# 25th New York State Legislature

The 25th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 26 to April 5, 1802, during the first year of George Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, amended by the re-apportionment of March 4, 1796, Senators were elected on general tickets in the senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year about one fourth of the Senate seats came up for election. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole assembly being renewed annually.
In 1797, Albany was declared the State capital, and all subsequent legislatures have been meeting there ever since. In 1799, the legislature enacted that future legislatures meet on the last Tuesday of January of each year unless called earlier by the governor.
On November 11, 1801, State Senator Moses Vail was appointed Sheriff of Rensselaer County, leaving a vacancy in the Eastern District.
At this time the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.

## Elections

The State election was held from April 28 to 30, 1801. Ex-Governor George Clinton (in office 1777-1795) was elected to a seventh term, and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York, both were Democratic-Republicans
Senators Ezra L'Hommedieu (Southern D.), Jacobus S. Bruyn, James G. Graham (both Middle D.), Ebenezer Clark, Jacobus Van Schoonhoven and Abraham Van Vechten (all three Eastern D.) were re-elected. Peter A. Van Bergen (Middle D.), Christopher Hutton (Eastern D.), John Meyer, Isaac Foote (both Western D.) and Assemblyman Lemuel Chipman (Western D.) were also elected to the Senate. Assemblyman Edward Savage (Eastern D.) was elected to fill the vacancy. L'Hommedieu, Bruyn, Graham, Van Bergen and Savage were Democratic-Republicans, Hutton ran on both tickets, the others were Federalists.

## Constitutional Convention

On April 6, 1801, the legislature had passed an "Act Recommending a Convention" which called for the election of delegates to a convention to amend the State Constitution concerning the right to nominate appointees in the Council of Appointment, and the apportionment of the state legislature. The delegates were elected from August 25 to 27, mirroring the apportionment of the Assembly. The convention met from October 13 to 27, and had a large Democratic-Republican majority. U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr presided.
The Constitutional Convention gave the governor and all four councillors concurrently the right to nominate appointees. The convention also changed the composition of the state legislature: the number of state senators was fixed permanently at 32; the number of assemblymen was set at 100, but could increase at a rate of two per year until reaching 150.

## Sessions

The legislature met at the Old City Hall in Albany on January 26, 1802; and adjourned on April 5.
Dem.-Rep. Thomas Storm was elected Speaker unanimously.
On February 5, 1802, U.S. Senator John Armstrong (Dem.-Rep.) resigned, and on February 9, 1802, the Legislature elected State Senator DeWitt Clinton (Dem.-Rep.) to fill the vacancy.
On March 31, 1802, the Legislature re-apportioned the Assembly seats, according to the provisions of the Constitutional Convention.

## State Senate
### Districts

* The Southern District (9 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
* The Middle District (12 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, Columbia, Delaware, Rockland and Greene counties.
* The Eastern District (12 seats) consisted of Washington, Clinton, Rensselaer, Albany, Saratoga and Essex counties.
* The Western District (11 seats) consisted of Montgomery, Herkimer, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Onondaga, Schoharie, Steuben, Chenango, Oneida and Cayuga counties.

