4th New York State Legislature

4th New York State Legislature
← 3rd 5th →
Clinton House, Poughkeepsie (2007)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	July 2, 1780 – July 1, 1781
Senate
Members	24
President	{{{vp}}}
Assembly
Members	70 (de facto 65)
Speaker	Evert Bancker
Sessions
1st September 7 – October 10, 1780 2nd January 17 – March 31, 1781 3rd June 15 – July 1, 1781

The 4th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from September 7, 1780, to July 1, 1781, during the fourth year of George Clinton's governorship, first at Poughkeepsie, then at Albany, and finally at Poughkeepsie again.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, the State Senators were elected on general tickets in the senatorial districts, and were then divided into four classes. Six senators each drew lots for a term of 1, 2, 3 or 4 years and, beginning at the election in April 1778, every year six Senate seats came up for election to a four-year term. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole assembly being renewed annually.

On May 8, 1777, the Constitutional Convention had appointed the senators from the Southern District, and the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties—the area which was under British control—and determined that these appointees serve in the Legislature until elections could be held in those areas, presumably after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Vacancies among the appointed members in the Senate should be filled by the Assembly, and vacancies in the Assembly by the Senate.

Elections

The State elections were held from April 25 to 27, 1780. Gov. George Clinton and Lt. Gov. Pierre Van Cortlandt were re-elected. Under the determination by the Constitutional Convention, the senators William Floyd, William Smith and Isaac Stoutenburgh, whose seats were up for election, continued in office, as well as the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties. Arthur Parks (Middle D.) was re-elected. Philip Schuyler was elected in the Western District. Assemblyman Elkanah Day, from Cumberland County, which had seceded from New York to become a part of the Vermont Republic, was elected in the Eastern District.^[1]

Sessions

The Old Albany City Hall

The State Legislature met first in Poughkeepsie, the seat of Dutchess County, on September 7, 1780, and adjourned on October 10. The Legislature reconvened at the Old City Hall in Albany, the seat of Albany County, on January 17, 1781, and adjourned on March 31. The Legislature reconvened again in Poughkeepsie, the Senate on June 15, the Assembly on June 18, and adjourned finally on July 1.

State Senate

Districts

• The Southern District (9 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
• The Middle District (6 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties.
• The Eastern District (3 seats) consisted of Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.
• The Western District (6 seats) consisted of Albany and Tryon 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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Elkanah Day changed from the Assembly to the Senate, but never took his seat.

District	Senators	Term left	Notes
Southern	Sir James Jay*	1 year	appointed by State Assembly
	Isaac Roosevelt*	2 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	John Morin Scott*	2 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; also Secretary of State of New York
	Jonathan Lawrence*	3 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Lewis Morris*	3 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Stephen Ward*	3 years	appointed by State Assembly; elected to the Council of Appointment
	William Floyd*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	William Smith*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Isaac Stoutenburgh*	4 years	holding over on appointment by State Assembly
Middle	Levi Pawling*	1 year
	Jesse Woodhull*	1 year
	Henry Wisner*	2 years
	Ephraim Paine*	3 years	elected to the Council of Appointment; expelled on March 15, 1781, for "neglect of duty"
	Zephaniah Platt*	3 years
	Arthur Parks*	4 years	elected to the Council of Appointment to fill vacancy, in place of Ephraim Paine
Eastern	Alexander Webster*	1 year
	Ebenezer Russell*	2 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	(Elkanah Day)*[2]	4 years	did not attend
Western	Jellis Fonda*	1 year
	Rinier Mynderse*	1 year
	Jacob G. Klock*	2 years
	Abraham Yates Jr.*	2 years
	Abraham Ten Broeck	3 years	also Mayor of Albany; elected to the Council of Appointment
	Philip Schuyler	4 years	from March 30, 1781, also New York State Surveyor General

Employees

• Clerk: Robert Benson

State Assembly

Districts

• The City and County of Albany (10 seats)
• Charlotte County (4 seats)
• Cumberland County (3 seats)
• Dutchess County (7 seats)
• Gloucester County (2 seats)
• Kings County (2 seats)
• The City and County of New York (9 seats)
• Orange County (4 seats)
• Queens County (4 seats)
• Richmond County (2 seats)
• Suffolk County (5 seats)
• Tryon County (6 seats)
• Ulster County (6 seats)
• Westchester County (6 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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.

Assemblymen

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

County	Assemblymen	Notes
Albany	Matthew Adgate
	John Ja. Beekman
	James Gordon*
	John Lansing Jr.
	Peter R. Livingston
	Dirck Swart
	John Tayler
	John Van Rensselaer Jr.
	Robert Van Rensselaer
	Isaac Vrooman*
Charlotte	David Hopkins*
	Hamilton McCollister
	Matthew McWhorter
	Ichabod Parker
Cumberland	none[3]
Dutchess	Egbert Benson*	also New York State Attorney General
	Ebenezer Cary
	Samuel Dodge*
	Henry Ludington*
	Brinton Paine*
	Guisbert Schenck
	Jacobus Swartwout
Gloucester	none	No election returns from this county[4]
Kings	William Boerum*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Henry Williams*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
New York	Evert Bancker*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; re-elected Speaker
	John Berrien*	holding over on appointment by the State Senate
	Abraham Brasher*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Daniel Dunscomb*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Robert Harpur*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Frederick Jay*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Abraham P. Lott*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Jacobus Van Zandt*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Peter P. Van Zandt*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Orange	Jeremiah Clark
	David Pye
	Bezaleel Seely*?
	John Stagg
Queens	Benjamin Birdsall*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Benjamin Coe*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Philip Edsall*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Daniel Lawrence*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Richmond	Joshua Mersereau*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	vacant
Suffolk	David Gelston*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Ezra L'Hommedieu*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Burnet Miller*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Thomas Tredwell*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Thomas Wickes*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Tryon	Zephaniah Batchelor
	Jacob Gardenier*
	Abraham Garrison
	John Moore
	Abraham Van Horne
	Peter Waggoner Jr.*
Ulster	Robert Boyd Jr.*
	John Cantine*
	Cornelius C. Schoonmaker*
	Nathan Smith*
	Dirck Wynkoop
	vacant
Westchester	Samuel Drake*
	Philip Pell*
	Nathan Rockwell
	Joseph Strang
	Thomas Thomas
	Jonathan G. Tompkins

Employees

• Clerk: John McKesson

Notes

1. Elkanah Day was a "Yorker", a member of the faction who opposed the Vermont government and advocated the seceded counties' remaining in the State of New York. See History of Eastern Vermont by Benjamin Homer Hall (Chapter XIII: Conflict of Jurisdictions, pages 332ff; and Civil list appendix, page 768)
2. Elkanah Day is not listed among the senators in any session in the Civil List of 1858, which means that he did not attend any session, but it is certain that election returns were filed with the Secretary of State of New York in 1780, since he was elected to the Council of Appointment in 1782; the History of Eastern Vermont by Benjamin Homer Hall (Civil list appendix, page 768) lists him as a New York State Senator and stating "Commencement of Session September 10, 1781"
3. It is unclear if election returns were filed with the Secretary of State of New York. Nobody claimed the Assembly seats, but Elkanah Day claimed a seat in the Senate; see note for Gloucester County.
4. Cumberland and Gloucester counties seceded from the Province of New York in January 1777, and became part of the Vermont Republic, while the Constitutional Convention was still debating the new Constitution. The New York Constitution was approved in April 1777, not recognizing the secession. Gloucester Co. did not file any election returns with the Secretary of State of New York in 1779.

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 111 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 159f for assemblymen]