98th New York State Legislature

The 98th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to May 22, 1875, during the first year of Samuel J. Tilden's governorship, in Albany.

98th New York State Legislature
← 97th 99th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1875
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. William Dorsheimer (D)
Temporary President	William H. Robertson (R)
Party control	Republican (18-12-2)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Jeremiah McGuire (D)
Party control	Democratic (75-53)
Sessions
1st January 5 – May 22, 1875

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 Prohibition Party appeared at this time, nominating Ex-Governor Myron H. Clark — who had urged the Legislature to enact Prohibition in New York in 1853, but the law was declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals — for Governor.

Elections

The 1874 New York state election was held on November 3. Democrats Samuel J. Tilden and William Dorsheimer were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, defeating the incumbent Republicans John A. Dix and John C. Robinson. The other three 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: Democratic 416,000; Republican 366,000; and Prohibition 12,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1875; and adjourned on May 22.

Jeremiah McGuire (D) was elected Speaker.

On January 20, the Legislature elected Francis Kernan (D) to succeed U.S. Senator Reuben E. Fenton (R) for a six-year term, beginning on March 4, 1875.^[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	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	unsuccessfully contested by Walter S. Pinckney (R)
9th	William H. Robertson*	Republican	President pro tempore
10th	Edward M. Madden*	Republican
11th	Benjamin Ray*	Democrat
12th	Roswell A. Parmenter*	Democrat
13th	Jesse C. Dayton*	Democrat
14th	Henry C. Connelly*	Republican
15th	Webster Wagner*	Republican
16th	Franklin W. Tobey*	Republican
17th	Wells S. Dickinson*	Republican
18th	Andrew C. Middleton	Ind./Lib. Rep./Dem.
19th	Samuel S. Lowery*	Republican
20th	Archibald C. McGowan*	Republican
21st	Charles Kellogg*	Republican
22nd	Daniel P. Wood*	Republican
23rd	James G. Thompson*	Republican
24th	John H. Selkreg*	Republican
25th	William B. Woodin*	Republican
26th	William Johnson*	Democrat	died on October 10, 1875
27th	George B. Bradley*	Democrat
28th	Jarvis Lord*	Democrat
29th	Dan H. Cole*	Republican
30th	Abijah J. Wellman*	Republican
31st	Albert P. Laning	Democrat	elected to fill vacancy, in place of John Ganson
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	Peter Slingerland	Republican
	2nd	Leopold C. G. Kshinka*	Democrat
	3rd	Francis W. Vosburgh	Democrat
	4th	Waters W. Braman*	Republican
Allegany		Orrin T. Stacy*	Republican
Broome		George Sherwood*	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	Commodore P. Vedder*	Republican
	2nd	Samuel Scudder	Lib. Rep./Dem.
Cayuga	1st	Charles S. Beardsley	Democrat
	2nd	Erastus H. Hussey*	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Otis D. Hinckley	Republican
	2nd	Obed Edson	Democrat
Chemung		Jeremiah McGuire	Democrat	elected Speaker
Chenango		Daniel M. Holmes	Democrat
Clinton		Shepard P. Bowen	Republican
Columbia	1st	Henry Lawrence*	Democrat
	2nd	Alonzo H. Farrar*	Republican
Cortland		Daniel E. Whitmore	Republican
Delaware	1st	Warren G. Willis	Republican
	2nd	George G. Decker	Republican
Dutchess	1st	James Mackin*	Democrat
	2nd	Benjamin S. Broas	Democrat
Erie	1st	Patrick Hanrahan*	Democrat
	2nd	William W. Lawson	Republican
	3rd	Edward Gallagher	Republican
	4th	Harry B. Ransom	Democrat
	5th	William Alfred Johnson	Republican
Essex		William E. Calkins	Republican
Franklin		John P. Badger*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		George W. Fay	Republican
Genesee		Newton H. Green[3]	Republican
Greene		Benjamin F. Barkley	Democrat
Herkimer		Warner Miller*	Republican
Jefferson	1st	John F. Peck	Republican
	2nd	George E. Yost	Republican
Kings	1st	Daniel Bradley	Ind. Dem.
	2nd	John R. Kennaday	Democrat
	3rd	Michael J. Coffey*	Democrat
	4th	Tunis V. P. Talmage[4]	Democrat
	5th	John H. Burtis	Republican
	6th	Jacob Worth*	Republican
	7th	vacant	Democrat	Assemblyman-elect Stephen J. Colahan died on December 10, 1874[5]
		Michael O'Keefe	Democrat	elected to fill vacancy[6]
	8th	Bernard Silverman	Democrat
	9th	John McGroarty*	Democrat
Lewis		James A. Merwin	Democrat
Livingston		James Faulkner Jr.	Democrat
Madison	1st	D. Gerry Wellington	Republican
	2nd	George Berry	Democrat
Monroe	1st	Richard D. Cole	Democrat
	2nd	George Taylor*	Democrat
	3rd	Josiah Rich	Democrat
Montgomery		Martin Schenck	Democrat
New York	1st	Nicholas Muller	Democrat
	2nd	William P. Kirk*	Democrat
	3rd	John C. Brogan	Democrat
	4th	Charles Reilly	Democrat
	5th	Warren C. Bennett*	Democrat
	6th	Timothy J. Campbell	Democrat
	7th	Frederick W. Seward	Republican
	8th	George A. Stauf	Democrat
	9th	William H. Gedney	Republican
	10th	Louis C. Waehner*	Democrat
	11th	Knox McAfee*	Republican
	12th	John Keenan	Democrat
	13th	A. Nelson Beach	Democrat
	14th	James Daly*	Democrat
	15th	Thomas Costigan	Democrat
	16th	John T. McGowan	Democrat
	17th	Leo C. Dessar	Democrat
	18th	Thomas Cooper Campbell[7]	Democrat
	19th	Germain Hauschel	Democrat
	20th	Jacob Hess	Republican
	21st	John W. Smith	Democrat
Niagara	1st	Artemas W. Comstock*	Republican
	2nd	Orville C. Bordwell*	Republican
Oneida	1st	Richard U. Sherman	Lib. Rep./Dem.
	2nd	Silas T. Ives	Democrat
	3rd	Edward Lewis	Democrat
	4th	Harrison Lillybridge	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Thomas G. Alvord*	Republican
	2nd	George Barrow*[8]	Republican
	3rd	Charles Tremain[9]	Republican
Ontario	1st	Stephen H. Hammond*	Democrat
	2nd	Cyrillo S. Lincoln*	Republican
Orange	1st	James W. Miller	Democrat
	2nd	Joseph D. Friend	Democrat
Orleans		John N. Wetherbee	Republican	died on March 22, 1875[10]
Oswego	1st	Alanson S. Page	Democrat
	2nd	Willard Johnson*	Democrat
	3rd	Henry J. Daggett	Republican
Otsego	1st	William H. Ely*	Democrat
	2nd	James E. Cooke	Democrat
Putnam		William H. Christopher	Democrat
Queens	1st	L. Bradford Prince*	Republican
	2nd	James M. Oakley*	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	William V. Cleary*	Democrat
	2nd	William F. Taylor	Republican
	3rd	Jacob M. Witbeck*	Democrat
Richmond		Stephen D. Stephens Jr.*	Democrat
Rockland		James C. Brown	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Seth G. Pope*	Republican
	2nd	A. Barton Hepburn	Republican
	3rd	Jonah Sanford*[11]	Republican
Saratoga	1st	George West*	Republican
	2nd	Nathaniel M. Houghton	Republican
Schenectady		Samuel T. Benedict	Democrat
Schoharie		John M. Roscoe	Democrat
Schuyler		William H. Fish	Democrat
Seneca		William Hogan	Democrat
Steuben	1st	Stephen D. Shattuck*	Democrat
	2nd	Lucius C. Pierson	Democrat
Suffolk		Nathan D. Petty*	Republican
Sullivan		Adolphus E. Wenzel	Democrat
Tioga		James Bishop	Republican
Tompkins		George W. Schuyler	Lib. Rep./Dem.
Ulster	1st	John Fream	Democrat
	2nd	Jacob D. Wurts	Democrat
	3rd	Charles H. Krack	Democrat
Warren		Stephen Griffin	Democrat
Washington	1st	Alexander B. Law*	Republican
	2nd	Emerson E. Davis*	Democrat
Wayne	1st	William H. Clark[12]	Republican
	2nd	Allen S. Russell	Republican
Westchester	1st	Dennis R. Shiel	Democrat
	2nd	Charles M. Schieffelin	Democrat
	3rd	James W. Husted*	Republican
Wyoming		Samuel W. Tewksbury*	Republican
Yates		Hanford Struble	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Hiram Calkins
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Edward A. Brown
• Doorkeeper: George W. Irish
• Stenographer: Spencer C. Rodgers

