119th New York State Legislature

The 119th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to April 30, 1896, during the second year of Levi P. Morton's governorship, in Albany.

119th New York State Legislature
118th 120th
The facade of the New York State Capitol building in bright daylight
Overview
Legislative bodyNew York State Legislature
JurisdictionNew York, United States
TermJanuary 1 – December 31, 1896
Senate
Members50
PresidentLt. Gov. Charles T. Saxton (R)
Temporary PresidentTimothy E. Ellsworth (R)
Party controlRepublican (36-14)
Assembly
Members150
SpeakerHamilton Fish II (R)
Party controlRepublican (103-47)
Sessions
1stJanuary 1 – April 30, 1896

Background

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Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, 50 Senators and 150 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 (twelve districts), Kings County (seven districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of 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, the Socialist Labor Party and the People's Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

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The New York state election, 1895 was held on November 5. The state officers and state senators were elected to an exceptional three-year term (for the sessions of 1896, 1897 and 1898), so that the election of these officers would be held, beginning in 1898, in even-numbered years, at the same time as the gubernatorial election.

All six statewide elective offices up for election was carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Republican 601,000; Democratic 511,000; Prohibition 25,000; Socialist Labor 21,000; and People's Party 7,000.

Sessions

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The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 1, 1896; and adjourned on April 30.

Hamilton Fish II (R) was re-elected Speaker.

Timothy E. Ellsworth (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

State Senate

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Districts

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  • 1st District: Richmond and Suffolk counties
  • 2nd District: Queens County
  • 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Ward of Brooklyn
  • 4th District: 7th, 13th, 19th and 21st Ward of Brooklyn
  • 5th District: 8th, 10th, 12th and 30th Ward of Brooklyn, and the annexed former Town of Gravesend
  • 6th District: 9th, 11th, 20th and 22nd Ward of Brooklyn
  • 7th District: 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Ward of Brooklyn
  • 8th District: 23rd, 24th, 25th and 29th Ward of the City of Brooklyn; and the Town of Flatlands
  • 9th District: 18th, 26th, 27th and 28th Ward of Brooklyn
  • 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st District: Parts of the City of New York, defined geographically by their bordering streets, regardless of Wards or Assembly districts
  • 22nd District: Westchester County
  • 23rd District: Orange and Rockland counties
  • 24th District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam and counties
  • 25th District: Greene and Ulster counties
  • 26th District: Chenango, Delaware and Sullivan counties
  • 27th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties
  • 28th District: Saratoga, Schenectady and Washington counties
  • 29th District: Albany County
  • 30th District: Rensselaer County
  • 31st District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
  • 32nd District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
  • 33rd District: Otsego and Herkimer counties
  • 34th District: Oneida County
  • 35th District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
  • 36th District: Onondaga County
  • 37th District: Oswego and Madison counties
  • 38th District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties
  • 39th District: Cayuga and Seneca counties
  • 40th District: Chemung, Schuyler and Tompkins counties
  • 41st District: Steuben and Yates counties
  • 42nd District: Ontario and Wayne counties
  • 43rd District: 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th Ward of Rochester; and the towns of Brighton, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Menden, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Rush and Webster, in Monroe County
  • 44th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 19th and 20th Ward of Rochester; and the towns of Chili, Clarkson, Gates, Greece, Hamlin, Ogden, Parma, Riga, Sweden and Wheatland, in Monroe County
  • 45th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
  • 46th District: Allegany, Livingston and Wyoming counties
  • 47th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Ward of Buffalo
  • 48th District: 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th Ward of Buffalo
  • 49th District: 17th, 18th and 25th Ward of the City of Buffalo; and all area in Erie County outside Buffalo
  • 50th 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 Higbie, Frank Gallagher, George W. Brush, Albert A. Wray, Julius L. Wieman, Samuel J. Foley, Frank D. Pavey, J. Irving Burns, George R. Malby, Benjamin M. Wilcox, Edwin C. Stewart and Simon Seibert changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District Senator Party Notes
1st Richard Higbie* Republican
2nd Theodore Koehler Democrat
3rd Frank Gallagher* Democrat
4th George W. Brush* Republican
5th Michael J. Coffey* Democrat re-elected
6th Peter H. McNulty Democrat
7th Patrick H. McCarren Democrat
8th Albert A. Wray* Republican
9th Julius L. Wieman* Republican
10th John F. Ahearn* Democrat re-elected
11th Timothy D. Sullivan* Democrat re-elected
12th Samuel J. Foley* Democrat
13th Bernard F. Martin Democrat
14th Thomas F. Grady Democrat
15th Frank D. Pavey* Republican
16th Louis Munzinger Democrat
17th Charles B. Page Republican
18th Maurice Featherson Democrat
19th John Ford Republican
20th Jacob A. Cantor* Democrat re-elected; Minority Leader
21st Charles L. Guy* Democrat re-elected
22nd J. Irving Burns* Republican
23rd Clarence Lexow* Republican re-elected
24th William C. Daley Republican
25th Charles Davis Republican
26th James Ballantine Republican died on May 4, 1896[1]
27th Hobart Krum Republican
28th Edgar T. Brackett Republican
29th Myer Nussbaum Republican
30th LeGrand C. Tibbits Republican
31st George Chahoon Republican
32nd George R. Malby* Republican
33rd Walter L. Brown Republican
34th Henry J. Coggeshall* Ind. Rep. re-elected
35th Joseph Mullin* Republican re-elected
36th Horace White Republican
37th Nevada N. Stranahan Republican
38th William Elting Johnson Republican
39th Benjamin M. Wilcox* Republican
40th Edwin C. Stewart* Republican
41st John S. Sheppard Republican
42nd John Raines* Republican re-elected
43rd Cornelius R. Parsons* Republican re-elected
44th Henry Harrison Republican
45th Timothy E. Ellsworth Republican elected President pro tempore
46th Lester H. Humphrey Republican
47th Charles Lamy* Republican re-elected
48th Simon Seibert* Republican
49th George Allen Davis Republican
50th Frank W. Higgins* Republican re-elected

