94th New York State Legislature

The 94th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 21, 1871, during the third year of John T. Hoffman's governorship, in Albany.

94th New York State Legislature
← 93rd 95th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1871
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Allen C. Beach (D)
Party control	Democratic (17-14)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	William Hitchman (D)
Party control	Democratic (65-63)
Sessions
1st January 3 – April 21, 1871

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators and 128 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 (five districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards,^[1] forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

Elections

The 1870 New York state election was held on November 8. Gov. John T. Hoffman and Lt. Gov. Allen C. Beach were re-elected. The other four statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 399,000 and Republicans 366,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1871; and adjourned on April 21.

William Hitchman (D) was re-elected Speaker with 64 votes against 62 for James W. Husted (R).

On April 4, the Legislature re-elected Abram B. Weaver (D) to a second term of three years as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

On April 7, Assemblyman James Irving had an altercation with Assemblyman Smith M. Weed, during which Irving hit Weed forceful in the face. Subsequently, Irving resigned his seat, and the Democrats could not pass any bills anymore, a vote of 65 being required. After a week of deadlock, Republican Assemblyman Orange S. Winans voiced his opinion that the Democrats were entitled to a majority, and voted with them, thus passing the pending bills. Winans was denounced as a traitor, and disappeared from politics.^[2]

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 19th and 20th wards of the City of Brooklyn
• 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th wards of the City of Brooklyn; and all towns in Kings County
• 4th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 10th, 11th and 17th wards of New York City
• 7th District: 18th, 20th and 21st wards of New York City
• 8th District: 12th, 19th and 22nd wards of New York City
• 9th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 10th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
• 13th District: Albany County
• 14th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Saratoga and Schenectady counties
• 16th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 17th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 18th District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Herkimer and Otsego counties
• 21st District: Madison and Oswego counties
• 22nd District: Onondaga and Cortland counties
• 23rd District: Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie counties
• 24th District: Broome, Tompkins and Tioga counties
• 25th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 26th District: Ontario, Seneca and Yates counties
• 27th District: Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties
• 28th District: Monroe County
• 29th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 30th District: Allegany, Livingston and Wyoming counties
• 31st District: Erie County
• 32nd District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua 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.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Samuel H. Frost*	Democrat
2nd	James F. Pierce*	Democrat
3rd	Henry C. Murphy*	Democrat
4th	William M. Tweed*	Democrat
5th	Michael Norton*	Democrat
6th	Thomas J. Creamer*	Democrat
7th	John J. Bradley*	Democrat
8th	Henry W. Genet*	Democrat
9th	William Cauldwell*	Democrat
10th	William M. Graham*	Democrat
11th	George Morgan*	Democrat	until March 1871, also Mayor of Poughkeepsie
12th	Francis S. Thayer*	Republican
13th	A. Bleecker Banks*	Democrat
14th	Jacob Hardenbergh*	Democrat
15th	vacant		Senator Isaiah Blood died on November 29, 1870
16th	Christopher F. Norton*	Democrat
17th	Abraham X. Parker*	Republican
18th	Norris Winslow*	Republican
19th	George H. Sanford*	Democrat	died on November 25, 1871
20th	Augustus R. Elwood*	Republican
21st	William H. Brand*	Republican
22nd	George N. Kennedy*	Republican
23rd	John F. Hubbard Jr.*	Democrat
24th	Orlow W. Chapman*	Republican
25th	William B. Woodin*	Republican	also Surrogate of Cayuga County
26th	Abraham V. Harpending*	Republican	died on April 23, 1871
27th	Theodore L. Minier*	Republican
28th	Jarvis Lord*	Democrat
29th	George Bowen*	Republican
30th	James Wood*	Republican
31st	Loran L. Lewis*	Republican
32nd	Allen D. Scott*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Hiram Calkins
• Sergeant-at-Arms: George Graham
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Abraham J. Meyers
• Doorkeeper: Alexander H. Waterman
• Assistant Doorkeeper: W. W. McKinney
• Assistant Doorkeeper: John Drew
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Orson Root
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Cornelius V. Simpkins
• Stenographer: Andrew Devine

