43rd New York State Legislature

43rd New York State Legislature
← 42nd 44th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	July 1, 1819 – June 30, 1820
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. John Tayler (Dem.-Rep.)
Party control	Bucktail
Assembly
Members	126
Speaker	John C. Spencer (Clint.)
Party control	Clintonian-Federalist
Sessions
1st January 4 – April 14, 1820

The 43rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 14, 1820, during the third year of DeWitt Clinton's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, amended by the Constitutional Convention of 1801, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in the four 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.

In 1797, Albany was declared the State capital, and all subsequent Legislatures have met there since. In 1818, the Legislature enacted that future Legislatures meet on the first Tuesday of January of each year unless called earlier by the governor.

State Senator Darius Crosby died on November 18, 1818, leaving a vacancy in the Southern District.

At this time the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.^[1] The Democratic-Republican Party was split into two factions: the Clintonians (supporters of Gov. DeWitt Clinton) and the Bucktails (led by Martin Van Buren, and including the Tammany Hall organization in New York City).

Elections

The State election was held from April 27 to 29, 1819. The Federalists ran their own tickets in counties where they had a majority, but endorsed and supported the Clintonians in most places where they were a minority.

Senator Peter R. Livingston (Southern D.) was re-elected. Charles E. Dudley, John T. More (both Middle D.), Benjamin Mooers, Thomas Frothingham (both Eastern D.), Gideon Granger, Lyman Paine (both Western D.), and Assemblyman Duncan McMartin Jr. (Eastern D.) were also elected to full terms in the Senate. John Townsend (Southern D.) was elected to fill the vacancy. Livingston, Dudley, More and Townsend were Bucktails, the other five Clintonians.

Sessions

The Legislature met at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1820, and adjourned on April 14.

John C. Spencer (Clint.) was elected Speaker by a combined Clintonian/Federalist majority with 64 votes against 50 for Peter Sharpe (Buckt.). Aaron Clark (Dem.-Rep.) was re-elected Clerk of the Assembly with 87 votes against 32 for James Van Ingen (Fed.).

After resolutions for the call of a Constitutional convention had been rejected during the two previous sessions, Gov. DeWitt Clinton now recommended to call a convention with limited powers to amend the State Constitution. This convention should have the power to abolish the Council of Appointment, and consider such other amendments as designated by the Legislature.^[2] The Bucktails wanted a Convention with unlimited powers, and nothing came of it at this session either. The issue was pursued further by the Bucktails at the next session, and led to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821, and a new Constitution.

On January 8, the Legislature re-elected unanimously Rufus King (Fed.) as U.S. Senator from New York, to fill the vacancy caused by the failure to elect a successor during the previous session.

On January 18, a caucus of 64 Bucktail legislators nominated U.S. Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins for Governor and State Senator Benjamin Mooers for Lieutenant Governor.

State Senate

Districts

• The Southern District (6 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Kings, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
• The Middle District (9 seats) consisted of Albany, Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Orange, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
• The Eastern District (8 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Montgomery, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties.
• The Western District (9 seats) consisted of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Cortland, Genesee, Madison, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Oswego, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins 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. Duncan McMartin Jr. changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
Southern	Walter Bowne*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John D. Ditmis*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Stephen Barnum*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jonathan Dayton*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John Townsend	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Darius Crosby
	Peter R. Livingston*	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Middle	John Noyes*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Peter Swart*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Martin Van Buren*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	until July 8, 1819, also New York Attorney General
	Jabez D. Hammond*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	John Lounsbery*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Moses Austin*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	William Ross*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Charles E. Dudley	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John T. More	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Eastern	Roger Skinner*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	until November 24, 1819, also U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York; from November 24, 1819, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
	Henry Yates Jr.*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Samuel Young*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	also an Erie Canal Commissioner
	Levi Adams*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian	elected to the Council of Appointment
	George Rosecrantz*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Thomas Frothingham	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Duncan McMartin Jr.*	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Benjamin Mooers	4 years	Dem.-Rep.[3]
Western	Ephraim Hart*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian	elected to the Council of Appointment
	John Knox*	1 year	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	William Mallery*	1 year	Dem.-Rep.
	Isaac Wilson*	2 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Gamaliel H. Barstow*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian	also First Judge of the Tioga County Court
	Perry G. Childs*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	David E. Evans*	3 years	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Gideon Granger	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Lyman Paine	4 years	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian

