55th New York State Legislature

The 55th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to July 2, 1832, during the fourth year of Enos T. Throop's governorship, in Albany.

55th New York State Legislature
← 54th 56th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1832
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Edward P. Livingston (J)
Party control	Jacksonian (24-8)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Charles L. Livingston (J)
Party control	Jacksonian
Sessions
1st January 3 – April 26, 1832 1st June 21 – July 2, 1832

Background

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.

Canal Commissioner Henry Seymour (J) resigned in May 1831. Gov. Throop appointed Jonas Earll, Jr. (J) to fill the vacancy temporarily.

At this time, there were three political parties: the Jacksonian Democrats (supporting President Andrew Jackson; led by Martin Van Buren), the Anti-Masons, and the National Republicans (supporting Henry Clay for the presidency).

Elections

The State election was held from November 7 to 9, 1831. Harman B. Cropsey (1st D.), Allan Macdonald (2nd D.), Josiah Fisk (4th D.), Robert Lansing (5th D.), Jehiel H. Halsey (7th D.); and Assemblymen John W. Edmonds (3rd D.), John G. McDowell (6th D.) and John Birdsall (8th D.) were elected to the Senate. Birdsall was an Anti-Mason, the other seven were Jacksonians.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1832; and adjourned on April 26.

Charles L. Livingston (J) was elected Speaker.

On January 9, the Legislature upheld Gov. Throop's recess appointment, electing Jonas Earll, Jr. as Canal Commissioner.

On February 6, the Legislature re-elected Secretary of State Azariah C. Flagg, State Comptroller Silas Wright, Jr., State Treasurer Abraham Keyser, Jr., Attorney General Greene C. Bronson and Surveyor General Simeon De Witt.

The Anti-Masonic state convention met on June 21, and nominated again Assemblyman Francis Granger for Governor and Samuel Stevens, of New York City, for Lieutenant Governor. They also nominated a full ticket of presidential electors, apparently composed of some supporters of William Wirt, and some of Henry Clay, but not pledged to any candidate.

The Legislature met for a special session on June 21; and the Assembly adjourned on June 30, the Senate on July 2. This session was called to re-apportion the congressional districts, and to direct sanitary measures concerning the cholera epidemic.

The National Republican state convention met on July 26, Ambrose Spencer was Chairman. They endorsed The Anti-Masonic nominees Granger and Stevens. They also endorsed the ticket of presidential electors nominated by the Anti-Masons, who—if they won the election—should vote for Henry Clay if this would help to defeat Jackson, otherwise for Wirt. In effect, both parties were in the process of merging, becoming eventually the Whig Party.

The Jacksonian state convention met on September 19 at Herkimer, Samuel Young was Chairman. They nominated U.S. Senator William L. Marcy for Governor, and Judge John Tracy for Lieutenant Governor.

State Senate

Districts

• The First District (4 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties.
• The Second District (4 seats) consisted of Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
• The Third District (4 seats) consisted of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.
• The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
• The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted of Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida and Oswego counties.
• The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted of Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Otsego, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
• The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted of Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties.
• The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara and Orleans 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

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. John W. Edmonds, John G. McDowell and John Birdsall changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	Stephen Allen*	1 year	Jacksonian
	Alpheus Sherman*	2 years	Jacksonian
	Jonathan S. Conklin*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Harman B. Cropsey	4 years	Jacksonian
Second	Samuel Rexford*	1 year	Jacksonian
	Nathaniel P. Tallmadge*	2 years	Jacksonian
	David M. Westcott*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Allan Macdonald	4 years	Jacksonian	also Postmaster of White Plains
Third	Lewis Eaton*	1 year	Jacksonian
	William Dietz*	2 years	Jacksonian	in November 1832, elected a presidential elector
	Herman I. Quackenboss*	3 years	Jacksonian
	John W. Edmonds*	4 years	Jacksonian	also Recorder of the City of Hudson
Fourth	John McLean Jr.*	1 year	Jacksonian
	Isaac Gere*	2 years	Jacksonian
	William I. Dodge*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Josiah Fisk	4 years	Jacksonian
Fifth	William H. Maynard*	1 year	Anti-Mason	died on August 28, 1832
	Alvin Bronson*	2 years	Jacksonian
	Henry A. Foster*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Robert Lansing	4 years	Jacksonian
Sixth	John F. Hubbard*	1 year	Jacksonian
	Levi Beardsley*	2 years	Jacksonian
	Charles W. Lynde*	3 years	Anti-Mason
	John G. McDowell*	4 years	Jacksonian	also Postmaster of Chemung
Seventh	Hiram F. Mather*	1 year	Anti-Mason
	Thomas Armstrong*	2 years	Jacksonian	also Supervisor of Butler
	William H. Seward*	3 years	Anti-Mason
	Jehiel H. Halsey	4 years	Jacksonian
Eighth	Philo C. Fuller*	1 year	Anti-Mason
	Albert H. Tracy*	2 years	Anti-Mason
	Trumbull Cary*	3 years	Anti-Mason
	John Birdsall*	4 years	Anti-Mason

