85th New York State Legislature

New York state legislative session

85th New York State Legislature

| ←| 84th | 86th| →

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The Old State Capitol (1879)

Overview
Legislative body| New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction| New York, United States
Term| January 1 – December 31, 1862
Senate
Members| 32
President| Lt. Gov. Robert Campbell (R)
Temporary President| James A. Bell (U), from February 11
Party control| Union (25-7)
Assembly
Members| 128
Speaker| Henry J. Raymond (U)
Party control| Union (90-38)
Sessions
| 1st| January 7 – April 23, 1862

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The 85th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to April 23, 1862, during the fourth year of Edwin D. Morgan's governorship, in Albany.

## Background

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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 (four 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 Democrats split over the civil war issue. The War Democrats nominated an "Independent People's" ticket which was almost completely endorsed by the Republicans, and became known as the Union ticket; the rump Democratic Party, favoring a compromise with the South and later known as Copperheads, nominated an opposing ticket. In New York City the Democrats were split into two factions: Tammany Hall and Mozart Hall.

## Elections

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The 1861 New York state election was held on November 5. Of the nine statewide elective offices up for election, eight were carried by Union men, and one by a Democrat. The approximate party strength at this election, as gathered from the vote for Secretary of State and the short-term Canal Commissioner was: Democrats 190,000; Republicans 180,000; and War Democrats 117,000.

## Sessions

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The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1862; and adjourned on April 23.

Henry J. Raymond (U) was elected again Speaker with 88 votes against 36 for Horatio Seymour (D).

On January 30, the Legislature elected Victor M. Rice to succeed Henry H. Van Dyck as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

On February 11, James A. Bell was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

## State Senate

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### Districts

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* 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
* 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th wards of the City of Brooklyn
* 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 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, 8th and 14th wards of New York City
* 5th District: 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
* 6th District: 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New York City
* 7th District: 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
* 8th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
* 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
* 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
* 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
* 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
* 13th District: Albany County
* 14th District: Delaware, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
* 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga 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: Oswego County
* 22nd District: Onondaga County
* 23rd District: Chenango, Cortland and Madison 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.

### Members

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Richard B. Connolly, Hezekiah D. Robertson, Joseph H. Ramsey, Charles C. Montgomery, James A. Bell, Allen Munroe and Lyman Truman were re-elected. Christian B. Woodruff, Richard K. Sanford and Wilkes Angel changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Party affiliations as published by the New York Tribune;[1] those marked "Republican" were elected in opposition to "Union" candidates. Senate officers and a Regent of USNY were elected without opposition.

District  | Senator  | Party  | Notes

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1st  | Monroe Henderson | Union  | due to ill health, absent from January 31
2nd  | Jesse C. Smith | Union  |
3rd  | Henry C. Murphy | Fusion  | elected unopposed
4th  | Christian B. Woodruff*  | Democrat  |
5th  | Charles G. Cornell | Democrat  | from December 3, 1862, also New York City Street Commissioner
6th  | John J. Bradley | Democrat  |
7th  | Richard B. Connolly*  | Democrat  |
8th  | Hezekiah D. Robertson*  | Union  |
9th  | Henry R. Low | Union  |
10th  | Jacob S. Freer | Democrat  |
11th  | William H. Tobey | Union  |
12th  | Ralph Richards | Union  |
13th  | John V. L. Pruyn | Democrat  |
14th  | Joseph H. Ramsey*  | Union  |
15th  | John Willard | Fusion  | elected unopposed; died on August 31, 1862
16th  | Russell M. Little | Union  |
17th  | Charles C. Montgomery*  | Union  |
18th  | James A. Bell*  | Union  | on February 11, elected president pro tempore
19th  | Alexander H. Bailey | Union  |
20th  | George A. Hardin | Republican  |
21st  | Richard K. Sanford*  | Fusion  | elected unopposed
22nd  | Allen Munroe*  | Republican  |
23rd  | Henry A. Clark | Union  |
24th  | Lyman Truman*  | Union  |
25th  | Chauncey M. Abbott | Republican  |
26th  | Charles J. Folger | Union  |
27th  | Charles Cook | Union  |
28th  | Lysander Farrar | Fusion  | elected unopposed
29th  | Almanzor Hutchinson | Union  |
30th  | Wilkes Angel*  | Republican  |
31st  | John Ganson | Democrat  | on November 4, 1862, elected to the 38th U.S. Congress
32nd  | Horace C. Young | Republican  |

### Employees

[edit]

* Clerk: James Terwilliger
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard U. Owens
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Caleb S. Babcock
* Doorkeeper: Orville Griffin
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles Johnson
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Sanders Wilson
* Third Assistant Doorkeeper: Giles H. Holden

## State Assembly

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### Assemblymen

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The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker.

