82nd New York State Legislature

82nd New York State Legislature
82nd 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, 1859
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Robert Campbell (R)
Temporary President	William A. Wheeler (R), from January 18
Party control	Republican (17-13-2)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	DeWitt C. Littlejohn (R)
Party control	Republican (91-29-8)
Sessions
1st
1st	January 4 – April 19, 1859

The 82nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 19, 1859, during the first year of Edwin D. Morgan's governorship, in Albany.

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 (four districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Know Nothing movement ran in the election as the "American Party."

Elections[]

The New York state election, 1858 was held on November 2. Republicans Edwin D. Morgan and Robert Campbell were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The other two statewide elective offices were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor was: Republican 248,000; Democratic 230,000; and American 61,000.

Sessions[]

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1859; and adjourned on April 19.

DeWitt C. Littlejohn (R) was again elected Speaker with 90 votes against 28 for John W. Chanler (D) and 6 for Chauncey Boughton (A).

On January 18, William A. Wheeler (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

State Senate[]

Districts[]

1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th wards of the City of Brooklyn
3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th wards of the City of Brookland; and all towns in Kings County
4th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 14th wards of New York City
5th District: 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
6th District: 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New York City
7th District: 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
8th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
13th District: Albany County
14th District: Delaware, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga 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: Oswego County
22nd District: Onondaga County
23rd District: Chenango, Cortland and Madison 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.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Joshua B. Smith*	Democrat
2nd	Samuel Sloan*	Democrat
3rd	Francis B. Spinola*	Democrat
4th	John C. Mather*	Democrat
5th	Smith Ely, Jr.*	Democrat
6th	Richard Schell*	Democrat
7th	John Doherty*	Democrat	died on April 20, 1859
8th	Benjamin Brandreth*	Democrat
9th	Osmer B. Wheeler*	American
10th	George W. Pratt*	Democrat
11th	William G. Mandeville*	Democrat	contested; seat declared vacant on March 16^[1]
11th	Henry C. Wetmore	American	seated on April 5^[2]
12th	John D. Willard*	Democrat
13th	George Y. Johnson*	American
14th	Edward I. Burhans*	Democrat
15th	George G. Scott*	Democrat
16th	Ralph A. Loveland*	Republican
17th	William A. Wheeler*	Republican	on January 18, elected president pro tempore
18th	Joseph A. Willard*	Republican
19th	Alrick Hubbell*	Republican
20th	Addison H. Laflin*	Republican
21st	Cheney Ames*	Republican
22nd	James Noxon*	Republican
23rd	John J. Foote*	Republican
24th	Lyman Truman*	Republican
25th	Alexander B. Williams*	Republican
26th	Truman Boardman*	Republican
27th	Alexander S. Diven*	Republican
28th	John E. Paterson*	Republican
29th	Horatio J. Stow*	Independent	did not take his seat during this session; died on February 19, 1859
29th	George D. Lamont	Republican	elected to fill vacancy; seated on March 21
30th	John B. Halsted*	Republican
31st	Erastus S. Prosser	Republican	elected to fill vacancy, in place of James Wadsworth
32nd	John P. Darling*	Republican

Employees[]

Clerk:
Deputy Clerk: Henry J. Sickles
Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry W. Dwight
Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Simeon Dillingham
Doorkeeper: Richard U. Owens
First Assistant Doorkeeper: Henry W. Shipman
Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Samuel Ten Eyck
Third Assistant Doorkeeper: James P. Clark
Journal Clerk:
Engrossing Clerks: A. N. Cole, Charles G. Fairman