Employees

• Clerk: John F. Bacon

State Assembly

Districts

• Albany County (3 seats)
• Allegany County (1 seat)
• Broome County (1 seat)
• Cattaraugus County (1 seat)
• Cayuga County (4 seats)
• Chautauqua County (2 seats)
• Chenango County (3 seats)
• Clinton County (1 seat)
• Columbia County (3 seats)
• Cortland County (2 seats)
• Delaware County (2 seats)
• Dutchess County (4 seats)
• Erie County (2 seats)
• Essex County (1 seat)
• Franklin County (1 seat)
• Genesee County (3 seats)
• Greene County (2 seats)
• Hamilton and Montgomery counties (3 seats)
• Herkimer County (3 seats)
• Jefferson County (3 seats)
• Kings County (1 seat)
• Lewis County (1 seat)
• Livingston County (2 seats)
• Madison County (3 seats)
• Monroe County (3 seats)
• The City and County of New York (11 seats)
• Niagara County (1 seat)
• Oneida County (5 seats)
• Onondaga County (4 seats)
• Ontario County (3 seats)
• Orange County (3 seats)
• Orleans County (1 seat)
• Oswego County (1 seat)
• Otsego County (4 seats)
• Putnam County (1 seat)
• Queens County (1 seat)
• Rensselaer County (4 seats)
• Richmond County (1 seat)
• Rockland County (1 seat)
• St. Lawrence County (2 seats)
• Saratoga County (3 seats)
• Schenectady County (1 seat)
• Schoharie County (2 seats)
• Seneca County (2 seats)
• Steuben County (2 seats)
• Suffolk County (2 seats)
• Sullivan County (1 seat)
• Tioga County (2 seats)
• Tompkins County (3 seats)
• Ulster County (2 seats)
• Warren County (1 seat)
• Washington (3 seats)
• Wayne County (2 seats)
• Westchester County (3 seats)
• Yates County (1 seat)

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

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

The party affiliations follow the vote on the state officers on January 9 and February 6;^[1] and participation in the Jacksonian caucus on February 2.^[2]

