87th New York State Legislature

87th New York State Legislature
← 86th 88th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1864
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. David R. Floyd-Jones (D)
Temporary President	James M. Cook (R), on February 3; James A. Bell (R), from February 4
Party control	Republican (20-12)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Thomas G. Alvord (R)
Party control	Republican (82-46)
Sessions
1st January 5 – April 23, 1864

The 87th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 23, 1864, during the second year of Horatio Seymour's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany.

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

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Democrats split over the civil war issue. The "War Democrats" and the Republicans formed a coalition known as the "Republican Union," and supported President Abraham Lincoln and the Union Army's war effort; the rump Democratic Party opposed the war, favoring a compromise with the South, and became known as "Peace Democrats" or "Copperheads."

Elections

The New York state election, 1863 was held on November 3. All eight statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Republican Union. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Republican Union 314,000 and Democrats 285,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1864; and adjourned on April 23.

Thomas G. Alvord (R) was elected again Speaker with 77 votes against 42 for Jacob L. Smith (D). Joseph B. Cushman (R) was re-elected Clerk of the Assembly with 78 votes against 44 for John C. Jacobs (D).

On February 3, James M. Cook (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for this day."

On February 4, James A. Bell (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate "for the present session."

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th wards of the City of Brooklyn
• 3rd District: 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th wards of the City of Brooklyn; and all towns in Kings County
• 4th District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 14th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New York City
• 7th District: 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
• 8th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 11th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer and Washington counties
• 13th District: Albany County
• 14th District: Delaware, Schenectady and Schoharie counties
• 15th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties
• 16th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 17th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 18th District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Herkimer and Otsego counties
• 21st District: Oswego County
• 22nd District: Onondaga County
• 23rd District: Chenango, Cortland and Madison counties
• 24th District: Broome, Tompkins and Tioga counties
• 25th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 26th District: Ontario, Seneca and Yates counties
• 27th District: Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties
• 28th District: Monroe County
• 29th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 30th District: Allegany, Livingston 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. Thomas C. Fields, Saxton Smith, Palmer E. Havens and Ezra Cornell changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Party affiliations follow the vote for Regents of USNY.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Robert Christie Jr.	Democrat
2nd	Demas Strong	Democrat
3rd	Henry C. Murphy*	Democrat	re-elected
4th	Christian B. Woodruff*	Democrat	re-elected; from May 5, 1864, also a New York City Tax Commissioner
5th	Luke F. Cozans	Democrat
6th	William Laimbeer Jr.	Republican
7th	Thomas C. Fields*	Democrat	also a Central Park Commissioner
8th	Saxton Smith*	Democrat
9th	Archibald C. Niven	Democrat	contested by Henry R. Low (R), decision postponed
10th	George Beach	Democrat
11th	John B. Dutcher	Republican
12th	Frederick H. Hastings	Republican	took his seat on January 21
13th	Ira Shafer	Democrat
14th	Orson M. Allaben	Democrat
15th	James M. Cook	Republican	on February 3, elected president pro tempore
16th	Palmer E. Havens*	Republican
17th	Albert Hobbs	Republican
18th	James A. Bell*	Republican	re-elected; on February 4, elected president pro tempore
19th	Alexander H. Bailey*	Republican	re-elected
20th	George H. Andrews	Republican
21st	Cheney Ames	Republican
22nd	Andrew D. White	Republican
23rd	Frederick Juliand	Republican
24th	Ezra Cornell*	Republican
25th	Stephen K. Williams	Republican
26th	Charles J. Folger*	Republican	re-elected
27th	Stephen T. Hayt	Republican
28th	George G. Munger	Republican
29th	Dan H. Cole	Republican
30th	Wilkes Angel*	Republican	re-elected
31st	James M. Humphrey	Democrat	took his seat on January 6; on November 8, 1864, elected to the 39th U.S. Congress
32nd	Norman M. Allen	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: James Terwilliger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Azel B. Hull
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Sanders Wilson
• Doorkeeper: Lawrence Van Duzen
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Casper Walter
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Edmund Traver
• Third Assistant Doorkeeper: Anson W. Johnson

