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,Except New York City where the wards were apportioned into election districts, and then some whole wards and some election districts of other wards were gerrymandered together into Assembly districts. 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
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.
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 Notes1stL. Bradford Prince* RepublicanChairman of Privileges and Elections2ndJohn R. Kennaday* Democrat3rdJohn C. Jacobs* Democratunsuccessfully contested by James Cavanagh (R)4thJohn Morrissey Anti-Tam. Dem.5thJames W. Booth* RepublicanChairman of Literature; died on September 14, 18766thCaspar A. Baaden RepublicanChairman of Public Expenditures7thJames W. Gerard Democratunsuccessfully contested by William Laimbeer Jr. (R)see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1899; pg. 605)8thFrancis M. Bixby Anti-Tam. Dem.9thWilliam H. Robertson* Republicanre-elected President pro tempore; Chairman of Judiciary10thDaniel B. St. John Democrat11thB. Platt Carpenter RepublicanChairman of Retrenchment; and of Villages12thThomas Coleman RepublicanChairman of Banks; of Public Buildings; and of Grievances13thHamilton Harris RepublicanChairman of Finance; and of Joint Library14thAugustus Schoonmaker Jr. Democrat15thWebster Wagner* RepublicanChairman of Public Printing16thFranklin W. Tobey* RepublicanChairman of Insurance17thDarius A. Moore RepublicanChairman of Claims; and of Agriculture18thJames F. Starbuck Democrat19thTheodore S. Sayre RepublicanChairman of Roads and Bridges; and of Salt20thDavid P. Loomis Democrat21stBenjamin Doolittle RepublicanChairman of Manufactures22ndDennis McCarthy RepublicanChairman of Charitable and Religious Societies23rdWilliam C. Lamont Democrat24thJohn H. Selkreg* RepublicanChairman of Railroads; and of Poor Laws25thWilliam B. Woodin* RepublicanChairman of Cities; of Engrossed Bills; and of Rules26thStephen H. Hammond* Democrat27thGeorge B. Bradley* Democrat28thWilliam N. Emerson RepublicanChairman of Erection and Division of Towns and Counties; and of Public Health29thDan H. Cole* RepublicanChairman of Canals30thAbijah J. Wellman* RepublicanChairman of Militia; and of State Prisons31stSherman S. Rogers Republicantook his seat on January 11; Chairman of Commerce and Navigation; resigned September 5, 1876The Buffalo Express, 6 Sept 1876 https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=tbe18760906-01.1.4&srpos=45&e=------187-en-20--41--txt-txIN-rogers----1876---Erie-- to run for Lieutenant Governor of New York32ndCommodore P. Vedder* Republicanunsuccessfully 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 Assemblymen Party Notes Albany1stPeter Slingerland* Republican2ndThomas D. Coleman Democrat3rdWilliam J. Maher Democrat4thAlfred LeRoy Republican AlleganySumner Baldwin Republican BroomeRodney A. Ford Democrat Cattaraugus1stHarrison Cheney Republican2ndEdgar Shannon Republican Cayuga1stGeorge I. Post Republican2ndJohn S. Brown Republican Chautauqua1stWilliam H. Whitney Democrat2ndTheodore A. Case Republican ChemungEdmund Miller Democrat ChenangoIsaac Plumb Republican ClintonShepard P. Bowen* Republican Columbia1stGeorge H. Power Republican2ndJohn T. Hogeboom Republican CortlandJudson C. Nelson Democrat Delaware1stGeorge D. Wheeler Republican2ndIsaac H. Maynard Democrat Dutchess1stThomas Hammond Republican2ndDeWitt Webb Republican Erie1stDaniel Cruice Republican2ndWilliam W. Lawson* Republican3rdEdward Gallagher* Republican4thCharles F. Tabor Democrat5thBertrand Chaffee Democrat EssexWilliam E. Calkins* Republican FranklinJohn I. Gilbert Republican Fulton and HamiltonJohn J. Hanson Democrat GeneseeNewton H. Green*Newton H. Green, son of Andrew H. Green who was assemblyman in 1838 and 1839; and brother of Loren Green who was assemblyman in 1863 and 1864 Republican GreeneBurton G. Morss Democrat HerkimerMyron A. McKee Republican Jefferson1stLotus Ingalls Republican2ndLansing Becker Democrat Kings1stDaniel Bradley* Democrat2ndJonathan Ogden Republican3rdMichael J. Coffey* Democrat4thTunis V. P. Talmage*Tunis Van Pelt Talmage, son of Mayor of Brooklyn Thomas G. Talmage Democrat5thAlbion P. Higgins Republican6thJacob Worth* Republican7thCharles L. Lyon Democrat8thAdrian M. Suydam Republican9thJohn McGroarty* Democrat LewisAlexander H. Crosby Democrat LivingstonJames Faulkner Jr.