# 81st New York State Legislature

The 81st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 19, 1858, during the second year of John A. King'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.
On April 13, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts, and the Assembly seats per county. Cayuga, Dutchess, Genesee, Greene, Montgomery, Onondaga, Orange, Otsego, Schoharie and Tompkins counties lost one seat each; New York, Oswego, Queens, Ulster and Westchester counties gained one seat each; Kings County gained four seats; and the new Schuyler County was apportioned one seat.
At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Know Nothing movement ran in the election as the "American Party."

## Elections

The 1857 New York state election was held on November 3. All eight statewide elective offices were carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State was: Democratic 195,000; Republican 177,000; and American 67,000.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1858; and adjourned on April 19.
On January 12, John B. Halsted (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate..
On January 26, after three weeks of deadlock, Thomas G. Alvord (D) was elected Speaker on the 53rd ballot.
1858 Speaker election result :
| Ballot | Date | Robert B. Van Valkenburgh Rep. | Thomas G. Alvord Dem. | Samuel A. Law Amer. | Frost Horton Amer. | also ran |
| 1st | Jan. 5 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | Adams |
| 2nd | Jan. 5 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | Russell |
| 3rd | Jan. 5 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | Bacheller |
| 4th | Jan. 6 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | |
| 5th | Jan. 6 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | |
| 6th | Jan. 6 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | |
| 7th | Jan. 6 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | |
| 8th | Jan. 6 | 60 | 56 | 9 | | |
| 9th | Jan. 7 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | |
| 10th | Jan. 7 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | Adams |
| 11th | Jan. 7 | 60 | 55 | 8 | 1 | |
| 12th | Jan. 7 | 60 | 53 | 8 | | Boughton |
| 13th | Jan. 7 | 60 | 53 | 8 | | Reynolds |
| 14th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | |
| 15th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 16th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 17th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 18th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 19th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 20th | Jan. 11 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Becker |
| 21st | Jan. 12 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Hodge |
| 22nd | Jan. 12 | 59 | 54 | 7 | | Hodge |
| 23rd | Jan. 12 | 58 | 54 | 7 | | Hodge |
| 24th | Jan. 12 | 58 | 53 | 7 | | Hodge |
| 25th | Jan. 13 | 60 | 55 | 7 | | D. Miller |
| 26th | Jan. 13 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | D. Miller |
| 27th | Jan. 13 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | D. Miller |
| 28th | Jan. 13 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | D. Miller |
| 29th | Jan. 13 | 60 | 55 | 8 | | D. Miller |
| 30th | Jan. 14 | 56 | 52 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 31st | Jan. 14 | 56 | 52 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 32nd | Jan. 14 | 56 | 52 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 33rd | Jan. 14 | 56 | 52 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 34th | Jan. 14 | 56 | 54 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 35th | Jan. 14 | 55 | 51 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 36th | Jan. 14 | 55 | 51 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 37th | Jan. 14 | 55 | 51 | 7 | | Bacheller |
| 38th | Jan. 15 | 54 | 49 | 1 | 6 | |
| 39th | Jan. 15 | 54 | 49 | 1 | 7 | |
| 40th | Jan. 16 | 45 | 40 | 1 | 7 | |
| 41st | Jan. 16 | 45 | 40 | 1 | 7 | |
| 42nd | Jan. 19 | 54 | 48 | 1 | 7 | |
| 43rd | Jan. 19 | 54 | 48 | 1 | 7 | |
| 44th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 6 | |
| 45th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 6 | |
| 46th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 7 | |
| 47th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 7 | |
| 48th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 7 | |
| 49th | Jan. 21 | 55 | 50 | 1 | 7 | |
| 50th | Jan. 22 | 54 | 49 | 1 | 6 | |
| 51st | Jan. 22 | 52 | 47 | 1 | 6 | |
| 52nd | Jan. 26 | 54 | 49 | 1 | 7 | |
| 53rd | Jan. 26 | 55 | 57 | | 2 | |