Employees

• Clerk: John F. Bacon

State Assembly

Districts

• Albany County (4 seats)
• Allegany and Steuben counties (2 seats)
• Broome County (1 seat)
• Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara counties (2 seats)
• Cayuga County (3 seats)
• Chenango County (3 seats)
• Clinton and Franklin counties (1 seat)
• Columbia County (4 seats)
• Cortland County (1 seat)
• Delaware County (2 seats)
• Dutchess County (5 seats)
• Essex County (1 seat)
• Genesee County (3 seats)
• Greene County (2 seats)
• Hamilton and Montgomery counties (5 seats)
• Herkimer County (3 seats)
• Jefferson County (2 seats)
• Kings County (1 seat)
• Lewis County (1 seat)
• Madison County (3 seats)
• The City and County of New York (11 seats)
• Oneida and Oswego counties (5 seats)
• Onondaga County (4 seats)
• Ontario County (7 seats)
• Orange County (4 seats)
• Otsego County (5 seats)
• Putnam County (1 seat)
• Queens County (3 seats)
• Rensselaer County (5 seats)
• Richmond County (1 seat)
• Rockland County (1 seat)
• St. Lawrence County (1 seat)
• Saratoga County (4 seats)
• Schenectady County (2 seats)
• Schoharie County (3 seats)
• Seneca County (2 seats)
• Suffolk County (3 seats)
• Sullivan and Ulster counties (4 seats)
• Tioga County (1 seat)
• Tompkins County (2 seats)
• Warren and Washington counties (5 seats)
• Westchester County (3 seats)

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. Henry Seymour changed from the Senate to the Assembly.

