# 141st New York State Legislature

The 141st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 13, 1918, during the fourth year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, 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.
In 1917, the Legislature redistricted the Senate seats, and re-apportioned the number of assemblymen per county. Bronx County—which had been part of New York County at the time of the previous apportionment and occupied roughly the area of four Assembly districts—was properly separated, and was apportioned eight seats. New York County (without the Bronx) lost eight seats; and Erie, Jefferson and Ulster counties lost one seat each. Queens County gained two seats; and Broome, Nassau, Richmond, Schenectady and Westchester counties gained one seat each.
At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Socialist Party and the Prohibition Party also nominated tickets.

## Elections

The 1917 New York state election, was held on November 6. The three statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the three incumbents: Attorney General Merton E. Lewis and two cross-endorsed judges of the New York Court of Appeals, viz. Democrat Benjamin N. Cardozo and Republican Chester B. McLaughlin. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Attorney General, was: Republicans 697,000; Democrats 542,000; Socialists 169,000 and Prohibition 26,000.
Also, a constitutional amendment was adopted by the voters, which gave women the right to vote.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1918; and adjourned on April 13.
Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) was re-elected Speaker, with 88 votes against 33 for Charles D. Donohue (D) and 9 for Abraham I. Shiplacoff (S).

## State Senate
### Districts

Note: The senators had been elected to a two-year term in November 1916 under the 1907 apportionment, as stated below. Although the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts in 1917, the first senatorial election under the new apportionment occurred in November 1918.
* 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 | August E. Farrenkopf | Democrat | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Peter M. Daly |
| 3rd | Thomas H. Cullen* | Democrat | on November 5, 1918, elected to the 66th U.S. Congress |
| 4th | Charles C. Lockwood* | Republican | Chairman of Public Education |
| 5th | (William J. Heffernan)* | Democrat | did not attend the session, and resigned on January 1 to accept an appointment as Deputy Clerk of Kings County |
| 6th | Charles F. Murphy* | Republican | |
| 7th | Daniel J. Carroll* | Democrat | |
| 8th | Alvah W. Burlingame Jr.* | Republican | Chairman of Revision |
| 9th | Robert R. Lawson* | Republican | Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bill |
| 10th | Alfred J. Gilchrist* | Republican | Chairman of Commerce and Navigation |
| 11th | Bernard Downing* | Democrat | |
| 12th | Jacob Koenig* | Democrat | |
| 13th | Jimmy Walker* | Democrat | |
| 14th | James A. Foley* | Democrat | |
| 15th | John J. Boylan* | Democrat | |
| 16th | Robert F. Wagner* | Democrat | Minority Leader; on November 5, 1918, elected to the New York Supreme Court |
| 17th | Courtlandt Nicoll | Republican | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Ogden L. Mills; Chairman of Penal Institutions |
| 18th | Albert Ottinger* | Republican | |
| 19th | Edward J. Dowling* | Democrat | |
| 20th | Salvatore A. Cotillo* | Democrat | |
| 21st | John J. Dunnigan* | Democrat | |
| 22nd | John V. Sheridan* | Democrat | |
| 23rd | George Cromwell* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of the City of New York |
| 24th | George A. Slater* | Republican | on November 5, 1918, elected Surrogate of Westchester Co. |
| 25th | John D. Stivers* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| 26th | James E. Towner* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| 27th | Charles W. Walton* | Republican | Chairman of Conservation |
| 28th | Henry M. Sage* | Republican | Chairman of Finance |
| 29th | George B. Wellington* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| 30th | George H. Whitney* | Republican | Chairman of Public Health |
| 31st | James W. Yelverton* | Republican | |
| 32nd | Theodore Douglas Robinson* | Republican | |
| 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; Chairman of War Measures |
| 36th | Charles W. Wicks* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |
| 37th | Adon P. Brown* | Republican | |
| 38th | J. Henry Walters* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| 39th | William H. Hill* | Republican | on November 5, 1918, elected to the 66th U.S. Congress |
| 40th | Charles J. Hewitt* | Republican | Chairman of Internal Affairs of Towns, Counties and Public Highways |
| 41st | Morris S. Halliday* | Republican | Chairman of Privileges and Elections; resigned on March 1 to join the U.S. Army Signal Corps |
| 42nd | William A. Carson* | Republican | Chairman of Labor and Industry |
| 43rd | Charles D. Newton* | Republican | Chairman of Codes; on November 5, 1918, elected New York Attorney General |
| 44th | John Knight* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Villages |
| 45th | George F. Argetsinger* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Cities |
| 46th | John B. Mullan* | Republican | Chairman of Civil Service |
| 47th | George F. Thompson* | Republican | Chairman of Public Service |
| 48th | Ross Graves* | Republican | |
| 49th | Samuel J. Ramsperger* | Democrat | |
| 50th | Leonard W. H. Gibbs* | Republican | Chairman of Public Printing |
| 51st | J. Samuel Fowler | Republican | elected to fill vacancy, in place of George E. Spring |