* Democrat Madison1stMorris N. Campbell Republican2ndFred C. Fiske Republican Monroe1stWillard Hodges Republican2ndJames S. Graham Republican3rdHeman Glass Republican MontgomeryGeorge M. Voorhees Democrat New York1stNicholas Muller* Democraton November 7, 1876, elected to the 45th U.S. Congress2ndFelix Murphy Anti-Tam. Dem.3rdJames J. Slevin Democrat4thJohn Galvin Democrat5thGeorge W. Betts Republican6thMatthew Patten Democrat7thIsaac Israel Hayes Republican8thFrederick Gugel Jr. Republican9thAndrew J. Campbell Republican10thJoseph Hoffman Jr. Republican11thCharles A. Peabody Jr. Republican12thArchibald Watts Republican13thRobert H. Strahan Republicanpreviously a member from Orange Co.14thP. J. Carty Anti-Tam. Dem.15thM. P. KillianM. P. Killian, see AN EX-LEGISLATOR'S FALL in NYT on June 19, 1891 Democrat16thGeorge Y. Whitson Anti-Tam. Dem.17thWilliam T. Graff Republican18thStephen J. O'Hare Democrat19thJames T. King Democrat20thI. A. Englehart Republican21stJoseph P. Fallon Democrat Niagara1stAmos A. Bissell Democrat2ndJonas W. Brown Republican Oneida1stRichard U. Sherman* Democrat2ndSylvester Gridley Republican3rdJames H. Flanagan Democrat4thWalter Ballou Democrat Onondaga1stAllen Munroe Republican2ndCarroll E. Smith Republican3rdC. Fred Herbst Republican Ontario1stSeth Stanley Democrat2ndHiram Maxfield Democrat Orange1stThomas W. Bradley Republican2ndJohn H. Reeve Democrat OrleansJoseph Drake Billings Republican Oswego1stGeorge B. Sloan Republicanelected Speaker pro tempore2ndThomas W. Green Republican3rdJohn Preston Republican Otsego1stJames S. Davenport Democrat2ndGeorge Scramling Democrat PutnamHamilton Fish II Republican Queens1stTownsend D. Cock Democrat2ndAlvan T. Payne Democrat Rensselaer1stWilliam V. Cleary* Democrat2ndWilliam F. Taylor* Republican3rdThomas B. Simmons Republican RichmondKneeland S. Townsend Republican RocklandGeorge W. Weiant Democrat St. Lawrence1stDavid McFalls Republican2ndA. Barton Hepburn* Republican3rdLewis C. Lang Republican Saratoga1stGeorge West* Republican2ndIsaac Noyes Jr. Republican SchenectadyEmmett O'Neill Republican SchoharieJohn M. Roscoe* Democrat SchuylerWilliam Gulick Republican SenecaLewis Post Democrat Steuben1stWilliam B. Ruggles Democrat2ndJerry E. B. Santee Republican SuffolkSamuel B. Gardiner Democrat SullivanAdolphus E. Wenzel* Democrat TiogaEugene B. Gere Republican TompkinsSamuel D. Halliday Democrat Ulster1stThomas Hamilton Democrat2ndJacob D. Wurts* Democrat3rdDavis Winne Democrat WarrenRobert Waddell Republican Washington1stTownsend J. Potter Republican2ndHenry G. Burleigh Republican Wayne1stEmory W. Gurnee Democrat2ndAllen S. Russell* Republican Westchester1stGeorge H. Forster Republican2ndCharles M. Schieffelin* Democrat3rdJames W. Husted* Republicanelected Speaker WyomingArthur Clark Republican YatesJohn Southerland Democrat
Employees Clerk: Edward M. Johnson Sergeant-at-Arms: George A. Goss Doorkeeper: Eugene L. Demers Stenographer: Worden E. Payne
Notes
Sources Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York compiled by Edgar Albert Werner (1884; see pg. 276 for Senate districts; pg. 291 for senators; pg. 298–304 for Assembly districts; and pg. 375f for assemblymen) Tribune Almanac for 1876 Journal of the Senate (99th Session) (1876)