Employees

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  • Clerk: John S. Kenyon
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Garret J. Benson
  • Doorkeeper: Nathan Lewis
  • Stenographer: Edward Shaughnessy

State Assembly

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Assemblymen

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District Assemblymen Party Notes
Albany 1st Robert G. Scherer Republican
2nd James Keenholts* Republican
3rd George T. Kelly Democrat
4th Amos J. Ablett* Republican
Allegany Frederick A. Robbins* Republican
Broome 1st Joseph H. Brownell* Republican
2nd Charles F. Tupper Republican
Cattaraugus 1st Charles H. Miller Republican
2nd Girvease A. Matteson Republican
Cayuga 1st W. Clarence Sheldon Republican
2nd Eugene B. Rounds Republican
Chautauqua 1st Jerome Babcock Republican
2nd S. Frederick Nixon* Republican
Chemung John B. Stanchfield* Democrat Minority Leader
Chenango Jotham P. Allds Republican
Clinton Willis T. Honsinger* Republican
Columbia Hugh W. McClellan Democrat
Cortland Franklin P. Saunders Republican
Delaware Delos H. Mackey Republican
Dutchess 1st John A. Hanna Republican
2nd Augustus B. Gray* Republican
Erie 1st Cornelius Coughlin* Democrat
2nd Henry W. Hill Republican
3rd Benjamin A. Peever Republican
4th Philip W. Springweiler Republican
5th Charles Braun* Republican
6th Christopher Smith Republican
7th Henry L. Steiner Republican
8th Heman M. Blasdell Republican
Essex Albert Weed* Republican
Franklin Thomas A. Sears* Republican
Fulton and Hamilton Byron D. Brown Republican
Genesee Archie D. Sanders Republican
Greene Newton Sweet Republican
Herkimer Oliver H. Springer Republican
Jefferson 1st Walter Zimmerman Republican
2nd Cornelius J. Clark Republican
Kings 1st Thomas H. Wagstaff Republican
2nd John McKeown* Democrat
3rd Thomas H. Cullen Democrat
4th George W. Wilson Republican
5th Abram C. DeGraw Republican
6th Arthur J. Audett* Republican
7th Frederick A. Newman Democrat
8th James Lennon Jr. Democrat
9th John J. Cain* Democrat
10th William L. Perkins Republican
11th Joseph A. Guider Democrat
12th Charles H. Ebbets Democrat
13th Orrion L. Forrester Republican
14th John M. Zurn Democrat
15th Robert J. Rudd Democrat
16th Edward C. Brennan Republican
17th Henry Marshall Republican
18th George E. Waldo Republican
19th Frederick Schmid Democrat
20th Frederick G. Hughes Republican
21st Jacob A. Livingston Republican
Lewis John S. Koster Republican
Livingston Otto Kelsey* Republican
Madison Lambert B. Kern* Republican
Monroe 1st Charles J. Smith* Republican
2nd James M. E. O'Grady* Republican
3rd William W. Armstrong* Republican
4th Thomas H. Eddy Republican
Montgomery Edward L. Schmidt Republican
New York 1st Daniel E. Finn* Democrat
2nd Thomas J. Barry* Democrat
3rd William H. Leonard Democrat
4th James A. Donnelly* Democrat
5th George Gregory Republican
6th Jacob A. Mittnacht Democrat
7th Edward W. Hart Democrat
8th Charles S. Adler* Republican
9th James F. Maccabe Democrat
10th Otto Kempner Democrat
11th William H. Gledhill Democrat
12th Joseph Schulum Democrat
13th Patrick F. Trainor Democrat
14th Jacob Fritz Democrat
