The 61st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 18, 1838, during the sixth year of William L. Marcy's governorship, in Albany.
Background Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1821, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in eight 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.
At this time there were two political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.
In May 1837, the Panic of 1837 broke out, and led to a severe financial crisis. The incumbent Democratic State government was blamed for it by the voters, and the opposing Whig Party won the election in November in a landslide.
Elections The State election was held from November 6 to 8, 1837. Gulian C. Verplanck (1st D.), Henry A. Livingston (2nd D.), Edward P. Livingston (3rd D.), Martin Lee (4th D.), Avery Skinner (5th D.), Laurens Hull (6th D.), John Maynard (7th D.) and William A. Moseley (8th D.) were elected to the Senate. Edward P. Livingston and Avery Skinner were Democrats, the other six were Whigs.
Sessions The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1838; and adjourned on April 18.
Luther Bradish (W) was elected Speaker.
On February 5, the Legislature elected Gamaliel H. Barstow (W) to succeed Abraham Keyser (D) as State Treasurer; and Orville L. Holley (W) to succeed William Campbell (D) as Surveyor General.
On September 12, the Whig state convention met at Utica, and nominated William H. Seward for Governor, and Speaker Luther Bradish for Lieutenant Governor. On the same day, the Democratic state convention met at Herkimer, and nominated Gov. Marcy and Lt. Gov. Tracy unanimously for re-election.
On October 3, a state convention of former Democrats (among them U.S. Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, Congressman John C. Clark and Ex-Assemblyman Judah Hammond) met under the name of "Conservatives" at Syracuse, and endorsed the Whig nominees Seward and Bradish.
State Senate Districts The First District (4 seats) consisted of Kings, New York and Richmond counties. The Second District (4 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. The Third District (4 seats) consisted of Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties. The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties. The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted of Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and Otsego counties. The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Chenango, Livingston, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties. The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted of Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties. The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted of Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara and Orleans counties.
Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.
Members The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.
Senators who resided in counties which were transferred to a different district continued to represent the district in which they were elected.
District Senators Term left Party Notes FirstCoe S. Downing*1 year DemocratHenry Floyd-Jones*2 years Democratresided in Queens Co., elected in the old 1st D.Frederick A. Tallmadge*3 years WhigGulian C. Verplanck4 years Whig SecondJohn P. Jones*1 year DemocratJohn Hunter*2 years DemocratHenry H. Van Dyck*3 years DemocratHenry A. Livingston4 years Whig ThirdAbraham L. Lawyer*1 year DemocratJames Powers*2 years DemocratNoadiah Johnson*3 years DemocratEdward P. Livingston4 years Democrat FourthJabez Willes*1 year DemocratDavid Spraker*2 years DemocratSamuel Young*3 years Democratalso a Canal Commissioner and, until February 13, 1838, First Judge of the Saratoga Co. CourtMartin Lee4 years Whig FifthAbijah Beckwith*1 year Democratresided in Herkimer Co., elected in the old 5th D.Micah Sterling*2 years DemocratDavid Wager*3 years DemocratAvery Skinner4 years Democratalso Postmaster of Union Square SixthLevi Beardsley*1 year Democratresided in Otsego Co., elected in the old 6th D.George Huntington*2 years DemocratDaniel S. Dickinson*3 years DemocratLaurens Hull4 years Whig SeventhChester Loomis*1 year Democratalso Postmaster of Rushville John Beardsley*2 years DemocratSamuel L. Edwards*3 years DemocratJohn Maynard4 years Whig EighthIsaac Lacey*1 year WhigChauncey J. Fox*2 years Whigresided in Cattaraugus Co., elected in the old 8th D.Samuel Works*3 years WhigWilliam A. Moseley4 years Whig
Employees Clerk: John F. Bacon
State Assembly Districts
Albany County (3 seats) Allegany County (2 seats) Broome County (1 seat) Cattaraugus County (2 seats) Cayuga County (3 seats) Chautauqua County (3 seats) Chemung County (1 seat) Chenango County (3 seats) Clinton County (1 seat) Columbia County (3 seats) Cortland County (2 seats) Delaware County (2 seats) Dutchess County (3 seats) Erie County (3 seats) Essex County (1 seat) Franklin County (1 seat) Genesee County (4 seats) Greene County (2 seats) Hamilton and Montgomery counties (3 seats) Herkimer County (2 seats) Jefferson County (3 seats) Kings County (2 seats) Lewis County (1 seat) Livingston County (2 seats) Madison County (3 seats) Monroe County (3 seats) The City and County of New York (13 seats) Niagara County (2 seats) Oneida County (4 seats) Onondaga County (4 seats) Ontario County (3 seats) Orange County (3 seats) Orleans County (1 seat) Oswego County (2 seats) Otsego County (3 seats) Putnam County (1 seat) Queens County (1 seat) Rensselaer County (3 seats) Richmond County (1 seat) Rockland County (1 seat) St. Lawrence County (2 seats) Saratoga County (2 seats) Schenectady County (1 seat) Schoharie County (2 seats) Seneca County (1 seat) Steuben County (3 seats) Suffolk County (2 seats) Sullivan County (1 seat) Tioga County (1 seat) Tompkins County (2 seats) Ulster County (2 seats) Warren County (1 seat) Washington (2 seats) Wayne County (2 seats) Westchester County (2 seats) Yates County (1 seat)
Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.