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	William D. Murphy*	Democrat
	2nd	Robert C. Blackall	Republican
	3rd	Edward Coyle	Democrat
	4th	William D. Sunderlin	Republican
Allegany		Charles N. Flenagin*	Republican
Broome		William M. Ely*	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	Claudius V. B. Barse	Republican
	2nd	Stephen C. Green*	Republican
Cayuga	1st	Charles H. Curtis	Democrat
	2nd	Stephen S. Hewitt*	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Matthew P. Bemus*	Republican
	2nd	Orange S. Winans*	Republican
Chemung		David B. Hill	Democrat
Chenango		Andrew Shepardson	Republican
Clinton		Smith M. Weed	Democrat
Columbia	1st	Benjamin Ray	Democrat
	2nd	Perkins F. Cady	Republican
Cortland		Henry S. Randall	Democrat
Delaware	1st	Alpheus Bolt*	Republican
	2nd	James H. Graham	Republican
Dutchess	1st	James A. Seward*	Republican
	2nd	David H. Mulford*	Republican
Erie	1st	George Chambers	Democrat
	2nd	John Howell	Democrat
	3rd	Franklin A. Alberger	Republican
	4th	Harry B. Ransom*	Democrat
	5th	John M. Wiley	Democrat
Essex		Clayton H. DeLano*	Republican
Franklin		James H. Pierce*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Mortimer Wade	Republican
Genesee		Volney G. Knapp	Republican
Greene		Hiram Van Steenburgh*	Democrat
Herkimer		Daniel A. Northup*	Republican
Jefferson	1st	Oliver C. Wyman	Republican
	2nd	James Johnson	Republican
Kings	1st	David C. Aitken	Democrat
	2nd	Smith C. Baylis	Democrat
	3rd	Dominick H. Roche	Democrat
	4th	William W. Moseley*	Democrat
	5th	William W. Goodrich	Republican
	6th	Bernard Haver*	Democrat
	7th	William Wainwright	Democrat
	8th	Samuel F. Conselyea	Democrat
	9th	John C. Jacobs*	Democrat
Lewis		Joseph Pahud	Republican
Livingston		Richard Johnson*	Republican
Madison	1st	David L. Fisk	Republican
	2nd	Leonard C. Kilham*	Republican
Monroe	1st	Richard D. Cole	Democrat
	2nd	George D. Lord	Democrat
	3rd	Volney P. Brown*	Republican
Montgomery		Webster Wagner	Republican
New York	1st	Michael Madigan	Democrat
	2nd	Dennis Burns*	Democrat
	3rd	John Hayes	Democrat
	4th	John J. Blair*	Democrat
	5th	George L. Loutrel	Democrat
	6th	Timothy J. Campbell*	Democrat
	7th	John Carey*	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Horatio N. Twombly (R)[3]
	8th	Martin Nachtmann*	Democrat
	9th	James O'Neill	Democrat
	10th	Christopher Flecke	Democrat
	11th	Lawrence O'Brien	Democrat
	12th	William W. Cook*	Democrat
	13th	Richard Flanagan*	Democrat
	14th	John Tyler Kelly	Democrat
	15th	Alexander Frear*	Democrat
	16th	James Irving*	Democrat	resigned his seat on April 10
	17th	Edmond Connelly	Democrat
	18th	Leander Buck	Democrat
	19th	Thomas C. Fields*	Democrat
	20th	John Brown*[4]	Democrat
	21st	William Hitchman*	Democrat	re-elected Speaker
Niagara	1st	John E. Pound	Republican
	2nd	Lee R. Sanborn*	Republican
Oneida	1st	George W. Chadwick	Republican
	2nd	Sidney A. Bunce	Republican
	3rd	Thomas Mulhall	Democrat
	4th	Isaac McDougal	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Thomas G. Alvord*	Republican
	2nd	Peter Burns	Republican
	3rd	Gustavus Sniper*	Republican
Ontario	1st	George W. Nicholas	Democrat
	2nd	David E. Wilson*	Republican
Orange	1st	Robert H. Strahan	Republican
	2nd	Isaac V. Montanye	Democrat
Orleans		John Berry*	Republican
Oswego	1st	DeWitt C. Littlejohn*	Republican
	2nd	Abraham Howe*	Democrat
	3rd	Chauncey S. Sage	Republican
Otsego	1st	Alfred Chamberlain	Democrat
	2nd	J. Lee Tucker	Republican
Putnam		Sarles Drew	Democrat
Queens	1st	L. Bradford Prince	Republican
	2nd	James M. Oakley	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	John L. Flagg*	Democrat
	2nd	Horace C. Gifford	Republican
	3rd	Sylvester Waterbury	Democrat
Richmond		John Decker*	Democrat
Rockland		James M. Nelson*	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	George M. Gleason*	Republican
	2nd	Dolphus S. Lynde	Republican
	3rd	William Bradford*	Republican
Saratoga	1st	Isaiah Fuller*	Democrat
	2nd	Joseph W. Hill	Republican
Schenectady		Gershom Banker*	Democrat
Schoharie		Silas Sweet*	Democrat
Schuyler		William C. Coon*	Democrat
Seneca		Sanford R. Ten Eyck	Democrat
Steuben	1st	James G. Bennett*	Democrat
	2nd	Alvin C. Barney	Republican
Suffolk		George F. Carman	Republican
Sullivan		Frank Buckley	Democrat
Tioga		Burnett B. Bignall	Republican
Tompkins		John H. Selkreg*	Republican
Ulster	1st	Cyrus Burhans	Republican
	2nd	C. Meech Woolsey	Republican
	3rd	Charles H. Krack*	Democrat
Warren		Duncan Griffin	Democrat
Washington	1st	Thomas Stevenson*	Republican
	2nd	Isaac V. Baker Jr.*	Republican
Wayne	1st	Anson S. Wood*	Republican
	2nd	Henry R. Durfee	Republican
Westchester	1st	G. Hilton Scribner	Republican	on November 7, 1871, elected Secretary of State of New York
	2nd	Alfred W. Bartlett	Democrat
	3rd	James W. Husted*	Republican
Wyoming		Henry S. Joy	Democrat
Yates		George P. Lord	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Cornelius W. Armstrong
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Jeriah G. Rhoads
• Doorkeeper: Andrew S. Scobey
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: James Keenan
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Allen W. Seaman

Notes

1. Except New York City where the wards were apportioned into election districts, and then some whole wards and some election districts of other wards were gerrymandered together into Assembly districts.
2. Thirty Years of New York Politics Up-to-date by Matthew P. Breen (reprinted 1974; pg. 278–291, "LETTER XXV")
3. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 471–482)
4. John Brown (born 1816), served previously in the Assembly of 1852, Naturalization Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas from 1853

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 444 for senators; pg. 450–463 for Assembly districts)
• Journal of the Assembly (94th Session) (1871; Vol. I)
• Journal of the Assembly (94th Session) (1871; Vol. II)