121st New York State Legislature

The 121st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to July 16, 1898, during the second year of Frank S. Black's governorship, in Albany.

121st New York State Legislature
← 120th 122nd →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1898
Senate
Members	50
President	Lt. Gov. Timothy L. Woodruff (R)
Temporary President	Timothy E. Ellsworth (R)
Party control	Republican (36-14)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	James M. E. O'Grady (R)
Party control	Republican (80-70)
Sessions
1st January 5 – March 31, 1898 2nd July 11 – 16, 1898

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, 50 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 were made up of entire counties, except New York County (twelve districts), Kings County (seven districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.

At the New York state election, 1895, the state officers and state senators were elected to an exceptional three-year term (for the sessions of 1896, 1897 and 1898), so that the election of these officers would be held, beginning in 1898, in even-numbered years, at the same time as the gubernatorial election.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Socialist Labor Party and the Prohibition Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1897 was held on November 2. The only statewide elective office up for election was carried by Democrat Alton B. Parker. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, was: Democratic 555,000; Republican 494,000; Socialist Labor 21,000; and Prohibition 20,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1898; and adjourned on March 31.

James M. E. O'Grady (R) was re-elected Speaker, against Thomas F. Donnelly (D).^[1]

On April 25, Congress declared that the Spanish–American War had begun four days previously. Many New Yorkers volunteered to fight for the independence of Cuba, among them Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt and Assemblyman William A. Chanler.

The Legislature met for a special session on July 11;^[2] and adjourned on July 16.^[3] The Legislature enacted a Metropolitan District Elections law which took the organization of elections in New York City out of the hands of the metropolitan police force, then headed by Chief William Stephen Devery, and placed them instead in the hands of a State Superintendent of Elections, appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the Senate. A few minutes after the law was passed, John McCullagh, Devery's predecessor as head of the metropolitan police, was appointed to the office. The Legislature also appropriated money to an additional war fund; and enacted a Soldiers Vote law, expecting it being necessary to take the vote of the New Yorkers engaged in the Spanish–American War in the field during the next state election.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: Queens County
• 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 4th District: 7th, 13th, 19th and 21st Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 5th District: 8th, 10th, 12th and 30th Ward of Brooklyn, and the annexed former Town of Gravesend, as constituted in 1894
• 6th District: 9th, 11th, 20th and 22nd Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 7th District: 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 8th District: 23rd, 24th, 25th and 29th Ward of Brooklyn; and the annexed former Town of Flatlands, as constituted in 1894
• 9th District: 18th, 26th, 27th and 28th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st District: Parts of the City of New York, defined geographically by their bordering streets, regardless of Wards or Assembly districts
• 22nd District: Westchester County
• 23rd District: Orange and Rockland counties
• 24th District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam and counties
• 25th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 26th District: Chenango, Delaware and Sullivan counties
• 27th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties
• 28th District: Saratoga, Schenectady and Washington counties
• 29th District: Albany County
• 30th District: Rensselaer County
• 31st District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 32nd District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 33rd District: Otsego and Herkimer counties
• 34th District: Oneida County
• 35th District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 36th District: Onondaga County
• 37th District: Oswego and Madison counties
• 38th District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties
• 39th District: Cayuga and Seneca counties
• 40th District: Chemung, Schuyler and Tompkins counties
• 41st District: Steuben and Yates counties
• 42nd District: Ontario and Wayne counties
• 43rd District: 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th Ward of Rochester; and the towns of Brighton, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Menden, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Rush and Webster, in Monroe County
• 44th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 19th and 20th Ward of Rochester; and the towns of Chili, Clarkson, Gates, Greece, Hamlin, Ogden, Parma, Riga, Sweden and Wheatland, in Monroe County
• 45th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 46th District: Allegany, Livingston and Wyoming counties
• 47th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Ward of Buffalo
• 48th District: 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th Ward of Buffalo
• 49th District: 17th, 18th and 25th Ward of the City of Buffalo; and all area in Erie County outside Buffalo
• 50th District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties

Note: In 1897, New York County (the boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx), Kings County (the borough of Brooklyn), Richmond County (the borough of Staten Island) and the Western part of Queens County (the borough of Queens) were consolidated into the present-day City of New York. The Eastern part of Queens County (the non-consolidated part) was separated in 1899 as Nassau County. Parts of the 1st and 2nd Assembly districts of Westchester County were annexed by New York City in 1895, and became part of the Borough of the Bronx in 1898.

