126th New York State Legislature

Background

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 Social Democratic Party, the Prohibition Party, the Socialist Labor Party, and a "Liberal Democratic" faction also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1902 New York state election, was held on November 4. Gov. Benjamin B. Odell Jr. was re-elected; and State Senator Frank W. Higgins was elected Lieutenant Governor; both Republicans. Of the other six statewide elective offices up for election, four were carried by the Republicans and two by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republicans 665,000; Democrats 656,000; Social Democrats 23,000; Prohibition 20,000; Socialist Labor 16,000; and Liberal Democrats 2,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1903; and adjourned on April 23.

S. Frederick Nixon (R) was re-elected Speaker.

John Raines (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate with 25 votes for and 24 against him. Republican senators Edgar T. Brackett, Walter L. Brown and Nathaniel A. Elsberg voted against Raines.

On January 20, the Legislature re-elected Thomas C. Platt (R) to a second term as U.S. Senator from New York, for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1903.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: Queens and Nassau counties
• 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 4th District: 7th, 13th, 19th and 21st Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 5th District: 8th, 10th, 12th and 30th Ward of Brooklyn, and the annexed former Town of Gravesend, as constituted in 1894
• 6th District: 9th, 11th, 20th and 22nd Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 7th District: 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 8th District: 23rd, 24th, 25th and 29th Ward of Brooklyn; and the annexed former Town of Flatlands, as constituted in 1894
• 9th District: 18th, 26th, 27th and 28th Ward of Brooklyn, as constituted in 1894
• 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: In 1897, New York County (the boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx), Kings County (the borough of Brooklyn), Richmond County (the borough of Staten Island) and the Western part of Queens County (the borough of Queens) were consolidated into the present-day City of New York. The Eastern part of Queens County (the non-consolidated part) was separated in 1899 as Nassau County. Parts of the 1st and 2nd Assembly districts of Westchester County were annexed by New York City in 1895, and became part of the Borough of the Bronx in 1898.

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Luke A. Keenan, Jotham P. Allds and Albert T. Fancher changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

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

Employees

• Clerk: James S. Whipple
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: William W. Adams
• Doorkeeper: John E. Gorss
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles H. Bernard
• Stenographer: A. B. Sackett
• Assistant Clerk: Lafayette B. Gleason
• Journal Clerk: Ernest A. Fay
• Index Clerk: A. Miner Wellman

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Employees

• Clerk: Archie E. Baxter
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Frank W. Johnston
• Doorkeeper: Benjamin J. Sanger
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Andrew Kehn
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Daniel Cameron Easton
• Stenographer: Henry C. Lammert
• Assistant Clerk: Ray B. Smith

Notes

Sources

• Official New York from Cleveland to Hughes by Charles Elliott Fitch (Hurd Publishing Co., New York and Buffalo, 1911, Vol. IV; see pg. 346ff for assemblymen; and 365 for senators)
• The New York Red Book by Edgar L. Murlin (1903; see pg. 63–103 for senators' bios; between pg. 64 and 65 for senators' portraits; pg. 104–192 for assemblymen's bios; between pg. 128 and 129 for assemblymen's portraits; pg. 326 for senators; and pg. 451 for assemblymen)
• REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LEGISLATURE in NYT on November 5, 1902
• S. FRED NIXON FOR SPEAKER in NYT on January 7, 1903
• NEW YORK LEGISLATURE in NYT on January 8, 1903

References

1. The president pro tempore was elected by resolution. When the Democrats offered a substitute resolution in favor of Minority Leader [[Thomas F. Grady]], Brackett, Brown and Elsberg voted against Grady; when the original resolution was up, they voted with the Democrats against Raines. Raines was elected only because one seat was vacant due to the death of Democrat [[Patrick F. Trainor]]. In a full Senate, there would have been a tied vote of 25 to 25, and Raines could not have been elected.
2. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/01/21/101967095.pdf ''MR. PLATT ELECTED AFTER DENUNCIATION''] in NYT on January 21, 1903
3. see [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/01/28/101969716.pdf ''DOOLING ELECTED SENATOR''] in NYT on January 28, 1903