# 139th New York State Legislature

The 139th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 20, 1916, during the second year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1906 and 1907, 51 Senators and 150 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 (twelve districts), Kings County (eight districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of 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 1915 New York state election was held on November 2. No statewide elective offices were up for election. The voters rejected all amendments proposed by the Constitutional Convention of 1915.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1916; and adjourned on April 20.
Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) was re-elected Speaker, with 94 votes against 45 for Joseph M. Callahan (D).
On February 8, the Legislature elected three Regents of the University of the State of New York: William Berri to fill the vacancy caused by the death of St. Clair McKelway, for a term to end on April 1, 1917; James Byrne to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew J. Shipman, for a term to end on April 1, 1920; and Walter Guest Kellogg for a term of twelve years, beginning on April 1, 1916.
The Legislature enacted a new apportionment of Senate districts, and the number of assemblymen per county, which became law with the approval by the governor on May 1. The new apportionment was declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals in July 1916, and the 1916 New York state election, was held under the apportionment of 1907.

## State Senate
### Districts

* 1st District: Nassau and Suffolk counties
* 2nd District: Queens County, i.e the Borough of Queens
* 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th District: Parts of Kings County, i.e. the Borough of Brooklyn
* 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th District: Parts of New York County, i.e. the Borough of Manhattan
* 21st and 22nd District: Parts of Bronx County, i.e. the Borough of the Bronx
* 23rd District: Richmond and Rockland counties
* 24th District: Westchester County
* 25th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
* 26th District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam and counties
* 27th District: Greene and Ulster counties
* 28th District: Albany County
* 29th District: Rensselaer County
* 30th District: Saratoga and Washington counties
* 31st District: Montgomery, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
* 32nd District: Lewis, Fulton, Hamilton and Herkimer counties
* 33rd District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
* 34th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
* 35th District: Jefferson and Oswego counties
* 36th District: Oneida County
* 37th District: Chenango, Madison and Otsego counties
* 38th District: Onondaga County
* 39th District: Broome and Delaware counties
* 40th District: Cayuga, Cortland and Seneca counties
* 41st District: Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga and Tompkins counties
* 42nd District: Ontario, Wayne and Yates counties
* 43rd District: Steuben and Livingston counties
* 44th District: Allegany, Genesee and Wyoming counties
* 45th and 46th District: Monroe County
* 47th District: Niagara and Orleans counties
* 48th, 49th and 50th District: Erie County
* 51st District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | George L. Thompson* | Republican | |
| 2nd | Bernard M. Patten* | Democrat | |
| 3rd | Thomas H. Cullen* | Democrat | |
| 4th | Charles C. Lockwood* | Republican | Chairman of Public Education |
| 5th | William J. Heffernan* | Democrat | |
| 6th | William B. Carswell* | Democrat | |
| 7th | Daniel J. Carroll* | Democrat | |
| 8th | Alvah W. Burlingame Jr.* | Republican | Chairman of Revision |
| 9th | Robert R. Lawson* | Republican | Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills |
| 10th | Alfred J. Gilchrist* | Republican | Chairman of Commerce and Navigation |
| 11th | Christopher D. Sullivan* | Democrat | on November 7, 1916, elected to the 65th U.S. Congress |
| 12th | Henry W. Doll* | Democrat | |
| 13th | Jimmy Walker* | Democrat | |
| 14th | James A. Foley* | Democrat | |
| 15th | John J. Boylan* | Democrat | |
| 16th | Robert F. Wagner* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| 17th | Ogden L. Mills* | Rep./Progr. | |
| 18th | William M. Bennett* | Rep./Progr. | |
| 19th | George W. Simpson* | Democrat | |
| 20th | Irving J. Joseph* | Democrat | |
| 21st | John J. Dunnigan* | Democrat | |
| 22nd | James A. Hamilton* | Democrat | |
| 23rd | George Cromwell* | Republican | |
| 24th | George A. Slater* | Republican | |
| 25th | John D. Stivers* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| 26th | James E. Towner* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| 27th | Charles W. Walton* | Republican | |
| 28th | Henry M. Sage* | Republican | Chairman of Finance |
| 29th | George B. Wellington | Republican | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Walter A. Wood Jr.; Chairman of Conservation |
| 30th | George H. Whitney* | Republican | Chairman of Public Health |
| 31st | Arden L. Norton* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| 32nd | Franklin W. Cristman* | Republican | Chairman of Privileges and Elections |
| 33rd | James A. Emerson* | Republican | Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment |
| 34th | N. Monroe Marshall* | Republican | Chairman of Banks |
| 35th | Elon R. Brown* | Republican | Temporary President; Chairman of Rules |
| 36th | Charles W. Wicks* | Republican | |
| 37th | Samuel A. Jones* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Villages |
| 38th | J. Henry Walters* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| 39th | William H. Hill* | Rep./Progr. | |
| 40th | Charles J. Hewitt* | Republican | Chairman of Internal Affairs |
| 41st | Morris S. Halliday* | Republican | Chairman of Penal Institutions |
| 42nd | Thomas B. Wilson* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |
| 43rd | Charles D. Newton* | Republican | Chairman of Codes |
| 44th | Archie D. Sanders* | Republican | on November 7, 1916, elected to the 65th U.S. Congress |
| 45th | George F. Argetsinger* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Cities |
| 46th | John B. Mullan* | Republican | Chairman of Public Printing |
| 47th | George F. Thompson* | Republican | Chairman of Public Service |
| 48th | Clinton T. Horton* | Republican | Chairman of Civil Service |
| 49th | Samuel J. Ramsperger* | Democrat | |
| 50th | William P. Greiner* | Democrat | |
| 51st | George E. Spring* | Republican | Chairman of Labor and Industry |