Members

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

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Richard Higbie*	Republican
2nd	Theodore Koehler*	Democrat
3rd	Frank Gallagher*	Democrat
4th	George W. Brush*	Republican
5th	Michael J. Coffey*	Democrat
6th	Peter H. McNulty*	Democrat
7th	Patrick H. McCarren*	Democrat
8th	Albert A. Wray*	Republican
9th	Julius L. Wieman*	Republican
10th	John F. Ahearn*	Democrat
11th	Timothy D. Sullivan*	Democrat
12th	Samuel J. Foley*	Democrat
13th	Bernard F. Martin*	Democrat
14th	Thomas F. Grady*	Democrat
15th	Frank D. Pavey*	Republican
16th	Louis Munzinger*	Democrat
17th	Charles B. Page*	Republican
18th	Maurice Featherson*	Democrat
19th	John Ford*	Republican
20th	Jacob A. Cantor*	Democrat	Minority Leader
21st	Charles L. Guy*	Democrat
22nd	J. Irving Burns*	Republican
23rd	Clarence Lexow*	Republican
24th	William C. Daley*	Republican
25th	Charles Davis*	Republican
26th	John Grant*	Republican
27th	Hobart Krum*	Republican
28th	Edgar T. Brackett*	Republican
29th	Myer Nussbaum*	Republican
30th	LeGrand C. Tibbits*	Republican
31st	George Chahoon*	Republican
32nd	George R. Malby*	Republican
33rd	Walter L. Brown*	Republican
34th	Henry J. Coggeshall*	Ind. Rep.
35th	Elon R. Brown	Republican	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Joseph Mullin
36th	Horace White*	Republican
37th	Nevada N. Stranahan*	Republican
38th	William Elting Johnson*	Republican
39th	Benjamin M. Wilcox*	Republican
40th	Edwin C. Stewart*	Republican
41st	John S. Sheppard*	Republican
42nd	John Raines*	Republican
43rd	Cornelius R. Parsons*	Republican
44th	Henry Harrison*	Republican
45th	Timothy E. Ellsworth*	Republican	President pro tempore
46th	Lester H. Humphrey*	Republican
47th	Charles Lamy*	Republican
48th	Simon Seibert*	Republican
49th	George Allen Davis*	Republican
50th	Frank W. Higgins*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: James S. Whipple
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Garret J. Benson
• Doorkeeper: Nathan Lewis
• Stenographer: Edward Shaughnessy

