# 99th New York State Legislature

The 99th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to May 3, 1876, during the second year of Samuel J. Tilden'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 (five 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 Prohibition Party also nominated a ticket.

## Elections

The 1875 New York state election was held on November 2. All seven statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Democratic 390,000; Republican 375,000; and Prohibition 11,000.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1876; and adjourned on May 3.
James W. Husted (R) was elected Speaker against Richard U. Sherman (D).
William H. Robertson (R) was re-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, 15th, 19th and 20th wards of the City of Brooklyn
* 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 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, 13th and 14th wards of New York City
* 5th District: 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th wards of New York City
* 6th District: 10th, 11th and 17th wards of New York City
* 7th District: 18th, 20th and 21st wards of New York City
* 8th District: 12th, 19th and 22nd wards of New York City
* 9th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
* 10th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
* 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
* 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
* 13th District: Albany County
* 14th District: Greene and Ulster counties
* 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Saratoga and Schenectady 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: Madison and Oswego counties
* 22nd District: Onondaga and Cortland counties
* 23rd District: Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie 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

### Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. L. Bradford Prince, John R. Kennaday, Stephen H. Hammond and Commodore P. Vedder changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | L. Bradford Prince* | Republican | Chairman of Privileges and Elections |
| 2nd | John R. Kennaday* | Democrat | |
| 3rd | John C. Jacobs* | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by James Cavanagh (R) |
| 4th | John Morrissey | Anti-Tam. Dem. | |
| 5th | James W. Booth* | Republican | Chairman of Literature; died on September 14, 1876 |
| 6th | Caspar A. Baaden | Republican | Chairman of Public Expenditures |
| 7th | James W. Gerard | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by William Laimbeer Jr. (R) |
| 8th | Francis M. Bixby | Anti-Tam. Dem. | |
| 9th | William H. Robertson* | Republican | re-elected President pro tempore; Chairman of Judiciary |
| 10th | Daniel B. St. John | Democrat | |
| 11th | B. Platt Carpenter | Republican | Chairman of Retrenchment; and of Villages |
| 12th | Thomas Coleman | Republican | Chairman of Banks; of Public Buildings; and of Grievances |
| 13th | Hamilton Harris | Republican | Chairman of Finance; and of Joint Library |
| 14th | Augustus Schoonmaker Jr. | Democrat | |
| 15th | Webster Wagner* | Republican | Chairman of Public Printing |
| 16th | Franklin W. Tobey* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| 17th | Darius A. Moore | Republican | Chairman of Claims; and of Agriculture |
| 18th | James F. Starbuck | Democrat | |
| 19th | Theodore S. Sayre | Republican | Chairman of Roads and Bridges; and of Salt |
| 20th | David P. Loomis | Democrat | |
| 21st | Benjamin Doolittle | Republican | Chairman of Manufactures |
| 22nd | Dennis McCarthy | Republican | Chairman of Charitable and Religious Societies |
| 23rd | William C. Lamont | Democrat | |
| 24th | John H. Selkreg* | Republican | Chairman of Railroads; and of Poor Laws |
| 25th | William B. Woodin* | Republican | Chairman of Cities; of Engrossed Bills; and of Rules |
| 26th | Stephen H. Hammond* | Democrat | |
| 27th | George B. Bradley* | Democrat | |
| 28th | William N. Emerson | Republican | Chairman of Erection and Division of Towns and Counties; and of Public Health |
| 29th | Dan H. Cole* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| 30th | Abijah J. Wellman* | Republican | Chairman of Militia; and of State Prisons |
| 31st | Sherman S. Rogers | Republican | took his seat on January 11; Chairman of Commerce and Navigation; resigned to run for Lieutenant Governor of New York |
| 32nd | Commodore P. Vedder* | Republican | unsuccessfully contested by Judson W. Breed; Chairman of Indian Affairs; and of Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties |

### Employees

* Clerk: Henry A. Glidden
* Sergeant-at-Arms: John W. Corning
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: James L. Hart
* Doorkeeper: Frederick M. Burton
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Webster Howard
* Stenographer: Hudson C. Tanner
* Janitor and Keeper of the Senate Chamber: George A. Johnson
* Assistant Janitor and Keeper of the Senate Chamber: Robert McIntyre
* Assistant Postmaster: Henry L. Griswold, from January 6
* Chaplain: Ebenezer Halley

