52nd New York State Legislature

52nd New York State Legislature
52nd New York State Legislature
	The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1829
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Enos T. Throop (J), until March 12
Temporary President	Charles Stebbins (J), from March 12
Party control	Jacksonian
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Peter Robinson (J)
Party control	Jacksonian
Sessions
1st
1st	January 6 – May 5, 1829

The 52nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to May 5, 1829, during the short tenure of Martin Van Buren as Governor of New York, and—after Van Buren's resignation—during the first year of Enos T. Throop'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.

On January 31, 1828, a caucus of Jacksonian legislators nominated Andrew Jackson for U.S. president.

State Senator Charles H. Carroll resigned in March 1828, leaving a vacancy in the Eighth District.

On June 10, 1828, a state convention of Adams men met at Albany, and nominated U.S. President John Quincy Adams for re-election.

On July 22, a state convention of Adams men met at Utica; James Fairlie was Chairman; and Tilly Lynde and Thomas Clowes were Secretaries. They nominated U.S. Supreme Court Justice Smith Thompson for governor, and Assemblyman Francis Granger for lieutenant governor.

The Anti-Masonic state convention nominated Assemblyman Francis Granger for governor, and State Senator John Crary for lieutenant governor. Granger declined to run for this office on this ticket, and expected Crary to decline too, so that he, Granger, could be endorsed by the Anti-Masons for lieutenant governor. Crary, however, did not decline and ran on the Anti-Masonic ticket with Solomon Southwick for governor.

The Jacksonian state convention met at Herkimer and nominated U.S. Senator Martin Van Buren for governor and Circuit Judge Enos T. Throop for lieutenant governor.

At the time of the election in November 1828, there were three political parties: the "Jacksonians" (supporting the election of Andrew Jackson for U.S. president; led by U.S. Senator Martin Van Buren), the "Adams men" (supporters of the re-election of President John Quincy Adams), and the "Anti-Masons". After the defeat of Adams, the Adams men became known as "Anti-Jacksonians".

Elections

The State election was held from November 3 to 5, 1828. Martin Van Buren and Enos T. Throop were elected governor and lieutenant governor. 18 presidential electors for Andrew Jackson, and 16 for John Quincy Adams were elected in the congressional districts; and they co-opted another 2 Jacksonian electors-at-large.

Stephen Allen (1st D.), Samuel Rexford (2nd D.), Lewis Eaton (3rd D.), John McLean Jr. (4th D.), William H. Maynard (5th D.), John F. Hubbard (6th D.), Hiram F. Mather (7th D.) and Moses Hayden (8th D.) were elected to full terms in the Senate. George H. Boughton (8th D.) was elected to fill the vacancy. McLean was an Adams man; Maynard, Mather, Boughton and Hayden were Anti-Masons; the other four were Jacksonians.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1829; and adjourned on May 5.

Peter Robinson (J) was elected Speaker.

On January 15, the Legislature elected Charles E. Dudley (J) to the seat in the U.S. Senate vacated by Martin Van Buren after his election as governor.

On January 27, the Legislature re-elected Secretary of State Azariah C. Flagg, Surveyor General Simeon De Witt, and State Treasurer Abraham Keyser, Jr.; and elected Congressman Silas Wright, Jr. to succeed William L. Marcy as State Comptroller; and Greene C. Bronson to succeed Samuel A. Talcott as attorney general.

On March 12, Gov. Martin Van Buren resigned to take office as U.S. Secretary of State, Lt. Gov. Enos T. Throop succeeded to the governorship, and Charles Stebbins (J) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

On April 2, the Legislature enacted the Bank Safety Fund Law which, among other things, created the office of Bank Commissioner.

On April 15, the Legislature enacted that henceforth the presidential electors should be elected statewide by general ticket, instead of in single districts.

State Senate

Districts

The First District (4 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties.
The Second District (4 seats) consisted of Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
The Third District (4 seats) consisted of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.
The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted of Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida and Oswego counties.
The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted of Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Otsego, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted of Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties.
The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, 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.

