The 106th New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

and the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, met from January 2 to May 4, 1883, during the first year of

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

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. At this time there were two major political parties: the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and the Republican Party. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

the Democrats were split into three factions:

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

, "Irving Hall" and the "County Democrats". The

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

and the

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1882 New York state election was held on November 7. Democrats

and

David B. Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...

were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The other two statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democratic 535,000; Republican 342,000; Prohibition 26,000; and Greenback 12,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1883; and adjourned on May 4.

Alfred C. Chapin Alfred Clark Chapin (March 8, 1848 – October 2, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the Mayor of Brooklyn and for one year as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1891 to 1892. Early life Chap ...

(D) was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

with 84 votes against 41 for

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

(R). On January 11,

John C. Jacobs John C. Jacobs (December 16, 1838 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania – September 22, 1894 Atlantic City, New Jersey, Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey) was an American politician from New York (state), New York. Life In 1857, he became a re ...

(D) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate. On March 14, the Legislature elected William B. Ruggles (Dem.) as Superintendent of Public Instructions, with 94 votes against 52 for

Neil Gilmour Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

(Rep.), to succeed Gilmour for a term of three years.''SOME DEMOCRATIC METHODS''
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on March 15, 1883

State Senate

Districts

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. 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.

Employees

* Clerk: John W. Vrooman * Sergeant-at-Arms: John W. Corning * Doorkeeper: Charles F. Brady * Stenographer: Hudson C. Tanner

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Employees

* Clerk: Walter H. Bunn * Sergeant-at-Arms: James H. Delaney * Doorkeeper: Jabez C. Pierce * First Assistant Doorkeeper: Edward Hinch * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Edward Brodie * Stenographer: Spencer C. Rogers

Notes

Sources

''Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York''
compiled by Edgar Albert Werner (1884; see pg. 276 for Senate districts; pg. 291 for senators; pg. 298–304 for Assembly districts; and pg. 381f for assemblymen)
Sketches of the Members of the Legislatures
in ''The Evening Journal Almanac'' (1883)
''THE NEXT ASSEMBLY''
in NYT on November 9, 1882
''CHAPIN FOR SPEAKER''
in NYT on January 2, 1883 {{NYLegislatures 106 1883 in New York (state) 1883 U.S. legislative sessions