2nd New York State Legislature
| 2nd New York State Legislature | |||
 Clinton House, one of the buildings used by the State government during sessions at Poughkeepsie (2007) |
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| Duration: July 1, 1778 – June 30, 1779 | |||
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| President of the State Senate: | Lt. Gov. Pierre Van Cortlandt | ||
| Temporary President of the State Senate: | |||
| Speaker of the State Assembly: | Walter Livingston | ||
| Members: | 24 Senators 70 (de facto 65) Assemblymen |
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| Senate Majority: | |||
| Assembly Majority: | |||
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| Sessions | |||
| 1st: October 13 – November 6, 1778 2nd: January 27 – March 17, 1779 |
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The 2nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from October 13, 1778 to March 17, 1779, during the second year of George Clinton's governorship, at Poughkeepsie.
Contents
Background
Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, the State Senators were elected on general tickets in the senatorial districts, and were then divided into four classes. Six senators each drew lots for a term of 1, 2, 3 or 4 years and, beginning at the election in April 1778, every year six Senate seats came up for election to a four-year term. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole assembly being renewed annually.
On May 8, 1777, the Constitutional Convention had appointed the senators from the Southern District, and the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties—the area which was under British control—and determined that these appointees serve in the Legislature until elections could be held in those areas, presumably after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Vacancies among the appointed members in the Senate should be filled by the Assembly, and vacancies in the Assembly by the Senate.
Elections
The State elections were held from April 28 to 30, 1778. Under the determination by the Constitutional Convention, the senators Isaac Roosevelt and John Morin Scott, whose seats were up for election, continued in office, as well as the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties. Two vacancies in the Senate—caused by the death of Philip Livingston and the election of Pierre Van Cortlandt as Lieutenant Governor—were filled by the State Assembly. Henry Wisner (MIddle D.) and Abraham Yates Jr. (Western D.) were re-elected. Assemblymen Ebenezer Russell (Eastern D.) and Jacob G. Klock (Western D.) were elected to the Senate.
The State Legislature met in Poughkeepsie, the seat of Dutchess County, on October 13, 1778, and adjourned on November 6. The Senate reconvened from January 27 to March 17, the Assembly from January 28 to March 16, 1779. Due to the difficult situation during the American Revolutionary War, four senators and several assemblymen could not attend the meeting.
State Senate
Districts
- The Southern District (9 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
- The Middle District (6 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties.
- The Eastern District (3 seats) consisted of Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.[1]
- The Western District (6 seats) consisted of Albany and Tryon 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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.
Senators
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Ebenezer Russell and Jacob G. Klock changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
| District | Senators | Term left | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern | Jonathan Lawrence* | 1 year | appointed by Constitutional Convention; elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Lewis Morris* | 1 year | appointed by Constitutional Convention | |
| Richard Morris* | 1 year | appointed by State Assembly | |
| William Floyd* | 2 years | appointed by Constitutional Convention | |
| William Smith* | 2 years | appointed by Constitutional Convention | |
| Isaac Stoutenburgh | 2 years | appointed by State Assembly on October 18, 1778, to fill vacancy, in place of Pierre Van Cortlandt |
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| Sir James Jay | 3 years | appointed by State Assembly on October 7, 1778, to fill vacancy, in place of Philip Livingston |
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| Isaac Roosevelt* | 4 years | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| John Morin Scott* | 4 years | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; also Secretary of State of New York |
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| Middle | Jonathan Landon* | 1 year | |
| Zephaniah Platt* | 1 year | elected to the Council of Appointment | |
| Arthur Parks* | 2 years | ||
| Levi Pawling* | 3 years | ||
| Jesse Woodhull* | 3 years | ||
| Henry Wisner* | 4 years | ||
| Eastern | John Williams* | 2 years | expelled on February 8, 1779[2] |
| Alexander Webster* | 3 years | ||
| Ebenezer Russell* | 4 years | elected to the Council of Appointment | |
| Western | Dirck W. Ten Broeck* | 1 year | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Anthony Van Schaick* | 2 years | ||
| Jellis Fonda* | 3 years | ||
| Rinier Mynderse* | 3 years | ||
| Jacob G. Klock* | 4 years | ||
| Abraham Yates Jr.* | 4 years |
Employees
- Clerk: Robert Benson
State Assembly
Districts
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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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.
Assemblymen
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
| County | Assemblymen | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | Leonard Gansevoort | |
| James Gordon* | ||
| Walter Livingston* | re-elected Speaker | |
| Stephen J. Schuyler* | ||
| John Tayler* | ||
| Jacobus Teller | ||
| Killian Van Rensselaer* | ||
| Robert Van Rensselaer* | ||
| Peter Vrooman* | ||
| William B. Whiting* | ||
| Charlotte | Albert Baker | |
| Ebenezer Clarke* | ||
| David Hopkins | ||
| Elishama Tozer | unsuccessfully contested by John Rowan[3] | |
| Cumberland | none | No election returns from these counties[4] |
| Gloucester | ||
| Dutchess | Egbert Benson* | also New York State Attorney General |
| Dirck Brinckerhoff* | ||
| Joseph Crane Jr. | ||
| Samuel Dodge | ||
| Anthony Hoffman* | ||
| Andrew Moorhouse* | ||
| Jacobus Swartwout* | ||
| Kings | William Boerum* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention |
| Henry Williams* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| New York | Evert Bancker* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention |
| John Berrien* | holding over on appointment by the State Senate | |
| Abraham Brasher* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Daniel Dunscomb* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Robert Harpur* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Frederick Jay* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Abraham P. Lott* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Jacobus Van Zandt* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Peter P. Van Zandt* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Orange | Jeremiah Clark* | |
| Benjamin Coe | ||
| Peter Ogilvie | ||
| Roeluf Van Houten* | ||
| Queens | Benjamin Birdsall* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention |
| Benjamin Coe* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Philip Edsall* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Daniel Lawrence* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Richmond | Joshua Mersereau* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention |
| vacant | ||
| Suffolk | David Gelston* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention |
| Ezra L'Hommedieu* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Burnet Miller* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Thomas Tredwell* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Thomas Wickes* | holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention | |
| Tryon | George Henry Bell | |
| John Newkirk | ||
| Abraham Van Horne* | ||
| Peter Waggoner | ||
| Moses Younglove | ||
| vacant | ||
| Ulster | Andries Bevier | unsuccessfully contested by Thomas Palmer[5] |
| Matthew Rea* | ||
| Cornelius C. Schoonmaker* | ||
| Nathan Smith | ||
| Johannis Snyder* | ||
| vacant | ||
| Westchester | Joseph Benedict | |
| Thaddeus Crane* | ||
| Israel Honeywell Jr.* | ||
| Ebenezer Lockwood | ||
| Zebediah Mills* | ||
| Stephen Ward |
Employees
- Clerk: John McKesson
- Sergeant-at-Arms: Stephen Hendrickson
- Doorkeeper: Richard Ten Eyck
Notes
- ↑ All three senators from the Eastern District in this Legislature came from Charlotte County; see note for Assembly.
- ↑ The Suppressed History of the Administration of John Adams by John Wood & John Henry Sherburne (page 144)
- ↑ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 5–8)
- ↑ Cumberland and Gloucester counties seceded from the Province of New York in January 1777, and became part of the Vermont Republic, while the Constitutional Convention was still debating the new Constitution. The New York Constitution was approved in April 1777, not recognizing the secession. Neither county did file any election returns with the Secretary of State of New York in 1778.
- ↑ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 8-10)
Sources
- The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 110 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 157f for assemblymen]