District	Senators	Term left	Party	Notes
First	Joshua Smith*	1 year
	Robert Bogardus*	2 years	Jacksonian	resigned on May 4, 1829
	John I. Schenck*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Stephen Allen	4 years	Jacksonian
Second	Peter R. Livingston*	1 year	Jacksonian
	Benjamin Woodward*	2 years		also Postmaster of Mount Hope
	Walker Todd*	3 years	Jacksonian	also Postmaster of Carmel
	Samuel Rexford	4 years	Jacksonian
Third	Ambrose L. Jordan*	1 year	Adams man	resigned on January 7, 1829
	John McCarty*	2 years	Jacksonian
	Moses Warren*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Lewis Eaton	4 years	Jacksonian
Fourth	John L. Viele*	1 year
	Duncan McMartin Jr.*	2 years	Adams man
	Reuben Sanford*	3 years	Adams man
	John McLean Jr.	4 years	Adams man
Fifth	Charles Stebbins*	1 year	Jacksonian	elected President pro tempore
	Truman Enos*	2 years	Jacksonian
	Nathaniel S. Benton*	3 years	Jacksonian
	William H. Maynard	4 years	Anti-Mason
Sixth	Peter Hager 2d*	1 year
	Thomas G. Waterman*	2 years
	Grattan H. Wheeler*	3 years	Adams man
	John F. Hubbard	4 years	Jacksonian
Seventh	Truman Hart*	1 year
	William M. Oliver*	2 years	Jacksonian
	George B. Throop*	3 years	Jacksonian
	Hiram F. Mather	4 years	Anti-Mason
Eighth	Ethan B. Allen*	1 year
	George H. Boughton	2 years	Anti-Mason	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Charles H. Carroll
	Timothy H. Porter*	3 years	Adams man
	Moses Hayden	4 years	Anti-Mason

Employees

Clerk: John F. Bacon

State Assembly

Districts

Albany County (3 seats)
Allegany County (1 seat)
Broome County (1 seat)
Cattaraugus County (1 seat)
Cayuga County (4 seats)
Chautauqua County (2 seats)
Chenango County (3 seats)
Clinton County (1 seat)
Columbia County (3 seats)
Cortland County (2 seats)
Delaware County (2 seats)
Dutchess County (4 seats)
Erie County (2 seats)
Essex County (1 seat)
Franklin County (1 seat)
Genesee County (3 seats)
Greene County (2 seats)
Hamilton and Montgomery counties (3 seats)
Herkimer County (3 seats)
Jefferson County (3 seats)
Kings County (1 seat)
Lewis County (1 seat)
Livingston County (2 seats)
Madison County (3 seats)
Monroe County (3 seats)
The City and County of New York (11 seats)
Niagara County (1 seat)
Oneida County (5 seats)
Onondaga County (4 seats)
Ontario County (3 seats)
Orange County (3 seats)
Orleans County (1 seat)
Oswego County (1 seat)
Otsego County (4 seats)
Putnam County (1 seat)
Queens County (1 seat)
Rensselaer County (4 seats)
Richmond County (1 seat)
Rockland County (1 seat)
St. Lawrence County (2 seats)
Saratoga County (3 seats)
Schenectady County (1 seat)
Schoharie County (2 seats)
Seneca County (2 seats)
Steuben County (2 seats)
Suffolk County (2 seats)
Sullivan County (1 seat)
Tioga County (2 seats)
Tompkins County (3 seats)
Ulster County (2 seats)
Warren County (1 seat)
Washington (3 seats)
Wayne County (2 seats)
Westchester County (3 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.

