148th New York State Legislature

The 148th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to June 26, 1925, during the third year of Al Smith's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany.

148th New York State Legislature
← 147th 149th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1925
Senate
Members	51
President	Lt. Gov. Seymour Lowman (R)
Temporary President	John Knight (R)
Party control	Republican (29–22)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Joseph A. McGinnies (R)
Party control	Republican (96–54)
Sessions
1st January 7 – March 27, 1925 2nd June 22 – 26, 1925

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 Workers Party and the Socialist Labor Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1924, was held on November 4. Governor Al Smith (Dem.) was re-elected, but the other six incumbent Democratic state officers were defeated by their Republican challengers. State Senator Seymour Lowman (Rep.) was elected Lieutenant Governor, the last time in New York history that the governor and the lieutenant governor were elected from opposing tickets. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 1,627,000; Republicans 1,519,000; Socialists 100,000; Workers 6,000; and Socialist Labor 5,000.

For the first time, a woman was elected to a statewide elective office: Florence E. S. Knapp was elected Secretary of State of New York. At the end of her term she was accused of maladministration, and was convicted of grand larceny in office in 1928. After the re-organisation of the state administration in 1926, the office became appointive, and has remained so ever since. Knapp remained the only woman elected to a statewide elective office in New York for fifty years, until the election of Mary Anne Krupsak as Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1974.

Only one woman was elected to the State Assembly: Rhoda Fox Graves (Rep.), of Gouverneur, a former school teacher who after her marriage became active in women's organisations and politics.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1925;^[1] and adjourned on March 27.^[2]

Joseph A. McGinnies (Rep.) was elected Speaker.

John Knight (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

In his annual message, Gov. Al Smith proposed a thorough reconstruction of the state administration. During the next two years, many state departments were abolished, merged or created. Most notably, of three offices which had been statewide elective since 1847, one (the Secretary of State) was made appointive, and two (the State Engineer and the State Treasurer) were abolished, the duties being taken over by other departments.

The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on June 22, 1925;^[3] and adjourned on June 26.^[4] This session was called by Gov. Al Smith to reconsider the state park legislation passed during the regular session.

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

Partisan composition of the Senate.

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Thomas F. Burchill, William J. Hickey and Leigh G. Kirkland 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*	Republican	re-elected
2nd	John L. Karle	Republican
3rd	Peter J. McGarry*	Democrat	re-elected
4th	Philip M. Kleinfeld*	Democrat	re-elected
5th	Daniel F. Farrell*	Democrat	re-elected
6th	James A. Higgins*	Democrat	re-elected
7th	John A. Hastings*	Democrat	re-elected
8th	William L. Love*	Democrat	re-elected
9th	Frank E. Johnson	Democrat	on November 3, 1925, elected to the Municipal Court
10th	Jeremiah F. Twomey*	Democrat	re-elected
11th	Daniel J. Carroll*	Democrat	re-elected
12th	Jimmy Walker*	Democrat	re-elected; Minority Leader; on November 3, 1925, elected Mayor of New York City
13th	Thomas F. Burchill*	Democrat
14th	Bernard Downing*	Democrat	re-elected
15th	Nathan Straus Jr.*	Democrat	re-elected
16th	Thomas I. Sheridan*	Democrat	re-elected
17th	Courtlandt Nicoll	Republican
18th	Martin J. Kennedy*	Democrat	re-elected
19th	Duncan T. O'Brien*	Democrat	re-elected
20th	Michael E. Reiburn*	Democrat	re-elected
21st	Henry G. Schackno*	Democrat	re-elected
22nd	Benjamin Antin*	Democrat	re-elected
23rd	John J. Dunnigan*	Democrat	re-elected
24th	Thomas J. Walsh	Democrat
25th	Walter W. Westall*	Republican	re-elected
26th	Seabury C. Mastick*	Republican	re-elected
27th	Caleb H. Baumes*	Republican	re-elected
28th	J. Griswold Webb*	Republican	re-elected
29th	Arthur F. Bouton*	Republican	re-elected
30th	William T. Byrne*	Democrat	re-elected
31st	John F. Williams	Republican
32nd	Thomas C. Brown	Republican
33rd	Mortimer Y. Ferris*	Rep./Dem.	re-elected
34th	Warren T. Thayer*	Republican	re-elected
35th	Jeremiah Keck	Republican
36th	Henry D. Williams	Republican
37th	Perley A. Pitcher	Republican
38th	George R. Fearon*	Republican	re-elected
39th	Willis Wendell	Republican
40th	B. Roger Wales	Republican
41st	James S. Truman	Republican
42nd	Charles J. Hewitt*	Republican	re-elected
43rd	Ernest E. Cole*	Rep./Soc.	re-elected
44th	John Knight*	Rep./Dem./Soc.	re-elected; elected Temporary President
45th	James L. Whitley*	Republican	re-elected
46th	Homer E. A. Dick*	Republican	re-elected
47th	William W. Campbell*	Rep./Dem.	re-elected
48th	William J. Hickey*	Republican
49th	Leonard R. Lipowicz	Republican
50th	Leonard W. H. Gibbs*	Republican	re-elected
51st	Leigh G. Kirkland*	Rep./Soc.

