69th New York State Legislature

The 69th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to May 13, 1846, during the second year of Silas Wright's governorship, in Albany.

69th New York State Legislature
← 68th 70th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1846
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Addison Gardiner (D)
Temporary President	Samuel Young, from April 29
Party control	Democratic (25-6-1)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	William C. Crain (D)
Party control	Democratic (74-52-2)
Sessions
1st January 6 – May 13, 1846

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.

On May 13, 1845, an "Act recommending a Convention of the people of this State" was passed, submitting at the next State election to the people the question whether they wanted to call a convention to amend the State Constitution.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party. The Democratic Party was split into two factions: the "Barnburners" and the "Hunkers." The radical abolitionists appeared as the Liberty Party. The Anti-Rent Party nominated some candidates, but mostly cross-endorsed Whigs or Democrats, according to their opinion on the rent issue. In and near New York City, the originally called American Republican Party became now known as the "Native Americans", "Nativists" or "Know Nothings".^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Elections

The State election was held on November 4, 1845. The question whether to hold a Constitutional convention was answered in the affirmative, with 213,084 votes for and 33,283 votes against it.

State Senator Gideon Hard (8th D.) was re-elected.

1845 New York State Senate election result

District	Democrat		Whig		Liberty		Native American
First	Edward Sanford	20,301	Bradish	14,439		119	Ely	9,831
Second	Saxton Smith	19,929	Warren	15,723		94	Palen	361
Third	Nichols	18,846	William H. Van Schoonhoven	24,929		440
Fourth	Samuel Young	21,488	James G. Hopkins	20,428		2,378
Fifth	Lyman J. Walworth	18,908	Joshua A. Spencer	19,337		4,641
Sixth	Thomas J. Wheeler	20,790	Dana	19,424		2,031
Seventh	Richard H. Williams	19,422	John M. Holley	19,052		2,996
Eighth	Stoddard	14, 701	Gideon Hard	20,543		2,390

Sessions

On January 5, the Democratic assemblymen met in caucus and nominated William C. Crain (Barnb.) for Speaker with 48 votes against 22 for Benjamin Bailey (Barnb.).

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1846; and adjourned on May 13.

William C. Crain (D) was elected Speaker with 73 votes against 44 for John Young (W) and 7 for Ira Harris (A-R). William W. Dean (D) was elected Clerk of the Assembly with 77 votes against 48 for George W. Weed (W).

On February 2, the Legislature elected Adjutant General Thomas Farrington (Barnb.) to succeed Benjamin Enos (Hunker) as State Treasurer.

On March 7, Andrew G. Chatfield (Hunker) was elected Speaker pro tempore with 50 votes against 45 for Benjamin Bailey (Barnb.) and 3 for Alvah Worden (W), to preside over the Assembly during the absence of Speaker Crain.

On March 30, the Legislature re-apportioned the Assembly districts: Chautauqua, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Madison, Ontario and Wyoming counties lost one seat each; Albany, Erie, Kings and St. Lawrence counties gained one seat each; and New York City gained three seats. The total number of assemblymen remained 128.^[1]

On April 22, the Legislature enacted that the number of delegates to the Constitutional convention should be the same as the number of assemblymen, and that they should be elected according to the new Assembly apportionment.^[2]

The delegates to the Constitutional convention were elected on April 28.

On April 29, Samuel Young was elected president pro tempore of the Senate.

On May 13, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts: Kings County was transferred from the 1st to the 2nd District; Ulster County from the 2nd to the 3rd District; and Schenectady County from the 3rd to the 4th District.^[3]

The Constitutional convention met at Albany on June 1; and adjourned on October 9. Ex-Lt. Gov. John Tracy (D) was elected President of the convention with 69 votes against a scattered vote of the Whigs. The amended Constitution abolished rotative renewal of the Senate, required all legislators to be elected in single districts, and made the State cabinet offices elective by popular ballot. The new Constitution was submitted to the electorate at the next State election, and was adopted by a large majority.