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	James D. Gardner
	Moses Stanton
	Chandler Starr	Adams man
Allegany	Azel Fitch*
Broome	Peter Robinson*	Jacksonian	elected Speaker
Cattaraugus	Flavel Partridge
Cayuga	Henry R. Brinckerhoff*
	Ephraim Hammond	Jacksonian
	William H. Noble*	Jacksonian
	Wing Taber
Chautauqua	Abner Hazeltine	Anti-Mason
Chautauqua	Nathan Mixer*
Chenango	Russel Case
	Abel Chandler
	Amos A. Franklin
Clinton	Bela Edgerton*
Columbia	Abraham P. Holdridge
	Henry W. Livingston
	Peter Van Beuren
Cortland	Alanson Carley
Cortland	Gideon Curtiss
Delaware	William S. McCrea
Delaware	James G. Redfield
Dutchess	Elijah Baker Jr.
	Stoddard Judd	Jacksonian
	Stephen D. Van Wyck
	vacant?
Erie	David Burt*
Erie	Millard Fillmore	Anti-Mason
Essex	Ezra C. Gross*	Adams man	died on April 9, 1829
Franklin	Luther Bradish*	Adams man
Genesee	Calvin P. Bailey
	John Hascall
	John B. Skinner*	J./A.-M.^[1]
Greene	Moses Austin
Greene	Castle Seeley
Hamilton and Montgomery	Phineas Randall
	Joseph Spier
	Peter Young
Herkimer	John B. Dygert
	Abijah Mann, Jr.*	Jacksonian
	Cornelius Sloughter
Jefferson	Jere Carrier
	Titus Ives
	Fleury Keith
Kings	John Wyckoff
Lewis	George D. Ruggles*
Livingston	Philo C. Fuller	Anti-Mason
Livingston	Titus Goodman Jr.
Madison	James B. Eldredge
	William K. Fuller	Jacksonian
	John Williams
Monroe	John Garbutt
	Heman Norton
	Reuben Willey
New York	William Alburtis*	Jacksonian
	Nathan T. Arnold
	Jacob S. Bogert	Jacksonian
	Abraham Cargill*	Jacksonian
	Aaron O. Dayton
	Jacob G. Dyckman
	Charles L. Livingston	Jacksonian
	Mordecai Myers
	Thomas L. Smith
	Peter S. Titus	Jacksonian
	John Van Beuren	Jacksonian
Niagara	John Garnsey*
Oneida	Reuben Bacon
	Benjamin P. Johnson*
	Eli Savage*	Jacksonian
	Reuben Tower
	Fortune C. White
Onondaga	Johnson Hall	Jacksonian
	Herman Jenkins
	Samuel B. Mathews
	Lewis Smith
Ontario	John Dickson	Anti-Mason
	Mathew Hubbell
	Robert C. Nicholas*	Anti-Mason
Orange	Robert Fowler
	Richard Graham
	James Waugh
Orleans	George W. Fleming
Oswego	George H. Falley
Otsego	Peter Collier
	William Hall
	Seth Hubbard Jr.
	George Morell
Putnam	Thomas W. Tailor
Queens	Henry Floyd-Jones	Jacksonian
Rensselaer	Nathaniel Barnett Jr.
	Martin Defreest
	William P. Heermans
	Henry Mallary
Richmond	John Vanderbilt
Rockland	George S. Allison	Jacksonian
St. Lawrence	Jonah Sanford	Jacksonian
St. Lawrence	Harvey D. Smith
Saratoga	Joshua Mandeville
	Gilbert Waring
	Calvin Wheeler		unsuccessfully contested by Harvey Granger^[2]
Schenectady	Alonzo C. Paige*	Jacksonian	also Reporter of the New York Court of Chancery
Schoharie	Valentine Efner	Jacksonian
Schoharie	Peter Hynds
Seneca	Septimus Evans		contested by Daniel W. Bostwick who was seated on January 29^[3]
Seneca	Daniel Scott
Steuben	Randall Graves
Steuben	Henry Phoenix
Suffolk	David Hedges Jr.
Suffolk	John M. Williamson
Sullivan	John Lindsley
Tioga	Caleb Baker
Tioga	Samuel Barager
Tompkins	Amasa Dana*	Jacksonian	also D.A. of Tompkins Co.
	Samuel H. Dean*
	Jonathan B. Gosman	Jacksonian
Ulster	Lodewyck Hornbeck
Ulster	Abraham D. Soper
Warren	William McDonald
Washington	John McDonald
	Robert McNeil
	Richard Sill
Wayne	Thomas Armstrong*	Jacksonian	also Supervisor of Butler, and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Wayne Co.
Wayne	Jonathan Boynton
Westchester	Aaron Brown	Jacksonian
	Lawrence Davenport	Jacksonian
	Abel Smith	Jacksonian
Yates	Morris F. Sheppard*

Employees

Clerk: Francis Seger
Sergeant-at-Arms: John C. Ellis
Doorkeeper: James D. Scollard
Assistant Doorkeeper: Alonzo Crosby

Notes

^ Skinner was a Jacksonian, re-"elected as an anti-mason", see Hammond, pg. 293
^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 83–93)
^ see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 76–82)

Sources

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 38f for Safety Fund and bank commissioners; pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 127f for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 207ff for assemblymen; 322 and 327 for presidential election]
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. 288 to 315)