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Abijah C. Disbrow	Jacksonian
	Philip Lennebacker	Jacksonian
	William Seymour	Jacksonian
Allegany	John B. Collins	Anti-Mason
Broome	Vincent Whitney	Anti-Mason
Cattaraugus	George A. S. Crooker	Nat. Rep.
Cayuga	John Beardsley	Jacksonian
	George H. Brinkerhoff	Jacksonian
	John W. Sawyer	Jacksonian
	George S. Tilford*	Jacksonian
Chautauqua	Theron Bly	Anti-Mason
	Squire White*	Anti-Mason
Chenango	Noah Ely	Anti-Mason
	Joseph Juliand*	Anti-Mason
	Edmond G. Per Lee	Anti-Mason
Clinton	John Walker*	Jacksonian	died on January 13 or 14, 1832.[3]
	John Palmer	Jacksonian	elected to fill vacancy, seated on February 24, 1832[4]
Columbia	Medad Butler	Jacksonian
	Tobias L. Hogeboom	Jacksonian
	Leonard W. Ten Broeck	Jacksonian
Cortland	Andrew Dickson	Jacksonian
	Jonathan L. Woods	Jacksonian
Delaware	James Coulter	Jacksonian
	James Hughston	Jacksonian
Dutchess	Robert Coffin	Jacksonian
	Ely Hamblin	Jacksonian
	Michael S. Martin	Jacksonian
	Israel Shadbolt	Jacksonian
Erie	Horace Clark	Anti-Mason
	William Mills	Anti-Mason
Essex	Isaac Vanderwarker	Jacksonian
Franklin	James B. Spencer*	Jacksonian
Genesee	Seth M. Gates	Anti-Mason
	Henry Hawkins	Anti-Mason
	James Sprague 2d	Anti-Mason
Greene	Erastus Hamilton	Jacksonian
	Dumah Tuttle	Jacksonian
Hamilton and Montgomery	Silas Philips	Jacksonian
	Jacob Van Arnum	Jacksonian
	Peter Wood	Jacksonian
Herkimer	William C. Crain	Jacksonian
	Daniel Dygert	Jacksonian
	David Thorp	Jacksonian
Jefferson	William H. Angel	Jacksonian
	Philip Maxwell	Jacksonian
	Nathan Strong	Jacksonian
Kings	Coe S. Downing*	Jacksonian
Lewis	Andrew W. Doig	Jacksonian
Livingston	George W. Patterson	Anti-Mason
	John Young	Anti-Mason
Madison	Nehemiah Batcheler	Anti-Mason
	Daniel M. Gillet	Anti-Mason
	John Head 2d	Anti-Mason
Monroe	Samuel G. Andrews*	Anti-Mason
	Ira Bellows	Anti-Mason
	William B. Brown	Anti-Mason
New York	Nathan T. Arnold	Jacksonian
	Judah Hammond	Jacksonian
	Charles L. Livingston*	Jacksonian	elected Speaker
	John McKeon	Jacksonian
	Philip E. Milledoler	Jacksonian
	James Morgan*	Jacksonian
	Mordecai Myers*	Jacksonian
	Gideon Ostrander*	Jacksonian
	Silas M. Stilwell*	Jacksonian
	Myndert Van Schaick	Jacksonian
	Isaac L. Varian*	Jacksonian
Niagara	Henry Norton*	Anti-Mason
Oneida	Nathaniel Fitch	Jacksonian
	Lemuel Hough	Jacksonian
	Rutger B. Miller	Jacksonian
	David Moulton*	Jacksonian	in November 1832, elected a presidential elector
	Daniel Twitchell	Jacksonian
Onondaga	Miles W. Bennett	Jacksonian
	Elijah W. Curtis	Jacksonian
	Elisha Litchfield*	Jacksonian
	Ichabod Ross	Jacksonian
Ontario	Francis Granger	Anti-Mason
	Jonathan Mason	Anti-Mason
	Robert C. Nicholas	Anti-Mason
Orange	John Barker	Jacksonian
	Isaac R. Van Duzer	Jacksonian
	Charles Winfield	Jacksonian
Orleans	William J. Babbitt	Anti-Mason
Oswego	Avery Skinner	Jacksonian
Otsego	Samuel Colwell	Jacksonian
	Gilbert Cone	Jacksonian
	William Kirby	Jacksonian
	Amasa Thompson	Jacksonian
Putnam	Reuben D. Barnum	Jacksonian
Queens	John A. King	Nat. Rep.
Rensselaer	Hosea Bennett	Jacksonian
	Henry J. Genet	Jacksonian
	John C. Kemble	Jacksonian
	Nicholas M. Masters	Jacksonian
Richmond	Jacob Mersereau	Jacksonian
Rockland	Isaac I. Blauvelt	Jacksonian
St. Lawrence	William Allen	Jacksonian
	Edwin Dodge	Jacksonian
Saratoga	James Brisbin Jr.	Jacksonian
	Ebenezer Couch	Jacksonian
	Oran G. Otis*	Jacksonian
Schenectady	Abraham Dorn	Jacksonian
Schoharie	Alexander Crookshank	Jacksonian
	Jedediah Miller	Nat. Rep.
Seneca	Reuben D. Dodge	Jacksonian
	Erastus Woodworth	Jacksonian
Steuben	Edward Howell	Jacksonian	also D.A. of Steuben County; in November 1832, elected to the 23rd U.S. Congress
	John McBurney	Jacksonian
Suffolk	Samuel L'Hommedieu Jr.	Jacksonian
	John M. Williamson	Jacksonian
Sullivan	Hiram Bennett	Nat. Rep.
Tioga	Nathaniel Smith	Jacksonian
	Joel Tallmadge Jr.	Jacksonian
Tompkins	John Ellis*	Anti-Mason
	Horace Mack	Jacksonian
	John James Speed Jr.	Jacksonian
Ulster	Leonard Hardenbergh	Jacksonian
	Heman Landon	Jacksonian
Warren	Allen Anderson	Jacksonian
Washington	Isaac W. Bishop	Jacksonian
	John McDonald	Nat. Rep.
	James Stevenson	Nat. Rep.
Wayne	James Humeston	Jacksonian
	Ambrose Salisbury	Jacksonian
Westchester	John W. Frost	Nat. Rep.
	Thomas Smith	Nat. Rep.
	Israel H. Watson	Jacksonian
Yates	Aaron Remer*	Jacksonian

Employees

• Clerk: Francis Seger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: James D. Scollard
• Doorkeeper: Alonzo Crosby
• Assistant Doorkeeper: James Courter (1st session)
  • Oliver Scovil (2nd session)

Notes

1. see Journal of the Assembly (55th session; pg. 66f and 208ff)
2. see The Voice of the People and the Facts in Relation to the Rejection of Martin Van Buren by the U.S. Senate (1832; pg. 5f)
3. Walker attended the session on January 13, and was found dead in his bed shortly before noon on January 14, having died in his sleep from the "rupture of a blood vessel near the heart"; see Assembly Journal pg. 93 and 99; and death notice in American Rail-Road Journal (pg. 62)
4. see Assembly Journal, pg. 306

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 129 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 212f for assemblymen]
• The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York, from the Ratification of the Federal Constitution to 1840 by Jabez D. Hammond (4th ed., Vol. 2, Phinney & Co., Buffalo, 1850; pg. 368 to 424)