# 84th New York State Legislature

The 84th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to April 16, 1861, during the third year of Edwin D. Morgan's governorship, in Albany.

## 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 (four districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, 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 Democrats split over the slavery issue and presidential nomination. Two State tickets were nominated, one supporting Stephen A. Douglas for president, the other supporting John C. Breckinridge.

## Elections

The 1860 New York state election was held on November 6. Gov. Edwin D. Morgan and Lt. Gov. Robert Campbell (both Rep.) were re-elected. The other two statewide elective offices were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor was: Republican 358,000; Douglas Democratic 294,000; and Breckinridge Democratic 19,000.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 1, 1861; and adjourned on April 16.
DeWitt C. Littlejohn (R) was re-elected Speaker with 90 votes against 31 for Francis Kernan (D).
On January 16, the Legislature elected Benjamin F. Bruce (R) as Canal Commissioner, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Commissioner-elect Samuel H. Barnes (R).
On February 5, the Legislature elected Ex-Supreme Court Justice Ira Harris (R) to succeed William H. Seward as U.S. Senator from New York for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1861.
On February 8, Ephraim Goss (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this day."
On February 19, Jay Gibbons (D) asked the Assembly to appoint a Select Committee to investigate allegations that he had "corruptly solicited a consideration for his official action in regard to a bill now pending before this House, to increase the salary of the assistant district attorney of the County of Albany." Speaker Littlejohn appointed assemblymen Bingham, Tuthill (both R), Hutchings, Kernan and Taber (all three D) to this committee. Mitchell Sanford and Theophilus C. Callicot appeared for Gibbons's defence during the proceedings.
On March 7, Peter P. Murphy (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this day." On the same day, a Committee was appointed to "enquire and report whether it be necessary to appoint a President pro tempore, or whether the President pro tempore chosen at the previous session holds his office during the present session."
On March 12, the Committee reported that it is necessary to appoint a President pro tempore, and that the President pro tempore chosen at the previous session does not continue in office at the next session. Besides, the committee opined that a President pro tempore can only be appointed if the Lieutenant Governor is actually absent, and that the appointment ceases whenever the Lieutenant Governor returns.
On March 25, Erastus S. Prosser (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this day." Later on the same day, William H. Ferry (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for the balance of the Session."
On April 3, the Select Committee's resolution to expel Jay Gibbons was adopted by a vote of 99 to 8.

## State Senate
### Districts

* 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
* 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th wards of the City of Brooklyn
* 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 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, 8th and 14th wards of New York City
* 5th District: 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
* 6th District: 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New York City
* 7th District: 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
* 8th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
* 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
* 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
* 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
* 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
* 13th District: Albany County
* 14th District: Delaware, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
* 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga 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: Oswego County
* 22nd District: Onondaga County
* 23rd District: Chenango, Cortland and Madison 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

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | Edward A. Lawrence* | Democrat | |
| 2nd | Thomas A. Gardiner* | Democrat | |
| 3rd | Francis B. Spinola* | Democrat | |
| 4th | John McLeod Murphy* | Democrat | |
| 5th | Bernard Kelly* | Democrat | |
| 6th | Benjamin F. Manierre* | Republican | |
| 7th | Richard B. Connolly* | Democrat | |
| 8th | Hezekiah D. Robertson* | Republican | also Supervisor of Bedford |
| 9th | Robert Y. Grant* | Democrat | |
| 10th | Joshua Fiero Jr.* | Republican | |
| 11th | John H. Ketcham* | Republican | |
| 12th | Volney Richmond* | Republican | |
| 13th | Andrew J. Colvin* | Democrat | |
| 14th | Joseph H. Ramsey* | Republican | |
| 15th | Isaiah Blood* | Democrat | |
| 16th | Nathan Lapham* | Republican | |
| 17th | Charles C. Montgomery* | Republican | |
| 18th | James A. Bell* | Republican | |
| 19th | William H. Ferry* | Republican | on March 25, elected president pro tempore |
| 20th | Francis M. Rotch* | Republican | |
| 21st | Andrew S. Warner* | Republican | |
| 22nd | Allen Munroe* | Republican | |
| 23rd | Perrin H. McGraw* | Republican | |
| 24th | Lyman Truman* | Republican | |
| 25th | Alexander B. Williams* | Republican | |
| 26th | Thomas Hillhouse* | Republican | |
| 27th | Samuel H. Hammond* | Republican | |
| 28th | Ephraim Goss* | Republican | on February 8, elected president pro tempore |
| 29th | Peter P. Murphy* | Republican | on March 7, elected president pro tempore |
| 30th | David H. Abell* | Republican | |
| 31st | Erastus S. Prosser* | Republican | on March 25, elected president pro tempore |
| 32nd | Walter L. Sessions* | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: James Terwilliger
* Sergeant-at-Arms: James C. Clark
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: George H. Knapp
* Doorkeeper: Peter Kilmer
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles Johnson
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: John H. France
* Third Assistant Doorkeeper: Caspar Walter

