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.
In March 1786, the legislature enacted that future legislatures meet on the first Tuesday of January of each year unless called earlier by the governor. No general meeting place was determined, leaving it to each legislature to name the place where to reconvene, and if no place could be agreed upon, the legislature should meet again where it adjourned.
A convention met from June 17 to July 26, 1788, at Poughkeepsie, and ratified the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 30 to 27. This was the first time that the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: those who advocated the creation of a stronger federal government and the adoption of the US Constitution, as drafted, were henceforth known as Federalists, those who advocated stronger state governments and demanded many changes to the proposed Constitution as Anti-Federalists, or Democratic-Republicans.[1]
On January 27, 1789, the legislature divided the State of New York into six congressional districts, and the first congressional elections in New York were held on March 3 and 4, 1789. But after a lengthy debate of "An act for prescribing the times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators of the United States of America, to be chosen in this State", the legislature adjourned without having elected U.S. Senators. The Anti-Federalist Assembly majority and the Federalist Senate majority agreed to adjourn earlier than usual, leaving it to the new members to find a way out of the deadlock. On June 6, Gov. George Clinton called for a special session of the legislature to meet on July 6, only a few days after the new members' term would begin.
The legislature was to meet for the regular session on January 5, 1790, at the Old Royal Exchange in New York City; the state Senate assembled a quorum first on January 12, the Assembly on the next day; and both Houses adjourned on April 6.
State Senators Philip Schuyler, John Hathorn and John Laurance, and Assemblyman Rufus King retained their seats in the legislature while serving concurrently in the 1st United States Congress. Schuyler was also elected on January 15 a member of the State's Council of Appointment which consisted of the Governor of New York, and four state senators elected annually by the State Assembly. On January 27, the legislature resolved that it was "incompatible with the U.S. Constitution for any person holding an office under the United States government at the same time to have a seat in the Legislature of this State," and that if a member of the state legislature was elected or appointed to a federal office, the seat should be declared vacant upon acceptance.[2] Thus Schuyler, King, Hathorn, Laurance and federal judge James Duane vacated their seats in the state legislature. On April 3, John Cantine, a member of the Council of Appointment, raised the question if Schuyler, after vacating his State Senate seat, was still a member of the council. Philip Livingston, another member, held that once elected, a member could not be expelled from the Council in any case.[3] On April 5, Gov. George Clinton asked the State Assembly for a decision, but the latter refused to do so, arguing that it was a question of law, which could be pursued in the courts. Schuyler thus kept his seat in the Council of Appointment until the end of the term.
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. Philip Livingston, John Cantine, Edward Savage and Alexander Webster changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
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.
^The Anti-Federalists soon 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.
^There was a precedent contradicting Livingston: In March 1781, Ephraim Paine, then a member of the Council of Appointments, was expelled from the State Senate, and soon after State Senator Arthur Parks was elected by the Assembly to serve the remainder of Paine's term in the council. All members, Parks included, protested formally, but Parks remained in the council until the end of the term. However, this precedent was not mentioned during the proceedings in 1790.
^The Civil List of 1858 places Columbia Co. in the Eastern D. but this is contradicted by Schechter (pg. 181). Columbia was partitioned from Albany, and no senatorial re-apportionment being made must have remained in the Western D., it was transferred to the Eastern D. only in 1791.
^Anthony Hoffman (1739—1790), of Rhinebeck, brother-in-law of fellow senator Isaac Roosevelt. Hoffman must have died between February 24 (date of his will) and May 18 (date of probate of the will), 1790. It is certain that Hoffman did not attend the regular session of the Legislature, since he was the only Federalist from the Middle District, but the Federalist majority of the Assembly had to choose a Democratic-Republican for the Council of Appointment. see Genealogy of the Hoffman Family by Eugene Augustus Hoffman (1899; pg. 152)
^Savage may have been elected at the same time to the State Senate (Eastern D.) and to the Assembly (Washington Co.) in 1788 but was seated in the Assembly of the 12th Legislature; the Senate seat vacated by the expiration of Ebenezer Russell's term at the end of the 11th Legislature remained vacant in the 12th Legislature, but Savage took his seat in the Senate at the beginning of the 13th Legislature for the remaining three years. see: The Reluctant Pillar: New York and the Adoption of the Federal Constitution by Stephen L. Schechter (page 203)
^Peter Schuyler, of Canajoharie (now Danube, New York), nephew of fellow senator Philip Schuyler
^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. Neither county did file any election returns with the Secretary of State of New York in 1789.
^Christopher Tappen, of Kingston, brother of Cornelia Tappen, the wife of Gov. George Clinton
Sources
The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 114 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 165 for assemblymen; pg. 54f for U.S. Constitution ratifying convention]
