# 92nd New York State Legislature

The 92nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to May 11, 1869, during the first year of John T. Hoffman'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.
According to the Constitution of 1846, twenty years after its elaboration the electorate was asked if they wanted a Constitutional Convention to be held, which was answered at the 1866 New York state election, in the affirmative. On April 23, 1867, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were elected, resulting in a Republican majority. On June 4, the Constitutional Convention met at Albany; adjourned on September 23; and met again on November 12. On February 28, 1868, the Constitutional Convention adjourned sine die. How to put the proposed amendments before the electorate was then debated throughout the 91st and the 92nd Legislature, and all amendments, except the re-organization of the judicial system, were eventually rejected by the voters at the 1869 New York state election.
At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

## Elections

The 1868 New York state election was held on November 3. Mayor of New York City John T. Hoffman and Allen C. Beach (both Democrats) were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The other three statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 439,000 and Republicans 411,000.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1869; and adjourned on May 11.
Truman G. Younglove (R) was elected Speaker with 71 votes against 52 for William Hitchman (D).
On January 19, the Legislature elected Ex-Governor Reuben E. Fenton (R) to succeed Edwin D. Morgan as U.S. Senator from New York for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1869.
On February 4, Charles J. Folger (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this session."
On February 24, Richard Crowley (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this day."
On April 29, the Legislature elected Henry Smith (R) as a Metropolitan Police Commissioner, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas C. Acton.

## 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

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | Lewis A. Edwards* | Democrat | |
| 2nd | James F. Pierce* | Democrat | |
| 3rd | Henry C. Murphy* | Democrat | |
| 4th | William M. Tweed* | Democrat | |
| 5th | Michael Norton* | Democrat | also an Alderman of New York City |
| 6th | Thomas J. Creamer* | Democrat | |
| 7th | John J. Bradley* | Democrat | |
| 8th | Henry W. Genet* | Democrat | |
| 9th | William Cauldwell* | Democrat | |
| 10th | William M. Graham* | Democrat | |
| 11th | Abiah W. Palmer* | Republican | |
| 12th | Francis S. Thayer* | Republican | |
| 13th | A. Bleecker Banks | Democrat | |
| 14th | George Beach* | Democrat | |
| 15th | Charles Stanford* | Republican | |
| 16th | Matthew Hale* | Republican | |
| 17th | Abraham X. Parker* | Republican | |
| 18th | John O'Donnell* | Republican | |
| 19th | Samuel Campbell* | Republican | |
| 20th | John B. Van Petten* | Republican | |
| 21st | Abner C. Mattoon* | Republican | |
| 22nd | George N. Kennedy* | Republican | |
| 23rd | John F. Hubbard Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 24th | Orlow W. Chapman* | Republican | |
| 25th | Stephen K. Williams* | Republican | |
| 26th | Charles J. Folger* | Republican | on February 4, elected president pro tempore |
| 27th | John I. Nicks* | Republican | |
| 28th | Lewis H. Morgan* | Republican | |
| 29th | Richard Crowley* | Republican | on February 24, elected president pro tempore |
| 30th | Wolcott J. Humphrey* | Republican | |
| 31st | Asher P. Nichols* | Democrat | |
| 32nd | Lorenzo Morris* | Democrat | |

### Employees

* Clerk: James Terwilliger
* Sergeant-at-Arms: John H. Kemper
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: George H. Knapp
* Doorkeeper: Charles V. Schram
* Assistant Doorkeeper: Nathaniel Saxton
* Assistant Doorkeeper: David L. Shields
* Assistant Doorkeeper: Elisha T. Burdick

