144th New York State Legislature

The 144th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 16, 1921, during the first year of Nathan L. Miller's governorship, in Albany.^[1]

144th New York State Legislature
← 143rd 145th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1921
Senate
Members	51
President	Lt. Gov. Jeremiah Wood (R)
Temporary President	Clayton R. Lusk (R)
Party control	Republican (39–11–1)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	H. Edmund Machold (R)
Party control	Republican (120–28–3)
Sessions
1st January 5 – April 16, 1921

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Socialist Party, the Farmer–Labor Party, the Prohibition Party and the Socialist Labor Party also nominated tickets. The Prohibition Party endorsed the "dry" candidates for the Legislature, mostly Republicans, and nominated own candidates only where the major parties' candidates where "wet". In most of the Socialist strongholds in New York City, Democrats and Republicans nominated fusion candidates.

Elections

The New York state election, 1920, was held on November 2. Nathan L. Miller and Jeremiah Wood were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, both Republicans. The incumbent Governor Al Smith ran on the Democratic ticket for re-election, but was defeated by Miller with a plurality of about 75,000 votes out of more than two and a half million.

The other eight statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for governor, was: Republicans 1,335,000; Democrats 1,260,000; Socialists 172,000; Farmer-Labor 68,000; Prohibition 36,000; and Socialist Labor 5,000.

Only one woman was elected to the State Assembly: Marguerite L. Smith (Rep.), an athletics teacher, of Harlem, became the first woman to serve a second term in the Assembly.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1921.

H. Edmund Machold (Rep.) was elected Speaker with 114 votes against 25 for Charles D. Donohue (Dem.) and 2 for Charles Solomon (Soc.).

Clayton R. Lusk (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate with 38 votes against 8 for Jimmy Walker (Dem.) and one for Edmund Seidel (Soc.).

At the beginning of the session, resolutions were offered to expel Henry Jager, Samuel Orr and Charles Solomon from the Assembly for being Socialists and thus unfit to sit, which were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.^[2] On January 12, another resolution was offered, contesting the eligibility of Henry Jager because he was alleged to be a resident of New Jersey.^[3]

On March 29, the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary presented its final report in the matter of the eligibility of Henry Jager. The majority (Rowe, Lown, T. K. Smith and Everett) concluded that Jager was a resident of Maywood, New Jersey, and therefore was ineligible for office under the provisions of the Public Officers Law of New York. A minority—in one report by Bloch and McKee, and another by Stitt and Ullman—concluded that Jager was a resident of Brooklyn.^[4] On the next day, Jager's seat was declared vacant by a vote of 77 to 62.^[5]

On April 4, the members who had offered the resolutions against Orr and Solomon attempted to call the resolutions up, which was voted down. Thus the resolutions remained on the table of the Committee on the Judiciary until the end of the session, without any action taken.^[6]