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Edward Savage and Lemuel Chipman changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
To reduce the number of senators from 43 to 32, as enacted by the Constitutional Convention, 19 members left the Senate at the end of this session: the eleven members who finished their term this year (marked "term left 1 year"); and eight senators who had their term cut short (marked "legislated out of office"). Eight new senators were elected to arrive at 32.
| District | Senators | Term left | Party | Notes |
| Southern | DeWitt Clinton* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | elected on February 9, 1802, to the U.S. Senate, and took his seat on February 27, thus vacating his seat in the State Senate |
| Southern | (David Gelston*) | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | vacated his seat upon appointment as Collector of the Port of New York on July 9, 1801 |
| Southern | John Schenck* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Southern | John B. Coles* | 2 years | Federalist | legislated out of office |
| Southern | Richard Hatfield* | 2 years | Federalist | |
| Southern | William Denning* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Southern | Benjamin Huntting* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Southern | Ebenezer Purdy* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Southern | Ezra L'Hommedieu* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | Ebenezer Foote* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Middle | Ambrose Spencer* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | from February 3, 1802, also New York Attorney General |
| Middle | Isaac Bloom* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected in April 1802 to the 8th United States Congress; legislated out of office |
| Middle | John Hathorn* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | John Suffern* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | John C. Hogeboom* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | Solomon Sutherland* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | legislated out of office |
| Middle | David Van Ness* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | legislated out of office |
| Middle | James W. Wilkin* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Middle | Jacobus S. Bruyn* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | Peter A. Van Bergen | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | James G. Graham* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | legislated out of office |
| Eastern | Leonard Gansevoort* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Eastern | John Sanders* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Eastern | Zina Hitchcock* | 2 years | Federalist | |
| Eastern | Ebenezer Russell* | 2 years | Federalist | |
| Eastern | Edward Savage* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Moses Vail; elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Eastern | James Gordon* | 3 years | Federalist | |
| Eastern | Stephen Lush | 3 years | Federalist | legislated out of office |
| Eastern | Ebenezer Clark* | 4 years | Federalist | legislated out of office |
| Eastern | Christopher Hutton | 4 years | Dem.-Rep./Fed. | Hutton ran on both tickets |
| Eastern | Jacobus Van Schoonhoven* | 4 years | Federalist | |
| Eastern | Abraham Van Vechten* | 4 years | Federalist | also Recorder of the City of Albany |
| Western | William Beekman* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Western | John Frey* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Western | Frederick Gettman* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Western | Thomas R. Gold* | 1 year | Federalist | |
| Western | Vincent Mathews* | 2 years | Federalist | |
| Western | Moss Kent* | 2 years | Federalist | |
| Western | Robert Roseboom* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Jedediah Sanger* | 3 years | Federalist | also First Judge of the Oneida County Court |
| Western | Lemuel Chipman* | 4 years | Federalist | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Western | John Meyer | 4 years | Federalist | also First Judge of the Herkimer County Court; legislated out of office |
| Western | Isaac Foote | 4 years | Federalist | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Abraham B. Bancker
** Henry I. Bleecker from April 5, 1802

## State Assembly
### Districts

* Albany County (8 seats)
* Cayuga County (1 seat)
* Chenango County (2 seats)
* Clinton and Essex counties (1 seat)
* Columbia County (6 seats)
* Delaware County (2 seats)
* Dutchess County (10 seats)
* Greene County (2 seats)
* Herkimer County (3 seats)
* Kings County (1 seat)
* Montgomery County (6 seats)
* The City and County of New York (13 seats)
* Oneida County (3 seats)
* Onondaga County (1 seat)
* Ontario and Steuben counties (2 seats)
* Orange County (5 seats)
* Otsego County (4 seats)
* Queens County (4 seats)
* Rensselaer County (6 seats)
* Richmond County (1 seat)
* Rockland County (1 seat)
* Saratoga County (5 seats)
* Schoharie County (1 seat)
* Suffolk County (4 seats)
* Tioga County (1 seat)
* Ulster County (4 seats)
* Washington County (6 seats)
* Westchester County (5 seats)

### Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
| District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | Johann Jost Dietz* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Prince Doty* | Federalist | |
| Albany | John Vernon Henry* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Peter S. Schuyler | Federalist | |
| Albany | Joseph Shurtleff* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Dirck Ten Broeck* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Jacob Ten Eyck* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Peter West* | Federalist | |
| Cayuga | Salmon Buell | | |
| Chenango | Nathaniel King | | |
| Chenango | Joshua Mersereau Jr. | | |
| Clinton and Essex | William Bailey | | |
| Columbia | Thomas Brodhead | Federalist | |
| Columbia | Josiah Holley | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Columbia | Henry W. Livingston | Federalist | elected in April 1802 to the 8th United States Congress |
| Columbia | Samuel Ten Broeck | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Columbia | Peter Van Alstyne | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Columbia | Moses Younglove | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Delaware | Gabriel North* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Delaware | Erastus Root* | Dem.-Rep. | elected in April 1802 to the 8th United States Congress |
| Dutchess | Abraham Adriance* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Benjamin Akins* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Theodorus Bailey | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Elisha Barlow* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Nicholas H. Emigh* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Harry Garrison | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Alexander Spencer | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | John Thompson | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | John M. Thurston* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | vacant | | |
| Greene | William Beach | | |
| Greene | Philip Conine Jr. | | previously a member from Albany Co. |
| Herkimer | Nathan Smith* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Herkimer | Samuel Merry Jr. | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Herkimer | George Widrig* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Kings | John C. Vanderveer | | |
| Montgomery | Archibald McIntyre* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | Frederick Sammons | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | Alexander Sheldon* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | Jacob Snell* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | Charles Ward | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | Christopher P. Yates* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Philip I. Arcularius* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | John Broome* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Peter Elting | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Thomas Farmar | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | William Few | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | James Hunt* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | (Henry Brockholst Livingston*) | Dem.-Rep. | vacated his seat upon appointment to the New York Supreme Court on January 8, 1802 |
| New York | Elias Nexsen* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Samuel Osgood* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Ezekiel Robins* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Henry Rutgers* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Thomas Storm* | Dem.-Rep. | elected Speaker |
| New York | George Warner* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Oneida | Joel Bristol | | |
| Oneida | Abel French* | Federalist | |
| Oneida | David Ostrom* | Federalist | |
| Onondaga | Asa Danforth* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ontario and Steuben | Daniel Chapin | | |
| Ontario and Steuben | Peter B. Porter | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Orange | Joshua Brown | | |
| Orange | James Burt | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Orange | Charles Clinton | | |
| Orange | Andrew McCord* | Dem.-Rep. | elected in April 1802 to the 8th United States Congress |
| Orange | Selah Strong | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Otsego | Samuel Campbell | | |
| Otsego | Solomon Martin* | | |
| Otsego | Jedediah Peck* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Otsego | Jacob Ten Broeck* | | |
| Queens | John D. Ditmis | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Queens | Abraham Monfoort* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Queens | Joseph Pettit* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Queens | William Mott | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Rensselaer | John Carpenter | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | Jacob A. Fort | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | John Green | Fed./Dem.-Rep. | Green ran on both tickets |
| Rensselaer | Burton Hammond | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | John Knickerbacker Jr. | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | John Stevens | Federalist | |
| Richmond | Paul I. Micheau* | Federalist | |
| Rockland | Peter Denoyelles | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Saratoga | Samuel Clark | | |
| Saratoga | Adam Comstock* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Saratoga | Henry Corl Jr.* | | |
| Saratoga | James Warren* | | |
| Saratoga | Edward A. Watrous | | |
| Schoharie | Lawrence Lawyer Jr. | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Suffolk | Israel Carll | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Suffolk | Jared Landon* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Suffolk | Abraham Miller* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Suffolk | Tredwell Scudder | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Tioga | Caleb Hyde | | |
| Ulster | Benjamin Bevier* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ulster | Josiah Hasbrouck | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ulster | Elnathan Sears | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ulster | Benjamin Snyder | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Kitchel Bishop | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Alexander Cowan | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Jason Kellogg | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | John McLean | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Micajah Pettit | | |
| Washington | Isaac Sargent | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | Abijah Gilbert* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | Abraham Odell* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | Abel Smith* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | Thomas Thomas* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | Joseph Travis | Dem.-Rep. | |

### Employees

* Clerk: James Van Ingen
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Ephraim Hunt
* Doorkeeper: Benjamin Whipple