State Assembly

Assemblymen

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	William L. Coughtry	Republican
	2nd	James B. McEwan*	Republican
	3rd	George T. Kelly*	Democrat
	4th	George W. Stedman	Republican
Allegany		Almanzo W. Litchard	Republican
Broome	1st	Charles E. Fuller*	Republican
	2nd	Edgar L. Vincent	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	George A. Stoneman	Republican
	2nd	Girvease A. Matteson*	Republican
Cayuga	1st	Elias Q. Dutton	Republican
	2nd	George S. Fordyce	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Frederick R. Peterson*	Republican
	2nd	S. Frederick Nixon*	Republican	Majority Leader
Chemung		John H. Holbert*	Republican
Chenango		Jotham P. Allds*	Republican
Clinton		Edmund J. Pickett	Democrat
Columbia		Robert Hoes*	Republican
Cortland		David W. Van Hoesen	Democrat
Delaware		Delos Axtell	Republican
Dutchess	1st	John A. Hanna*	Republican
	2nd	William A. Tripp	Republican
Erie	1st	Anthony J. Boland	Democrat
	2nd	Henry W. Hill*	Republican
	3rd	William Maloney*	Democrat
	4th	John C. Mohring	Democrat
	5th	Henry Streifler	Democrat
	6th	Nicholas J. Miller*	Republican
	7th	John K. Patton	Republican
	8th	E. Freeman Baker	Republican
Essex		James H. Pierce*	Republican
Franklin		Thomas A. Sears*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Daniel Hays	Republican
Genesee		John J. Ellis	Republican
Greene		Sylvester B. Sage	Democrat
Herkimer		E. LaGrange Smith	Republican
Jefferson	1st	Walter Zimmerman*	Republican
	2nd	Cornelius J. Clark*	Republican
Kings	1st	Henry S. Griggs	Democrat
	2nd	John McKeown*	Democrat
	3rd	Thomas H. Cullen*	Democrat
	4th	David Floyd Davis	Republican
	5th	Abram C. DeGraw	Republican
	6th	William R. McGuire	Democrat
	7th	Francis P. Gallagher	Democrat
	8th	Thomas J. Farrell	Democrat
	9th	John J. Cain*	Democrat
	10th	Samuel M. Hubbard	Democrat
	11th	Joseph A. Guider	Democrat
	12th	Charles C. Schoeneck	Democrat
	13th	Bartley J. Wright	Democrat
	14th	August F. Schmid	Democrat
	15th	Harry H. Dale	Democrat
	16th	Edward C. Brennan*	Republican
	17th	Henry Marshall*	Republican
	18th	George Tiffany	Republican
	19th	Frederick Schmid*	Democrat
	20th	Otto Wicke	Democrat
	21st	John E. Reisert	Democrat
Lewis		Addison L. Clark	Republican
Livingston		Otto Kelsey*	Republican
Madison		Robert J. Fish*	Republican
Monroe	1st	James B. Perkins	Republican
	2nd	James M. E. O'Grady*	Republican	re-elected Speaker; on November 8, 1898, elected to the 56th U.S. Congress
	3rd	William W. Armstrong*	Republican
	4th	Jacob S. Haight	Democrat
Montgomery		Richard Murphy	Republican
New York	1st	Daniel E. Finn*	Democrat
	2nd	James Oliver	Democrat
	3rd	Dominick F. Mullaney	Democrat
	4th	Patrick H. Roche*	Democrat
	5th	William A. Chanler	Democrat	did not attend the special session, due to engagement in the Spanish–American War; on November 8, 1898, elected to the 56th U.S. Congress
	6th	Timothy P. Sullivan*	Democrat
	7th	John F. Maher	Democrat
	8th	Charles S. Adler*	Republican
	9th	N. Taylor Phillips	Democrat
	10th	Julius Harburger	Democrat
	11th	John J. O'Connor	Democrat
	12th	Joseph Schulum*	Democrat
	13th	Patrick F. Trainor*	Democrat
	14th	Jacob Fritz*	Democrat
	15th	Thomas Smith	Democrat
	16th	Benjamin Hoffman*	Democrat
	17th	John F. Brennan	Democrat
	18th	Charles P. Dillon	Democrat
	19th	Solomon C. Weill	Democrat	contested in the courts;[4] election vacated after his death;[5] died on April 28, 1898[6]
		Perez M. Stewart	Citizens Union	seated on July 11, by order of the Court of Appeals
	20th	Cornelius F. Collins	Democrat
	21st	Thomas J. Murray	Democrat
	22nd	Henry Hachemeister	Democrat
	23rd	Mark J. Lowenthal	Republican
	24th	John B. Fitzgerald*	Democrat
	25th	John A. Weekes Jr.	Republican
	26th	Charles S. Sinsheimer	Democrat
	27th	Francis E. Laimbeer*	Ind. Rep.
	28th	Joseph I. Green*	Democrat
	29th	Alfred F. Seligsberg	Gold Dem.
	30th	George W. Meyer Jr.*	Democrat
	31st	Albert E. Crabtree	Democrat
	32nd	Thomas F. Donnelly*	Democrat	Minority Leader
	33rd	John J. Egan	Democrat
	34th	Lyman W. Redington	Democrat
	35th	Richard H. Mitchell	Democrat
Niagara	1st	Dow Vroman	Democrat
	2nd	Henry S. Tompkins	Democrat
Oneida	1st	John Williams	Republican
	2nd	Louis M. Martin	Republican
	3rd	John E. Mason	Republican
Onondaga	1st	William G. Cottle	Ind. Rep.
	2nd	Edward G. Ten Eyck*	Republican
	3rd	Joseph Bondy*	Republican
	4th	John T. Delaney	Republican
Ontario		Robert B. Simmons	Republican
Orange	1st	Louis F. Goodsell*	Republican
	2nd	Daniel P. Shultz	Democrat
Orleans		Dennis W. Evarts	Republican
Oswego	1st	Louis P. Taylor*	Republican
	2nd	Thomas M. Costello*	Republican
Otsego		Leland M. Cowles	Republican
Putnam		Emerson W. Addis*	Republican
Queens	1st	George L. Glaser	Democrat
	2nd	Cyrus B. Gale	Democrat
	3rd	George Wallace	Republican
Rensselaer	1st	Benjamin O. Brewster	Republican
	2nd	William Hutton Jr.*	Democrat
	3rd	Michael Russell	Republican
Richmond		Charles J. Kullman	Democrat
Rockland		Irving Brown	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Ira C. Miles*	Republican
	2nd	Martin V. B. Ives*	Republican
Saratoga		George W. Kavanaugh*	Republican
Schenectady		John C. Myers	Democrat
Schoharie		George M. Palmer*	Democrat
Schuyler		Charles A. Sloane	Republican
Seneca		William V. Van Rensselaer	Republican
Steuben	1st	Edward D. Cross	Republican
	2nd	Hyatt C. Hatch	Republican
Suffolk	1st	Erastus F. Post*	Republican
	2nd	Carll S. Burr Jr.*	Republican
Sullivan		George McLaughlin*	Republican
Tioga		Daniel P. Witter*	Republican
Tompkins		Theron Johnson	Republican
Ulster	1st	Jacob H. Tremper	Republican
	2nd	Charles J. Ackert	Democrat
Warren		Taylor J. Eldridge*	Republican
Washington		Charles R. Paris	Republican
Wayne		Marvin I. Greenwood	Republican
Westchester	1st	Jared Sandford	Democrat
	2nd	William J. Graney	Democrat
	3rd	John Gibney	Democrat
Wyoming		Daniel P. Whipple	Republican
Yates		Miles W. Raplee*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Archie E. Baxter
• Assistant Clerk: Ray B. Smith^[7]
• Sergeant-at-Arms: James C. Crawford