## State Assembly
### Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | Peter Slingerland* | Republican | |
| Albany | 2nd | Thomas D. Coleman | Democrat | |
| Albany | 3rd | William J. Maher | Democrat | |
| Albany | 4th | Alfred LeRoy | Republican | |
| Allegany | Allegany | Sumner Baldwin | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | Rodney A. Ford | Democrat | |
| Cattaraugus | 1st | Harrison Cheney | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 2nd | Edgar Shannon | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 1st | George I. Post | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 2nd | John S. Brown | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | William H. Whitney | Democrat | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Theodore A. Case | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | Edmund Miller | Democrat | |
| Chenango | Chenango | Isaac Plumb | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Shepard P. Bowen* | Republican | |
| Columbia | 1st | George H. Power | Republican | |
| Columbia | 2nd | John T. Hogeboom | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | Judson C. Nelson | Democrat | |
| Delaware | 1st | George D. Wheeler | Republican | |
| Delaware | 2nd | Isaac H. Maynard | Democrat | |
| Dutchess | 1st | Thomas Hammond | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | DeWitt Webb | Republican | |
| Erie | 1st | Daniel Cruice | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | William W. Lawson* | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Edward Gallagher* | Republican | |
| Erie | 4th | Charles F. Tabor | Democrat | |
| Erie | 5th | Bertrand Chaffee | Democrat | |
| Essex | Essex | William E. Calkins* | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | John I. Gilbert | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | John J. Hanson | Democrat | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Newton H. Green* | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Burton G. Morss | Democrat | |
| Herkimer | Herkimer | Myron A. McKee | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 1st | Lotus Ingalls | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 2nd | Lansing Becker | Democrat | |
| Kings | 1st | Daniel Bradley* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Jonathan Ogden | Republican | |
| Kings | 3rd | Michael J. Coffey* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | Tunis V. P. Talmage* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | Albion P. Higgins | Republican | |
| Kings | 6th | Jacob Worth* | Republican | |
| Kings | 7th | Charles L. Lyon | Democrat | |
| Kings | 8th | Adrian M. Suydam | Republican | |
| Kings | 9th | John McGroarty* | Democrat | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Alexander H. Crosby | Democrat | |
| Livingston | Livingston | James Faulkner Jr.* | Democrat | |
| Madison | 1st | Morris N. Campbell | Republican | |
| Madison | 2nd | Fred C. Fiske | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Willard Hodges | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | James S. Graham | Republican | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Heman Glass | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | George M. Voorhees | Democrat | |
| New York | 1st | Nicholas Muller* | Democrat | on November 7, 1876, elected to the 45th U.S. Congress |
| New York | 2nd | Felix Murphy | Anti-Tam. Dem. | |
| New York | 3rd | James J. Slevin | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | John Galvin | Democrat | |
| New York | 5th | George W. Betts | Republican | |
| New York | 6th | Matthew Patten | Democrat | |
| New York | 7th | Isaac Israel Hayes | Republican | |
| New York | 8th | Frederick Gugel Jr. | Republican | |
| New York | 9th | Andrew J. Campbell | Republican | |
| New York | 10th | Joseph Hoffman Jr. | Republican | |
| New York | 11th | Charles A. Peabody Jr. | Republican | |
| New York | 12th | Archibald Watts | Republican | |
| New York | 13th | Robert H. Strahan | Republican | previously a member from Orange Co. |
| New York | 14th | P. J. Carty | Anti-Tam. Dem. | |
| New York | 15th | M. P. Killian | Democrat | |
| New York | 16th | George Y. Whitson | Anti-Tam. Dem. | |
| New York | 17th | William T. Graff | Republican | |
| New York | 18th | Stephen J. O'Hare | Democrat | |
| New York | 19th | James T. King | Democrat | |
| New York | 20th | I. A. Englehart | Republican | |
| New York | 21st | Joseph P. Fallon | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Amos A. Bissell | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 2nd | Jonas W. Brown | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Richard U. Sherman* | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Sylvester Gridley | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | James H. Flanagan | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 4th | Walter Ballou | Democrat | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Allen Munroe | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Carroll E. Smith | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | C. Fred Herbst | Republican | |
| Ontario | 1st | Seth Stanley | Democrat | |
| Ontario | 2nd | Hiram Maxfield | Democrat | |
| Orange | 1st | Thomas W. Bradley | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | John H. Reeve | Democrat | |
| Orleans | Orleans | Joseph Drake Billings | Republican | |
| Oswego | 1st | George B. Sloan | Republican | elected Speaker pro tempore |
| Oswego | 2nd | Thomas W. Green | Republican | |
| Oswego | 3rd | John Preston | Republican | |
| Otsego | 1st | James S. Davenport | Democrat | |
| Otsego | 2nd | George Scramling | Democrat | |
| Putnam | Putnam | Hamilton Fish II | Republican | |
| Queens | 1st | Townsend D. Cock | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | Alvan T. Payne | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | William V. Cleary* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | William F. Taylor* | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 3rd | Thomas B. Simmons | Republican | |
| Richmond | Richmond | Kneeland S. Townsend | Republican | |
| Rockland | Rockland | George W. Weiant | Democrat | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | David McFalls | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | A. Barton Hepburn* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 3rd | Lewis C. Lang | Republican | |
| Saratoga | 1st | George West* | Republican | |
| Saratoga | 2nd | Isaac Noyes Jr. | Republican | |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Emmett O'Neill | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | John M. Roscoe* | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | William Gulick | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | Lewis Post | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 1st | William B. Ruggles | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 2nd | Jerry E. B. Santee | Republican | |
| Suffolk | Suffolk | Samuel B. Gardiner | Democrat | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | Adolphus E. Wenzel* | Democrat | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Eugene B. Gere | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | Samuel D. Halliday | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 1st | Thomas Hamilton | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 2nd | Jacob D. Wurts* | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 3rd | Davis Winne | Democrat | |
| Warren | Warren | Robert Waddell | Republican | |
| Washington | 1st | Townsend J. Potter | Republican | |
| Washington | 2nd | Henry G. Burleigh | Republican | |
| Wayne | 1st | Emory W. Gurnee | Democrat | |
| Wayne | 2nd | Allen S. Russell* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | George H. Forster | Republican | |
| Westchester | 2nd | Charles M. Schieffelin* | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 3rd | James W. Husted* | Republican | elected Speaker |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | Arthur Clark | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | John Southerland | Democrat | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Edward M. Johnson
* Sergeant-at-Arms: George A. Goss
* Doorkeeper: Eugene L. Demers
* Stenographer: Worden E. Payne