# 83rd New York State Legislature

The 83rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 17, 1860, during the second 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 Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Know Nothings, or "American Party," endorsed either Republican or Democratic nominees.

## Elections

The 1859 New York state election was held on November 8. The nine statewide elective offices were carried by six Republicans and three Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as gathered from the vote for State officers was: Republican 251,000; Democratic 227,000; and American 25,000. The Americans did not nominate own candidates, but endorsed five Republicans and four Democrats on their State ticket. This led to easy elections of the endorsed Republicans, but very tight races for the endorsed Democrats, three of whom were elected by very slim majorities.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1860; and adjourned on April 17.
DeWitt C. Littlejohn (R) was re-elected Speaker with 89 votes against 30 for Theophilus C. Callicot (D).
On January 25, Nathan Lapham (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

## 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 Brookland; 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. Francis B. Spinola, Lyman Truman, Alexander B. Williams and Erastus S. Prosser were re-elected. Edward A. Lawrence and Thomas A. Gardiner changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Party affiliations follow the vote on Senate officers.
| 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 | |
| 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 | on January 25, elected president pro tempore |
| 17th | Charles C. Montgomery | Republican | |
| 18th | James A. Bell | Republican | |
| 19th | William H. Ferry | Republican | |
| 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 | |
| 29th | Peter P. Murphy | Republican | |
| 30th | David H. Abell | Republican | |
| 31st | Erastus S. Prosser* | Republican | |
| 32nd | Walter L. Sessions | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: James Terwilliger
* Deputy Clerk: Loren B. Sessions
* 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.
| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | John I. Slingerland | Republican | |
| Albany | 2nd | Stephen Merselis Jr. | Republican | |
| Albany | 3rd | Samuel W. Gibbs | Democrat | |
| Albany | 4th | Lorenzo D. Collins* | Republican | |
| Allegany | 1st | William M. Smith | Republican | |
| Allegany | 2nd | Darwin E. Maxson | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | Henry Mather | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 1st | Ulysses P. Crane | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 2nd | James M. Smith | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 1st | William W. Payne* | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 2nd | Allen D. Morgan | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Ebenezer G. Cook | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Hiram Smith 2d | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | Lucius Robinson | Republican | |
| Chenango | 1st | Samuel L. Beebe | Republican | |
| Chenango | 2nd | Joseph Bush | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Henry McFadden | Republican | |
| Columbia | 1st | Peter McArthur | Republican | |
| Columbia | 2nd | P. Edward Van Alstyne | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | John A. McVean | Republican | |
| Delaware | 1st | vacant | | Assemblyman-elect Donald Douglas Shaw died on December 29, 1859 |
| Delaware | 1st | Barna R. Johnson | Republican | elected to fill vacancy; seated on February 15 |
| Delaware | 2nd | Samuel A. Law* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | Abiah W. Palmer | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Richard J. Garretson | Democrat | |
| Erie | 1st | Orlando Allen | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | Henry B. Miller* | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Hiram Newell | Republican | |
| Erie | 4th | Joseph H. Plumb | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Martin Finch | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | Wells S. Dickinson | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | James Kennedy | Democrat | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Elbridge G. Moulton* | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Gerry Coonley | Democrat | |
| Herkimer | 1st | Stephen R. Millington | Republican | |
| Herkimer | 2nd | Irving Holcomb | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 1st | Bernard D. Searles | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 2nd | William W. Taggart | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 3rd | Moses C. Jewett | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | Andrew A. Myers | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Charles Kelsey | Democrat | |
| Kings | 3rd | Theophilus C. Callicot | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | James Darcy | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | William C. Jones | Democrat | |
| Kings | 6th | Charles M. Briggs | Republican | |
| Kings | 7th | George H. Fisher | Republican | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Richardson T. Hough | Republican | |
