93rd New York State Legislature

The 93rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 26, 1870, during the second year of John T. Hoffman's governorship, in Albany.

93rd New York State Legislature
← 92nd 94th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1870
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Allen C. Beach (D)
Temporary President	Henry C. Murphy (D), from January 17
Party control	Democratic (18-14)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	William Hitchman (D)
Party control	Democratic (73-55)
Sessions
1st January 4 – April 26, 1870

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators and 128 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 (five districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards,[1] forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

According to the Constitution of 1846, twenty years after its elaboration the electorate was asked if they wanted a Constitutional Convention to be held, which was answered at the New York state election, 1866, in the affirmative. On April 23, 1867, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were elected, resulting in a Republican majority. On June 4, the Constitutional Convention met at Albany; adjourned on September 23; and met again on November 12. On February 28, 1868, the Constitutional Convention adjourned sine die. How to put the proposed amendments before the electorate was then debated throughout the 91st and the 92nd Legislature.

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

Elections

The New York state election, 1869 was held on November 3. All nine statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Democrats. All amendments proposed by the Constitutional Convention, except the re-organization of the judicial system, were rejected by the voters. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Democrats 331,000 and Republicans 310,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1870; and adjourned on April 26.

William Hitchman (D) was again elected Speaker with 72 votes against 51 for James W. Husted (R).

On January 17, Henry C. Murphy (D) was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On February 10, the Legislature re-elected Joseph S. Bosworth (D) as a Metropolitan Police Commissioner, for a term of eight years beginning on March 1, 1870.

State Senate

Districts

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Senate Clerk and Police Commissioner.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Samuel H. Frost	Democrat
2nd	James F. Pierce*	Democrat	re-elected; took his seat on January 11
3rd	Henry C. Murphy*	Democrat	re-elected; on January 17, elected President pro tempore
4th	William M. Tweed*	Democrat	re-elected
5th	Michael Norton*	Democrat	re-elected; also an Alderman of New York City
6th	Thomas J. Creamer*	Democrat	re-elected
7th	John J. Bradley*	Democrat	re-elected
8th	Henry W. Genet*	Democrat	re-elected
9th	William Cauldwell*	Democrat	re-elected
10th	William M. Graham*	Democrat	re-elected
11th	George Morgan	Democrat	also Mayor of Poughkeepsie
12th	Francis S. Thayer*	Republican	re-elected
13th	A. Bleecker Banks*	Democrat	re-elected
14th	Jacob Hardenbergh	Democrat	took his seat on January 6
15th	Isaiah Blood	Democrat	died on November 29, 1870
16th	Christopher F. Norton	Democrat
17th	Abraham X. Parker*	Republican	re-elected
18th	Norris Winslow	Republican
19th	George H. Sanford	Democrat
20th	Augustus R. Elwood	Republican
21st	William H. Brand	Republican
22nd	George N. Kennedy*	Republican	re-elected
23rd	John F. Hubbard Jr.*	Democrat	re-elected
24th	Orlow W. Chapman*	Republican	re-elected
25th	William B. Woodin	Republican	also Surrogate of Cayuga County
26th	Abraham V. Harpending	Republican	took his seat on January 11[2]
27th	Theodore L. Minier	Republican
28th	Jarvis Lord	Democrat
29th	George Bowen	Republican
30th	James Wood	Republican
31st	Loran L. Lewis	Republican
32nd	Allen D. Scott	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Hiram Calkins
• Sergeant-at-Arms: George Graham
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Abraham J. Meyers
• Doorkeeper: Alexander H. Waterman
• Assistant Doorkeeper: W. W. McKinney
• Assistant Doorkeeper: John Drew
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Orson Root
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Cornelius V. Simpkins
• Stenographer: Andrew Devine, from February 10