## 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. James Noxon, John E. Paterson, John B. Halsted, James Wadsworth and John P. Darling were re-elected. George G. Scott and Ralph A. Loveland changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Party affiliations follow the vote for Senate officers.
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | Joshua B. Smith | Democrat | |
| 2nd | Samuel Sloan | Democrat | |
| 3rd | Francis B. Spinola | Democrat | |
| 4th | John C. Mather | Democrat | |
| 5th | Smith Ely, Jr. | Democrat | |
| 6th | Richard Schell | Democrat | |
| 7th | John Doherty | Democrat | |
| 8th | Benjamin Brandreth | Democrat | |
| 9th | Osmer B. Wheeler | American | |
| 10th | George W. Pratt | Democrat | |
| 11th | William G. Mandeville | Democrat | |
| 12th | John D. Willard | Democrat | |
| 13th | George Y. Johnson | American | |
| 14th | Edward I. Burhans | Democrat | |
| 15th | George G. Scott* | Democrat | |
| 16th | Ralph A. Loveland* | Republican | |
| 17th | William A. Wheeler | Republican | |
| 18th | Joseph A. Willard | Republican | |
| 19th | Alrick Hubbell | Republican | |
| 20th | Addison H. Laflin | Republican | |
| 21st | Cheney Ames | Republican | |
| 22nd | James Noxon* | Republican | |
| 23rd | John J. Foote | Republican | |
| 24th | Lyman Truman | Republican | |
| 25th | Alexander B. Williams | Republican | |
| 26th | Truman Boardman | Republican | |
| 27th | Alexander S. Diven | Republican | |
| 28th | John E. Paterson* | Republican | |
| 29th | Horatio J. Stow | Independent | |
| 30th | John B. Halsted* | Republican | on January 12, elected president pro tempore |
| 31st | James Wadsworth* | Democrat | resigned on August 18, 1858 |
| 32nd | John P. Darling* | Republican | also Supervisor of New Albion |

### Employees

* Clerk: Samuel P. Allen
* Deputy Clerk: Henry J. Sickles
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry W. Dwight
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Simeon Dillingham
* Doorkeeper: Richard U. Owens
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Henry W. Shipman
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Samuel Ten Eyck
* Third Assistant Doorkeeper: James P. Clark
* Journal Clerk: James Terwilliger
* Engrossing Clerks: A. N. Cole, Charles G. Fairman

