75th New York State Legislature

75th New York State Legislature
← 74th 76th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1852
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Sanford E. Church (D)
Temporary President	Edwin D. Morgan (W), from January 26; William McMurray (D), from March 24
Party control	split (16-16)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Jonas C. Heartt (W)
Party control	Whig (65-63)
Sessions
1st January 6 – April 16, 1852

The 75th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 16, 1852, during the second year of Washington Hunt's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators were elected in single-seat senatorial districts for a two-year term, the whole Senate being renewed biennially. The senatorial districts (except those in New York City) were made up of entire counties. 128 Assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually. The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all in the same county. The City and County of New York was divided into four senatorial districts, and 16 Assembly districts.

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

Elections

The New York state election, 1851 was held on November 4.

Of the eight statewide elective offices up for election, six were carried by the Democrats, and two by the Whigs.

16 Democrats and 16 Whigs were elected for a two-year term to the State Senate.

65 Whigs and 63 Democrats were elected to the State Assembly.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1852; and adjourned on April 16.

Jonas C. Heartt (Whig) was elected Speaker with 63 votes against 59 for Israel T. Hatch (Dem.).

Ira P. Barnes was elected Clerk of the Senate by resolution, with a vote of 16 to 15; Senator Dan S. Wright (W) did not vote. The same vote was given for Charles Lee as Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate. Doorkeeper of the Senate A. N. Beardsley was elected with the casting vote of Lt. Gov. Sanford E. Church.

On January 26, Edwin D. Morgan (W) was elected president pro tempore of the Senate.

On March 24, William McMurray (D) was elected president pro tempore of the Senate.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: Kings County
• 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wards of New York City
• 4th District: 7th, 10th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 8th, 9th and 14th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
• 7th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 8th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 11th District: Albany and Schenectady counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer County
• 13th District: Saratoga and Washington counties
• 14th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 15th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 16th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties
• 17th District: Delaware and Schoharie counties
• 18th District: Chenango and Otsego counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Madison and Oswego counties
• 21st District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 22nd District: Onondaga County
• 23rd District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties
• 24th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 25th District: Seneca, Tompkins and Yates counties
• 26th District: Chemung and Steuben counties
• 27th District: Monroe County
• 28th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 29th District: Livingston and Ontario counties
• 30th District: Allegany 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	James E. Cooley	Democrat
2nd	John Vanderbilt	Democrat
3rd	William McMurray	Democrat	on March 24, elected president pro tempore
4th	Obadiah Newcomb	Whig
5th	James W. Beekman*	Whig
6th	Edwin D. Morgan*	Whig	on January 26, elected president pro tempore
7th	Abraham B. Conger	Democrat
8th	John H. Otis	Democrat
9th	Nathaniel Jones	Democrat
10th	George T. Pierce	Democrat
11th	Azor Taber	Whig
12th	William H. Van Schoonhoven	Whig
13th	Dan S. Wright	Whig
14th	Eli W. Rogers	Democrat
15th	Henry B. Smith	Democrat
16th	Simeon Snow	Democrat
17th	Henry E. Bartlett	Democrat
18th	Harmon Bennett	Democrat
19th	Benjamin N. Huntington*	Whig
20th	James Platt	Whig
21st	Ashley Davenport	Democrat
22nd	James Munroe	Whig
23rd	Nathan Bristol	Democrat
24th	William Beach*	Whig
25th	Josiah B. Williams	Whig
26th	Francis R. E. Cornell	Democrat
27th	Micajah W. Kirby	Democrat
28th	Alonzo S. Upham*	Whig
29th	Myron H. Clark	Whig
30th	John A. McElwain	Whig	also Treasurer of Wyoming Co.
31st	George R. Babcock*	Whig
32nd	Elisha Ward	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Ira P. Barnes
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles Lee
• Doorkeeper: A. N. Beardsley
• Assistant Doorkeeper: George Read