Employees

• Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms:
• Principal Doorkeeper:
• First Assistant Doorkeeper:
• Stenographer:

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Partisan composition of the Assembly in New York City

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

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Delbert C. Hall	Republican
	2nd	John P. Hayes	Democrat
	3rd	Frederick B. Linen	Republican
Allegany		Cassius Congdon*	Republican
Bronx	1st	Nicholas J. Eberhard*	Democrat
	2nd	Lester W. Patterson*	Democrat
	3rd	Julius S. Berg*	Democrat
	4th	Louis A. Schoffel*	Democrat	on November 3, 1925, elected Register of Bronx Co.
	5th	Harry A. Samberg*	Democrat
	6th	Thomas J. McDonald*	Democrat
	7th	John F. Reidy*	Democrat
	8th	Joseph E. Kinsley*	Democrat
Broome	1st	Edmund B. Jenks*	Republican	Chairman of Codes
	2nd	Forman E. Whitcomb*	Republican
Cattaraugus		James W. Watson	Rep./Soc.
Cayuga		Sanford G. Lyon*	Rep./Soc.
Chautauqua	1st	Adolf F. Johnson*	Republican
	2nd	Joseph A. McGinnies*	Republican	elected Speaker
Chemung		Hovey E. Copley*	Republican
Chenango		Bert Lord*	Republican
Clinton		George W. Gilbert*	Republican
Columbia		Lewis F. Harder*	Republican
Cortland		Irving F. Rice*	Republican
Delaware		Ralph H. Loomis*	Republican
Dutchess	1st	Howard N. Allen*	Republican
	2nd	John M. Hackett*	Republican
Erie	1st	John S. N. Sprague	Republican
	2nd	Henry W. Hutt*	Republican
	3rd	Frank X. Bernhardt	Republican
	4th	John J. Meegan*	Democrat
	5th	Ansley B. Borkowski*	Republican
	6th	Charles A. Freiberg*	Republican
	7th	Edmund F. Cooke*	Republican
	8th	Nelson W. Cheney*	Republican
Essex		Fred L. Porter*	Republican
Franklin		George J. Moore*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Eberly Hutchinson*	Republican	Chairman of Ways and Means
Genesee		Charles P. Miller*	Republican
Greene		Ellis W. Bentley*	Republican
Herkimer		Theodore L. Rogers	Republican
Jefferson		Jasper W. Cornaire	Republican
Kings	1st	Charles F. Cline*	Democrat
	2nd	Murray Hearn*	Democrat
	3rd	Frank J. Taylor*	Democrat
	4th	Peter A. McArdle*	Democrat
	5th	Robert C. Shephard	Republican
	6th	Joseph Reich*	Democrat
	7th	John J. Howard*	Democrat
	8th	Michael J. Reilly*	Democrat
	9th	Richard J. Tonry*	Democrat
	10th	Bernard F. Gray*	Democrat
	11th	Edward J. Coughlin*	Democrat
	12th	Marcellus H. Evans*	Democrat
	13th	William Breitenbach	Democrat
	14th	Joseph R. Blake*	Democrat
	15th	Gerald F. Dunne	Democrat
	16th	Maurice Z. Bungard*	Democrat
	17th	Edward E. Fay	Republican
	18th	Irwin Steingut*	Democrat
	19th	Jerome G. Ambro	Democrat
	20th	Frank A. Miller*	Democrat
	21st	Walter F. Clayton*	Republican	Chairman of Cities
	22nd	Howard C. Franklin*	Democrat
	23rd	Joseph F. Ricca*	Rep./Dem.
Lewis		Clarence L. Fisher	Republican
Livingston		Lewis G. Stapley*	Republican
Madison		John W. Gates	Republican
Monroe	1st	Arthur T. Pammenter	Republican
	2nd	Simon L. Adler*	Republican	Majority Leader
	3rd	Cosmo A. Cilano	Republican
	4th	Fred J. Slater	Republican
	5th	W. Ray Austin*	Republican
Montgomery		Samuel W. McCleary*	Republican
Nassau	1st	Edwin W. Wallace*	Republican
	2nd	F. Trubee Davison*	Republican
New York	1st	Peter J. Hamill*	Democrat
	2nd	Frank R. Galgano*	Democrat
	3rd	Sylvester A. Dineen	Democrat
	4th	Samuel Mandelbaum*	Democrat
	5th	Frank A. Carlin*	Democrat
