95th New York State Legislature

95th New York State Legislature
95th 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, 1872
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Allen C. Beach (D)
Temporary President	William B. Woodin (R)
Party control	Republican (24-5-2)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Henry Smith (R)
Party control	Republican (98-26-4)
Sessions
1st
1st	January 2 – May 14, 1872

The 95th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to May 14, 1872, during the fourth year of John T. Hoffman'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 (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.

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

Elections[]

The 1871 New York state election was held on November 7. All seven statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Republicans 387,000 and Democrats 368,000.

Sessions[]

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1872; and adjourned on May 14.

Henry Smith (R) was elected Speaker with 95 votes against 26 for John C. Jacobs (D).

In his annual message to the Legislature, Gov. John T. Hoffman suggested that a bi-partisan Constitutional Commission of 32 members should be formed. The Commission had four members from each judicial district, appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the State Senate, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.

William B. Woodin (R) was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On May 1, Supreme Court Justice Albert Cardozo tendered his resignation, just before the report of the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly, which proposed his impeachment, was read. No further action was taken against Cardozo.^[2]

On May 2, the Assembly impeached Supreme Court Justice George G. Barnard.^[3]

On May 23, the Senate set the opening of the trial of Judge John McCunn, of the New York City Marine Court, for June 18.^[4]

On June 18, the Senate met for the trials of Judge McCunn, and Chenango County Judge .^[5]

On July 2, the Senate removed Judge McCunn from office.^[6]

On July 17, the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments met at Saratoga Springs to open the trial of Justice Barnard.

On August 19, Barnard was convicted by the Impeachment Court, was removed from office, and barred from ever holding public office again.^[7]

On December 4, the Constitutional Commission met.

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. Isaac V. Baker Jr., Webster Wagner and James H. Graham changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Townsend D. Cock	Democrat
2nd	John C. Perry	Republican
3rd	Henry C. Murphy*	Democrat	re-elected
4th	(William M. Tweed)*	Democrat	re-elected; did not take his seat; unsuccessfully contested by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa^[8]
5th	Erastus C. Benedict	Republican
6th	Augustus Weismann	Republican
7th	James O'Brien	Reform Democrat
8th	Daniel F. Tiemann	Reform Democrat
9th	William H. Robertson	Republican
10th	Edward M. Madden	Republican
11th	Abiah W. Palmer	Republican
12th	Isaac V. Baker Jr.*	Republican
13th	Charles H. Adams	Republican
14th	Jacob Hardenbergh*	Democrat	re-elected; died on April 29, 1872
14th	William F. Scoresby	Lib. Rep./Dem.	elected to fill vacancy; seated on November 22^[9]
15th	Webster Wagner*	Republican
16th	Samuel Ames	Republican
17th	Wells S. Dickinson	Republican
18th	Norris Winslow*	Republican	re-elected
19th	Samuel S. Lowery	Republican
20th	Archibald C. McGowan	Republican
21st	William Foster	Republican
22nd	Daniel P. Wood	Republican
23rd	James H. Graham*	Republican
24th	Thomas I. Chatfield	Republican
25th	William B. Woodin*	Republican	re-elected
26th	William Johnson	Democrat
27th	Gabriel T. Harrower	Republican
28th	Jarvis Lord*	Democrat	re-elected
29th	George Bowen*	Republican	re-elected
30th	James Wood*	Republican	re-elected
31st	Loran L. Lewis*	Republican	re-elected
32nd	Norman M. Allen	Republican

Employees[]

Clerk: , resigned February 14
- , from February 17
Sergeant-at-Arms: Edwin J. Loomis
Doorkeeper: Daniel K. Schram
Assistant Doorkeeper: J. D. Lonergan
Journal Clerk: , until February 17