### Employees

* Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
* Stenographer: John K. Marshall

## State Assembly

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

### Assemblymen

| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | Clarence F. Welsh | Republican | |
| Albany | 2nd | John G. Malone* | Republican | Chairman of Cities |
| Albany | 3rd | William C. Baxter* | Republican | Chairman of Electricity, Gas and Water Supply |
| Allegany | Allegany | William Duke Jr. | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | Simon P. Quick* | Republican | Chairman of Penal Institutions |
| Cattaraugus | Cattaraugus | DeHart H. Ames* | Republican | |
| Cayuga | Cayuga | William F. Whitman* | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Leon L. Fancher | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Joseph A. McGinnies | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | Robert P. Bush | Democrat | |
| Chenango | Chenango | Bert Lord* | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | William R. Weaver | Republican | |
| Columbia | Columbia | William Wallace Chace* | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | George H. Wiltsie* | Republican | Chairman of Banks |
| Delaware | Delaware | Edwin A. Mackey* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | James C. Allen* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Frank L. Gardner | Republican | |
| Erie | 1st | Alexander Taylor | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | Ross Graves* | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Nicholas J. Miller* | Republican | Chairman of Public Institutions |
| Erie | 4th | James M. Mead* | Democrat | |
| Erie | 5th | John A. Lynch | Democrat | |
| Erie | 6th | Peter C. Jezewski* | Republican | |
| Erie | 7th | Joseph Roemhild Jr. | Rep./Progr. | |
| Erie | 8th | Leonard W. H. Gibbs* | Republican | |
| Erie | 9th | Nelson W. Cheney | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Raymond T. Kenyon* | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | Warren T. Thayer | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | Burt Z. Kasson | Republican | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Louis H. Wells* | Republican | Chairman of Internal Affairs |
| Greene | Greene | George H. Chase* | Republican | Chairman of Commerce and Navigation |
| Herkimer | Herkimer | Selden C. Clobridge* | Republican | Chairman of Soldiers' Home |
| Jefferson | 1st | H. Edmund Machold* | Republican | Chairman of Conservation |
| Jefferson | 2nd | Willard S. Augsbury* | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | R. Hunter McQuistion* | Republican | Chairman of Social Welfare |
| Kings | 2nd | William J. Gillen* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 3rd | Frank J. Taylor* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | Peter A. McArdle* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | Fred G. Milligan Jr.* | Republican | |
| Kings | 6th | Nathan D. Shapiro* | Republican | |
| Kings | 7th | Daniel F. Farrell* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 8th | John J. McKeon* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 9th | Frederick S. Burr* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 10th | Fred M. Ahern* | Republican | Chairman of Codes |
| Kings | 11th | George R. Brennan* | Republican | Chairman of General Laws |
| Kings | 12th | William T. Simpson* | Republican | |
| Kings | 13th | Herman Kramer* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 14th | John Peter La Frenz* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 15th | Jeremiah F. Twomey | Democrat | |
| Kings | 16th | Charles Joseph | Democrat | |
| Kings | 17th | Frederick A. Wells* | Republican | |
| Kings | 18th | Frederick B. Maerkle | Republican | |
| Kings | 19th | William A. Bacher* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 20th | August C. Flamman* | Republican | Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills |
| Kings | 21st | Isaac Mendelsohn* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 22nd | Charles H. Duff* | Republican | |
| Kings | 23rd | Abraham I. Shiplacoff | Socialist | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Henry L. Grant* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |
| Livingston | Livingston | George F. Wheelock | Republican | |
| Madison | Madison | Morell E. Tallett* | Republican | Chairman of Public Education |
| Monroe | 1st | James A. Harris* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Simon L. Adler* | Republican | Majority Leader |
| Monroe | 3rd | John R. Powers* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 4th | Frank Dobson* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 5th | Franklin W. Judson* | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Erastus Corning Davis* | Republican | |
| Nassau | Nassau | Thomas A. McWhinney* | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | John J. Ryan* | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | Peter J. Hamill | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Caesar B. F. Barra | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | Henry S. Schimmel* | Democrat | |
| New York | 5th | Maurice McDonald* | Democrat | |
| New York | 6th | Nathan D. Perlman* | Republican | Chairman of Claims |
| New York | 7th | Peter P. McElligott* | Democrat | |
| New York | 8th | Abraham Goodman | Democrat | |
| New York | 9th | Charles D. Donohue* | Democrat | |
