The 128th 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 4 to July 20, 1905, during the first year of Frank W. Higgins's

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 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 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 ...

. The

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, 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 ...

, the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

and the People's Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The

New York state election, 1904 The 1904 New York state election was held on November 8, 1904, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Secretary of State, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state engineer, the chief judge and ...

, was held on November 8. Lt. Gov. Frank W. Higgins was elected Governor; and Matthew Linn Bruce was elected Lieutenant Governor; both Republicans. Of the other seven statewide elective office up for election, six were carried by the Republicans, and one by a Democrat. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republicans 813,000; Democrats 732,000; Social Democrats 36,000; Prohibition 21,000; Socialist Labor 9,000; and People's Party 6,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1905; and adjourned on May 5.

S. Frederick Nixon Samuel Frederick Nixon (December 8, 1860 Westfield, Chautauqua County, New York - October 10, 1905 Westfield, Chautauqua County, New York) was an American businessman and politician. Life He was educated at Westfield High School and graduated ...

(R) was re-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 ...

John Raines John Raines (May 6, 1840 in Geneva, Ontario County, New York – December 16, 1909 in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He authored the 1896 Raines Law, which prohibited liquor sales on ...

(R) was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate. On January 17, the Legislature re-elected

Chauncey M. Depew Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, as ...

(R) as

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before th ...

for a second six-year term, beginning on March 4, 1905. Clerk of the Senate James S. Whipple was appointed Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner, and resigned on May 20. Assistant Clerk Lafayette B. Gleason was appointed by Lieutenant Governor M. Linn Bruce as Acting Clerk. The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany to consider the removal from office of

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Justice

Warren B. Hooker Warren Brewster Hooker (November 24, 1856 – March 5, 1920) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Born in Perrysburg, New York, Hooker attended the public schools and Forestville Free Academy, Forestville, New York. He studied law and was ...

. Hooker was acquitted by the Legislature, remained on the bench and the Legislature adjourned July 20, 1905. On June 21, Gleason was elected Clerk of the Senate for the special session, and the session of 1906.

State Senate

Districts

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. James J. Kehoe changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Employees

* Clerk: James S. Whipple, resigned on May 20 ** Lafayette B. Gleason, elected on June 21 * Sergeant-at-Arms: * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms:

Everett Brown Everett G. Brown (January 1, 1902 – October 14, 1953) was an American actor. Biography Born in Texas, Brown appeared in about 40 Hollywood films between 1927 and 1953. His roles were small most of the time and most of his film appearances were ...

* Doorkeeper: * Assistant Doorkeeper: * Stenographer:

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Employees

* Clerk:

Archie E. Baxter Archibald Easton Baxter (December 16, 1844 – October 6, 1925) was a Scottish-American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Baxter was born on December 16, 1844, in Port Glasgow, Scotland. In 1850, his father Duncan brought the family to ...

* Assistant Clerk: Ray B. Smith * Sergeant-at-Arms: * Doorkeeper: * First Assistant Doorkeeper: * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: * Stenographer:

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. 350f for assemblymen; and 365f for senators)
''THE NEXT LEGISLATURE''
in NYT on November 9, 1904
''Journal of the Senate'' (128th Session)
(special session; 1905)
''LEGISLATURE OPENS TODAY''
in NYT on January 4, 1905 {{NYLegislatures 128 1905 in New York (state) 1905 U.S. legislative sessions