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker, and Regents of USNY.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Harris Parr	Democrat
	2nd	Morgan L. Filkins	Republican
	3rd	Thomas McCarty	Democrat
	4th	William L. Oswald*	Democrat
Allegany	1st	Charles M. Crandall	Republican
	2nd	Morris S. Chase	Republican
Broome		Mulford Northrup	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	Smith Parish	Republican
	2nd	Albert G. Dow*	Republican
Cayuga	1st	Benjamin M. Close	Republican
	2nd	William P. Robinson*	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	John Steward*	Republican
	2nd	Julien T. Williams	Republican
Chemung		William T. Post	Republican
Chenango	1st	George W. Sumner	Republican
	2nd	Dyer D. Bullock	Republican
Clinton		George Hallock	Republican
Columbia	1st	Amos Miller	Democrat
	2nd	Wright H. Barnes	Republican
Cortland		Benjamin F. Tillinghast	Republican
Delaware	1st	Jerome B. Landfield	Republican
	2nd	Francis R. Gilbert*	Democrat
Dutchess	1st	James Howard	Republican
	2nd	John N. Cramer	Republican
Erie	1st	Walter W. Stanard	Democrat
	2nd	Frederick P. Stevens	Republican
	3rd	Timothy A. Hopkins*	Democrat
	4th	Seth Fenner	Republican
Essex		William H. Richardson	Republican
Franklin		Albert Andrus*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		William A. Smith	Republican
Genesee		Loren Green*	Republican
Greene		William W. Pettit	Democrat
Herkimer	1st	John H. Wooster	Republican
	2nd	Ezra D. Beckwith	Republican
Jefferson	1st	George M. Hopkinson	Republican
	2nd	Lewis Palmer	Republican
	3rd	William Dewey*	Republican	took his seat on January 19
Kings	1st	Philip S. Crooke	Republican
	2nd	John O'Connor	Democrat
	3rd	Edward D. White	Republican
	4th	Andrew Walsh	Democrat
	5th	John C. Perry	Republican
	6th	Angelo Newton	Republican
	7th	Jacob Worth	Republican
Lewis		John O'Donnell	Republican
Livingston	1st	Hamilton E. Smith*	Republican
	2nd	Jonathan B. Morey	Republican	took his seat on January 12
Madison	1st	John W. Lippitt	Republican
	2nd	Daniel F. Kellogg	Republican	left the Assembly on February 5, due to ill health, and died on April 11, 1864
Monroe	1st	Fairchild Andrus	Republican
	2nd	John McConvill	Democrat
	3rd	William Rankin	Republican
Montgomery		John Kellogg	Republican
New York	1st	Jacob L. Smith	Democrat
	2nd	William P. Kirk	Democrat
	3rd	George M. Curtis	Democrat
	4th	James B. Murray	Democrat
	5th	Henry Rogers*	Democrat
	6th	Walter J. Burke	Democrat
	7th	Erastus C. Benedict	Republican
	8th	William G. Olvany	Democrat
	9th	Samuel C. Reed	Republican
	10th	Anthony Eickhoff	Democrat	until August 1, 1864, also Commissary-General of the State Militia
	11th	Carolan O'Brien Bryant	Democrat
	12th	Joseph A. Lyons	Democrat
	13th	Thomas Ryan	Democrat
	14th	Michael N. Salmon	Democrat
	15th	Stephen R. Pinckney	Democrat
	16th	Michael McCann*	Democrat
	17th	Sidney P. Ingraham Jr.	Democrat
Niagara	1st	James Jackson Jr.	Democrat
	2nd	William Morgan*	Republican
Oneida	1st	Abram B. Weaver*	Democrat
	2nd	Levi Blakeslee	Republican
	3rd	Chauncey Brodock	Democrat
	4th	John W. Douglas	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Albert L. Green	Republican
	2nd	Thomas G. Alvord	Republican	elected Speaker; on November 8, 1864, elected Lieutenant Governor
	3rd	Conrad Shoemaker	Republican
Ontario	1st	Perez H. Field*	Republican
	2nd	Lanson Dewey*	Republican
Orange	1st	Nathaniel W. Howell	Republican
	2nd	Charles S. Woodward*	Democrat
Orleans		Edmund L. Pitts	Republican
Oswego	1st	Abner C. Mattoon*	Republican
	2nd	Hiram W. Loomis*	Republican
	3rd	Harvey Palmer*	Republican
Otsego	1st	James Young	Democrat
	2nd	George M. Hollis	Republican
Putnam		Jeremiah Sherwood	Democrat
Queens	1st	Charles T. Duryea*	Democrat
	2nd	Charles McNeill	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	James McKeon*	Democrat
	2nd	George W. Banker	Republican	took his seat on February 2
	3rd	James Dearstyne	Republican
Richmond		William H. Rutan	Democrat
Rockland		James S. Haring*	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	George Parker	Republican
	2nd	James Redington*	Republican
	3rd	Abraham X. Parker*	Republican
Saratoga	1st	Ira Brockett*	Democrat
	2nd	Edward Edwards	Republican
Schenectady		Charles Stanford	Republican
Schoharie		Peter P. Schoolcraft	Democrat
Schuyler		Lorenzo Webber	Republican
Seneca		William T. Johnson	Democrat
Steuben	1st	William E. Bonham	Republican
	2nd	Alexander Olcott	Republican
	3rd	James Harvey Stephens	Republican
Suffolk	1st	William H. Gleason	Republican	took his seat on January 12
	2nd	Henry C. Platt	Democrat
Sullivan		James Matthews	Democrat
Tioga		Jerome Thompson	Republican
Tompkins		Henry B. Lord	Republican
Ulster	1st	Jesse F. Bookstaver*	Democrat
	2nd	Jacob LeFever*	Republican
	3rd	Thomas Hill	Democrat
Warren		Robert Waddle	Republican
Washington	1st	R. King Crocker	Republican
	2nd	Andrew G. Meiklejohn	Republican
Wayne	1st	Thaddeus W. Collins*	Republican
	2nd	Lemuel Durfee*	Republican
Westchester	1st	Franklin W. Gilley	Democrat
	2nd	Alsop H. Lockwood	Democrat
	3rd	George A. Brandreth	Republican
Wyoming		Byron Healy*	Republican
Yates		Oren G. Loomis	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Joseph B. Cushman
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles E. Young
• Doorkeeper: Henry A. Rogers
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Alexander Frier
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Daniel F. Payne

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 443 for senators; pg. 450–463 for Assembly districts; and pg. 499ff for assemblymen)
• Journal of the Senate (87th Session) (1864)
• Journal of the Assembly (87th Session) (1864)