97th New York State Legislature

The 97th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 30, 1874, during the second year of John A. Dix's governorship, in Albany.

97th New York State Legislature
← 96th 98th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1874
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. John C. Robinson (R)
Temporary President	William H. Robertson (R)
Party control	Republican (18-12-2)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	James W. Husted (R)
Party control	Republican (71-53-3)
Sessions
1st January 6 – April 30, 1874

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. The Liberal Republican Party also nominated a ticket.

Elections

The New York state election, 1873 was held on November 4. The statewide elective offices up for election were carried by five Democrats and two Republicans, all of which had been nominated also on the Liberal Republican ticket.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1874; and adjourned on April 30.

James W. Husted (R) was elected Speaker against Smith M. Weed (D).

On April 7, the Legislature elected Neil Gilmour as Superintendent of Public Instructions, with 87 votes against 51 for Abram B. Weaver, to succeed Weaver for a term of three years.^[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. John C. Jacobs, Frank Abbott, Benjamin Ray and Franklin W. Tobey changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	John A. King	Republican
2nd	John W. Coe	Lib. Rep./Dem.
3rd	John C. Jacobs*	Democrat
4th	John Fox	Democrat
5th	James W. Booth	Republican
6th	Jacob A. Gross	Democrat
7th	Thomas A. Ledwith	Democrat
8th	Hugh H. Moore	Democrat	contested by Walter S. Pinckney (R), decision postponed to the next session
9th	William H. Robertson*	Republican	re-elected; elected president pro tempore
10th	Frank Abbott	Lib. Rep./Dem.	contested; seat vacated on February 4[3]
	Edward M. Madden	Republican	seated on February 5
11th	Benjamin Ray*	Democrat
12th	Roswell A. Parmenter	Democrat
13th	Jesse C. Dayton	Democrat
14th	Henry C. Connelly	Republican
15th	Webster Wagner*	Republican	re-elected
16th	Franklin W. Tobey*	Republican
17th	Wells S. Dickinson*	Republican	re-elected
18th	Andrew C. Middleton	Ind./Lib. Rep./Dem.[4]
19th	Samuel S. Lowery*	Republican	re-elected
20th	Archibald C. McGowan*	Republican	re-elected
21st	Charles Kellogg	Republican
22nd	Daniel P. Wood*	Republican	re-elected
23rd	James G. Thompson	Republican	contested by William Yeomans Jr.[5]
24th	John H. Selkreg	Republican
25th	William B. Woodin*	Republican	re-elected
26th	William Johnson*	Democrat	re-elected
27th	George B. Bradley	Democrat
28th	Jarvis Lord*	Democrat	re-elected
29th	Dan H. Cole	Republican
30th	Abijah J. Wellman	Republican
31st	John Ganson	Democrat	died on September 28, 1874
32nd	Albert G. Dow	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Henry A. Glidden
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Daniel K. Schram
• Doorkeeper: Frederick M. Burton

