49th New York State Legislature

The 49th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 18, 1826, during the second year of DeWitt Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany.

49th New York State Legislature
48th 50th
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1 – December 31, 1826
Senate
Members32
PresidentLt. Gov. James Tallmadge, Jr.
Assembly
Members128
SpeakerSamuel Young (Buckt.)
Party controlBucktail (66-55)
Sessions
1stJanuary 3 – April 18, 1826

Background

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Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1821, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in eight 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 1824, Orleans County was split from Genesee County, and was apportioned 1 seat in the Assembly, taken from Genesee.

After the controversy about the presidential succession had come to an end with the election of John Quincy Adams, the factions of the Democratic-Republican Party[1] re-aligned into "Bucktails" (led by U.S. Senator Martin Van Buren) and "Clintonians" (supporters of Gov. DeWitt Clinton).

Elections

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The State election was held from November 7 to 9, 1825. Peter R. Livingston (2nd D.), John L. Viele (4th D.), Charles Stebbins (5th D.), Peter Hager 2d (6th D.), Truman Hart (7th D.), Ethan B. Allen (8th D.); and Assemblymen Joshua Smith (1st D.) and Ambrose L. Jordan (3rd D.) were elected to the Senate. Smith, Livingston, Stebbins and Hager were Bucktails, the other four were Clintonians.

Sessions

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The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1826, and adjourned on April 18.

Samuel Young (Buckt.) was elected Speaker with 65 votes against 54 for Ex-Mayor of New York City Stephen Allen who was a Bucktail but received the votes of the Clintonians. Edward Livingston was again elected Clerk of the Assembly with a vote of 66 to 55.

On January 3, State Senator Jasper Ward stated in the Senate that, during the recess of the Legislature, he had been falsely accused in the press of corrupt proceedings to get two bills passed during the previous session, and demanded an official investigation. The issue was referred to a Select Senate Committee.

On January 14, the Legislature elected Chancellor Nathan Sanford to the seat in the U.S. Senate which had been vacant since Rufus King's term expired on March 4, 1825.

On February 14, the Legislature re-elected State Comptroller William L. Marcy, Attorney General Samuel A. Talcott and Surveyor General Simeon De Witt; and elected Azariah C. Flagg to succeed John Van Ness Yates as Secretary of State; and Abraham Keyser, Jr. to succeed Gamaliel H. Barstow (Clint.) as New York State Treasurer. De Witt was a Clintonian, the other four elected officers were Bucktails.

On February 25, Silas Wright, Jr. submitted the Select Committee's report and offered a resolution that Jasper Ward be expelled from the Senate for corruption. Before the resolution was put to a vote, on March 1, Jasper Ward resigned his seat, and no further action was taken by the Senate.

On March 29, the State Road Commissioners, Jabez D. Hammond, Nathaniel Pitcher and George Morell, submitted their report on the project to build a road through the Southern Tier. Two routes were proposed: the "Northern Route" from Lake Erie via Bath, Ithaca, Unadilla, Delhi and Madison to Athens or Catskill; and the "Southern Route" from Lake Erie via Bath, Painted Post, New Town, Binghamton, Delaware Co., Sullivan Co. and Orange Co. to Nyack. The project was rejected by a vote of 48 to 50, and no State Road was built.

On April 18, the Legislature amended the senatorial district apportionment: Delaware Co. was transferred from the 6th to the 2nd District; and Steuben Co. was transferred from the 8th to the 6th District.

At this session, it was enacted that Justices of the Peace should henceforth be elected townwide by popular ballot, instead of being appointed.

State Senate

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Districts

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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

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Joshua Smith and Ambrose L. Jordan changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District Senators Term left Party Notes
First Jasper Ward* 1 year Dem.-Rep./Bucktail resigned on March 1, 1826
David Gardiner* 2 years
Cadwallader D. Colden* 3 years Clintonian
Joshua Smith* 4 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail[2]
Second James Burt* 1 year
William Nelson* 2 years
Wells Lake* 3 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Peter R. Livingston 4 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Third James Mallory* 1 year Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Jacob Haight* 2 years
Richard McMichael* 3 years Clintonian
Ambrose L. Jordan* 4 years Clintonian also Recorder of the City of Hudson
Fourth Archibald McIntyre* 1 year Clintonian
Silas Wright, Jr.* 2 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail in November 1826, elected to the 20th U. S. Congress
John Crary* 3 years Clintonian
John L. Viele* 4 years Clintonian
Fifth Sherman Wooster* 1 year Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Perley Keyes* 2 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
George Brayton* 3 years Clintonian resigned on April 18, 1826
Charles Stebbins 4 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Sixth Isaac Ogden* 1 year
Latham A. Burrows* 2 years
Stukely Ellsworth* 3 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Peter Hager 2d 4 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Seventh Jonas Earll, Jr.* 1 year Dem.-Rep./Bucktail in November 1826, elected to the 20th U. S. Congress
Jedediah Morgan* 2 years Clintonian resigned his seat due to ill health,
and died December 10, 1826
John C. Spencer* 3 years Clintonian
Truman Hart 4 years Clintonian
Eighth John Bowman* 1 year Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
James McCall* 2 years Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Samuel Wilkeson* 3 years Clintonian
Ethan B. Allen 4 years Clintonian

Employees

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State Assembly

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Districts

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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

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature. Tilly Lynde changed from the Senate to the Assembly.

