The 79th New York State Legislature, consisting of the
New York State Senate and the
New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to April 9, 1856, during the second year of
Myron H. Clark's governorship, 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 constitut ...
of 1846, 32 Senators were elected in single-seat senatorial districts for a two-year term, the whole Senate being renewed biennially. The senatorial districts (except those in New York City) were made up of entire counties. 128 Assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually. The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all in the same county. The City and County of New York was divided into four senatorial districts, and 16 Assembly districts.
At this time there the Democratic Party was split into two factions: the Hard-Shells (or Hards) and the Soft-Shells (or Softs). In 1848, the Democratic Party had been split into
Barnburners and Hunkers
The Barnburners and Hunkers were the names of two opposing factions of the New York Democratic Party in the mid-19th century. The main issue dividing the two factions was that of slavery, with the Barnburners being the anti-slavery faction. Whi ...
. The Barnburners left the party, and ran as the
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...
, with presidential candidate
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
. Afterwards the larger part of the Free Soilers re-joined the Democratic Party. During the following years, the Hunkers split over the question of reconciliation with the Barnburners. The Hards were against it, denying the Barnburners to gain influence in the Party. The Softs favored reconciliation with the intention of maintaining enough strength to win the elections. Both Hards and Softs favored a compromise on the slavery question: to maintain the status quo and to leave the decision to the local population in new Territories or States if they want slavery or not, as expressed in the
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The anti-slavery faction of the
Whig Party, the "Free Democrats" (former
Barnburners and
Free Soilers
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...
), and the short-lived
Anti-Nebraska Party merged into the
Republican Party.
Most of the Whigs which favored a compromise, or preferred to sidestep the issue, joined with parts of the Democratic factions the
Know Nothing movement which ran in the election as the "American Party."
Elections
The
New York state election, 1855
The 1855 New York state election was held on November 6, 1855, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, two judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a Canal Commissio ...
was held on November 6. Due to the re-alignment of political parties, the whole
American Party ticket of State officers was elected. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote on Secretary of State was: American 148,000; Republican 137,000; Soft 91,000; and Hard 59,000.
Sessions
The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in
Albany on January 1, 1856; and adjourned on April 9.
On January 16, after two weeks of deadlock,
Orville Robinson (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 ...
on the 49th ballot.
On January 29,
Alonzo S. Upham (R) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.
State Senate
Districts
* 1st District:
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and
Suffolk counties
* 2nd District:
Kings County
* 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wards of New York City
* 4th District: 7th, 10th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
* 5th District: 8th, 9th and 14th wards of New York City
* 6th District: 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
* 7th District:
Putnam,
Rockland and
Westchester counties
* 8th District:
Columbia and
Dutchess
Dutchess County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeeps ...
counties
* 9th District:
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
and
Sullivan counties
* 10th District:
Greene
Greene may refer to:
Places United States
*Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community
*Greene, Iowa, a city
*Greene, Maine, a town
** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene
*Greene (town), New York
** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...
and
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
counties
* 11th District:
Albany and
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
counties
* 12th District:
Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...
* 13th District:
Saratoga and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
counties
* 14th District:
Clinton,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
and
Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...
counties
* 15th District:
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
and
St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...
counties
* 16th District:
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
,
Herkimer and
Montgomery counties
* 17th District:
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and
Schoharie counties
* 18th District:
Chenango and
Otsego counties
* 19th District:
Oneida County
* 20th District:
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
and
Oswego counties
* 21st District:
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
and
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
counties
* 22nd District:
Onondaga County
Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse.
Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA.
History
The name ''Onondaga'' derives from ...
* 23rd District:
Broome,
Cortland and
Tioga counties
* 24th District:
Cayuga and
Wayne counties
* 25th District:
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
,
Tompkins and
Yates counties
* 26th District:
Chemung and
Steuben counties
* 27th District:
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe:
* Monroe County, Alabama
*Monroe County, Arkansas
* Monroe County, Florida
* Monroe County, Georgia
*Monroe County, Illinois
*Monroe County, Indian ...
* 28th District:
Genesee
Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to:
Geographic features Canada
*Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community
United States
*Genesee, California
*Genesee, Colorado
*Genesee County, Michigan
*Genesee Co ...
,
Niagara and
Orleans counties
* 29th District:
Livingston and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
counties
* 30th District:
Allegany and
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
counties
* 31st District:
Erie County
* 32nd District:
Cattaraugus and
Chautauqua
Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...
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. Mark Spencer, Erastus Brooks, Zenas Clark and George W. Bradford were re-elected. James Rider, Joseph H. Petty, John W. Ferdon, Justin A. Smith and Joseph H. Ramsey changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Party affiliations follow the vote on Senate and State officers.
Employees
* Clerk:
Samuel P. Allen
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Samuel R. Tuell
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: George W. Bedell
* Doorkeeper: William Coppernall
* Assistant Doorkeeper: Henry W. Shipman
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Victor M. Dearborn
State Assembly
Assemblymen
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the vote on Speaker.
[see Assembly Journal; Fowler and Lafever are described as Whigs in the ''New York Times'' (see]
''FROM ALBANY; The First Day's Proceedings in the Senate and Assembly''
in NYT on January 4, 1856). Surprisingly, Lyman Odell, the American candidate for Speaker, voted on several ballots for Fowler.
Employees
* Clerk:
Richard U. Sherman
* Sergeant-at-Arms: George B. Woolbridge
* Doorkeeper: Sherman McLean
* First Assistant Doorkeeper: John Davies
* Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Henry White
Notes
Sources
''The New York Civil List''compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
g. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 137 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 250ff for assemblymen''Journal of the Senate'' (79th Session)(1856)
''Journal of the Assembly'' (79th Session)(1856)
{{NYLegislatures
079 79 may refer to:
* 79 (number)
* one of the years 79 BC, AD 79, 1979, 2079
* ''79 A.D.'', a 1962 historical epic film
* Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Italy
See also
*
* List of highways numbered
{{Num ...
1856 in New York (state)
1856 U.S. legislative sessions