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Asa Colvard	Federalist
	James McKown	Federalist
	Peter S. Schuyler	Federalist
	Stephen Willes	Federalist
Allegany and Steuben	Clark Crandall	Federalist
	John Dow*	Federalist
Broome	Chester Patterson*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara	Elial T. Foote[4]
	Oliver Forward	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Cayuga	William Allen*
	Samuel Dill
	John Haring
Chenango	Samuel Campbell	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Thomas Humphrey*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Samuel A. Smith	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Clinton and Franklin	Platt Newcomb	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Columbia	Thomas Brodhead
	Azariah Platt
	John I. Van Valkenburgh
	Elisha Williams	Federalist
Cortland	John Miller	Dem.-Rep.
Delaware	Peter Pine
	Erastus Root*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Dutchess	Abraham Bockee	Federalist
	Jacob Doughty	Federalist
	Matthew Mesier	Federalist
	Thomas J. Oakley*	Federalist	from July 8, 1819, also New York Attorney General
	John W. Wheeler	Federalist
Essex	John Hoffnagle*	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Genesee	Fitch Chipman
	Gideon T. Jenkins
	Robert McKay
Greene	Abijah Reed
	Perez Steele	Federalist
Hamilton and Montgomery	Henry J. Diefendorf	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Henry Fonda	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John T. Francisco	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Lawrence Gros	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jacob Hees*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Herkimer	Philo M. Hackley	Federalist
	Jacob Markell	Federalist
	James Orton	Federalist
Jefferson	Calvin McKnight	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Hiram Steele	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Kings	Teunis Schenck*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Lewis	Nathaniel Merriam
Madison	Amos Crocker
	Eliphalet S. Jackson
	Levi Morton
New York	Clarkson Crolius*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Jacob Drake	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Richard Hatfield*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Cornelius Heeney*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Robert R. Hunter*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	John T. Irving*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Reuben Munson
	Samuel B. Romaine*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Peter Sharpe*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Michael Ulshoeffer*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Samuel Watkins*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Oneida and Oswego	James Dean Jr.
	George Huntington*	Federalist
	Henry McNeil	Federalist
	Theophilus S. Morgan	Federalist
	John Storrs	Federalist
Onondaga	Jonas Earll, Jr.
	Henry Field
	Henry Seymour*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail	also an Erie Canal Commissioner
	Lewis Smith
Ontario	Valentine Brother	Federalist
	Byram Green*
	John Price
	John C. Spencer	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian	elected Speaker
	Elisha B. Strong	Federalist
	John Van Vossen
	Matthew Warner
Orange	James Finch Jr.	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Nathaniel P. Hill*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Selah Tuthill	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Abraham Vail	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Otsego	Samuel Caldwell
	Seth Chase*
	Willard Coye
	James Hawkes	Dem.-Rep.
	Henry Ogden	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Putnam	David Knapp
Queens	William Jones	Federalist
	John A. King*	Federalist
	Thomas Tredwell	Federalist
Rensselaer	John Babcock
	David Doolittle
	William C. Elmore
	George Tibbits	Federalist
	Ebenezer W. Walbridge	Federalist
Richmond	Harmanus Guyon*	Federalist
Rockland	Samuel G. Verbryck	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
St. Lawrence	Joseph York*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Saratoga	Billy J. Clark
	Jonathan Delano Jr.
	Abraham Moe
	Elisha Powell
Schenectady	Christian Haverly
	Marinus Willet
Schoharie	Heman Hickock	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Jedediah Miller*	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Peter Swart Jr.*	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Seneca	Thomas Armstrong	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Robert S. Rose	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Suffolk	Ebenezer W. Case
	Charles H. Havens
	Abraham Parsons
Sullivan and Ulster	Joseph Deyo*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Isaac Elting	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Charles H. Ruggles	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Jacob Snyder	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Tioga	Judson Jennings
Tompkins	Herman Camp	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Joshua Philips	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Warren and Washington	David Austin	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Peleg Bragg	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	Norman Fox*	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	James Hill	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
	John Kirtland	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Westchester	James Guyon*	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	Abraham Miller	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
	William Nelson	Dem.-Rep./Bucktail

Employees

• Clerk: Aaron Clark
• Doorkeeper: Henry Bates

Notes

1. The Anti-Federalists called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.
2. see Hammond, pg. 521
3. elected as a Clintonian, but changed sides and was nominated for Lt. Gov. on the Bucktail ticket
4. Dr. Elial Todd Foote (1796–1877), physician and lawyer, First Judge of the Chautauqua County Court 1824–1843

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108f for Senate districts; pg. 124 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 195f 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. 1, H. & E. Phinney, Cooperstown, 1846; pages 502–531)
• Election result Assembly, Albany Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes", compiled by Phil Lampi, hosted by Tufts University Digital Library
• Partial election result Assembly, Allegany and Steuben Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Allegany Co.]
• Partial election result Assembly, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Chautauqua Co.]
• Partial election result Assembly, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Niagara Co.]
• Election result Assembly, Chenango Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Clinton and Franklin Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Delaware Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Dutchess Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Essex Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Genesee Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Hamilton and Montgomery Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Herkimer Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Jefferson Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Kings Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Orange Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Queens Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Rockland Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, St. Lawrence Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Saratoga Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Schenectady Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Schoharie Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Seneca Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Sullivan and Ulster Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Tioga Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Tompkins Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Westchester Co.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Partial election result Senate, Southern D.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Dutchess, Kings, Queens, Rockland and Westchester Co.; gives wrong party affiliation for Tallmadge]
• Partial election result Senate, Middle D.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Albany, Chenango, Delaware, Orange, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Eastern D.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Clinton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Washington and Warren Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Western D.^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes of Allegany, Chautauqua, Genesee, Niagara, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins Co.; gives wrong party affiliations]
• Election result Speaker^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly Clerk^{[permanent dead link‍]} at project "A New Nation Votes"