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Nassau and Suffolk counties
• 2nd and 3rd District: Parts of Queens County, i.e the Borough of Queens
• 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th District: Parts of Kings County, i.e. the Borough of Brooklyn
• 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th District: Parts of New York County, i.e. the Borough of Manhattan
• 21st, 22nd and 23rd District: Parts of Bronx County, i.e. the Borough of the Bronx
• 24th District: Richmond County, i.e. the Borough of Richmond (now the Borough of Staten Island), and Rockland County
• 25th District: Part of Westchester County
• 26th District: Cortlandt, Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, Ossining and part of Yonkers; in Westchester County
• 27th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 28th District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam counties
• 29th District: Delaware, Greene and Ulster counties
• 30th District: Albany County
• 31st District: Rensselaer County
• 32nd District: Saratoga and Schenectady counties
• 33rd District: Clinton, Essex, Warren and Washington counties
• 34th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 35th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Lewis counties
• 36th District: Oneida County
• 37th District: Jefferson and Oswego counties
• 38th District: Onondaga County
• 39th District: Madison, Montgomery, Otsego and Schoharie counties
• 40th District: Broome, Chenango and Cortland counties
• 41st District: Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga and Tompkins counties
• 42nd District: Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne counties
• 43rd District: Ontario, Steuben and Yates counties
• 44th District: Allegany, Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming
• 45th and 46th District: Monroe County
• 47th District: Niagara and Orleans counties
• 48th, 49th and 50th District: Erie County
• 51st District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. William T. Simpson, Martin G. McCue, Frank L. Wiswall, Warren T. Thayer, George R. Fearon, Allen J. Bloomfield and DeHart H. Ames changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	George L. Thompson*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Conservation
2nd	John L. Karle*	Republican	re-elected; Chairman of Commerce and Navigation
3rd	Peter J. McGarry*	Democrat	re-elected
4th	Maxwell S. Harris	Republican
5th	Daniel F. Farrell*	Democrat	re-elected
6th	William T. Simpson*	Republican	Chairman of Penal Institutions
7th	Charles C. Lockwood*	Republican	re-elected; Chairman of Public Education
8th	Alvah W. Burlingame, Jr.*	Republican	re-elected; Chairman of Judiciary
9th	George M. Reischmann	Republican
10th	Jeremiah F. Twomey*	Democrat	re-elected
11th	Abraham L. Katlin	Republican	unsuccessfully contested by Daniel J. Carroll (D)
12th	Jimmy Walker*	Democrat	re-elected; Minority Leader
13th	John J. Boylan*	Democrat	re-elected
14th	Bernard Downing*	Dem./Rep.	re-elected
15th	Nathan Straus, Jr.	Democrat
16th	Martin G. McCue*	Democrat	resigned on June 17, to accept an appointment as Clerk of the New York Co. Surrogate's Court^[7]
17th	Schuyler M. Meyer	Republican	Chairman of Privileges and Elections
18th	Salvatore A. Cotillo*	Democrat	re-elected
19th	William Duggan	Republican
20th	Ward V. Tolbert	Republican
21st	Henry G. Schackno*	Democrat	re-elected
22nd	Edmund Seidel	Socialist
23rd	George H. Taylor	Republican	contested; seat vacated on February 15^[8]
	John J. Dunnigan	Democrat	took his seat on February 17
24th	C. Ernest Smith	Republican
25th	George T. Burling*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Revision
26th	Holland S. Duell	Republican	Chairman of Labor and Industry
27th	Caleb H. Baumes*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills
28th	James E. Towner*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Insurance
29th	Charles W. Walton*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Codes
30th	Frank L. Wiswall*	Republican
31st	Frederick E. Draper	Republican
32nd	Frederick W. Kavanaugh	Rep./Proh.
33rd	Mortimer Y. Ferris*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Agriculture
34th	Warren T. Thayer*	Rep./Proh.
35th	Theodore Douglas Robinson	Republican	Chairman of Civil Service
36th	Frederick M. Davenport*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
37th	Fred B. Pitcher*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Banks
38th	George R. Fearon*	Republican	Chairman of Public Printing
39th	Allen J. Bloomfield*	Rep./Proh.
40th	Clayton R. Lusk*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; elected Temporary President; Chairman of Rules
41st	Seymour Lowman*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Internal Affairs
42nd	Charles J. Hewitt*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Finance
43rd	William A. Carson*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Affairs of Villages
44th	John Knight*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Public Service
45th	James L. Whitley*	Republican	re-elected; Chairman of Canals
46th	John B. Mullan*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Affairs of Cities; resigned on July 28 to become Postmaster of Rochester
47th	William W. Campbell	Rep./Proh.
48th	Parton Swift*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Military Affairs
49th	William E. Martin	Rep./Proh.
50th	Leonard W. H. Gibbs*	Rep./Proh.	re-elected; Chairman of Public Health
51st	DeHart H. Ames*	Rep./Proh.

Employees

• Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry Witbeck, Jr.
• Principal Doorkeeper: Lee V. Gardner
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Frank Heilbron
• Stenographer: John K. Marshall