District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany Samuel S. Lush* Clintonian
Andrew Ten Eyck
Malachi Whipple
Allegany George Williams
Broome Peter Robinson
Cattaraugus James McGlashan
Cayuga Eleazer Burnham
Aaron Dennis
Thatcher I. Ferris
Campbell Waldo
Chautauqua Elial T. Foote
Chenango John C. Clark contested by Tilly Lynde* who was seated on January 6[3]
Robert Monell*
John Tracy also First Judge of the Chenango County Court
Clinton Josiah Fisk*
Columbia Jonathan Hill
Adam I. Strevel
Aaron Vanderpoel Clintonian
Cortland Augustus Donnelly
John Lynde
Delaware Erastus Root Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
William Townsend
Dutchess Isaac R. Adriance
Daniel D. Akin
Martin Lawrence
Thomas Taber II contested by John Fowks Jr. who was seated on January 10[4]
Erie Reuben B. Babcock
Essex William Smith*
Franklin Asa Hascall*
Genesee Josiah Churchill
David Scott
Phinehas Stanton
Greene Addison Porter
Williams Seaman
Hamilton and
Montgomery
Augustus Diefendorff
John French
Alexander Sheldon Clintonian contested by Matthias J. Bovee (D-R/B) who was seated on January 24[5]
Abraham A. Van Horne
Herkimer Jonas Cleland
Nicholas Schuyler Jr.
Edmund Varney
Jefferson David W. Bucklin Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Horatio Orvis
Daniel Wardwell Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Kings William Furman*
Lewis Amos Miller
Livingston James Faulkner* Clintonian
William H. Spencer previously a member from Ontario Co.
Madison Thomas Dibble
Nehemiah Huntington*
Jacob Ten Eyck previously a member from Albany Co. ?
Monroe Henry Fellows*
Isaac Lacey
Vincent Mathews previously a member from Ontario Co.
New York Stephen Allen Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Philip Brasher Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Francis Cooper Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Maltby Gelston* Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
James Hall Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Elisha W. King Clintonian
Isaac Minard Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Jonathan E. Robinson* Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Alpheus Sherman Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
William A. Thompson Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Niagara William King
Oneida Aaron Barnes
Russell Clark
Laurens Hull
Theodore Sill Clintonian
Israel Stoddard*
Onondaga Chauncey Betts
John G. Forbes
Freeborn G. Jewett also Surrogate of Onondaga Co.
David Willard
Ontario Claudius V. Boughton* Clintonian
Francis Granger Clintonian
Gideon Pitts*
Orange Ogden Hoffman
Hudson McFarlan
Abraham Shultz
Benjamin Woodward
Orleans Lathrop A. G. B. Grant[6]
Oswego Henry Williams
Otsego Levi Beardsley Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
William Fitch
Isaac Hayes*
David Tripp
Putnam Henry B. Cowles Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Queens William Jones*
Thomas Tredwell*
Rensselaer Robert Collins
Augustus Filley
John F. Groesbeck
William Pierce
Richmond vacant "no election"
Rockland Abraham Gurnee* contested by Edward Suffern who was seated on January 27[7]
St. Lawrence Baron S. Doty Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
Saratoga David Benedict
Thomas Dibble
Samuel Young Dem.-Rep./Bucktail elected Speaker;
also an Erie Canal Commissioner
Schenectady Robert Sanders
Schoharie Robert Eldredge
Martinus Mattice
Seneca Benjamin Hendricks
Daniel Scott
Steuben Daniel Cruger
Grattan H. Wheeler
Suffolk Usher H. Moore
John M. Williamson
Sullivan Thomas Crary
Tioga Isaac Baldwin
Anson Camp
Tompkins Nathan Benson
David Woodcock Dem.-Rep./Bucktail in November 1826, elected to the 20th U. S. Congress
Ulster Charles Bryan
James T. Elmore
John Lounsbery
Warren Norman Fox
Washington Hiram Cole
James Stevenson
Israel Williams
David Woods
Wayne Ambrose Hall
John L. Kip
Westchester Joseph Scofield* Dem.-Rep./Bucktail
John H. Smith
James Wiley
Yates Avery Smith

Employees

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  • Clerk: Edward Livingston
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Chester Griswold
  • Doorkeeper: William Seely
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: James D. Scollard

Notes

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  1. ^ Originally, 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. ^ Hammond says erroneously that he was a Clintonian, but see the tickets at Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class 1788-1850 by Sean Wilentz (Oxford University Press, 1984; page 72)
  3. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 51ff)
  4. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 62f)
  5. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 53–58)
  6. ^ Lathrop Augustus George Baldwin Grant (1797-1871), merchant, of Shelby
  7. ^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 59–62)

Sources

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