The Whig state convention met on September 23 at Utica; Philip Hone was Chairman. They nominated Assemblyman John Young for Governor; and Hamilton Fish for Lieutenant Governor.

The Democratic state convention met on October 1 at Syracuse; Chester Loomis was Chairman. They nominated Gov. Silas Wright and Lt. Gov. Addison Gardner for re-election.

The Anti-Rent state convention met in October at Beardsley's Hotel in Albany, and endorsed John Young (W) for Governor; and Lt. Gov. Addison Gardiner (D) for re-election.

The Native American state convention nominated Ogden Edwards for Governor; and State Senator George Folsom for Lieutenant Governor.

The Liberty state convention nominated Henry Bradley for Governor and William L. Chaplin for Lieutenant Governor.

State Senate

Districts

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

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	John A. Lott*	1 year	Democrat/Hunker
	David R. Floyd-Jones*	2 years	Democrat/Hunker	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
	George Folsom*	3 years	Native American
	Edward Sanford	4 years	Democrat
Second	Abraham A. Deyo*	1 year	Democrat/Barnburner
	Joshua B. Smith*	2 years	Democrat
	Robert Denniston*	3 years	Democrat
	Saxton Smith	4 years	Democrat
Third	John C. Wright*	1 year	Democrat
	Stephen C. Johnson*	2 years	Democrat/Barnburner
	John P. Beekman*	3 years	Democrat
	William H. Van Schoonhoven*	4 years	Whig/Anti-Rent	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
Fourth	Thomas B. Mitchell*	1 year	Democrat/Hunker
	Orville Clark*	2 years	Democrat/Hunker
	Augustus C. Hand*	3 years	Democrat
	Samuel Young	4 years	Democrat/Barnburner	on April 29, 1846, elected president pro tempore
Fifth	Carlos P. Scovil*	1 year	Democrat
	Thomas Barlow*	2 years	Democrat/Barnburner	also First Judge of the Madison County Court
	Enoch B. Talcott*	3 years	Democrat/Barnburner
	Joshua A. Spencer	4 years	Whig
Sixth	Calvin T. Chamberlain*	1 year	Democrat
	Clark Burnham*	2 years	Democrat
	George D. Beers*	3 years	Democrat
	Thomas J. Wheeler	4 years	Democrat
Seventh	John Porter*	1 year	Democrat
	Albert Lester*	2 years	Democrat
	Henry J. Sedgwick*	3 years	Democrat/Barnburner
	Richard H. Williams	4 years	Democrat
Eighth	Harvey Putnam*	1 year	Whig
	Frederick F. Backus*	2 years	Whig
	Carlos Emmons*	3 years	Whig
	Gideon Hard*	4 years	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Isaac R. Elwood

State Assembly

Districts

• Albany County (3 seats)
• Allegany County (2 seats)
• Broome County (1 seat)
• Cattaraugus County (2 seats)
• Cayuga County (3 seats)
• Chautauqua County (3 seats)
• Chemung County (1 seat)
• Chenango County (3 seats)
• Clinton County (1 seat)
• Columbia County (3 seats)
• Cortland County (2 seats)
• Delaware County (2 seats)
• Dutchess County (3 seats)
• Erie County (3 seats)
• Essex County (1 seat)
• Franklin County (1 seat)
• Fulton and Hamilton counties (1 seat)
• Genesee County (2 seats)
• Greene County (2 seats)
• Herkimer County (2 seats)
• Jefferson County (3 seats)
• Kings County (2 seats)
• Lewis County (1 seat)
• Livingston County (2 seats)
• Madison County (3 seats)
• Monroe County (3 seats)
• Montgomery County (2 seats)
• The City and County of New York (13 seats)
• Niagara County (2 seats)
• Oneida County (4 seats)
• Onondaga County (4 seats)
• Ontario County (3 seats)
• Orange County (3 seats)
• Orleans County (1 seat)
• Oswego County (2 seats)
• Otsego County (3 seats)
• Putnam County (1 seat)
• Queens County (1 seat)
• Rensselaer County (3 seats)
• Richmond County (1 seat)
• Rockland County (1 seat)
• St. Lawrence County (2 seats)
• Saratoga County (2 seats)
• Schenectady County (1 seat)
• Schoharie County (2 seats)
• Seneca County (1 seat)
• Steuben County (3 seats)
• Suffolk County (2 seats)
• Sullivan County (1 seat)
• Tioga County (1 seat)
• Tompkins County (2 seats)
• Ulster County (2 seats)
• Warren County (1 seat)
• Washington (2 seats)
• Wayne County (2 seats)
• Westchester County (2 seats)
• Wyoming County (2 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.