	6th	Morris Weinfeld*	Democrat
	7th	John L. Buckley	Democrat
	8th	Henry O. Kahan*	Democrat
	9th	John H. Conroy*	Democrat
	10th	Phelps Phelps*	Republican
	11th	Samuel I. Rosenman*	Democrat
	12th	Paul T. Kammerer Jr.	Democrat
	13th	John P. Nugent*	Democrat
	14th	Frederick L. Hackenburg*	Democrat
	15th	Samuel H. Hofstadter	Republican
	16th	Maurice Bloch*	Democrat	Minority Leader
	17th	Meyer Alterman*	Democrat
	18th	Owen M. Kiernan*	Democrat
	19th	Abraham Grenthal	Republican
	20th	Louis A. Cuvillier*	Democrat
	21st	Pope B. Billups[5]	Republican
	22nd	Joseph A. Gavagan*	Democrat
	23rd	A. Spencer Feld	Democrat
Niagara	1st	Mark T. Lambert*	Republican
	2nd	Frank S. Hall*	Republican
Oneida	1st	Gordon C. Ferguson	Republican
	2nd	Russell G. Dunmore*	Republican
	3rd	George J. Skinner*	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Horace M. Stone*	Republican
	2nd	Willis H. Sargent	Republican
	3rd	Richard B. Smith*	Republican
Ontario		Robert A. Catchpole	Republican
Orange	1st	DeWitt C. Dominick	Republican
	2nd	Charles L. Mead*	Republican	Chairman of Public Institutions
Orleans		Frank H. Lattin*	Republican
Oswego		Victor C. Lewis*	Republican
Otsego		Frank M. Smith	Republican
Putnam		John R. Yale*	Republican	died on July 17, 1925
Queens	1st	Henry M. Dietz*	Democrat
	2nd	Owen J. Dever*	Democrat	resigned his seat on March 28, 1925, to accept an appointment as Director of the Queens Public Library
	3rd	Alfred J. Kennedy*	Democrat
	4th	D. Lacy Dayton*	Republican
	5th	William F. Brunner*	Democrat
	6th	Henry Baum	Republican
Rensselaer	1st	Edward J. Donohue	Republican
	2nd	William D. Thomas	Republican
Richmond	1st	William S. Hart*	Democrat
	2nd	William L. Vaughan*	Democrat
Rockland		Walter S. Gedney*	Republican
St. Lawrence	1st	Rhoda Fox Graves	Republican
	2nd	Walter L. Pratt*	Republican
Saratoga		Burton D. Esmond*	Republican
Schenectady	1st	Charles W. Merriam*	Republican
	2nd	William M. Nicoll*	Republican
Schoharie		Kenneth H. Fake*	Republican
Schuyler		William Wickham*	Republican
Seneca		William H. Van Cleef*	Republican
Steuben	1st	Wilson Messer*	Republican
	2nd	Leon F. Wheatley*	Republican
Suffolk	1st	John G. Downs	Republican
	2nd	John Boyle Jr.*	Republican
Sullivan		J. Maxwell Knapp	Republican
Tioga		Daniel P. Witter*	Republican
Tompkins		James R. Robinson*	Republican
Ulster		Millard Davis	Republican
Warren		Richard J. Bolton	Republican
Washington		Herbert A. Bartholomew*	Republican
Wayne		Harry A. Tellier	Republican
Westchester	1st	Thomas Channing Moore*	Republican
	2nd	Herbert B. Shonk*	Republican
	3rd	Milan E. Goodrich*	Republican
	4th	Alexander H. Garnjost*	Republican
	5th	George A. Krug	Republican
Wyoming		Webb A. Joiner*	Republican
Yates		James H. Underwood*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Fred W. Hammond

Notes

1. MESSAGE LONGEST ON RECORD in NYT on January 8, 1925 (subscription required)
2. New York Red Book (1939; pg. 241)
3. BATTLE OVER PARKS WILL BEGIN TONIGHT AT SPECIAL SESSION in NYT on June 22, 1925 (subscription required)
4. SMITH EXCORIATES WESTCHESTER GROUP FOR PARK DESERTION in NYT on June 26, 1925 (subscription required)
5. Pope Barrow Billups (born October 11, 1889, in Athens, Georgia), lawyer, African-American

Sources

• Members of the New York Senate (1920s) at Political Graveyard
• Members of the New York Assembly (1920s) at Political Graveyard