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. ALBANY.; ELECTION OF KERNAN TO THE SENATE in NYT on January 21, 1875
3. Newton H. Green, son of Andrew H. Green who was assemblyman in 1838 and 1839; and brother of Loren Green who was assemblyman in 1863 and 1864
4. Tunis Van Pelt Talmage, son of Mayor of Brooklyn Thomas G. Talmage
5. see OBITUARY; STEPHEN J. COLAHAN in NYT on December 11, 1874
6. A special election was held on December 31, 1874; see A SPECIAL ELECTION IN KINGS COUNTY in NYT on December 18, 1874
7. Thomas Cooper Campbell, grandson of longtime Deputy Secretary of State Archibald Campbell
8. George Barrow (born 1839 NYC), brother of Edmund P. Barrow (c.1829–1857) who was assemblyman in 1854
9. Charles Tremain, grandson of Augustus Tremain who was assemblyman in 1811, 1814–15 and 1822
10. see ALBANY; THE HOUSE ADJOURNS IN RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF A DECEASED MEMBER in NYT on March 23, 1875
11. Jonah Sanford (born 1821), son of Congressman Jonah Sanford
12. William H. Clark, son of William Clark who was state senator 1854–55

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. 375 for assemblymen)
• Assemblymen Elected in Albany Evening Times on November 6, 1874
• Life Sketches of Government Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1875 by W. H. McElroy and Alexander McBride [e-book]