District  | Assemblymen  | Party  | Notes

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Albany | 1st  | vacant  |  | Assemblyman-elect John Vanderzee died on December 3, 1861
Willet Serls[2] | Democrat  | elected to fill vacancy; seated on February 6
2nd  | Almerin J. Cornell | Union  |
3rd  | A. Bleecker Banks | Democrat  |
4th  | William Doyle | Democrat  |
Allegany | 1st  | Alvah E. Cruttenden | Union  |
2nd  | Edward D. Loveridge | Union  |
Broome | George Bartlett | Union  |
Cattaraugus | 1st  | Andrew L. Allen | Union  |
2nd  | Addison G. Rice | Union  |
Cayuga | 1st  | William A. Halsey | Union  |
2nd  | Smith Anthony*  | Union  |
Chautauqua | 1st  | Emry Davis | Union  |
2nd  | Henry C. Lake | Union  |
Chemung | Tracy Beadle | Union  |
Chenango | 1st  | David B. Parce | Union  |
2nd  | Francis B. Fisher | Union  |
Clinton | Lemuel Stetson | Union  |
Columbia | 1st  | Jacob Ten Broeck | Democrat  |
2nd  | Samuel Wilbor | Union  |
Cortland | Thomas Barry | Union  |
Delaware | 1st  | Nelson K. Wheeler | Union  |
2nd  | Daniel Waterbury*  | Union  |
Dutchess | 1st  | John B. Dutcher*  | Union  |
2nd  | Edmund Green | Union  |
Erie | 1st  | John W. Murphy | Democrat  |
2nd  | Horatio Seymour | Democrat  |
3rd  | Ezra P. Goslin | Union  |
4th  | John A. Case | Union  |
Essex | Palmer E. Havens | Union  |
Franklin | Albert Andrus | Union  |
Fulton and Hamilton | James H. Burr*  | Union  |
Genesee | Benjamin Pringle | Union  |
Greene | Jonathan B. Cowles | Democrat  |
Herkimer | 1st  | Orson Moore | Union  |
2nd  | George Springer | Union  |
Jefferson | 1st  | Jonathan M. Ackley | Union  |
2nd  | George W. Hazelton | Union  |
3rd  | William Dewey | Union  |
Kings | 1st  | Andrew J. Provost*  | Union  |
2nd  | Richard J. Lalor | Democrat  |
3rd  | William M. Thomas | Union  |
4th  | James Darcy*  | Democrat  |
5th  | Charles L. Benedict | Union  |
6th  | Samuel T. Maddox | Union  |
7th  | Edgar McMullen | Union  |
Lewis | Henry D. H. Snyder Jr. | Union  |
Livingston | 1st  | Matthew Wiard*  | Union  |
2nd  | Samuel Skinner | Union  |
Madison | 1st  | William H. Brand | Union  |
2nd  | Albert G. Purdy | Union  |
Monroe | 1st  | George E. McGonegal | Union  |
2nd  | Eliphaz Trimmer | Democrat  |
3rd  | Benjamin R. Wells*  | Union  |
Montgomery | Nicholas Newkirk | Democrat  |
New York | 1st  | John Callahan*  | Democrat  |
2nd  | Daniel Leamy | Democrat  |
3rd  | George L. Loutrel | Democrat  |
4th  | William J. C. Kenny*  | Democrat  |
5th  | James W. Bush | Union  |
6th  | William J. Coey | Democrat  |
7th  | Henry J. Raymond | Union  | elected Speaker
8th  | William G. Olvany | Democrat  |
9th  | Alexander McLeod | Union  |
10th  | Daniel M. O'Brien | Democrat  |
11th  | Noah A. Childs | Union  |
12th  | Andrew Smith | Democrat  |
13th  | Alexander Ward | Democrat  |
14th  | Royal Phelps | Union  |
15th  | David S. Coddington | Democrat  |
16th  | Dennis McCabe | Union  |
17th  | Edward Jones[3] | Democrat  |
Niagara | 1st  | Benjamin H. Fletcher | Democrat  |
2nd  | Peter A. Porter | Union  |
Oneida | 1st  | Charles M. Scholefield | Union  |
2nd  | Eli Avery | Union  |
3rd  | Thomas D. Penfield | Union  |
4th  | Jeremiah Sweet | Union  |
Onondaga | 1st  | Frederick A. Lyman | Union  |