### Employees

* Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: N. B. Sherrill
* Principal Doorkeeper: Lee V. Gardner
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: George W. Van Hyning
* 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 Affairs of Cities |
| Albany | 3rd | James M. Gaffers | Republican | |
| Allegany | Allegany | William Duke Jr.* | Republican | Chairman of Codes |
| Bronx | 1st | Earl H. Miller* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 2nd | Edward J. Flynn | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 3rd | Benjamin Gitlow | Socialist | |
| Bronx | 4th | Samuel Orr | Socialist | |
| Bronx | 5th | Charles B. Garfinkel | Socialist | |
| Bronx | 6th | Thomas J. McDonald | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 7th | Joseph V. McKee | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 8th | J. Fairfax McLaughlin | Democrat | |
| Broome | 1st | Edmund B. Jenks* | Republican | |
| Broome | 2nd | Forman E. Whitcomb | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | Cattaraugus | DeHart H. Ames* | Republican | Chairman of Charitable and Religious Societies |
| Cayuga | Cayuga | L. Ford Hager* | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Hermes L. Ames | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Joseph A. McGinnies* | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | John J. Richford | Republican | |
| Chenango | Chenango | Bert Lord* | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Wallace E. Pierce* | Republican | |
| Columbia | Columbia | William J. Alvord | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | George H. Wiltsie* | Republican | Chairman of Banks |
| Delaware | Delaware | James C. Nesbitt | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | James C. Allen* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Frank L. Gardner* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| Erie | 1st | Alexander Taylor* | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | John W. Slacer* | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Nicholas J. Miller* | Republican | Chairman of Excise |
| Erie | 4th | James M. Mead* | Democrat | on November 5, 1918, elected to the 66th U.S. Congress |
| Erie | 5th | Alexander A. Patrzykowski* | Democrat | |
| Erie | 6th | George H. Rowe | Republican | |
| Erie | 7th | Herbert A. Zimmerman* | Republican | |
| Erie | 8th | Nelson W. Cheney* | Republican | Chairman of Claims |
| Essex | Essex | Raymond T. Kenyon* | Republican | Chairman of War |
| Franklin | Franklin | Warren T. Thayer* | Republican | Chairman of Public Printing |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | Burt Z. Kasson* | Republican | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Louis H. Wells* | Republican | Chairman of Internal Affairs |
| Greene | Greene | Harding Showers* | Republican | |
| Herkimer | Herkimer | Edward O. Davies* | Republican | |
| Jefferson | Jefferson | H. Edmund Machold* | Republican | Chairman of Ways and Means |
| Kings | 1st | Patrick H. Larney* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | William H. Fitzgerald | Republican | |
| Kings | 3rd | Frank J. Taylor* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | Peter A. McArdle* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | James H. Caulfield Jr.* | Republican | Chairman of Commerce and Navigation |
| Kings | 6th | William M. Feigenbaum | Socialist | |
| Kings | 7th | Daniel F. Farrell* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 8th | John J. McKeon* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 9th | Frederick S. Burr* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 10th | Hoxie W. Smith | Democrat | |
| Kings | 11th | Thomas E. Brownlee | Republican | |
| Kings | 12th | Albert Link | Democrat | |
| Kings | 13th | Morgan T. Donnelly* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 14th | Joseph A. Whitehorn* | Socialist | |
| Kings | 15th | Jeremiah F. Twomey* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 16th | Kenneth F. Sutherland | Democrat | |
| Kings | 17th | Frederick A. Wells* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| Kings | 18th | Marshall Snyder | Republican | |
| Kings | 19th | Benjamin C. Klingmann* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 20th | George J. Braun | Democrat | |
| Kings | 21st | Wilfred E. Youker* | Republican | |
| Kings | 22nd | James J. Morris | Democrat | |
| Kings | 23rd | Abraham I. Shiplacoff* | Socialist | Socialist Leader |
| Lewis | Lewis | Albert A. Copeley | Republican | |
| 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 | Harry B. Crowley* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 4th | Frank Dobson* | Republican | Chairman of Social Welfare |
| Monroe | 5th | Franklin W. Judson* | Republican | Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Erastus Corning Davis* | Republican | Chairman of Revision |
| Nassau | 1st | Thomas A. McWhinney* | Republican | |
| Nassau | 2nd | Franklin A. Coles | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | Peter J. Hamill* | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | Caesar B. F. Barra* | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Peter P. McElligott* | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | William Karlin | Socialist | |