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	William D. Murphy	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Stephen Springsted[3]
	2nd	Thomas J. Lanahan	Democrat
	3rd	Edward D. Ronan	Democrat
	4th	John Tighe*	Democrat
Allegany		Charles N. Flenagin	Republican
Broome		William M. Ely*	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	George N. West	Republican
	2nd	Stephen C. Green	Republican
Cayuga	1st	William H. Eaker	Republican
	2nd	Stephen S. Hewitt	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Matthew P. Bemus*	Republican
	2nd	Orange S. Winans	Republican
Chemung		Edward L. Patrick*	Democrat
Chenango		Samuel L. Brown	Democrat
Clinton		Daniel G. Dodge	Democrat
Columbia	1st	Edward Sturges*	Democrat
	2nd	Daniel D. Barnes	Democrat
Cortland		Charles Foster	Republican
Delaware	1st	Alpheus Bolt	Republican
	2nd	Orson M. Allaben	Democrat
Dutchess	1st	James A. Seward	Republican
	2nd	David H. Mulford	Republican
Erie	1st	George J. Bamler*	Democrat
	2nd	James Franklin	Republican
	3rd	Albert H. Blossom	Republican
	4th	Harry B. Ransom	Democrat
	5th	Lyman Oatman	Republican
Essex		Clayton H. DeLano	Republican
Franklin		James H. Pierce	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		John F. Empie	Democrat
Genesee		Edward C. Walker*	Republican
Greene		Hiram Van Steenburgh	Democrat
Herkimer		Daniel A. Northup	Republican
Jefferson	1st	Jay Dimick*	Republican
	2nd	William W. Butterfield*	Republican
Kings	1st	Hugh M. Clark*	Democrat
	2nd	Henry J. Cullen Jr.*	Democrat
	3rd	Dennis O'Keeffe*	Democrat
	4th	William W. Moseley*	Democrat
	5th	William C. Jones	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by William W. Goodrich (R)[4]
	6th	Bernard Haver	Democrat
	7th	Samuel T. Maddox	Republican
	8th	Joseph Droll	Democrat
	9th	John C. Jacobs*	Democrat
Lewis		Jay A. Pease	Democrat
Livingston		Richard Johnson	Republican
Madison	1st	Joseph W. Merchant	Republican
	2nd	Leonard C. Kilham*	Republican
Monroe	1st	Charles S. Wright*	Republican
	2nd	James S. Graham	Republican
	3rd	Volney P. Brown	Republican
Montgomery		James Shanahan	Democrat
New York	1st	Michael C. Murphy*	Democrat
	2nd	Dennis Burns*	Democrat
	3rd	Owen Cavanagh*	Democrat
	4th	John J. Blair	Democrat
	5th	Peter Mitchell*	Democrat
	6th	Timothy J. Campbell*	Democrat
	7th	John Carey	Democrat
	8th	Martin Nachtmann*	Democrat
	9th	William G. Bergen*	Democrat
	10th	Owen Murphy	Democrat
	11th	John H. White[5]	Republican
	12th	William W. Cook	Democrat
	13th	Richard Flanagan	Democrat
	14th	John R. Hennessey	Democrat
	15th	Alexander Frear*	Democrat
	16th	James Irving*	Democrat
	17th	George W. Plunkitt*	Democrat
	18th	Lawrence D. Kiernan*	Democrat
	19th	Thomas C. Fields	Democrat
	20th	John Brown[6]	Democrat
	21st	William Hitchman*	Democrat	elected Speaker
Niagara	1st	Lewis S. Payne	Democrat
	2nd	Lee R. Sanborn	Republican
Oneida	1st	Samuel S. Lowery	Republican
	2nd	David Morse Miner	Republican
	3rd	St. Pierre Jerred	Democrat
	4th	James Roberts	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Thomas G. Alvord	Republican
	2nd	Nathan R. Tefft	Republican
	3rd	Gustavus Sniper	Republican
Ontario	1st	Henry Ray*	Republican
	2nd	David E. Wilson	Republican
Orange	1st	Odell S. Hathaway	Democrat
	2nd	Thomas J. Lyon*	Democrat
Orleans		John Berry	Republican
Oswego	1st	DeWitt C. Littlejohn	Republican
	2nd	Abraham Howe	Democrat
	3rd	John Parker	Republican
Otsego	1st	James Young	Democrat
	2nd	William W. Snow	Democrat
Putnam		Morgan Horton*	Democrat
Queens	1st	James B. Pearsall*	Democrat
	2nd	Francis B. Baldwin	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	John L. Flagg*	Democrat
	2nd	Eugene Hyatt	Republican
	3rd	J. Thomas Davis	Republican	unsuccessfully contested by F. S. Fairchild[7]
Richmond		John Decker	Democrat
Rockland		James M. Nelson	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	George M. Gleason*	Republican
	2nd	Julius M. Palmer*	Republican
	3rd	William Bradford	Republican
Saratoga	1st	Isaiah Fuller	Democrat
	2nd	Seymour Ainsworth	Democrat
Schenectady		Gershom Banker	Democrat
Schoharie		Silas Sweet	Democrat
Schuyler		William C. Coon	Democrat
Seneca		Robert R. Steele	Democrat
Steuben	1st	James G. Bennett	Democrat
	2nd	John Davis	Democrat
Suffolk		Brinley D. Sleight	Democrat
Sullivan		James L. La Moree*	Democrat
Tioga		John H. Deming	Republican
Tompkins		John H. Selkreg*	Republican
Ulster	1st	Patrick J. Flynn*	Democrat
	2nd	Abraham E. Hasbrouck*	Democrat
	3rd	Charles H. Krack	Democrat
Warren		Godfrey R. Martine	Democrat
Washington	1st	Thomas Stevenson	Republican
	2nd	Isaac V. Baker Jr.*	Republican
Wayne	1st	Anson S. Wood	Republican	unsuccessfully contested by Eran N. Thomas[8]
	2nd	Amasa Hall	Republican
Westchester	1st	James J. Mooney	Democrat
	2nd	Edward D. Lawrence*	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Howard C. Cady[9]
	3rd	James W. Husted*	Republican
Wyoming		Marcus A. Hull*	Republican
Yates		William T. Remer	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Cornelius W. Armstrong
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Jeriah G. Rhoads
• Doorkeeper: James C. Pierce
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: M. W. Wall
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Hugh Ryan
• Stenographer: George Wakeman

Notes

1. Except New York City where the wards were apportioned into election districts, and then some whole wards and some election districts of other wards were gerrymandered together into Assembly districts.
2. Harpending had been elected in a special election on December 28, 1869, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator-elect Charles J. Folger who had been appointed as Assistant United States Treasurer in New York.
3. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 465–468)
4. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 456–462)
5. John Henry White (born 1821), served previously in the Assembly of 1850, brother of Assemblyman Marshall F. White (1866 and 1867, from Rensselaer Co.)
6. John Brown (born 1816), served previously in the Assembly of 1852, Naturalization Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas from 1853
7. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 470)
8. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 462ff)
9. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 468f)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 444 for senators; pg. 450–463 for Assembly districts; pg. 512f for assemblymen)
• Journal of the Senate (93rd Session) (1870)
• Journal of the Assembly (93rd Session) (1870; Vol. I)
• Life Sketches of Executive Officers, and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York, Vol. III by H. H. Boone & Theodore P. Cook (1870)