## 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 | Hugh Conger | Republican | |
| Albany | 2nd | Adam W. Smith | Democrat | |
| Albany | 3rd | John M. Kimball | Democrat | |
| Albany | 4th | John Tighe | Democrat | |
| Allegany | Allegany | Silas Richardson* | Republican | |
| Broome | Broome | William M. Ely | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 1st | Claudius V. B. Barse | Republican | |
| Cattaraugus | 2nd | William H. Stuart | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 1st | Charles H. Weed* | Republican | |
| Cayuga | 2nd | Sanford Gifford* | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Matthew P. Bemus* | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Winfield S. Cameron* | Republican | |
| Chemung | Chemung | Edward L. Patrick | Democrat | |
| Chenango | Chenango | Charles Pearsall | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Daniel Stewart | Republican | |
| Columbia | 1st | Edward Sturges | Democrat | |
| Columbia | 2nd | Moses Y. Tilden | Democrat | |
| Cortland | Cortland | Hiram Whitmarsh | Republican | |
| Delaware | 1st | Benjamin J. Bassett | Republican | |
| Delaware | 2nd | John Ferris | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | David R. Gould | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | William W. Hegeman | Republican | |
| Erie | 1st | George J. Bamler* | Democrat | |
| Erie | 2nd | Philip H. Bender | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | James A. Chase | Republican | |
| Erie | 4th | Charles B. Rich | Republican | |
| Erie | 5th | Abbot C. Calkins | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Samuel Root* | Republican | |
| Franklin | Franklin | Edmund F. Sargent* | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | William F. Barker | Republican | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Edward C. Walker | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Baldwin Griffin | Democrat | |
| Herkimer | Herkimer | Erasmus W. Day | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 1st | Jay Dimick | Republican | |
| Jefferson | 2nd | William W. Butterfield | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | Hugh M. Clark | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Henry J. Cullen Jr. | Democrat | |
| Kings | 3rd | Dennis O'Keeffe | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | William W. Moseley | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | James R. Allaben | Republican | |
| Kings | 6th | Andrew B. Hodges | Republican | |
| Kings | 7th | George L. Fox | Democrat | |
| Kings | 8th | DeWitt C. Tower* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 9th | John C. Jacobs* | Democrat | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Chester Ray | Republican | |
| Livingston | Livingston | Lewis E. Smith* | Republican | |
| Madison | 1st | Wesley M. Carpenter | Republican | |
| Madison | 2nd | Leonard C. Kilham | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Charles S. Wright | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Nehemiah C. Bradstreet* | Democrat | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Andrew J. Randall | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Darius V. Berry | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | Michael C. Murphy* | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | Dennis Burns* | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Owen Cavanagh | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | John Galvin* | Democrat | |
| New York | 5th | Peter Mitchell | Democrat | |
| New York | 6th | Timothy J. Campbell* | Democrat | unsuccessfully contested by Frederick Zimmer |
| New York | 7th | James A. Richmond | Republican | |
| New York | 8th | Martin Nachtmann | Democrat | |
| New York | 9th | William G. Bergen* | Democrat | |
| New York | 10th | Anthony Hartman* | Democrat | |
| New York | 11th | Peter Trainer* | Democrat | |
| New York | 12th | Henry Woltman | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | William Halpin | Democrat | contested, seat vacated on April 23 |
| New York | 13th | Alexander McLeod | Republican | seated on April 23 |
| New York | 14th | Charles H. Whalen | Democrat | contested; seat vacated on April 2 |
| New York | 14th | James McKiever | Democrat | seated on April 2 |
| New York | 15th | Alexander Frear* | Democrat | |
| New York | 16th | James Irving* | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | George W. Plunkitt | Democrat | |
| New York | 18th | Lawrence D. Kiernan* | Democrat | |
| New York | 19th | Josiah Porter | Democrat | |
| New York | 20th | John Keegan | Democrat | |
| New York | 21st | William Hitchman* | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Ransom M. Skeels* | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 2nd | Benjamin Farley* | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Eli B. Avery | Republican | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Addison B. Tuttle | Republican | |
| Oneida | 3rd | James Stevens* | Democrat | |
| Oneida | 4th | Erastus Ely | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | James V. Kendall | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Moses Summers | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | Miles B. Hackett | Republican | |
| Ontario | 1st | Henry Ray* | Republican | |
| Ontario | 2nd | George Cook | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | J. C. Bancroft Davis | Republican | seat vacated on March 26 upon appointment as United States Assistant Secretary of State |
| Orange | 2nd | Thomas J. Lyon | Democrat | |
| Orleans | Orleans | Marvin Harris | Republican | |
| Oswego | 1st | Benjamin Doolittle | Republican | |
| Oswego | 2nd | James D. Lasher* | Republican | |
| Oswego | 3rd | Nathan B. Smith | Republican | |
| Otsego | 1st | William W. Campbell | Republican | |
| Otsego | 2nd | Clifford S. Arms | Republican | |
| Putnam | Putnam | Morgan Horton | Democrat | |
| Queens | 1st | James B. Pearsall | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | John B. Madden* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | John L. Flagg* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | Edward Akin | Republican | |
| Rensselaer | 3rd | Harris B. Howard* | Democrat | |
| Richmond | Richmond | John Decker* | Democrat | contested; seat vacated on April 27 |
| Richmond | Richmond | Willett N. Hawkins | | seated on April 27 |
| Rockland | Rockland | James Suffern | Democrat | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | George M. Gleason* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | Julius M. Palmer* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 3rd | Alexander H. Andrews* | Republican | |
| Saratoga | 1st | Truman G. Younglove* | Republican | elected Speaker |
| Saratoga | 2nd | DeWitt C. Hoyt | Republican | |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Henry M. Crane | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | Peter R. Dyckman | Democrat | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | George Clark* | Republican | |
| Seneca | Seneca | Josiah T. Miller | Democrat | |
| Steuben | 1st | Monroe Brundage | Republican | |
| Steuben | 2nd | Samuel Mitchell | Republican | |
| Suffolk | Suffolk | William A. Conant | Republican | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | James L. La Moree | Democrat | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Lyman Truman | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | John H. Selkreg* | Republican | |
| Ulster | 1st | Patrick J. Flynn | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 2nd | Abraham E. Hasbrouck* | Democrat | |
| Ulster | 3rd | James O. Schoonmaker | Republican | |
| Warren | Warren | Nicholas B. La Bau* | Republican | |
| Washington | 1st | William J. Perry | Republican | |
| Washington | 2nd | Isaac V. Baker Jr. | Republican | |
| Wayne | 1st | Merritt Thornton | Republican | |
| Wayne | 2nd | Elijah M. K. Glenn* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | Clairborne Ferris | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 2nd | Edward D. Lawrence | Democrat | |
| Westchester | 3rd | James W. Husted | Republican | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | Marcus A. Hull | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | Foster A. Hixson | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Edward F. Underhill
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Samuel C. Pierce
* Doorkeeper: John Hancock
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Franklin Hutchinson
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: James Tanner
* Stenographer: Hudson C. Tanner