| New York | 10th | Leon Bleecker | Rep./Progr. | |
| New York | 11th | James F. Mahony | Democrat | |
| New York | 12th | Joseph D. Kelly* | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | James C. Campbell* | Democrat | |
| New York | 14th | Robert Lee Tudor* | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | Abram Ellenbogen* | Republican | Chairman of Charitable and Religious Societies |
| New York | 16th | Martin G. McCue* | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | Vincent Gilroy | Democrat | |
| New York | 18th | Mark Goldberg* | Democrat | |
| New York | 19th | Perry M. Armstrong | Democrat | |
| New York | 20th | Frank Aranow* | Democrat | |
| New York | 21st | Thomas T. Reilley | Democrat | |
| New York | 22nd | Maurice Bloch* | Democrat | |
| New York | 23rd | Daniel C. Oliver* | Democrat | on November 7, 1916, elected to the 65th U.S. Congress |
| New York | 24th | Owen M. Kiernan* | Democrat | |
| New York | 25th | Robert McC. Marsh | Republican | |
| New York | 26th | Meyer Levy | Democrat | |
| New York | 27th | Hoffman Nickerson | Republican | |
| New York | 28th | Salvatore A. Cotillo* | Democrat | |
| New York | 29th | Alfred D. Bell | Republican | |
| New York | 30th | Timothy F. Gould | Democrat | |
| New York | 31st | Jacob Goldstein | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 32nd | William S. Evans* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 33rd | Earl H. Miller* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 34th | M. Maldwin Fertig* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 35th | Joseph M. Callahan* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| Niagara | 1st | William Bewley* | Republican | Chairman of Labor and Industry |
| Niagara | 2nd | Alan V. Parker* | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | John J. Hess | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Louis M. Martin | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | George T. Davis | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Edward Arnts* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| Onondaga | 2nd | J. Leslie Kincaid* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| Onondaga | 3rd | George R. Fearon | Republican | |
| Ontario | Ontario | Heber E. Wheeler* | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | William T. Snider | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | Charles L. Mead | Republican | |
| Orleans | Orleans | A. Allen Comstock* | Republican | |
| Oswego | Oswego | Thaddeus C. Sweet* | Republican | re-elected Speaker; Chairman of Rules |
| Otsego | Otsego | Allen J. Bloomfield* | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | Hamilton Fish III* | Progressive | |
| Queens | 1st | Nicholas Nehrbauer Jr.* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | Peter J. McGarry* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 3rd | William H. O'Hare* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 4th | George E. Polhemus* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | John F. Shannon* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | Arthur Cowee | Republican | |
| Richmond | Richmond | Stephen D. Stephens* | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | William A. Serven | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | Frank L. Seaker* | Republican | Chairman of Railroads |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | Edward A. Everett* | Republican | |
| Saratoga | Saratoga | Gilbert T. Seelye* | Republican | Chairman of Public Health |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Walter S. McNab* | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | Edward A. Dox* | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Henry J. Mitchell | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | William J. Maier* | Republican | Chairman of Ways and Means |
| Steuben | 1st | Reuben B. Oldfield* | Republican | Chairman of Revision |
| Steuben | 2nd | Richard M. Prangen* | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 1st | DeWitt C. Talmage* | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 2nd | Henry A. Murphy* | Republican | Chairman of Excise |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | William B. Voorhees | Republican | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Daniel P. Witter | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Casper Fenner | Republican | |
| Ulster | 1st | Henry R. DeWitt* | Republican | |
| Ulster | 2nd | Abram P. Lefevre* | Republican | Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment |
| Warren | Warren | Henry E. H. Brereton* | Republican | Chairman of Privileges and Elections |
| Washington | Washington | Charles O. Pratt* | Republican | Chairman of Villages |
| Wayne | Wayne | Riley A. Wilson* | Republican | Chairman of Public Printing |
| Westchester | 1st | George Blakely* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 2nd | William S. Coffey* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| Westchester | 3rd | Walter W. Law Jr.* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 4th | Floy D. Hopkins* | Republican | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | John Knight* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| Yates | Yates | Howard S. Fullagar | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry W. Haines
* Principal Doorkeeper: Fred R. Smith
* Stenographer: Paul E. McCarthy
* Postmaster: James H. Underwood