State Assembly

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Assemblymen

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Edgar C. Campbell*	Republican
	2nd	John T. Merrigan	Democrat
	3rd	James M. Gaffers	Republican
Allegany		William Duke, Jr.*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Codes
Bronx	1st	Albert H. Henderson*	Democrat
	2nd	Edward J. Flynn*	Democrat	on November 8, 1921, elected Sheriff of Bronx Co.
	3rd	Benjamin Antin	Dem./Rep.
	4th	Samuel Orr*	Socialist
	5th	William Lyman	Dem./Rep.
	6th	Thomas J. McDonald*	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Henry V. Beecher (R)^[9]
	7th	Joseph V. McKee*	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Charles Tremonti (R)^[10]
	8th	Edward J. Walsh	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Charles A. Conner (R)^[11]
Broome	1st	Edmund B. Jenks*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Forman E. Whitcomb*	Rep./Proh.
Cattaraugus		Leigh G. Kirkland	Rep./Proh.
Cayuga		L. Ford Hager*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Penal Institutions
Chautauqua	1st	Judson S. Wright	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Joseph A. McGinnies*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Ways and Means
Chemung		John J. Richford*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of General Laws
Chenango		Bert Lord*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Soldiers' Home; resigned on July 1, 1921, to take office as Director of the New York State Motor Vehicle Bureau
Clinton		Charles M. Harrington*	Rep./Proh.
Columbia		George H. Finch	Rep./Proh./Soc.
Cortland		Irving F. Rice*	Rep./Proh.
Delaware		Lincoln R. Long*	Rep./Proh.
Dutchess	1st	J. Griswold Webb*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Frank L. Gardner*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Insurance
Erie	1st	George E. D. Brady*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Labor and Industries
	2nd	John W. Slacer*	Rep./Proh.
	3rd	August Seelbach*	Rep./Proh.
	4th	Andrew T. Beasley*	Democrat
	5th	Ansley B. Borkowski	Rep./Proh.
	6th	George H. Rowe*	Rep./Proh.
	7th	Herbert A. Zimmerman*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Canals
	8th	Nelson W. Cheney*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Banks
Essex		Fred L. Porter	Rep./Proh.
Franklin		Anson H. Ellsworth	Rep./Proh.
Fulton and Hamilton		Eberly Hutchinson*	Rep./Proh.
Genesee		Charles P. Miller*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills
Greene		Frank G. Jacobs*	Rep./Proh.
Herkimer		James A. Evans	Republican
Jefferson		H. Edmund Machold*	Rep./Proh./Soc.	elected Speaker; Chairman of Rules
Kings	1st	John A. Warren	Republican
	2nd	James J. Mullen*	Republican
	3rd	Frank J. Taylor*	Democrat
	4th	Peter A. McArdle*	Democrat
	5th	James H. Caulfield, Jr.*	Republican	Chairman of Commerce and Navigation
	6th	John R. Crews	Republican
	7th	John J. Kelly*	Democrat
	8th	Michael J. Reilly*	Democrat
	9th	James T. Carroll*	Republican
	10th	Leo V. Doherty*	Republican
	11th	James F. Bly*	Republican
	12th	James G. Moore	Republican
	13th	John J. Wackerman	Democrat
	14th	Henry Jager	Socialist	seat vacated on March 30^[12]
	15th	John J. McLoughlin*	Democrat
	16th	Leon G. Moses	Republican
	17th	Frederick A. Wells*	Republican	Chairman of Military Affairs
	18th	Theodore Stitt*	Republican
	19th	Francis X. Giaccone	Republican
	20th	John O. Gempler*	Republican
	21st	Walter F. Clayton	Republican
	22nd	Louis J. Druss	Republican
	23rd	Charles Solomon*	Socialist	Socialist Leader
Lewis		Miller B. Moran	Republican
Livingston		George F. Wheelock*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Internal Affairs
Madison		J. Arthur Brooks	Rep./Proh.
Monroe	1st	James A. Harris*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Public Education
	2nd	Simon L. Adler*	Rep./Proh.	Majority Leader
	3rd	Harry B. Crowley*	Republican
	4th	Gilbert L. Lewis	Republican
	5th	Franklin W. Judson*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
Montgomery		Samuel W. McCleary	Rep./Proh.
Nassau	1st	Thomas A. McWhinney*	Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Villages
	2nd	Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.*	Republican	resignation announced on March 15, after appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy^[13]
New York	1st	Peter J. Hamill*	Democrat
	2nd	Frank R. Galgano	Democrat
	3rd	Thomas F. Burchill*	Democrat
	4th	Samuel Dickstein*	Dem./Rep.
	5th	Charles D. Donohue*	Democrat	Minority Leader
	6th	Sol Ullman*	Rep./Dem.
	7th	Noel B. Fox*	Republican
	8th	Morris D. Reiss	Rep./Dem.
	9th	Edward R. Rayher	Republican
	10th	Bernard Aronson	Republican
	11th	Frederick H. Nichols	Republican
	12th	John J. O'Connor	Democrat
	13th	Robert B. Wallace*	Republican
	14th	Frederick L. Hackenburg	Democrat
	15th	Joseph Steinberg*	Republican	Chairman of Claims
	16th	Maurice Bloch*	Democrat
	17th	Nathan Lieberman	Rep./Dem.
	18th	Owen M. Kiernan*	Democrat
	19th	Marguerite L. Smith*	Republican	Chairwoman of Social Welfare
	20th	Mario G. DiPirro	Republican
	21st	John Clifford Hawkins*	Republican
	22nd	Michael E. Reiburn	Democrat
	23rd	George N. Jesse*	Republican
Niagara	1st	David E. Jeffery*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Nicholas V. V. Franchot II	Republican
Oneida	1st	Hartwell W. Booth*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Louis M. Martin*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Judiciary
	3rd	Chauncey J. Williams*	Rep./Proh.
Onondaga	1st	Manuel J. Soule*	Republican
	2nd	Gardner J. Chamberlin*	Republican
	3rd	Thomas K. Smith	Republican
Ontario		Charles C. Sackett	Rep./Proh.
Orange	1st	Arthur E. Brundage*	Republican
	2nd	Charles L. Mead*	Republican	Chairman of Public Institutions
Orleans		Frank H. Lattin*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Public Health
Oswego		Ezra A. Barnes	Republican
Otsego		Julian C. Smith	Rep./Proh.
Putnam		John R. Yale	Republican
Queens	1st	Peter A. Leininger*	Democrat
	2nd	Bernard Schwab*	Democrat
	3rd	Edward J. Neary*	Republican
	4th	Nicholas M. Pette*	Republican	resigned on May 2
	5th	Ralph Halpern*	Republican
	6th	Henry Baum*	Republican
Rensselaer	1st	Hugh C. Morrissey*	Republican
	2nd	Arthur Cowee*	Rep./Proh.
Richmond	1st	Thomas F. Cosgrove*	Democrat
	2nd	Ernest V. Frerichs	Republican
Rockland		Gordon H. Peck*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Charitable and Religious Societies; died on February 18, 1921^[14]
St. Lawrence	1st	Frank L. Seaker*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Railroads
	2nd	Edward A. Everett*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Conservation
Saratoga		Clarence C. Smith*	Rep./Proh.
Schenectady	1st	Harold E. Blodgett*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	William W. Campbell	Rep./Proh.
Schoharie		Harry M. Greenwald	Republican
Schuyler		Clarence W. Hausner*	Rep./Proh.
Seneca		George A. Dobson*	Republican
Steuben	1st	Ernest E. Cole*	Rep./Proh./Soc.
	2nd	Delevan C. Hunter*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Revision
Suffolk	1st	John G. Downs*	Rep./Proh.
	2nd	Paul Bailey	Republican
Sullivan		John G. Gray	Republican
Tioga		Daniel P. Witter*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Agriculture
Tompkins		Casper Fenner*	Republican	Chairman of Electricity, Gas and Water Supply
Ulster		Simon B. Van Wagenen*	Republican
Warren		Stewart MacFarland*	Rep./Proh.
Washington		Herbert A. Bartholomew	Republican
Wayne		Charles H. Betts*	Republican	Chairman of Public Printing
Westchester	1st	Thomas Channing Moore*	Republican
	2nd	Walter W. Westall*	Republican
	3rd	Seabury C. Mastick	Republican
	4th	Mitchell A. Trahan, Jr.*	Republican
	5th	George Blakely*	Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Cities
Wyoming		Bert P. Gage*	Rep./Proh.	Chairman of Excise
Yates		James M. Lown*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Fred W. Hammond
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry W. Haines
• Principal Doorkeeper: James B. Hulse
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Walter S. Gay
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles H. Jackson
• Stenographer: George Munson
• Postmaster: James H. Underwood^[15]

