# 32nd New York State Legislature

The 32nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from November 1, 1808, to March 30, 1809, during the second year of Daniel D. Tompkins's governorship, in Albany.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, amended by the Constitutional Convention of 1801, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in the four senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year eight Senate seats came up for election. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually.
In 1797, Albany was declared the State capital, and all subsequent Legislatures have been meeting there ever since. In 1799, the Legislature enacted that future Legislatures meet on the last Tuesday of January of each year unless called earlier by the governor.
On February 8, 1808, State Senator Joseph C. Yates was appointed to the New York Supreme Court, leaving a vacancy in the Eastern District. The Legislature re-apportioned the Senate seats, and transferred one seat each from the Southern, the Middle and the Eastern (the vacant one) districts to the Western District.
On April 1, 1808, the Legislature also re-apportioned the Assembly districts. The total number of assemblymen was increased from 100 to 112. Broome and Tioga were separated with 1 seat each. Allegany, Genesee and Ontario were separated with 1 seat for Genesee, 5 for Ontario and Allegany was joined with Steuben. Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence were separated with 2 seats for Jefferson and 1 each for Lewis and St. Lawrence. Cayuga, Chenango, Madison and Onondaga gained 1 seat each; New York City and Oneida gained 2 each. Dutchess, Rensselaer, Washington and Westchester lost 1 seat each. Franklin County was split from Clinton County but remained in the same Assembly district. Niagara County was split from Genesee County, and had 1 seat in the Assembly.
At this time the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.
In 1805, the 28th Legislature had chartered the Merchant's Bank of New York which had been founded by Federalists in competition to the Democratic-Republican Bank of the Manhattan Company. The Democratic-Republican majority of the 27th Legislature had not only refused to grant a charter, but actually ordered the Merchant's Bank to shut down by May 1805. During the next session, the bank bribed enough legislators to have the charter approved, although the Democratic-Republican leaders advocated strongly against it. Gov. Morgan Lewis spoke out in favor of granting the charter what was resented by the party leaders DeWitt Clinton and Ambrose Spencer, and soon led to the split of the party into "Lewisites" and "Clintonians". The 30th Legislature had a Lewisite-Federalist majority and elected a Council of Appointment which removed most Clintonian office-holders. The Lewisites and the Federalists nominated Gov. Morgan Lewis for re-election but he was defeated by Clintonian Daniel D. Tompkins. The 31st New York State Legislature had a Clintonian majority and elected a Council of Appointment which removed most of the Lewisite office-holders, many of whom had been appointed during the previous year.

## Elections

The State election was held from April 26 to 28, 1808. Senators Benjamin Coe (Southern D.) were re-elected. Edward P. Livingston (Middle D.), David Hopkins (Eastern D.), Francis A. Bloodgood, Walter Martin, Luther Rich (all three Western D.); and Assemblymen William W. Gilbert (Southern D.) and Sylvanus Smalley (Western D.) were also elected to full terms in the Senate. Silas Halsey (Western D.) was elected to fill the vacancy. Hopkins was a Federalist, Livingston a Lewisite, the other seven were regular Democratic-Republicans.

## Sessions

The Legislature met at the Old City Hall in Albany on November 1, 1808, to elect presidential electors; and adjourned on November 8.
James W. Wilkin (Dem.-Rep.) was elected Speaker with 60 votes against 45 for Stephen Van Rensselaer (Fed.). Daniel Rodman (Dem.-Rep.) was re-elected Clerk of the Assembly with 61 votes against 46 for James Van Ingen (Fed.).
On November 7, 1808, the Legislature elected 19 presidential electors, all Democratic-Republicans: Ambrose Spencer, Henry Huntington, John W. Seaman, Henry Rutgers, John Garretson, Ebenezer White, Thomas Lawrence, James Tallmadge, Jonathan Rouse, Micajah Pettit, Henry Yates Jr., Benjamin Mooers, Adam B. Voorman, Thomas Shankland, William Hallock, Russell Attwater, Joseph Simonds, Hugh Jamison and Matthew Carpenter. They cast 13 votes for James Madison and 6 votes for George Clinton for president; and 13 votes for George Clinton, and 3 votes each for James Madison and James Monroe for vice president.
The Assembly met for the regular session on January 17, 1809, the Senate assembled a quorum only the next day; and both Houses adjourned on March 30.
On February 7, 1809, the Legislature elected Assemblyman Obadiah German (Dem.-Rep.) to succeed Samuel L. Mitchill (Dem.-Rep.) in the U.S. Senate.
At this time the major political controversy was the Embargo Act of 1807 which was supported by the Democratic-Republicans, but opposed by the Federalists. Most of the Lewisites eventually supported the Embargo, but assailed DeWitt Clinton in the press because he had originally opposed it. The Embargo was very unpopular and led to a revival of the Federalist Party which had been reduced to a small minority (without any member in the Senate from 1806 to 1808), but at the State election in April 1809 would already win a majority of the Assembly seats.