Party affiliations follow the vote on Speaker.^[4]

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	Ira Harris*	Whig/Anti-Rent	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
	Thomas L. Shafer	Democrat/Anti-Rent
	Robert D. Watson	Democrat/Anti-Rent
Allegany	Nathaniel Coe*	Whig
	John G. Collins*	Whig
Broome	Salphronius H. French	Whig
Cattaraugus	Elijah A. Rice	Whig
	Gideon Searl	Whig
Cayuga	Samuel Bell	Whig
	William J. Cornwell	Whig
	John T. Rathbun	Whig
Chautauqua	Madison Burnell	Whig
	Valorus Lake	Whig
	Elisha Ward	Whig
Chemung	Abraham Primmer	Democrat
Chenango	Solomon Ensign Jr.	Democrat
	William G. Sands	Democrat
	Hiram E. Storrs	Whig
Clinton	Noyes P. Gregory*	Democrat
Columbia	William E. Heermance	Democrat/Anti-Rent
	Jeremiah Hover	Democrat/Anti-Rent
	Levi Pitts	Democrat/Anti-Rent
Cortland	Amos Graves	Democrat
	John Miller	Whig	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
Delaware	Orrin Foote	Anti-Rent
	Reuben Lewis	Anti-Rent
Dutchess	Elnathan Haxtun	Whig
	George T. Pierce	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Epenetus Crosby (W)[5]
	Daniel Sherwood	Democrat
Erie	John T. Bush*	Whig
	Nathan K. Hall	Whig	on November 3, 1846, elected to the 30th U.S. Congress
	James Wood	Whig
Essex	Caleb D. Barton	Whig
Franklin	Sidney Lawrence	Democrat	on November 3, 1846, elected to the 30th U.S. Congress
Fulton and Hamilton	Clark S. Grinnell	Democrat
Genesee	Heman Blodgett	Whig
	Aaron Long*	Whig
Greene	Neely Lawrence	Democrat
	Peter W. Van Bergen	Democrat
Herkimer	William C. Crain*	Democrat/Barnburner	elected Speaker
	Henry Eysaman	Democrat
Jefferson	Henderson Howk	Democrat
	Elihu M. McNeil	Democrat
	Levi Miller	Democrat
Kings	Gamaliel King	Democrat
	John A. Voorhees	Democrat
Lewis	Nelson J. Beach	Whig
Livingston	William S. Fullerton	Whig
	John Young*	Whig	on November 3, 1846, elected Governor of New York
Madison	Horace Hawks	Democrat
	Thomas T. Loomis	Democrat
	Stephen M. Potter	Democrat
Monroe	Mathias L. Angle	Whig
	William C. Bloss*	Whig
	James R. Thompson	Whig
Montgomery	Benjamin Baird	Democrat
	Theodore R. Lidelle	Democrat
New York	Joseph C. Albertson	Democrat
	Gerardus Boyce	Democrat
	John E. Develin	Democrat
	Joshua Fleet	Democrat
	Robert H. Ludlow	Democrat
	Wilson Small	Democrat
	Thomas Spofford	Democrat
	Jonathan D. Stevenson	Democrat
	Alexander Stewart	Democrat
	Samuel J. Tilden	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
	James H. Titus	Democrat
	John Townsend	Democrat
	Alexander Wells	Democrat
Niagara	Lot Clark	Whig
	Morgan Johnson	Whig
Oneida	Chauncey C. Cook	Whig
	Benjamin F. Cooper	Whig
	Daniel G. Dorrance	Whig
	Russel Fuller	Whig
Onondaga	Julius C. Kinne*	Democrat
	Elihu L. Phillips	Whig
	Lake I. Tefft*	Democrat
	Alonzo Wood	Democrat
Ontario	Elias Cost	Whig
	Joseph C. Shelton	Whig
	Alvah Worden*	Whig	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
Orange	William L. Benedict	Democrat
	Wilkins Seacord	Democrat
	Robert R. Thompson	Democrat
Orleans	Dexter Kingman	Whig
Oswego	Reuben Drake	Democrat
	Thomas Skelton*	Democrat
Otsego	Ebenezer Blakely	Whig/Anti-Rent