2nd  | Thomas G. Alvord | Union  |
3rd  | R. Nelson Gere | Union  |
Ontario | 1st  | David Picket | Union  |
2nd  | Francis O. Mason | Union  |
Orange | 1st  | Daniel R. Hudson | Union  |
2nd  | John Van Etten Jr. | Democrat  |
Orleans | Nicholas E. Darrow | Union  |
Oswego | 1st  | Elias Root | Union  |
2nd  | Willard Johnson | Democrat  |
3rd  | Benjamin E. Bowen | Union  |
Otsego | 1st  | LeRoy E. Bowe | Union  |
2nd  | Cornelius A. Church | Union  |
Putnam | Thomas H. Reed | Union  |
Queens | 1st  | Isaac Coles | Union  |
2nd  | Henry D. Hall | Democrat  |
Rensselaer | 1st  | Charles J. Saxe*  | Democrat  |
2nd  | David G. Maxon | Union  |
3rd  | Sylvester Waterbury | Democrat  |
Richmond | Smith Ely[4] | Democrat  |
Rockland | James S. Haring | Democrat  |
St. Lawrence | 1st  | Elias P. Townsley | Union  |
2nd  | James Redington | Union  |
3rd  | Calvin T. Hulburd | Union  | on November 4, 1862, elected to the 38th U.S. Congress
Saratoga | 1st  | John Fulton*  | Union  |
2nd  | Nathaniel M. Houghton | Union  |
Schenectady | Simon J. Schermerhorn | Union  |
Schoharie | William Lamont  | Democrat  |
Schuyler | Alvin C. Hause | Union  |
Seneca | Peter J. Van Vleet | Democrat  |
Steuben | 1st  | Daniel B. Bryan*  | Union  |
2nd  | Henry Sherwood | Union  |
3rd  | Samuel M. Alley | Union  |
Suffolk | 1st  | John C. Davis | Union  |
2nd  | John S. Havens | Democrat  |
Sullivan | Benjamin L. Ludington | Union  |
Tioga | Benjamin F. Tracy | Union  |
Tompkins | Ezra Cornell | Union  |
Ulster | 1st  | Jesse F. Bookstaver | Democrat  |
2nd  | George T. Pierce*  | Union  |
3rd  | Ebenezer Westbrook | Democrat  |
Warren | Thomas S. Gray | Democrat  |
Washington | 1st  | George H. Taylor | Union  |
2nd  | Philip H. Neher | Union  |
Wayne | 1st  | Eron N. Thomas | Union  |
2nd  | Abram Pryne | Union  |
Westchester | 1st  | Pierre C. Talman | Democrat  |
2nd  | Newberry D. Halsted | Democrat  |
3rd  | Chauncey M. Depew | Union  |
Wyoming | Lucius Peck | Union  |
Yates | Darius A. Ogden | Union  |

### Employees

[edit]

* Clerk: Joseph B. Cushman
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Levi M. Gano
* Doorkeeper: Norman B. Sprague
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: William H. Creed
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Thomas Miller

## Notes

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1. ^ see results in The Tribune Almanac (1862; pg. 58)
2. ^ Willet Serls (in Assembly Journal "Willett Searles"), Postmaster of Indian Fields, see Post Office Directory (1856; pg. 108)
3. ^ Edward Jones (born c. 1825 Roxbury, Mass.), brother of Jay Jarvis Jones, his predecessor in the Assembly
4. ^ Smith Ely (born c. 1802 New Jersey), uncle of Smith Ely, Jr.

## Sources

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* The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 443 for senators; pg. 450–462 for Assembly districts; and pg. 494ff for assemblymen)
* Journal of the Senate (85th Session) (1862)
* Journal of the Assembly (85th Session) (1862)
* Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and the Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1862 and '63 by William D. Murphy (1863)

* v
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