| New York | 5th | Charles D. Donohue* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| New York | 6th | Elmer Rosenberg | Socialist | |
| New York | 7th | Abram Ellenbogen* | Republican | Chairman of General Laws |
| New York | 8th | Louis Waldman | Socialist | |
| New York | 9th | Martin Bourke* | Republican | |
| New York | 10th | Eliot Tuckerman | Republican | |
| New York | 11th | William C. Amos | Republican | contested by Joseph Shalleck (D) |
| New York | 12th | Martin G. McCue* | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | Charles M. Havican | Democrat | |
| New York | 14th | Mark Goldberg* | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | Schuyler M. Meyer* | Republican | |
| New York | 16th | Maurice Bloch* | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | August Claessens | Socialist | |
| New York | 18th | Owen M. Kiernan* | Democrat | |
| New York | 19th | Edward A. Johnson | Republican | |
| New York | 20th | Charles A. Winter | Democrat | |
| New York | 21st | Harold C. Mitchell* | Republican | Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills |
| New York | 22nd | Earl A. Smith* | Democrat | |
| New York | 23rd | Ellis A. Bates | Republican | |
| Niagara | 1st | William Bewley* | Republican | Chairman of Labor and Industries |
| Niagara | 2nd | Nicholas V. V. Franchot II | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Henry D. Williams | Republican | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Louis M. Martin* | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | George T. Davis* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Manuel J. Soule* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Harley J. Crane* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | George R. Fearon* | Republican | |
| Ontario | Ontario | George M. Tyler | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | William F. Brush* | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | Charles L. Mead* | Republican | Chairman of Penal Institutions |
| Orleans | Orleans | Frank H. Lattin* | Republican | |
| Oswego | Oswego | Thaddeus C. Sweet* | Republican | re-elected Speaker; Chairman of Rules |
| Otsego | Otsego | Allen J. Bloomfield* | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | John P. Donohoe* | Republican | |
| Queens | 1st | Peter A. Leininger* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | Peter J. McGarry* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 3rd | John Kennedy | Democrat | |
| Queens | 4th | L. Eugene Decker | Democrat | |
| Queens | 5th | Albert J. Brackley | Democrat | |
| Queens | 6th | William H. O'Hare* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | John F. Shannon* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | Arthur Cowee* | Republican | |
| Richmond | 1st | Thomas F. Curley | Democrat | |
| Richmond | 2nd | Henry A. Seesselberg* | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | Gordon H. Peck | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | Frank L. Seaker* | Republican | Chairman of Railroads |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | Edward A. Everett* | Republican | Chairman of Public Institutions |
| Saratoga | Saratoga | Gilbert T. Seelye* | Republican | Chairman of Public Health |
| Schenectady | 1st | Walter S. McNab* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| Schenectady | 2nd | A. Edgar Davies | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | George A. Parsons* | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Hiram H. Graham | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | Lewis W. Johnson* | Republican | |
| Steuben | 1st | Samuel E. Quackenbush* | Republican | Chairman of Soldiers' Home |
| Steuben | 2nd | Richard M. Prangen* | Republican | Chairman of Electricity, Gas and Water |
| Suffolk | 1st | DeWitt C. Talmage* | Republican | Chairman of Conservation |
| Suffolk | 2nd | Henry A. Murphy* | Republican | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | William B. Voorhees | Republican | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Daniel P. Witter* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Casper Fenner* | Republican | |
| Ulster | Ulster | Joel Brink* | Republican | |
| Warren | Warren | Frank C. Hooper | Republican | |
| Washington | Washington | Charles O. Pratt* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| Wayne | Wayne | Frank D. Gaylord* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | Bertrand G. Burtnett | Republican | |
| Westchester | 2nd | William J. Fallon | Republican | |
| Westchester | 3rd | William Belknap | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 4th | Mitchell A. Trahan Jr. | Republican | |
| Westchester | 5th | George Blakely* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Villages |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | Bert P. Gage* | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | James M. Lown Jr. | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry W. Haines
* Principal Doorkeeper: Charles Furman
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: James B. Hulse
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: A. H. Bunnell
* Stenographer: Samuel Bruckheimer
* Committee Clerk: Wilson Messer
* Postmaster: James H. Underwood