Notes

1. Crawford, F. G. (1921). "The New York State Legislative Session of 1921". American Political Science Review. 15 (3): 384–386. doi:10.2307/1946697. ISSN 0003-0554.
2. see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 19ff
3. see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 57ff
4. see Assembly Journal, Vol. II, pg. 1380–1391
5. see Assembly Journal, Vol. II, pg. 1463
6. see Assembly Journal, Vol. II, pg. 1606f
7. McCUE SURROGATE'S CLERK in NYT on June 19, 1921
8. see Senate Journal, pg. 217ff
9. see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 470–476
10. see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 481–487
11. see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 476–481
12. On March 14, his defeated opponent Andrew B. Yacenda (D) belatedly sent a notice of contest to the Assembly, but no action was taken, and he was not seated; see Assembly Journal, Vol I., pg. 874; and Vol. II, pg. 1463
13. see Assembly Journal, Vol. I, pg. 959
14. Assemblyman Gordon H. Peck in NYT on February 19, 1921
15. Malcolm, James (1921). The New York Red Book. Albany, N.Y.: J. B. Lyon Company. p. 148 – via Google Books.

Sources

• Journal of the Senate (144th Session) (1921; Vol. I, January 5 to April 4)
• Journal of the Senate (144th Session) (1921; Vol. II, April 4 to 16)
• Journal of the Assembly (144th Session) (1921; Vol. I, January 5 to March 16)
• Journal of the Assembly (144th Session) (1921; Vol. II, March 16 to April 16)
• SENATE IS MEDIOCRE, SAYS CITIZENS UNION in NYT on July 15, 1921
• Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York prepared by Secretary of State John J. Lyons (1921)