76th New York State Legislature

The 76th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met in Albany from January 4 to July 21, 1853, during the first year of Horatio Seymour's governorship.

76th New York State Legislature
← 75th 77th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1853
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Sanford E. Church (D)
Temporary President	William McMurray (D), from January 19; Edwin D. Morgan (W), from July 21
Party control	split (16-16)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	William H. Ludlow (D)
Party control	Democratic (87-41)
Sessions
1st January 4 – April 13, 1853 2nd April 14 – 15, 1853 3rd May 24 – July 21, 1853

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators were elected in single-seat senatorial districts for a two-year term, with the whole Senate being renewed biennially. The senatorial districts (except those in New York City) were made up of entire counties. One hundred and twenty-eight Assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts to a one-year term, with the whole Assembly being renewed annually. The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all in the same county. The City and County of New York was divided into four senatorial districts, and 16 Assembly districts.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.^{[citation needed]}

Elections

The New York state election of 1852 was held on November 2. Horatio Seymour (D) was elected governor, defeating the incumbent Washington Hunt (W). Lt. Gov. Sanford E. Church (D) was re-elected. The other two statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Democrats.^{[citation needed]}

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1853, and adjourned on April 13.

William H. Ludlow (D) was elected Speaker with 85 votes against 39 for Jeremiah Ellsworth (W). John S. Nafew (D) was elected Clerk of the Assembly with 86 votes against 40 for the incumbent Richard U. Sherman (W).

On January 19, William McMurray (D) was elected President pro tempore of the Senate.

On April 13, Governor Horatio Seymour called a special session of the Legislature, to conclude the unfinished business of the regular session.

On April 14, the Legislature met for a special session; and adjourned on April 15.

On May 24, the Legislature met for another special session; and adjourned on July 21.

On July 1, Russell Smith (D) was elected Speaker pro tempore, to preside over the Assembly during the absence of Speaker Ludlow.

On July 8, the Assembly impeached Canal Commissioner John C. Mather.

On July 21, near the end of the session, Edwin D. Morgan (W) was elected president pro tempore of the Senate.

On July 27, the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments (consisting of the State Senate and the New York Court of Appeals), met at Albany, for the first time in State history. Assemblymen Marshall B. Champlain, Arphaxed Loomis, John McBurney, Solomon B. Noble (all four Democrats), Orlando Hastings, Walter L. Sessions and Daniel P. Wood (all three Whigs) appeared as the Managers to prosecute the impeachment. Congressman Rufus W. Peckham (D) appeared for the Defense. After organizing, the Court adjourned.^[1]

On August 16, the Impeachment Court met for the trial, which lasted until Mather was acquitted on September 16.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: Kings County
• 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wards of New York City
• 4th District: 7th, 10th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 8th, 9th and 14th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
• 7th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 8th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 11th District: Albany and Schenectady counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer County
• 13th District: Saratoga and Washington counties
• 14th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 15th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 16th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties
• 17th District: Delaware and Schoharie counties
• 18th District: Chenango and Otsego counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Madison and Oswego counties
• 21st District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 22nd District: Onondaga County
• 23rd District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties
• 24th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 25th District: Seneca, Tompkins and Yates counties
• 26th District: Chemung and Steuben counties
• 27th District: Monroe County
• 28th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 29th District: Livingston and Ontario counties
• 30th District: Allegany 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

 

Parties by district.