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		Democrat
	2nd		American
	3rd		Democrat
	4th	Lorenzo D. Collins	Republican
Allegany	1st		Republican
Allegany	2nd		Republican
Broome			Republican
Cattaraugus	1st		Republican	died on March 4
Cattaraugus	2nd	William Buffington Jr.*	Republican
Cayuga	1st		Republican
Cayuga	2nd	Chauncey M. Abbott*	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	*	Republican
Chautauqua	2nd		Republican
Chemung			Republican
Chenango	1st		Democrat
Chenango	2nd		Republican
Clinton			Republican
Columbia	1st		Democrat
Columbia	2nd		Republican
Cortland			Republican
Delaware	1st		Republican
Delaware	2nd	*	American
Dutchess	1st	James Mackin	Republican
Dutchess	2nd		Republican
Erie	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		American
	4th	Wilson Rogers	Republican
Essex		*	Republican
Franklin			Republican
Fulton and Hamilton			American
Genesee			Republican
Greene			Democrat
Herkimer	1st		Republican
Herkimer	2nd		Republican
Jefferson	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Kings	1st		Democrat
	2nd		Republican
	3rd	Harmanus B. Duryea*	Republican
	4th	Thomas A. Gardiner	Democrat
	5th		Republican
	6th		Republican
	7th	Franklin Tuthill	Republican	previously a member from Suffolk Co.
Lewis			Republican
Livingston	1st		Republican
Livingston	2nd		Republican
Madison	1st		Republican
Madison	2nd		Republican
Monroe	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Montgomery			American
New York	1st	*	Democrat
	2nd	*	Democrat
	3rd	Christian B. Woodruff	Democrat
	4th		Democrat
	5th		Republican
	6th	*	Democrat
	7th	Frederick A. Conkling	Republican
	8th		Democrat
	9th		Republican
	10th	John W. Chanler*	Democrat
	11th	*	Democrat
	12th		Democrat
	13th		Democrat
	14th	George Opdyke	Republican
	15th		Republican
	16th		Democrat
	17th		Democrat
Niagara	1st		Republican
Niagara	2nd	Burt Van Horn*	Republican
Oneida	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
	4th		Republican
Onondaga	1st		Republican
	2nd	Henry W. Slocum	Republican
	3rd		Republican
Ontario	1st		Democrat
Ontario	2nd		Republican
Orange	1st		Democrat
Orange	2nd		Republican
Orleans		Almanzor Hutchinson*	Republican
Oswego	1st	DeWitt C. Littlejohn	Republican	elected Speaker
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Otsego	1st		Republican
Otsego	2nd		Republican
Putnam			Republican
Queens	1st	Edward A. Lawrence*	Democrat
Queens	2nd		Republican
Rensselaer	1st	Thomas Coleman	American
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Richmond		Robert Christie Jr.	Democrat
Rockland		*	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	*	Republican
	2nd	*	Republican
	3rd	*	Republican
Saratoga	1st	Chauncey Boughton*	American
Saratoga	2nd	George S. Batcheller	Republican
Schenectady			Republican
Schoharie		William C. Lamont	Democrat
Schuyler			Republican
Seneca		Jacob P. Chamberlain	Republican
Steuben	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Suffolk	1st		Republican
Suffolk	2nd		Democrat
Sullivan			Democrat
Tioga			Republican
Tompkins		William Woodbury	Republican
Ulster	1st		Democrat
	2nd		American
	3rd		Republican
Warren			Republican
Washington	1st		Republican
Washington	2nd	James M. Northup	Republican
Wayne	1st		Republican
Wayne	2nd		Republican
Westchester	1st		Democrat
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Wyoming			Republican
Yates		Daniel Morris	Republican

Employees[]

Clerk: ^[3]
Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel M. Prescott
Doorkeeper: George C. Dennis
First Assistant Doorkeeper:
Second Assistant Doorkeeper:

Notes[]

^ Mandeville had been appointed as Postmaster of Stuyvesant Falls in June 1858, had executed his oath and bond, had sent them to the U.S. Postal Department but, before his commission could have been issued, had declined to take the office. He then appeared at the beginning of the session of 1859, and took his seat. After much debate the Republican majority declared the seat vacant, holding that the mere one-time acceptance of the office forfeited the seat.
^ Wetmore had been elected at the State election in November 1858, although a vacancy was claimed only unilaterally, no notice of such a special election had been given by the Secretary of State, and no candidates were nominated by the other parties. After much controversy, Wetmore was finally seated by the Republican majority, under protest by the Democrats. For the arguments for and against seating Wetmore, see Documents of the Senate (82nd Session) (1859; Vol. 2, No. 104 and 105)
^ William Richardson (1822–1893), later an alderman in Brooklyn, and owner of the Atlantic Avenue Railroad; see Biography

Sources[]

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 442 for senators; pg. 450–462 for Assembly districts; and pg. 487ff for assemblymen)
Journal of the Senate (82nd Session) (1859)
Journal of the Assembly (82nd Session) (1859)
Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1859 by William D. Murphy

[1] Mandeville had been appointed as Postmaster of Stuyvesant Falls in June 1858, had executed his oath and bond, had sent them to the U.S. Postal Department but, before his commission could have been issued, had declined to take the office. He then appeared at the beginning of the session of 1859, and took his seat. After much debate the Republican majority declared the seat vacant, holding that the mere one-time acceptance of the office forfeited the seat.

[2] Wetmore had been elected at the State election in November 1858, although a vacancy was claimed only unilaterally, no notice of such a special election had been given by the Secretary of State, and no candidates were nominated by the other parties. After much controversy, Wetmore was finally seated by the Republican majority, under protest by the Democrats. For the arguments for and against seating Wetmore, see Documents of the Senate (82nd Session) (1859; Vol. 2, No. 104 and 105)

[3] William Richardson (1822–1893), later an alderman in Brooklyn, and owner of the Atlantic Avenue Railroad; see Biography

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