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		Republican
	2nd	Henry Smith	Republican	elected Speaker
	3rd		Republican
	4th		Democrat
Allegany			Republican
Broome		*	Republican	died on February 6, 1872^[10]
Broome			Republican	elected to fill vacancy
Cattaraugus	1st	Commodore P. Vedder	Republican
Cattaraugus	2nd		Republican
Cayuga	1st		Republican
Cayuga	2nd		Republican
Chautauqua	1st	*	Republican
Chautauqua	2nd		Republican
Chemung		David B. Hill*	Democrat
Chenango		*	Republican
Clinton			Republican
Columbia	1st	Benjamin Ray*	Democrat
Columbia	2nd		Democrat
Cortland			Republican
Delaware	1st	William Lewis Jr.	Republican
Delaware	2nd		Republican
Dutchess	1st		Republican
Dutchess	2nd	Harvey G. Eastman	Republican	also Mayor of Poughkeepsie
Erie	1st	*	Democrat
	2nd		Republican
	3rd	Franklin A. Alberger*	Republican
	4th		Republican
	5th	John M. Wiley*	Democrat
Essex		Franklin W. Tobey	Republican
Franklin		*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Samuel W. Buell	Democrat
Genesee		*	Republican
Greene			Democrat
Herkimer			Republican
Jefferson	1st	*	Republican
Jefferson	2nd		Republican
Kings	1st	*	Democrat
	2nd		Republican
	3rd	*	Democrat
	4th	*	Democrat
	5th		Republican
	6th		Republican
	7th	Charles B. Morton	Republican
	8th	George C. Bennett	Republican
	9th	John C. Jacobs*	Democrat
Lewis			Republican
Livingston			Republican
Madison	1st	John W. Lippitt	Republican
Madison	2nd		Republican
Monroe	1st		Republican
	2nd	*	Democrat
	3rd		Republican
Montgomery			Republican
New York	1st		Democrat
	2nd		Democrat	contested by Henry G. Leash
	3rd		Democrat
	4th	*	Democrat	contested by William McMahon
	5th		Reform Democrat
	6th	Timothy J. Campbell*	Democrat
	7th		Republican
	8th		Republican
	9th	^[11]	Republican
	10th		Reform Democrat
	11th	Rush C. Hawkins	Republican
	12th	*	Democrat
	13th		Republican
	14th		Reform Democrat
	15th	Alexander Frear*	Democrat	contested;^[12] seat vacated on March 1
	15th		Republican	seated on March 1^[13]
	16th		Democrat
	17th		Republican
	18th	Samuel J. Tilden	Reform Democrat
	19th	Thomas C. Fields*	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested^[14]
	20th		Republican
	21st		Republican
Niagara	1st		Republican
Niagara	2nd		Republican
Oneida	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Democrat
	4th		Republican
Onondaga	1st	Thomas G. Alvord*	Republican
	2nd	*	Republican
	3rd	Gustavus Sniper*	Republican
Ontario	1st		Republican
Ontario	2nd		Republican
Orange	1st	Robert H. Strahan*	Republican
Orange	2nd	Frank Abbott	Republican
Orleans		E. Kirke Hart	Republican
Oswego	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd	Chauncey S. Sage*	Republican
Otsego	1st	*	Democrat
Otsego	2nd	*	Republican
Putnam			Republican
Queens	1st	L. Bradford Prince*	Republican
Queens	2nd	James M. Oakley*	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd		Republican
Richmond			Republican
Rockland			Republican
St. Lawrence	1st	Darius A. Moore	Republican
	2nd	Dolphus S. Lynde*	Republican
	3rd		Republican
Saratoga	1st	George West	Republican
Saratoga	2nd		Republican
Schenectady			Republican
Schoharie		Peter Couchman	Democrat
Schuyler			Republican
Seneca			Republican
Steuben	1st		Republican
Steuben	2nd		Republican
Suffolk			Republican
Sullivan		*	Democrat
Tioga			Republican
Tompkins			Republican
Ulster	1st		Republican
	2nd	*	Republican
	3rd		Republican
Warren			Republican
Washington	1st		Republican
Washington	2nd		Republican
Wayne	1st		Republican
Wayne	2nd		Republican
Westchester	1st		Republican
	2nd		Republican
	3rd	James W. Husted*	Republican
Wyoming			Republican
Yates		George P. Lord*	Republican

Employees[]

Clerk: , died on April 27, 1872
- , from May 1, 1872^[15]
Sergeant-at-Arms: Philip J. Rhinehardt
Doorkeeper: Eugene L. Demers
First Assistant Doorkeeper: James H. Lee
Second Assistant Doorkeeper: James Hogan