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

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	James E. Cooley*	Democrat
2nd	John Vanderbilt*	Democrat
3rd	William McMurray*	Democrat	on January 19, elected president pro tempore
4th	Obadiah Newcomb*	Whig
5th	James W. Beekman*	Whig
6th	Edwin D. Morgan*	Whig	on July 21, elected president pro tempore
7th	Abraham B. Conger*	Democrat
8th	John H. Otis*	Democrat
9th	Nathaniel Jones*	Democrat
10th	George T. Pierce*	Democrat
11th	Azor Taber*	Whig
12th	William H. Van Schoonhoven*	Whig
13th	Dan S. Wright*	Whig
14th	Eli W. Rogers*	Democrat
15th	Henry B. Smith*	Democrat
16th	Simeon Snow*	Democrat
17th	Henry E. Bartlett*	Democrat
18th	Harmon Bennett*	Democrat
19th	Benjamin N. Huntington*	Whig
20th	James Platt*	Whig
21st	Ashley Davenport*	Democrat
22nd	James Munroe*	Whig
23rd	Nathan Bristol*	Democrat
24th	William Beach*	Whig
25th	Josiah B. Williams*	Whig
26th	Francis R. E. Cornell*	Democrat
27th	Micajah W. Kirby*	Democrat
28th	Alonzo S. Upham*	Whig
29th	Myron H. Clark*	Whig
30th	John A. McElwain*	Whig	also Treasurer of Wyoming Co.
31st	George R. Babcock*	Whig
32nd	Elisha Ward*	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Ira P. Barnes
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles Lee
• Doorkeeper: A. N. Beardsley
• Assistant Doorkeeper: George Read

