Whig
Rockland	Edward De Noyelles	Democrat
St. Lawrence	Zenas Clark*	Democrat
	Solomon Pratt	Democrat
Saratoga	Jesse H. Mead	Whig
	Abijah Peck Jr.	Whig
Schenectady	Abraham Pearse	Whig
Schoharie	Nicholas Beekman	Democrat
	Jacob C. Skillman	Democrat
Seneca	Daniel Holman	Democrat
Steuben	Andrew G. Chatfield*	Democrat
	William S. Hubbell	Democrat
	Samuel A. Johnson	Democrat
Suffolk	Josiah C. Dayton	Democrat
	Alanson Seaman	Democrat
Sullivan	William F. Brodhead	Democrat
Tioga	Washington Smith	Democrat
Tompkins	Levi Hubbell	Whig
	Alpha H. Shaw	Whig
Ulster	Conrad Brodhead	Whig
	George G. Graham	Whig
Warren	George Sanford	Democrat
Washington	Erastus D. Culver	Whig
	Reuben Skinner	Whig
Wayne	Esbon Blackmar	Whig
	John M. Holley	Whig
Westchester	Joseph T. Carpenter	Democrat
	Horatio Lockwood	Democrat
Yates	Heman Chapman	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: Philander B. Prindle
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel H. Bromley
• Doorkeeper: Joseph S. Lockwood
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Abiel W. Howard

Notes

1. Samuel Stevens, of New york City, Anti-Masonic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1830 and 1832
2. see Laws of the State of New York (1841; pg. 169ff)
3. see The New Yorker (issue of November 14, 1840; pg. 139)
4. Due to misprinted ballots, the election inspectors certified Absalom "A." Miller as elected, but the Assembly admitted Absalom "E." Miller to the seat; see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 143–146)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 133 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 224f for assemblymen]
• 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. 182 to 247)
• The Politician's Register published by Horace Greeley (1841; pg. 11f)