## State Assembly
### Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker and U.S. Senator.
| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | Jay Gibbons | Democrat | expelled on April 3 |
| Albany | 2nd | Lewis Benedict Jr. | Republican | |
| Albany | 3rd | Henry Lansing | Democrat | |
| Albany | 4th | William J. Wheeler | Democrat | |
| Allegany | 1st | Wilkes Angel | Republican | also Supervisor of Angelica |
| Allegany | 2nd | Lucius S. May | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | Friend H. Burt | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 1st | Nelson I. Norton | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 2nd | Franklin Philbrick | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 1st | Heman Benton | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 2nd | Smith Anthony | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Henry A. Prendergast | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Hiram Smith 2d* | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | Lucius Robinson* | Republican | on November 5, 1861, elected State Comptroller |
| Chenango | 1st | Thomas Carter | Republican | |
| Chenango | 2nd | Samuel E. Lewis | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Henry McFadden* | Republican | |
| Columbia | 1st | Samuel Lasher | Republican | |
| Columbia | 2nd | Norton S. Collin | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | Loammi Kinney | Republican | |
| Delaware | 1st | Seymour E. Smith | Republican | |
| Delaware | 2nd | Daniel Waterbury | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | John B. Dutcher | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Samuel J. Farnum | Republican | |
| Erie | 1st | Stephen V. R. Watson | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | Victor M. Rice | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Benjamin H. Long | Democrat | |
| Erie | 4th | Zebulon Ferris | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Martin Finch* | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | William Andrus | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | James H. Burr | Republican | |
| Genesee | Genesee | George W. Wright | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Gilbert Bedell | Democrat | |
| Herkimer | 1st | John Markell | Republican | |
| Herkimer | 2nd | Josiah Shull | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 1st | David Montague | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 2nd | David J. Wager | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 3rd | Harvey Bailey | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | Andrew J. Provost | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Marquis D. Moore | Republican | |
| Kings | 3rd | Nathan Comstock | Republican | |
| Kings | 4th | James Darcy* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | Lucius C. Andrus | Republican | |
| Kings | 6th | Joseph Nesbitt | Democrat | |
| Kings | 7th | George H. Fisher* | Republican | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Edmund Baldwin | Republican | |
| Livingston | 1st | Matthew Wiard | Republican | |
| Livingston | 2nd | George Hyland | Republican | |
| Madison | 1st | Orrin B. Lord | Republican | |
| Madison | 2nd | Francis A. Hyatt | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Martin Roberts | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Lewis H. Morgan | Republican | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Benjamin R. Wells | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Frothingham Fish | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | John Callahan | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | William Walsh* | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Christian B. Woodruff* | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | William J. C. Kenny | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by Lewis Hopps |
| New York | 5th | John J. Shaw | Republican | |
| New York | 6th | Samuel T. Webster* | Democrat | |
| New York | 7th | Daniel Young | Democrat | |
| New York | 8th | Andrew Craft | Republican | |
| New York | 9th | Horatio N. Sherwood | Republican | |
| New York | 10th | Luke F. Cozans | Democrat | |
| New York | 11th | John Hardy | Democrat | |
| New York | 12th | John Lambrecht | Republican | |
| New York | 13th | Charles E. Birdsall | Republican | |
| New York | 14th | Robert C. Hutchings | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | George W. Varian* | Democrat | |
| New York | 16th | Henry Arcularius* | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by Dennis McCabe (R) |
| New York | 17th | Jay Jarvis Jones | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Henry P. Smith | Republican | |
| Niagara | 2nd | Oliver P. Scovell | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Francis Kernan | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Levi T. Marshall | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | Marquis L. Kenyon | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 4th | William Lewis | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Jeremiah Emerick* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Austin Myers* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | Abner Chapman | Republican | |
| Ontario | 1st | Perez H. Field | Republican | |
| Ontario | 2nd | Stephen H. Ainsworth | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | Stephen W. Fullerton Jr. | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | Milton Barnes | Democrat | |
| Orleans | Orleans | Gideon Randall | Republican | |
| Oswego | 1st | DeWitt C. Littlejohn* | Republican | re-elected Speaker |
| Oswego | 2nd | Richard K. Sanford | Republican | |
| Oswego | 3rd | Mason Salisbury | Republican | |
| Otsego | 1st | Elijah E. Ferrey | Republican | |
| Otsego | 2nd | Frederick A. Bolles | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | Charles T. Brewster | Republican | |
| Queens | 1st | Stephen Taber* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | John D. Townsend | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | Charles J. Saxe | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | L. Chandler Ball | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 3rd | Anson Bingham* | Republican | |
| Richmond | Richmond | N. Dane Ellingwood | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | William R. Knapp | Democrat | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | Charles Richardson* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | Edwin A. Merritt* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 3rd | Clark S. Chittenden* | Republican | |
| Saratoga | 1st | John Fulton* | Democrat | |
| Saratoga | 2nd | James Sumner Jr. | Republican | |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Alonzo Macomber | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | Joseph Buckbee | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Abram V. Mekeel | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | William Johnson | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 1st | Daniel B. Bryan | Republican | |
| Steuben | 2nd | Jeffrey Smith | Republican | |
| Steuben | 3rd | Redman S. Davis | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 1st | James H. Tuthill | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 2nd | Alexander J. Bergen | Democrat | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | Stephen St. John Gardner | Democrat | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Cero F. Barber | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Jeremiah W. Dwight* | Republican | |
| Ulster | 1st | Robert Loughran | Republican | |
| Ulster | 2nd | George T. Pierce | Republican | |
| Ulster | 3rd | Benjamin Turner Jr. | Republican | |
| Warren | Warren | Walter A. Faxon | Republican | |
| Washington | 1st | Peter Hill | Republican | |
| Washington | 2nd | Nicholas M. Catlin | Republican | |
| Wayne | 1st | Jabez S. L'Amoreaux | Republican | |
| Wayne | 2nd | Joseph W. Corning | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | William J. McDermott | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 2nd | N. Holmes Odell* | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 3rd | Benjamin F. Camp | Republican | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | John J. Doolittle | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | Gilbert Sherer | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Hanson A. Risley
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles D. Easton
* Doorkeeper: George C. Dennis
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Henry Henderson
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Sanders Wilson