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote on Speaker.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	William P. Malburn	Democrat
	2nd	John Reid	Whig
	3rd	William W. Forsyth	Democrat
	4th	Thomas Kearney	Democrat
Allegany	1st	Emulous Townsend	Whig
	2nd	Marshall B. Champlain	Democrat	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
Broome		Joseph E. Ely	Democrat
Cattaraugus	1st	Daniel Hickox	Democrat
	2nd	Michael H. Barker	Democrat
Cayuga	1st	William Hayden*	Whig
	2nd	Terance J. Kennedy	Whig
	3rd	Mathias Hutchinson	Whig
Chautauqua	1st	Walter L. Sessions	Whig	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	2nd	Jeremiah Ellsworth*	Whig
Chemung		Hiram W. Jackson	Democrat
Chenango	1st	William H. Amsbry	Democrat
	2nd	Luther Osgood Jr.	Democrat
Clinton		George V. Hoyle	Whig
Columbia	1st	Henry A. Dubois	Whig
	2nd	Alonzo Chamberlain	Democrat
Cortland		Ashbel Patterson	Democrat
Delaware	1st	Charles S. Rogers	Democrat
	2nd	Daniel Stewart	Whig
Dutchess	1st	John S. Emans*	Democrat
	2nd	James H. Weeks	Democrat
	3rd	Augustus Martin*	Democrat
Erie	1st	Almon M. Clapp	Whig
	2nd	William T. Bush	Whig
	3rd	Israel N. Ely	Whig
	4th	Nelson Welch	Whig
Essex		Jonathan Burnet	Whig
Franklin		Darius W. Lawrence*	Democrat
Fulton and Hamilton		William A. Smith	Democrat
Genesee	1st	Theodore C. Peters	Whig
	2nd	Joseph Cook	Whig
Greene	1st	Darius Winans	Democrat
	2nd	Elijah P. Bushnell	Democrat
Herkimer	1st	Arphaxed Loomis	Democrat	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	2nd	John W. Beckwith	Democrat
Jefferson	1st	James Gifford	Democrat
	2nd	DeWitt C. West	Democrat
	3rd	Charles Smith	Democrat
Kings	1st	Nicholson P. O'Brien	Democrat
	2nd	George A. Searing	Democrat
	3rd	James H. Hutchins	Democrat
Lewis		Seymour Green	Democrat
Livingston	1st	Amos A. Hendee	Whig
	2nd	Abram Lozier	Whig
Madison	1st	Dennis Hardin	Whig
	2nd	Marsena Temple	Democrat
Monroe	1st	Lyman Payne	Whig
	2nd	Orlando Hastings	Whig	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	3rd	James O. Pettingill	Whig
Montgomery	1st	William McClary	Democrat
	2nd	Abram N. Van Alstine	Democrat
New York	1st	Frederick W. C. Wedekind	Democrat
	2nd	Henry H. Howard	Democrat
	3rd	Joseph Rose Jr.*	Democrat
	4th	Robert D. Livingston	Democrat
	5th	George F. Alden	Democrat
	6th	Bartholomew T. Gilmore	Democrat
	7th	Jacob S. Miller	Democrat
	8th	Moses D. Gale*	Democrat
	9th	Erastus W. Glover	Democrat
	10th	Henry Shaw	Democrat
	11th	David O'Keefe Jr.*	Democrat
	12th	Daniel B. Taylor	Democrat
	13th	William Taylor*	Whig
	14th	Solomon B. Noble	Democrat	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	15th	Thomas P. St. John*	Democrat
	16th	Russell Smith	Democrat	on July 1, elected Speaker pro tempore
Niagara	1st	George W. Holley	Whig
	2nd	Reuben F. Wilson	Democrat
Oneida	1st	Dexter Gilmore	Democrat
	2nd	Amos O. Osborn	Whig
	3rd	Julius C. Thorne	Democrat
	4th	Amos C. Hall	Democrat
Onondaga	1st	Alonzo Case	Democrat
	2nd	Samuel S. Kneeland	Whig
	3rd	Daniel P. Wood	Whig	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	4th	Isaac V. V. Hibbard	Democrat
Ontario	1st	Marcus Persons	Whig
	2nd	Hiram Ashley	Whig
Orange	1st	Thomas Fulton	Democrat
	2nd	Hudson Webb	Democrat
	3rd	Ethan B. Carpenter	Democrat
Orleans		Silas M. Burroughs	Independent
Oswego	1st	DeWitt C. Littlejohn	Whig
	2nd	Charles A. Perkins	Whig
Otsego	1st	Charles McLean	Democrat
	2nd	Jenks S. Sprague	Democrat
	3rd	John C. Spafard	Democrat
Putnam		Nathan A. Howes*	Democrat
Queens		Sylvanus S. Smith*	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	Jason C. Osgood	Democrat
	2nd	Charles B. Stratton	Whig
	3rd	Peter G. Ten Eyck	Democrat
Richmond		Henry Dehart	Democrat
Rockland		Nicholas C. Blauvelt	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Barnabas Hall	Democrat
	2nd	Benjamin Smith*	Democrat
	3rd	Parker W. Rose*	Democrat
Saratoga	1st	Willam Cary	Whig
	2nd	Henry Holmes	Whig
Schenectady		William Van Vranken	Democrat
Schoharie	1st	Luman Reed	Whig
	2nd	John Westover	Democrat
Seneca		Sterling G. Hadley	Democrat
Steuben	1st	Dryden Henderson	Democrat
	2nd	John McBurney	Democrat	also a Manager at the impeachment trial
	3rd	Henry H. Bouton	Democrat
Suffolk	1st	Abraham H. Gardiner	Democrat
	2nd	William H. Ludlow	Democrat	elected Speaker
Sullivan		James K. Gardner	Democrat
Tioga		Thomas I. Chatfield	Whig
Tompkins	1st	David Crocker Jr.	Democrat
	2nd	Ebenezer S. Marsh	Democrat
Ulster	1st	John Lounsbury	Democrat
	2nd	L. Harrison Smith	Democrat
Warren		Richard P. Smith	Democrat
Washington	1st	Charles R. Ingalls	Democrat
	2nd	Samuel S. Beman	Whig
Wayne	1st	Benjamin H. Streeter	Democrat
	2nd	Loammi Whitcomb	Whig
Westchester	1st	George C. Finch	Democrat
	2nd	Jacob Odell	Democrat
Wyoming		Alonzo B. Rose	Whig
Yates		DeWitt C. Stanford	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: John S. Nafew
• Sergeant-at-Arms: John P. Phelps
• Doorkeeper: George D. Wooldridge
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Hugh Clary
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: S. A. Brown

Notes

1. COURT OF IMPEACHMENT, Trial of John C. Mather, Canal Commissioner, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors in NYT on July 28, 1853

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 137 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 244ff for assemblymen]
• Journal of the Senate (76th Session) (1853)
• Journal of the Assembly (76th Session) (1853; Vol. I)
• Journal of the Assembly (76th Session) (1853; Vol. II)
• The State Government for 1853 in NYT on January 5, 1853