116th New York State Legislature

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 (seven districts) and Kings County (three districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

On April 26, 1892, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate Districts and the number of assemblymen per county. Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Jefferson, Niagara, Oneida, Oswego, Otsego, Saratoga, Ulster, Washington and Wayne counties lost one seat each; St. Lawrence County lost two seats; Erie and Queens counties gained one seat each; and Kings and New York counties gained six seats each.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Prohibition Party, the Socialist Labor Party and a "People's Party" also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1892 New York state election was held on November 8. The only statewide elective offices up for election was carried by Charles Andrews, a Republican who was endorsed by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, was: Republican/Democratic 1,253,000; Prohibition 39,000; Socialist Labor 18,000; and People's Party 17,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1893; and adjourned on April 20.

William Sulzer (D) was elected Speaker with 71 votes against 52 for George R. Malby (R).

On January 17, the Legislature elected Edward Murphy Jr. (D) to succeed Frank Hiscock (R) as U.S. Senator from New York, for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1893.

On January 27, the Legislature passed "An Act to amend chapter 398, of the Laws of 1892, entitled 'An Act to provide for a convention to revise and amend the Constitution'", calling a Constitutional Convention to meet in 1894.

State Senate

Districts

Note: The Senators in the 116th Legislature had been elected in November 1891 for a two-year term under the apportionment of 1879, as listed below. Although the 115th Legislature (1892) had re-apportioned the Senate districts, the only election under the new apportionment was held in November 1893, to elect the senators who sat in the 117th and 118th Legislatures.

• 1st District: Queens and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th and 22nd Ward of the City of Brooklyn, and the towns of Flatbush, Gravesend and New Utrecht in Kings County
• 3rd District: 3rd, 4th, 7th, 11th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 23rd Ward of the City of Brooklyn
• 4th District: 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th Ward of the City of Brooklyn, and the towns of New Lots and Flatlands in Kings County
• 5th District: Richmond County and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 14th and parts of the 4th and 9th Ward of New York City
• 6th District: 7th, 11th, 13th and part of the 4th Ward of NYC
• 7th District: 10th, 17th and part of the 15th, 18th and 21st Ward of NYC
• 8th District: 16th and part of the 9th, 15th, 18th, 20th and 21st Ward of NYC
• 9th District: Part of the 18th, 19th and 21st Ward of NYC
• 10th District: Part of the 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Ward of NYC
• 11th District: 23rd and 24th, and part of the 12th, 20th and 22nd Ward of NYC
• 12th District: Rockland and Westchester counties
• 13th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 14th District: Greene, Schoharie and Ulster counties
• 15th District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam counties
• 16th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
• 17th District: Albany County
• 18th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Saratoga and Schenectady counties
• 19th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 20th District: Franklin, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties
• 21st District: Oswego and Jefferson counties
• 22nd District: Oneida County
• 23rd District: Herkimer, Madison and Otsego counties
• 24th District: Chenango, Delaware and Broome counties
• 25th District: Onondaga and Cortland counties
• 26th District: Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkins and Tioga counties
• 27th District: Allegany, Chemung and Steuben counties
• 28th District: Ontario, Schuyler, Wayne and Yates counties
• 29th District: Monroe and Orleans counties
• 30th District: Genesee, Livingston, Niagara 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

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

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

• Clerk: Charles T. Dunning
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Adelbert E. Tallmadge
• Doorkeeper: Joseph Jerge
• Stenographer: James M. Ruso
• Assistant Clerk: Charles W. Sutherland
• Librarian: James Oliver

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

• Clerk: Charles R. DeFreest
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Michael B. Redmond
• Doorkeeper: Edward A. Moore
• Stenographer: Thomas Hassett

Notes

Sources

• The New York Red Book compiled by Edgar L. Murlin (published by James B. Lyon, Albany NY, 1897; see pg. 384f for senate districts; pg. 404 for senators; pg. 410–417 for Assembly districts; and pg. 510 for assemblymen)
• New York State Legislative Souvenir for 1893 with Portraits of the Members of Both Houses by Henry P. Phelps
• MOVED LIKE CLOCKWORK in The New York Times on January 3, 1893

References

1. 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.
2. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/04/27/104125901.pdf ''WALKER'S FIRMNESS WINS''] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on April 27, 1892
3. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/04/106859056.pdf ''THE LEGISLATURE OPENED''] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on January 4, 1893
4. [https://archive.org/stream/journalofconstit00newyrich#page/n8/mode/1up ''Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York 1894''] (Albany, 1895; pg. 1)
5. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/22/106815815.pdf ''SENATOR THOMAS F. CUNNINGHAM''] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on March 22, 1893
6. (12 May 1893). "Death of Hon. Charles M. Bell". Hillsdale Harbinger.
7. (17 April 1893). "An Assemblyman Dead". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
8. (14 August 1893). "Assemblyman Shields Dead". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
9. The Committee on Elections reported in favor of Bush on April 19, but Bush withdrew his claim, refusing to be seated on the last day of the session. The seating would have entitled him to receive the wages paid to the sitting members for the full session, but Bush would not accept "compensation for services not rendered"; see [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?view=image;size=100;id=mdp.35112102507417;page=root;seq=642;num=634 ''A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York''] (1899; pg. 634–644)