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Frederick Schifferdecker	Republican
	2nd	Leopold C. G. Kshinka	Democrat
	3rd	Terrence J. Quinn	Democrat
	4th	Waters W. Braman	Republican
Allegany		Orrin T. Stacy	Republican
Broome		George Sherwood	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	Commodore P. Vedder*	Republican
	2nd	John Manley*	Republican
Cayuga	1st	Leonard F. Hardy*	Republican
	2nd	Erastus H. Hussey	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Francis B. Brewer*	Republican
	2nd	John D. Hiller*	Republican
Chemung		Edmund Miller	Democrat
Chenango		Harris H. Beecher	Republican
Clinton		Smith M. Weed*	Democrat
Columbia	1st	Henry Lawrence	Democrat
	2nd	Alonzo H. Farrar	Republican
Cortland		George W. Phillips*	Republican
Delaware	1st	Benjamin J. Bassett	Republican
	2nd	Matthew Griffin*	Republican
Dutchess	1st	James Mackin*	Democrat
	2nd	Harvey G. Eastman	Republican
Erie	1st	Patrick Hanrahan	Democrat
	2nd	Joseph W. Smith	Democrat
	3rd	Franklin A. Alberger*	Republican
	4th	John Nice*	Republican
	5th	Robert B. Foote*	Republican
Essex		Gardiner Pope	Democrat
Franklin		John P. Badger*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		John Sunderlin	Republican
Genesee		Elbert Townsend*	Republican
Greene		Augustus Hill*	Democrat
Herkimer		Warner Miller	Republican
Jefferson	1st	Elam Persons*	Republican
	2nd	Hugh Smith[6]	Republican
Kings	1st	James F. Donahue*	Democrat
	2nd	John J. Allen	Republican
	3rd	Michael J. Coffey	Democrat
	4th	Theodore N. Melvin	Democrat
	5th	Eugene D. Berri	Republican
	6th	Jacob Worth*	Republican
	7th	Stephen J. Colahan	Democrat
	8th	George C. Bennett	Republican
	9th	John McGroarty	Democrat
Lewis		John Herrick	Democrat
Livingston		Jonathan B. Morey	Republican
Madison	1st	Edward C. Philpot*	Republican
	2nd	Henry W. Carpenter	Republican
Monroe	1st	George A. Goss*	Republican
	2nd	George Taylor	Democrat
	3rd	Leonard Burritt*	Republican
Montgomery		Martin L. Stover	Republican
New York	1st	James Healey*	Democrat
	2nd	William P. Kirk	Democrat
	3rd	James Hayes*	Democrat
	4th	James Ryan*	Democrat
	5th	Austin Leake	Republican
	6th	Matthew Patten	Democrat
	7th	Alfred Wagstaff Jr.	Democrat
	8th	George Scherman	Rep./Apollo H.
	9th	George B. Deane Jr.	Republican
	10th	Louis C. Waehner	Democrat
	11th	Knox McAfee	Republican
	12th	Francis Murray	Democrat
	13th	Charles S. Spencer	Republican
	14th	James Daly	Democrat
	15th	Joseph Blumenthal*	Democrat
	16th	Peter Woods*	Democrat
	17th	Andrew Blessing*	Democrat
	18th	Bernard Biglin*	Republican
	19th	Thomas O'Callaghan	Democrat
	20th	John D. Coughlin	Democrat
	21st	vacant		Assemblyman-elect Henry W. Genet (D) forfeited his seat[7]
		James E. Sullivan		elected to fill vacancy
Niagara	1st	Artemas W. Comstock	Republican
	2nd	Orville C. Bordwell	Republican
Oneida	1st	George W. Chadwick	Republican
	2nd	Arthur F. Brown	Republican
	3rd	John J. Parry	Republican
	4th	Griffith O. Jones	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Thomas G. Alvord	Independent
	2nd	George Barrow[8]	Republican
	3rd	Charles Simon	Democrat
Ontario	1st	Stephen H. Hammond	Democrat
	2nd	Cyrillo S. Lincoln*	Republican
Orange	1st	Augustus Denniston*	Republican
	2nd	Charles B. Wood	Democrat
Orleans		Elisha S. Whalen*	Republican
Oswego	1st	George B. Sloan	Republican
	2nd	Willard Johnson*	Democrat
	3rd	J. Lyman Bulkley*	Republican
Otsego	1st	William H. Ely	Democrat
	2nd	Henry Thorp	Lib. Rep./Dem.
Putnam		Hamilton Fish II	Republican
Queens	1st	L. Bradford Prince*	Republican
	2nd	James M. Oakley*	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	William V. Cleary*	Democrat
	2nd	Robert Dickson	Republican
	3rd	Jacob M. Witbeck	Democrat
Richmond		Stephen D. Stephens Jr.	Democrat
Rockland		William R. Knapp	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Seth G. Pope	Republican
	2nd	Dolphus S. Lynde*	Republican
	3rd	Jonah Sanford[9]	Republican
Saratoga	1st	George West*	Republican
	2nd	George S. Batcheller*	Republican
Schenectady		Daniel P. McQueen*	Republican
Schoharie		John B. Hoag	Democrat
Schuyler		Harmon L. Gregory	Republican
Seneca		William C. Hazelton	Democrat
Steuben	1st	Stephen D. Shattuck	Democrat
	2nd	Charles F. Houghton	Republican
Suffolk		Nathan D. Petty	Republican
Sullivan		George M. Beebe*	Democrat	on November 3, 1874, elected to the 44th U.S. Congress
Tioga		Jerome B. Landfield*	Republican
Tompkins		William L. Bostwick	Republican
Ulster	1st	Robert A. Snyder	Republican
	2nd	Hector Abeel	Democrat
	3rd	John D. Winfield	Democrat
Warren		Austin W. Holden	Democrat
Washington	1st	Alexander B. Law	Republican
	2nd	Emerson E. Davis	Democrat
Wayne	1st	Emory W. Gurnee	Democrat
	2nd	Henry M. Clark	Ind. Rep.
Westchester	1st	William Cauldwell	Democrat
	2nd	Amherst Wight Jr.*	Republican
	3rd	James W. Husted*	Republican	elected Speaker
Wyoming		Samuel W. Tewksbury	Republican
Yates		George W. Spencer	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: John O'Donnell
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Frederick C. Fiske
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: DeWitt Griffin
• Doorkeeper: Eugene L. Demers
• Assistant Doorkeeper: James Hogan
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Michael Maher
• Stenographer: Worden E. Payne

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. Journal of the State Senate (1874; pg. 568)
3. see Abbott vs. Madden in Utica Daily Observer on February 5, 1874
4. Middleton was nominated as an Independent by a convention of farmers in favor of reform, and then endorsed by the Liberal Republicans and Democrats; and defeated the Republican incumbent Norris Winslow at the election.
5. THE STATE LEGISLATURE; SENATE in NYT on February 5, 1874
6. Hugh Smith, brother-in-law of State Senator James A. Bell
7. Genet was elected on November 4, but was convicted in December 1873 for fraud, and fled from justice before sentencing. He thus forfeited the right to the seat, and a special election was called for January 20, 1874.
8. George Barrow (born 1839 NYC), brother of Edmund P. Barrow (c.1829–1857) who was assemblyman in 1854
9. Jonah Sanford (born 1821), son of Congressman Jonah Sanford

Sources

• Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York compiled by Edgar Albert Werner (1884; see pg. 276 for Senate districts; pg. 290 for senators; pg. 298–304 for Assembly districts; and pg. 374f for assemblymen)
• Journal of the Senate (97th Session) (1874)
• REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY CAUCUSES in NYT on January 6, 1874
• THE STATE GOVERNMENT in The Newtown Register on January 15, 1874
• Life Sketches of Government Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1874 by W. H. McElroy and Alexander McBride