Notes[]

^ 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.
^ OUR CORRUPT JUDGES in NYT on May 2, 1872
^ ALBANY; The Impeachment of Judge George G. Barnard in NYT on May 3, 1872
^ THE STATE SENATE; Executive Session on the Accused Judges' Cases in NYT on May 24, 1872
^ TRIAL OF THE JUDGES in NYT on June 19, 1872; Prindle was acquitted in January 1873.
^ EXIT McCUNN in NYT on July 3, 1872
^ Exit Barnard in NYT on August 20, 1872
^ Tweed did not claim the seat, and his chair remained empty throughout the session. A resolution to vacate the seat, and then call a special election to fill the seat, was proposed, but no action was taken. O'Donovan Rossa, who had lost the senatorial election to Tweed, claimed the seat, but was not seated; see THE STATE LEGISLATURE; Tweeds Empty Chair in NYT on March 5, 1873; and ALBANY; AN ASPIRANT TO TWEED'S SEAT in NYT on April 15, 1873
^ see THE STATE SENATE in NYT on November 23, 1872
^ see OBITUARY; William M. Ely in NYT on February 7, 1872
^ Stephen Pell (1822–1896), see DEATH LIST OF A DAY; Stephen Pell in NYT on November 29, 1896
^ see HOW FREAR WAS ELECTED in NYT on February 29, 1872
^ see ALBANY NEWS; Frederick Killian (sic) Accorded His Seat in the Assembly in NYT on March 2, 1872
^ A number of voters from the 19th District petitioned the Assembly to vacate Fields's seat, and then call a special election to fill the vacancy, but no action was taken by the Assembly.
^ see Journal of the Assembly, Vol. 2, pg. 1625

Sources[]

Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York compiled by Edgar Albert Werner (1884; see pg. 276 for Senate districts; pg. 290 for senators; pg. 298–304 for Assembly districts; and pg. 372f for assemblymen)
Journal of the Assembly (95th Session) (1872, Vol. I, January 2 to April 9, 1872)
Journal of the Assembly (95th Session) (1872, Vol. II, April 9 to May 14, 1872)
Senators Elected and Assemblymen Elected in Corning Journal on November 16, 1871
THE ASSEMBLY in NYT on December 1, 1871
THE REFORM LEGISLATURE in NYT on January 3, 1872

[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] OUR CORRUPT JUDGES in NYT on May 2, 1872

[3] ALBANY; The Impeachment of Judge George G. Barnard in NYT on May 3, 1872

[4] THE STATE SENATE; Executive Session on the Accused Judges' Cases in NYT on May 24, 1872

[5] TRIAL OF THE JUDGES in NYT on June 19, 1872; Prindle was acquitted in January 1873.

[6] EXIT McCUNN in NYT on July 3, 1872

[7] Exit Barnard in NYT on August 20, 1872

[8] Tweed did not claim the seat, and his chair remained empty throughout the session. A resolution to vacate the seat, and then call a special election to fill the seat, was proposed, but no action was taken. O'Donovan Rossa, who had lost the senatorial election to Tweed, claimed the seat, but was not seated; see THE STATE LEGISLATURE; Tweeds Empty Chair in NYT on March 5, 1873; and ALBANY; AN ASPIRANT TO TWEED'S SEAT in NYT on April 15, 1873

[9] see THE STATE SENATE in NYT on November 23, 1872

[10] see OBITUARY; William M. Ely in NYT on February 7, 1872

[11] Stephen Pell (1822–1896), see DEATH LIST OF A DAY; Stephen Pell in NYT on November 29, 1896

[12] see HOW FREAR WAS ELECTED in NYT on February 29, 1872

[13] see ALBANY NEWS; Frederick Killian (sic) Accorded His Seat in the Assembly in NYT on March 2, 1872

[14] A number of voters from the 19th District petitioned the Assembly to vacate Fields's seat, and then call a special election to fill the vacancy, but no action was taken by the Assembly.

[15] see Journal of the Assembly, Vol. 2, pg. 1625

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