## State Assembly
### Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the original vote for Speaker.
| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | Dwight Bacheller | American | |
| Albany | 2nd | George Wolford | Republican | |
| Albany | 3rd | Cornelius W. Armstrong | Democrat | |
| Albany | 4th | Charles H. Adams | American | |
| Allegany | 1st | John M. Hammond | Republican | |
| Allegany | 2nd | William F. Jones | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | John S. Palmer | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 1st | Henry Van Aernam | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 2nd | William Buffington Jr. | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 1st | David B. Baldwin | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 2nd | Chauncey M. Abbott | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Henry Bliss | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Charles B. Green | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | John Haggerty | Democrat | |
| Chenango | 1st | Truxton G. Lamb | Republican | |
| Chenango | 2nd | William Kales | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Zephaniah C. Platt | Democrat | |
| Columbia | 1st | David Miller | American | |
| Columbia | 2nd | Lorenzo Gile | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | Nathan Bouton | Republican | |
| Delaware | 1st | Fletcher Palmer | Republican | |
| Delaware | 2nd | Samuel A. Law | American | |
| Dutchess | 1st | Albert Emans | Democrat | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Ambrose Wager | Democrat | |
| Erie | 1st | Albert P. Laning | Democrat | |
| Erie | 2nd | Andrew J. McNett | Democrat | |
| Erie | 3rd | John T. Wheelock | Democrat | |
| Erie | 4th | Amos Avery | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Monroe Hall | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | Charles Russell | American | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | John C. Holmes | Democrat | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Franklin G. Kingman | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Daniel B. Strong | Democrat | |
| Herkimer | 1st | William Coppernoll | Republican | |
| Herkimer | 2nd | Harris Lewis* | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 1st | George Babbitt | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 2nd | Elihu C. Church | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 3rd | Robert F. Austin | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | John A. Voorhees | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Moses S. Beach | Democrat | |
| Kings | 3rd | Harmanus B. Duryea | Republican | |
| Kings | 4th | David M. Chauncey | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | John A. Dayton | Democrat | |
| Kings | 6th | John Hanford* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 7th | George W. Bleecker | Democrat | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Homer Collins | Republican | |
| Livingston | 1st | John H. Jones | Democrat | |
| Livingston | 2nd | Alfred Bell (politician)* | Republican | |
| Madison | 1st | Lester M. Case | Republican | |
| Madison | 2nd | Robert Stewart | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Jarvis Lord | Democrat | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Thomas Parsons | Democrat | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Robert Staples* | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Hezekiah Baker* | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | Jacob L. Smith | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | Michael Fitzgerald | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Richard Winne | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | John G. Seeley | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by James A. Dolan (Am.) |
| New York | 5th | Arthur J. Delaney | Democrat | |
| New York | 6th | George A. Jeremiah | Democrat | |
| New York | 7th | Philip W. Engs | Democrat | |
| New York | 8th | James H. Lynch | Democrat | |
| New York | 9th | Thomas Jones Jr. | Democrat | |
| New York | 10th | John W. Chanler | Democrat | |
| New York | 11th | Noah D. Childs | Democrat | |
| New York | 12th | William Gage | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | David J. Chatfield | Democrat | |
| New York | 14th | Dunham J. Crain | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | Edward A. Moore | Democrat | |
| New York | 16th | George Weir | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | Garret Dyckman | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Burt Van Horn | Republican | |
| Niagara | 2nd | John W. Labar | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Henry R. Hart | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 2nd | William J. McKown | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | Thomas G. Halley | Republican | |
| Oneida | 4th | Reuben Knight | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | James Frazee | Republican | unsuccessfully contested by Sidney H. Cook |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Thomas G. Alvord | Democrat | elected Speaker |
| Onondaga | 3rd | Levi S. Holbrook | Republican | |
| Ontario | 1st | Volney Edgerton | Republican | |
| Ontario | 2nd | Ira R. Peck | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | Stephen W. Fullerton | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | Charles J. Stevenson | Democrat | |
| Orleans | Orleans | Almanzor Hutchinson* | Republican | |
| Oswego | 1st | William Baldwin | Democrat | |
| Oswego | 2nd | John J. Wolcott | Republican | |
| Oswego | 3rd | Chauncey S. Sage | Republican | |
| Otsego | 1st | Charles McLean | Democrat | |
| Otsego | 2nd | David M. Hard | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | John Garrison | Democrat | |
| Queens | 1st | Edward A. Lawrence | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | John S. Hendrickson | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | Jason C. Osgood | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | Daniel Fish | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 3rd | Martin Miller | Democrat | |
| Richmond | Richmond | Eben W. Hubbard | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | Wesley J. Weiant | Democrat | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | Harlow Godard | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | William Briggs | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 3rd | Oscar F. Shepard | Republican | |
| Saratoga | 1st | Chauncey Boughton | American | |
| Saratoga | 2nd | Tabor B. Reynolds | American | |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Angus McIntosh | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | John H. Salisbury | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Henry Fish | Democrat | |
| Seneca | Seneca | Augustus Woodworth | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 1st | Robert B. Van Valkenburgh* | Republican | |
| Steuben | 2nd | Washington Barnes | Republican | |
| Steuben | 3rd | William B. Jones | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 1st | George Howell | Democrat | |
| Suffolk | 2nd | George P. Mills | Democrat | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | Asa Hodge | American | |
| Tioga | Tioga | William P. Raymond | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Edward S. Esty | Republican | |
| Ulster | 1st | Fordyce L. Laflin | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 2nd | Isaac Becker | American | |
| Ulster | 3rd | Nathan W. Watson | Democrat | |
| Warren | Warren | Alexander Robertson | Republican | |
| Washington | 1st | Thaddeus H. Walker | Republican | |
| Washington | 2nd | Ralph Richards | Republican | |
| Wayne | 1st | Edward W. Sentell | Republican | |
| Wayne | 2nd | Charles Estes | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | Abraham B. Tappen | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 2nd | Edmund G. Sutherland* | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 3rd | Frost Horton | American | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | Cyril Rawson* | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | John Mather | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: David Wilson
* Assistant Clerk: Edwin O. Perrin
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Philip H. Lasher
* Doorkeeper: Peter J. Cook
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: John Davis
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: James Swarthout
* Journal Clerk: Joseph B. Cushman