Assemblymen The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the vote on State officers on February 5.see Journal of the Assembly (61st Session) (1838; pg. 307ff)
District Assemblymen Party Notes AlbanyDaniel D. Barnard Whigin November 1838 elected to the 26th U.S. Congress Edmund Raynsford WhigPaul Settle Whig AlleganySeth H. Pratt WhigSamuel Russell WhigBroomeJames Stoddard Whig CattaraugusNelson Green WhigTimothy H. Porter Whig CayugaHenry R. Filley WhigIsaac S. MillerNathan G. Morgan ChautauquaThomas I. Allen WhigGeorge A. French WhigAbner Lewis WhigChemungHiram White Democrat ChenangoHenry Balcom WhigDemas Hubbard, Jr. WhigJustus Parce WhigClintonCornelius Halsey* Democrat ColumbiaAbraham Bain WhigWilliam A. Dean WhigWilliam H. Tobey Whig CortlandDavid Matthews WhigJohn Osgood Whig DelawareCornelius Bassett DemocratDarius Mapes DutchessCornelius Dubois WhigFreeborn Garretson WhigJacob Sisson ErieLewis F. Allen WhigAsa Warren WhigCyrenus Wilbur WhigEssexGideon Hammond* WhigFranklinLuther Bradish* Whigelected Speaker; in November 1838 elected Lieutenant Governor of New York GeneseeReuben Benham* WhigAndrew H. Green WhigJohn Head WhigLeverett Seward* Whig GreeneThomas B. Cooke WhigPeter Hubbell Whig Hamilton and Montgomery Jeremiah Nellis WhigAbraham V. PutmanMarcellus Weston HerkimerAbijah Mann, Jr. DemocratVolney Owen JeffersonCharles B. Hoard Democratalso Postmaster of AntwerpRichard Hulbert* DemocratDaniel Wardwell Democrat KingsCornelius Bergen WhigBenjamin D. Silliman WhigLewisWilliam Dominick Democrat LivingstonGeorge W. Patterson* WhigWilliam Scott* Whig Madison William F. Bostwick DemocratWilliam Lord DemocratOnesimus Mead Democrat MonroeJohn P. Patterson WhigEzra Sheldon Jr. WhigDerick Sibley* Whig New YorkAlfred Carhart WhigAdoniram ChandlerHeman W. Childs WhigEvan Griffith WhigWillis Hall WhigWilliam HarsellJohn I. Labagh* WhigDavid B. Ogden WhigSamuel B. Ruggles WhigJohn B. Scoles WhigGarret H. Stryker WhigAnson Willis* WhigGeorge Zabriskie* Whig NiagaraDavis Hurd* WhigPeter B. Porter, Jr. Whig OneidaRussel Fuller WhigHenry Hearsey WhigJames S. T. StranahanFortune C. White Whig Onondaga Victory Birdseye WhigPhares Gould WhigJames R. Lawrence WhigAzariah Smith Whig Ontario Jonathan Buell WhigDavid Hudson WhigHenry W. Taylor* Whig Orange Goldsmith Denniston WhigStephen W. Fullerton WhigHudson McFarlan WhigOrleansHoratio Reed Whig OswegoArvin Rice WhigJohn M. Richardson Whig OtsegoSamuel Betts Jr. DemocratJohn Drake DemocratJacob K. Lull DemocratPutnamSaxton Smith DemocratQueensJohn A. King Whig RensselaerHezekiah Hull WhigJacob A. Ten Eyck WhigJames Wallace WhigRichmondIsrael OakleyRocklandDavid Clark Democrat St. LawrencePreston King* DemocratMyron G. Peck Democrat SaratogaWalter Van Veghten WhigCalvin Wheeler WhigSchenectadySilas H. Marsh Whig SchoharieJedediah MillerMitchell Sanford WhigSenecaNathan Wakeman Democrat SteubenSamuel Griggs DemocratDavid Hall DemocratManning Kelly Democrat SuffolkCharles A. Floyd DemocratSidney L. Griffin DemocratSullivanJohn H. Bowers DemocratTiogaJohn Coryell Whig TompkinsElbert CurtisRobert Swartwout Whig UlsterBenjamin R. Bevier WhigJames N. Mitchell WhigWarrenThomas A. Leggett Democrat WashingtonErastus D. Culver WhigLeonard Gibbs Whig WayneEsbon Blackmar WhigJohn M. Holley Whig WestchesterFrancis BarrettoNicholas CrugerYatesMiles Benham Whig
Employees Clerk: Jarvis N. Lake Sergeant-at-Arms: Harley R. Luddington Doorkeeper: William C. Bloss Assistant Doorkeeper: Frederick Lamb
Notes
Sources The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 131f for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 220f for assemblymen] The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York, from the Ratification of the Federal Constitution to 1840 by Jabez D. Hammond (4th ed., Vol. 2, Phinney & Co., Buffalo, 1850; pg. 479 to 486)