| Livingston | 1st | Samuel L. Fuller* | Republican | |
| Livingston | 2nd | John Wiley* | Republican | |
| Madison | 1st | David Clark | Republican | |
| Madison | 2nd | James Barnett | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Thomas J. Jeffords | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Elias Pond* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Alphonso Perry* | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Jay D. Bowman | Am./Dem. | |
| New York | 1st | William Burns | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | William Walsh | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Christian B. Woodruff* | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | William Gover* | Democrat | |
| New York | 5th | William L. Coles | Democrat | |
| New York | 6th | Samuel T. Webster | Democrat | |
| New York | 7th | Frederick A. Conkling* | Republican | on November 6, 1860, elected to the 37th U.S. Congress |
| New York | 8th | Thomas O'Rourke | Democrat | |
| New York | 9th | David R. Jaques | Republican | |
| New York | 10th | Joseph P. Cooper | Republican | |
| New York | 11th | Cummings H. Tucker | Republican | |
| New York | 12th | Andrew Smith | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | Peter Masterson* | Democrat | |
| New York | 14th | Theodore B. Voorhees | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | George W. Varian | Democrat | |
| New York | 16th | Henry Arcularius | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | William Harris | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Thomas T. Flagler | Republican | |
| Niagara | 2nd | Burt Van Horn* | Republican | on November 6, 1860, elected to the 37th U.S. Congress |
| Oneida | 1st | James McQuade | Republican | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Benjamin Allen | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | Thomas Evans | Republican | |
| Oneida | 4th | George Williams | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Jeremiah Emerick | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Austin Myers | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | Philetus Clark | Republican | |
| Ontario | 1st | Lewis Peck | Republican | |
| Ontario | 2nd | Shotwell Powell* | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | Peter C. Regan | Democrat | |
| Orange | 2nd | Harvey R. Cadwell | Democrat | |
| Orleans | Orleans | Abel Stilson | Republican | |
| Oswego | 1st | DeWitt C. Littlejohn* | Republican | re-elected Speaker |
| Oswego | 2nd | William H. Carter | Republican | |
| Oswego | 3rd | Robert S. Kelsey | Republican | |
| Otsego | 1st | Ezra S. Whipple | Republican | |
| Otsego | 2nd | David B. St. John* | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | Edwin A. Pelton* | Republican | |
| Queens | 1st | Stephen Taber | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | John Pettit | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | Thomas Coleman* | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | James A. Culver | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 3rd | Anson Bingham* | Republican | |
| Richmond | Richmond | Theodore C. Vermilye | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | Peter S. Yeury | 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 | Judiah Ellsworth | Republican | |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Peter Dorsch | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | John W. Couchman | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Edwin H. Downs | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | John C. Hall | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 1st | Daniel Gray | Republican | |
| Steuben | 2nd | Wickham R. Crocker* | Republican | |
| Steuben | 3rd | Lorenzo N. Rider | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 1st | Philander R. Jennings | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 2nd | Richard J. Cornelius* | Democrat | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | Abram W. Decker | Democrat | |
| Tioga | Tioga | David Earll* | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Jeremiah W. Dwight | Republican | |
| Ulster | 1st | Humphrey Jewell | Republican | |
| Ulster | 2nd | Jeremiah Clark | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 3rd | John H. Kortright | Democrat | |
| Warren | Warren | Benjamin C. Butler | Republican | |
| Washington | 1st | James Savage | Republican | |
| Washington | 2nd | Pelatiah Jakway | Republican | |
| Wayne | 1st | James M. Servis | Republican | |
| Wayne | 2nd | Abel J. Bixby | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | William T. B. Milliken | Republican | |
| Westchester | 2nd | N. Holmes Odell | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 3rd | Gaylord B. Hubbell* | Republican | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | George G. Hoskins | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | George R. Barden | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: William Richardson
* Assistant Clerk: Luther Caldwell
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Eleazer A. Williams
* Doorkeeper: Joseph Ball
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles L. Curtis
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Bradford Davis
* Journal Clerk: Cornelius S. Underwood
* Engrossing Clerk: Henry S. Crandall
* Senior Deputy Clerk: John A. Haddock