	Delos W. Dean	Democrat
	Benjamin Morehouse	Democrat
Putnam	Benjamin Bailey*	Democrat/Barnburner
Queens	John Willis	Democrat
Rensselaer	Henry Z. Hayner	Whig/Anti-Rent
	Samuel McClellan	Whig/Anti-Rent
	Justus Nolton	Whig/Anti-Rent
Richmond	George H. Cole	Democrat
Rockland	Samson Marks	Democrat
St. Lawrence	Asa L. Hazelton*	Democrat
	Bishop Perkins	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
Saratoga	Chauncey Boughton	Whig
	James M. Marvin	Whig
Schenectady	David M. Moore	Democrat
Schoharie	Thomas Lawyer	Democrat
	Thomas Smith	Whig/Anti-Rent
Seneca	Alanson Woodworth	Democrat
Steuben	Andrew G. Chatfield	Democrat/Hunker	on March 7, 1846, elected Speaker pro tempore
	Otto F. Marshall	Democrat
	William C. Rogers*	Democrat
Suffolk	Samuel B. Gardiner	Democrat
	Richard A. Udall	Democrat
Sullivan	Richard Oliver	Democrat
Tioga	Gideon O. Chase*	Democrat
Tompkins	James W. Montgomery	Democrat
	Henry S. Walbridge	Whig
Ulster	Charles Drake	Democrat
	Joseph W. Low	Democrat
Warren	Winfield S. Sherwood	Democrat/Hunker
Washington	James M. Foster	Whig
	Lodewecus S. Viele	Whig
Wayne	Elias Durfee	Whig
	James T. Wisner	Whig
Westchester	John R. Hayward	Democrat
	Ezra Marshall	Democrat
Wyoming	Arden Woodruff	Whig
	Andrew W. Young*	Whig	also a delegate to the Constitutional convention
Yates	George W. Wolcott	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: William W. Dean
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Samuel S. Wood
• Doorkeeper: Horatio G. Pope
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Israel R. Neahr
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Francis N. Bradt

Notes

1. Native American at this time described white citizens born in the United States ("native born citizen"), as opposed to immigrants who had been granted citizenship after their arrival; not to be confused with "Native American", a term of modern use referring to people who during the 19th century were called "Indians".

References

1. Laws of New York (1846; "An Act for the apportionment of the members of the Assembly of this State"; pg. 48ff)
2. see: Laws of New York, pg. 98
3. Laws of New York (1846; "An Act for the arrangement of Senate Districts"; pg. 468f)
4. see Journal of the Assembly (69th Session) (1846)
5. The case of Pierce vs. Crosby was decided in favor of Pierce on February 13, 1846, but Crosby (who had been present in Albany awaiting the outcome) was granted travel expenses and payment of wages equal to a member up to this day; see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 164–180)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 58f for Constitutional convention; pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 135 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 231f for assemblymen]
• Political History of the State of New York from January 1, 1841, to January 1, 1847, Vol III, including the Life of Silas Wright (Hall & Dickson, Syracuse NY, 1848; pg. 570 to 686)
• Journal of the Senate (69th Session) (1846)
• The Whig Almanac for 1847 (pg. 60)