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote on Speaker.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Hugh Swift	Democrat
	2nd	George M. Sayles	Whig
	3rd	Teunis Van Vechten Jr.	Whig
	4th	Robert Harper	Democrat
Allegany	1st	John Wheeler	Whig
	2nd	John R. Hartshorn	Democrat
Broome		William L. Ford	Whig
Cattaraugus	1st	Stephen S. Cole	Whig
	2nd	Alexander Sheldon	Whig
Cayuga	1st	William Hayden	Whig
	2nd	George Underwood*	Whig
	3rd	Delos Bradley*	Whig
Chautauqua	1st	Austin Smith*	Whig
	2nd	Jeremiah Ellsworth	Whig
Chemung		James B. Van Etten	Whig
Chenango	1st	Thompson White	Democrat
	2nd	Joseph P. Chamberlin	Democrat
Clinton		Jacob H. Holt	Democrat
Columbia	1st	Wesley R. Gallup	Democrat
	2nd	George Van Santvoord	Democrat
Cortland		George W. Bradford	Whig
Delaware	1st	Hezekiah Elwood	Democrat
	2nd	Lewis Mills	Democrat
Dutchess	1st	John S. Emans	Democrat
	2nd	John M. Keese	Whig
	3rd	Augustus Martin	Democrat
Erie	1st	Israel T. Hatch	Democrat
	2nd	Jasper B. Young	Whig
	3rd	Aaron Riley	Whig
	4th	Joseph Bennett	Whig
Essex		Abraham Welden*	Whig
Franklin		Darius W. Lawrence	Democrat
Fulton and Hamilton		Alfred N. Haner	Whig
Genesee	1st	Albert Rowe*	Whig
	2nd	Levi Fisk*	Whig
Greene	1st	Norman H. Gray	Democrat
	2nd	Thomas Bedell Jr.	Democrat
Herkimer	1st	John Hoover	Democrat
	2nd	Charles Delong	Democrat
Jefferson	1st	William A. Gilbert*	Whig
	2nd	Merrill Coburn	Democrat
	3rd	William Rouse	Whig
Kings	1st	John Berry	Democrat
	2nd	Waldo Hutchins	Whig
	3rd	Samuel E. Johnson	Democrat
Lewis		John Benedict	Democrat
Livingston	1st	Alvin Chamberlin*	Whig
	2nd	Orrin D. Lake*	Whig
Madison	1st	George B. Rowe	Whig
	2nd	Henry L. Webb	Whig
Monroe	1st	John Shoecraft	Whig
	2nd	Joel P. Milliner	Whig
	3rd	Caleb B. Corser*	Whig
Montgomery	1st	John I. Davis	Whig
	2nd	William Clark	Whig
New York	1st	William Miner	Democrat	took his seat on February 25
	2nd	Patrick G. Maloney	Democrat
	3rd	Joseph Rose Jr.	Democrat
	4th	Theodore A. Ward	Whig
	5th	John Brown	Democrat
	6th	Wyllis Blackstone*	Whig
	7th	Freeborn G. Luckey	Whig
	8th	Moses D. Gale	Democrat
	9th	Aaron B. Rollins	Democrat
	10th	James Monroe	Whig
	11th	David O'Keefe Jr.	Democrat
	12th	Michael Walsh	Democrat	on November 2, 1852, elected to the U.S. Congress
	13th	William Taylor	Whig
	14th	Andrew Leary	Democrat
	15th	Thomas P. St. John	Democrat
	16th	Ephraim L. Snow	Whig	contested by Russell Smith (D); the seat was declared vacant on February 28, 1852
Niagara	1st	Abijah H. Moss*	Whig
	2nd	Jeptha W. Babcock*	Whig
Oneida	1st	George D. Williams	Whig
	2nd	Chauncey S. Butler	Whig
	3rd	Henry Sandford	Democrat
	4th	John J. Castle	Democrat
Onondaga	1st	Lyman Norton	Democrat
	2nd	William E. Tallman	Whig
	3rd	George Stevens*	Whig
	4th	John Merritt	Democrat
Ontario	1st	William R. Pettit	Whig
	2nd	Elnathan U. Simmons	Democrat
Orange	1st	Hugh B. Bull	Whig
	2nd	James B. Stevens	Democrat
	3rd	Abraham J. Cuddeback	Democrat
Orleans		George M. Copeland	Whig
Oswego	1st	Edwin C. Hart	Democrat
	2nd	James T. Gibson	Democrat
Otsego	1st	Hanson Wright	Democrat
	2nd	Erastus King	Democrat
	3rd	Harvey Keyes	Democrat
Putnam		Nathan A. Howes	Democrat
Queens		Sylvanus S. Smith	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	Jonas C. Heartt	Whig	elected Speaker
	2nd	Albert E. Richmond	Whig
	3rd	William H. Herrick	Whig
Richmond		Lawrence H. Cortelyou	Whig
Rockland		John Demarest	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Smith Stilwell*	Democrat
	2nd	Benjamin Smith	Democrat
	3rd	Parker W. Rose	Democrat
Saratoga	1st	Isaiah Blood	Democrat
	2nd	Alexander H. Palmer	Whig
Schenectady		James Donnan	Whig
Schoharie	1st	Seymour Sornberger	Democrat
	2nd	James Osterhout	Democrat
Seneca		Robert R. Steele	Democrat
Steuben	1st	Robert B. Van Valkenburgh	Whig
	2nd	Benajah P. Bailey	Whig
	3rd	Nathaniel M. Perry	Democrat
Suffolk	1st	Henry P. Hedges	Whig
	2nd	Zopher B. Oakley	Whig
Sullivan		Elisha P. Strong	Democrat
Tioga		William Pierson	Democrat
Tompkins	1st	Alvah Hurlbut	Whig
	2nd	Stephen B. Cushing	Democrat
Ulster	1st	Jacob S. Freer	Democrat
	2nd	Jacob Westbrook Jr.	Democrat	unsuccessfully contested by Job G. Elmore (W)
Warren		George Richards	Whig
Washington	1st	Elisha Billings	Whig
	2nd	David Wilson	Whig
Wayne	1st	William Dutton	Whig
	2nd	Theron G. Yeomans*	Whig
Westchester	1st	George W. Lyon	Democrat
	2nd	Abraham Hatfield	Democrat
Wyoming		Wolcott J. Humphrey*	Whig
Yates		Charles S. Hoyt	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: Richard U. Sherman
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Joseph W. Caldwell
• Doorkeeper: Nathan Chamberlin
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Archibald Smith
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Asa Baldwin

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 137 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 242ff for assemblymen]
• Journal of the Senate (75th Session) (1852)
• Journal of the Assembly (75th Session) (1852)