1793 United States House of Representatives elections in New York

Background

Six U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1790 to a term in the 2nd United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1791. One representative-elect had died in May 1790, and a representative had been elected in April 1791 to fill the vacancy. Their term would end on March 3, 1793.

State elections in New York were at that time held during the last week of April, which meant that the State election preceding the beginning of the next congressional term was held more than ten months in advance, although the regular session of Congress was scheduled to convene only on the first Monday in December. Nevertheless, the New York Legislature had chosen in 1790 to have the congressional elections held that early, in case there might be a special session to convene at an earlier date. However, in 1792, Congress re-apportioned the seats, and New York's representation was increased from six to ten. This required a re-apportionment of congressional districts in the State which was enacted only in December 1792, and the elections were held only in January 1793.

Congressional districts

On January 27, 1789, the New York State Legislature had divided the State of New York into six congressional districts which were not numbered. On December 18, 1792, the Legislature divided the State into ten districts, which were still not numbered, taking into account the new counties created in 1791.

• One district (later back-numbered as the 1st) comprising Kings, Queens and Suffolk counties.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 2nd) comprising New York County.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 3rd) comprising Westchester and Richmond counties.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 4th) comprising Orange and Ulster counties.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 5th) comprising Dutchess County.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 6th) comprising Columbia County.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 7th) comprising Clinton and Rensselaer counties.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 8th) comprising Albany County.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 9th) comprising Washington and Saratoga counties.
• One district (later back-numbered as the 10th) comprising Montgomery, Ontario, Herkimer, Otsego and Tioga 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.

Result

7 Federalists and 3 Anti-Federalist (later known as the Democratic-Republicans) were elected. The incumbents Tredwell and Gordon were re-elected; the incumbent Schoonmaker was defeated; and the incumbents John Laurance, Egbert Benson and Peter Silvester did not run for re-election.

Note: At this time political parties were still very new in the United States. Politicians aligned in two opposing groups: Those supporting the federal government and those opposing it. The first group are generally known as the Federalists, or (as a group in Congress) the "Pro-Administration Party." The second group at first were called the Anti-Federalists, or (as a group in Congress) the "Anti-Administration Party", but soon called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.

Aftermath

The House of Representatives of the 3rd United States Congress met for the first time at Congress Hall in Philadelphia on December 2, 1793, and nine of the ten representatives took their seats on this day. Only Thomas Tredwell arrived later, and took his seat on December 13.

On December 6, Henry K. Van Rensselaer contested the election of John E. Van Alen, alleging several irregularities to have happened in the towns of Stephentown and Hoosick, and in the area of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. Van Rensselaer's petition was rejected on December 24 by the House, confirming Van Alen's election.

On June 5, 1794, President Washington chose Silas Talbot one of the first six captains of the newly established United States Navy. Talbot vacated his seat upon his appointment to the Navy, but Democratic-Republican Governor George Clinton declined to call a special election, in which another Federalist would have been elected, and the seat remained vacant until the end of the term on March 3, 1795.

Notes

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 65 for district apportionment; pg. 68 for Congressmen)
• Members of the Third United States Congress
• Election result 1st D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 2nd D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 3rd D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 4th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 5th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 6th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 7th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 8th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 9th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result 10th D. at Tufts University Library project "A New Nation Votes"

References

1. 4 new seats gained in reapportionment
2. The numbers which are used nowadays to describe these districts at this time derive from the numbers of the districts officially introduced in 1797, considering the sequence of the districts in the official listing and the approximate geographical equivalence.
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A8VCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA455 ''Abridgment of the Debates in Congress from 1789 to 1856''] (Vol. I; pages 455 and 457)
4. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bQ8EfoaTBLsC&pg=PA73 ''Cases of Contested Elections in Congress from 1789 to 1834''] (pages 73 to 77) [misspells "Van Allen" and "Hosack"]
5. Article I, Section 6, of the [[United States Constitution]] says that "...no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." [https://books.google.com/books?id=NMaHAAAAMAAJ&q=silas+talbot+special+election ''The Democratic Republicans of New York: The Origins, 1763-1797''] by Alfred Fabian Young (1967; page 506) states that Talbot resigned, but [https://books.google.com/books?id=A8VCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA511 ''Abridgment of Debates in Congress, 1789 to 1856''] (Vol. I) has no entry of a formal resignation. Documented is Talbot listed as voting until the end of May 1794; and after the adjournment, as not taking his seat again in November.