Notes

1. PROCEEDINGS IN THE ASSEMBLY in NYT on January 6, 1898
2. FEW ASSEMBLYMEN ABSENT in NYT on July 12, 1898
3. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE in NYT on July 17, 1898
4. For more information see THE CITIZENS' UNION WINS in NYT on November 10, 1897; CITIZENS' ELECTION APPEALS in NYT on March 1, 1898
5. Weill died before the final decision was taken by the Court of Appeals, two weeks after his death the case was still pending in the Appellate Division, see NINETEENTH DISTRICT VOTE in NYT on May 13, 1898
6. DEATH LIST OF A DAY; Solomon C. Weill in NYT on May 1, 1898
7. Murlin, Edgar L. (1898). The New York Red Book. Albany: James B. Lyon. p. 747.

Sources

• The New York Red Book compiled by Edgar L. Murlin (published by James B. Lyon, Albany NY, 1897; see pg. 133–177 for senators' bios; between pg. 136 and 137 for senators' portraits; pg. 404 for list of senators; and pg. 712–716 for senate districts)
• Official New York from Cleveland to Hughes by Charles Elliott Fitch (Hurd Publishing Co., New York and Buffalo, 1911, Vol. IV; see pg. 338f for assemblymen; and 364 for senators)
• Public Service by James S. Barcus (The Globe Publishing Co., New York, 1898; see pg. 164 for senators; 165–168 for assemblymen; 168 for senate employees; and 169 for assembly employees; has also maps of senate and assembly districts)
• THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS in NYT on January 5, 1898