## State Senate
### Districts

* The Southern District (5 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
* The Middle District (7 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, Columbia, Delaware, Rockland and Greene counties.
* The Eastern District (8 seats) consisted of Washington, Clinton, Rensselaer, Albany, Saratoga, Essex, Montgomery and Franklin counties.
* The Western District (12 seats) consisted of Herkimer, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Onondaga, Schoharie, Steuben, Chenango, Oneida, Cayuga, Genesee, Seneca, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Allegany, Broome, Madison and Niagara counties.

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. William W. Gilbert and Sylvanus Smalley changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
| District | Senators | Term left | Party | Notes |
| Southern | Ezra L'Hommedieu* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Southern | Jonathan Ward* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Southern | DeWitt Clinton* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | also Mayor of New York City |
| Southern | Benjamin Coe* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Southern | William W. Gilbert* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | Peter C. Adams* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Middle | James G. Graham* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Middle | Elisha Barlow* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Middle | James Burt* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Middle | Joshua H. Brett* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Middle | Robert Williams* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Middle | Edward P. Livingston | 4 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Eastern | Adam Comstock* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Eastern | John Veeder* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Eastern | Jacob Snell* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Eastern | Isaac Kellogg* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Eastern | John McLean* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Eastern | Charles Selden* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Eastern | John Tayler* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Eastern | David Hopkins | 4 years | Federalist | |
| Western | Silas Halsey | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Joseph C. Yates; also Seneca County Clerk |
| Western | Nathaniel Locke* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | John Nicholas* | 1 year | Dem.-Rep./Lewisite | |
| Western | John Ballard* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Salmon Buell* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Jacob Gebhard* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Nathan Smith* | 2 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Alexander Rea* | 3 years | Dem.-Rep. | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Western | Francis A. Bloodgood | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Walter Martin | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Luther Rich | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Western | Sylvanus Smalley* | 4 years | Dem.-Rep. | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Sebastian Visscher

## State Assembly
### Districts

* Albany County (6 seats)
* Allegany and Steuben counties (1 seat)
* Broome County (1 seat)
* Cayuga County (3 seats)
* Chenango County (3 seats)
* Clinton and Franklin counties (1 seat)
* Columbia County (4 seats)
* Delaware County (2 seats)
* Dutchess County (6 seats)
* Essex County (1 seat)
* Genesee County (1 seat)
* Greene County (2 seats)
* Herkimer County (3 seats)
* Jefferson County (2 seats)
* Kings County (1 seat)
* Lewis County (1 seat)
* Madison County (3 seats)
* Montgomery County (5 seats)
* The City and County of New York (11 seats)
* Niagara County (1 seat)
* Oneida County (5 seats)
* Onondaga County (3 seats)
* Ontario County (5 seats)
* Orange County (4 seats)
* Otsego County (4 seats)
* Queens County (3 seats)
* Rensselaer County (4 seats)
* Richmond County (1 seat)
* Rockland County (1 seat)
* St. Lawrence County (1 seat)
* Saratoga County (4 seats)
* Schoharie County (2 seats)
* Seneca County (1 seat)
* Suffolk County (3 seats)
* Tioga County (1 seat)
* Ulster County (4 seats)
* Washington County (5 seats)
* Westchester County (3 seats)

### Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
| District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | John Brown* | | |
| Albany | John H. Burhans | | |
| Albany | Johann Jost Dietz* | Federalist | |
| Albany | Jonathan Jenkins* | | |
| Albany | Stephen Van Rensselaer* | Federalist | Minority Leader |
| Albany | Abraham Van Vechten* | Federalist | |
| Allegany and Steuben | Henry A. Townsend | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Broome | Eleazar Dana | | |
| Cayuga | Henry Bloom | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Cayuga | Ebenezer Hewitt | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Cayuga | Charles Kellogg | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Chenango | Samuel Campbell | | |
| Chenango | Obadiah German* | Dem.-Rep. | on February 7, 1809, elected to the U.S. Senate |
| Chenango | Ebenezer Wakley | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Clinton and Franklin | Kinner Newcomb | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Columbia | James Hyatt | | |
| Columbia | Moncrief Livingston | Federalist | |
| Columbia | Gaius Stebbins | | |
| Columbia | Jacob R. Van Rensselaer* | Federalist | |
| Delaware | Daniel Fuller | | |
| Delaware | David St. John | | |
| Dutchess | Samuel A. Barker | Federalist | |
| Dutchess | George Bloom | | |
| Dutchess | Derick A. Brinckerhoff | | |
| Dutchess | Ebenezer Haight | Federalist | |
| Dutchess | Benajah Thompson | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Dutchess | Jesse Thompson | Federalist | |
| Essex | Benjamin Pond* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Genesee | William Ramsey* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Greene | James Gale | Federalist | |
| Greene | Eliakim Reed | Federalist | |
| Herkimer | Aaron Budlong* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Herkimer | John M. Petrie* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Herkimer | Westel Willoughby, Jr.* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Jefferson | David I. Andrus | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Jefferson | Corlis Hinds | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Kings | Jeremiah Johnson | Federalist | |
| Lewis | Judah Barnes | | |
| Madison | Oliver Brown | Federalist | |
| Madison | John W. Bulkley* | Federalist | |
| Madison | David Van Horne | Federalist | |
| Montgomery | Daniel Cady | Federalist | |
| Montgomery | John Fay | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Montgomery | John Greene | Federalist | |
| Montgomery | Richard Van Horne | Federalist | |
| Montgomery | vacant | | |
| New York | John P. Anthony | | |
| New York | Joseph Constant | | |
| New York | Francis Cooper* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | James Fairlie | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Thomas Farmar* | | |
| New York | Frederick Jenkins | | |
| New York | Caleb Pell | | |
| New York | Nathan Sanford | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Arthur Smith | Dem.-Rep. | |
| New York | Solomon Townsend* | | |
| New York | Beekman M. Van Buren | | |
| Niagara | Archibald S. Clarke | Dem.-Rep. | also Surrogate of Niagara County |
| Oneida | Joel Bristol | | |
| Oneida | James Dean Sr. | | |
| Oneida | David Ostrom | Federalist | |
| Oneida | John Storrs | Federalist | |
| Oneida | Benjamin Wright* | | |
| Onondaga | Jacobus Dupuy | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Onondaga | Asahel Minor | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Onondaga | Barnet Mooney | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ontario | Micah Brooks | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Ontario | Samuel Lawrence | | |
| Ontario | Richard Leech | | |
| Ontario | Hugh McNair | | |
| Ontario | William Rogers | | |
| Orange | Anthony Davis | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Orange | David Dill | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Orange | William Ross* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Orange | James W. Wilkin* | Dem.-Rep. | elected Speaker |
| Otsego | Haviland Chase | | |
| Otsego | Roger Kinne | | |
| Otsego | Martin Luce | | |
| Otsego | Henry Scott* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Queens | Stephen Carman | Federalist | |
| Queens | David Kissam | Federalist | |
| Queens | William Townsend | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | Derick Lane | | |
| Rensselaer | Henry Platt | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | Cornelius I. Schermerhorn | Federalist | |
| Rensselaer | Israel Shepard | | |
| Richmond | David Mersereau* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Rockland | Samuel G. Verbryck* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| St. Lawrence | Alexander Richards | | |
| Saratoga | Nehemiah Cande | | |
| Saratoga | Salmon Child* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Saratoga | David Rogers | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Saratoga | Daniel L. Van Antwerp | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Schoharie | John Ingold Jr. | Federalist | |
| Schoharie | John Rice | Federalist | |
| Seneca | James McCall | | |
| Suffolk | Mills Phillips | | |
| Suffolk | Abraham Rose | | |
| Suffolk | Daniel T. Terry | | |
| Tioga | Emanuel Coryell* | Federalist | |
| Ulster | Joshua Dumond | Federalist | |
| Ulster | Peter Lefevre | Federalist | |
| Ulster | Cornelius Low | | |
| Ulster | William Swart | Federalist | |
| Washington | Kitchel Bishop* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | James Hill* | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Alexander Livingston | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Roger Skinner | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Washington | Reuben Whallon | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Westchester | William Barker | Federalist | |
| Westchester | Abraham Odell | Federalist | |
| Westchester | Samuel Youngs | Federalist | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Daniel Rodman
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Thomas Donnelly
* Doorkeeper: Benjamin Whipple