15th Thomas F. Myers Democrat
16th Benjamin Hoffman* Democrat
17th vacant Assemblyman-elect Patrick J. Kerrigan (D) died on December 23, 1895
Francis J. Goodman Democrat elected on March 3, to fill vacancy[2]
18th Andrew J. Galligan Democrat
19th Albert C. Wilson Republican
20th John P. Corrigan* Democrat
21st George C. Austin Republican
22nd Daniel W. F. McCoy Democrat
23rd John M. Delmour Democrat
24th John B. Fitzgerald* Democrat
25th Patrick H. Murphy Republican
26th Patrick J. Andrews Democrat
27th Francis E. Laimbeer Republican
28th Joseph I. Green Democrat
29th Samuel G. French Republican
30th George W. Meyer Jr. Democrat
31st Harvey T. Andrews* Republican
32nd Thomas F. Donnelly Democrat
33rd Louis Davidson Democrat
34th Bernard H. Malone Democrat
35th Arthur C. Butts Democrat
Niagara 1st Henry E. Warner Republican
2nd Frank A. Dudley Republican
Oneida 1st Walter Embley Democrat
2nd William Cary Sanger* Republican
3rd William B. Graves Republican
Onondaga 1st Charles C. Cole* Republican
2nd Charles R. Rogers* Republican
3rd Joseph Bondy Republican
4th Edwin M. Wells Republican
Ontario Charles A. Steele Republican
Orange 1st Louis F. Goodsell* Republican
2nd Louis Bedell Republican
Orleans Fred L. Downs Republican
Oswego 1st Louis P. Taylor Republican
2nd Thomas M. Costello Republican
Otsego Charles B. Gorham Republican
Putnam Hamilton Fish II* Republican re-elected Speaker
Queens 1st Jacob Stahl Democrat
2nd Frederic Storm Republican
3rd Morton Cromwell Republican
Rensselaer 1st Edward McGraw Republican
2nd John T. Norton* Democrat
3rd George Anderson Republican
Richmond Gustav A. Barth Democrat
Rockland Otis H. Cutler* Republican
St. Lawrence 1st Ira C. Miles Republican
2nd Martin V. B. Ives Republican
Saratoga Charles H. McNaughton* Republican
Schenectady Thomas W. Winne* Republican
Schoharie David Enders Democrat
Schuyler Oliver H. Budd Republican
Seneca William H. Kinne Democrat
Steuben 1st James S. Harrison Republican
2nd Joel Clark Republican
Suffolk 1st Erastus F. Post Republican
2nd Carll S. Burr Jr. Republican
Sullivan Uriah S. Messiter Republican
Tioga Daniel P. Witter Republican
Tompkins Frederick E. Bates Republican
Ulster 1st William S. Van Keuren* Republican
2nd James Lounsbery* Republican
Warren Taylor J. Eldridge* Republican
Washington William R. Hobbie Republican
Wayne George S. Horton* Republican
Westchester 1st John N. Stewart* Republican
2nd George L. Carlisle Republican
3rd James W. Husted* Republican
Wyoming Mortimer N. Cole Republican
Yates Everett Brown* Republican

Employees

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Notes

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  1. ^ SENATOR JAMES BALLANTINE DEAD in NYT on May 5, 1896
  2. ^ TAMMANY MAN ELECTED in NYT on March 4, 1896

Sources

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  • The New York Red Book compiled by Edgar L. Murlin (published by James B. Lyon, Albany NY, 1897; see senators' bios pg. 133–177; senators' portraits between pg. 136 and 137; pg. 404 for list of senators; pg. 512f for assemblymen; pg. 712–716 for senate districts)
  • The Tribune Almanac (1896)