86th New York State Legislature

86th New York State Legislature
← 85th 87th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1863
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. David R. Floyd-Jones (D)
Temporary President	James A. Bell (R), from January 21
Party control	Republican (23-8)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Theophilus C. Callicot (D)
Party control	split (64-64)
Sessions
1st January 6 – April 25, 1863

The 86th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 25, 1863, during the first 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." The Constitutional Union (consisting of former "Silver Gray" Whigs and Know Nothings) held a state convention and joined the Peace Democrats.

Elections

The New York state election, 1862 was held on November 4. With a large contingent of soldiers at the Civil War front, who did not vote at the state election, surprisingly all five statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Democrats, including Gov. Horatio Seymour and Lt. Gov. David R. Floyd-Jones. The approximate party strength at this election, expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats/Constitutional Union 307,000; Republican Union 296,000.

64 Union Republicans and 64 Democrats were elected to the Assembly, resulting in a split.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1863; and adjourned on April 25.

On January 21, James A. Bell (R) was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On January 26, after three weeks of deadlock, Democrat Theophilus C. Callicot (D) was elected Speaker on the 92nd ballot, receiving the votes of the Republicans. Callicot had talked to the Republican leader Chauncey M. Depew, and offered a deal: the Republicans should elect him Speaker, and he would help them to elect a U.S. Senator.

1863 Speaker election result

Ballot	Date	Gilbert Dean Dem.	Henry Sherwood Rep.	-	Ballot	Date	Gilbert Dean Dem.	Henry Sherwood Rep.	Theophilus C. Callicot Fusion	Eliphaz Trimmer Dem.	Chauncey M. Depew Rep.
1st	Jan. 6	63	63		47th	Jan. 10	41	41
2nd	Jan. 6	63	63		48th	Jan. 10	41	41
3rd	Jan. 6	63	63		49th	Jan. 12	40	40
4th	Jan. 7	63	63		50th	Jan. 12	40	40
5th	Jan. 7	63	63		51st	Jan. 12	39	39
6th	Jan. 7	63	63		52nd	Jan. 12	39	39
7th	Jan. 7	63	63		53rd	Jan. 12	39	39
8th	Jan. 8	63	63		54th	Jan. 13	56	56
9th	Jan. 8	63	63		55th	Jan. 13	55	55
10th	Jan. 8	63	63		56th	Jan. 13	55	55
11th	Jan. 8	63	63		57th	Jan. 13	55	55
12th	Jan. 8	63	63		58th	Jan. 13	55	55
13th	Jan. 8	63	63		59th	Jan. 13	54	54
14th	Jan. 8	63	63		60th	Jan. 13	55	55
15th	Jan. 8	63	63		61st	Jan. 13	55	55
16th	Jan. 8	63	63		62nd	Jan. 13	55	55
17th	Jan. 8	63	63		63rd	Jan. 13	55	55
18th	Jan. 8	63	63		64th	Jan. 12	54	54
19th	Jan. 8	63	63		65th	Jan. 13	54	54
20th	Jan. 8	63	63		66th	Jan. 13	54	54
21st	Jan. 8	63	63		67th	Jan. 14	63	63
22nd	Jan. 8	63	63		68th	Jan. 14	62	62
23rd	Jan. 8	63	63		69th	Jan. 14	62	62
24th	Jan. 8	63	63		70th	Jan. 12	62	62
25th	Jan. 8	63	63		71st	Jan. 14	62	62
26th	Jan. 8	63	63		72nd	Jan. 14	62	62
27th	Jan. 9	61	61		73rd	Jan. 14	60	60
28th	Jan. 9	61	61		74th	Jan. 14	60	60
29th	Jan. 9	62	62		75th	Jan. 15	62	62
30th	Jan. 9	62	62		76th	Jan. 15	57	57
31st	Jan. 9	62	62		77th	Jan. 15	60	60
32nd	Jan. 9	62	62		78th	Jan. 15	58	58
33rd	Jan. 9	62	62		79th	Jan. 23			60	60	2
34th	Jan. 9	62	62		80th	Jan. 23			60	60	2
35th	Jan. 9	60	60		81st	Jan. 23			60	61	3
36th	Jan. 9	60	60		82nd	Jan. 23			61	61	2
37th	Jan. 9	60	60		83rd	Jan. 23			61	61	2
38th	Jan. 10	47	47		84th	Jan. 23			61	61	2
39th	Jan. 10	44	44		85th	Jan. 23			61	61	2
40th	Jan. 10	44	44		86th	Jan. 23			61	61	2
41st	Jan. 10	44	44		87th	Jan. 23			60	60	2
42nd	Jan. 10	43	43		88th	Jan. 23			60	60	2
43rd	Jan. 10	44	44		89th	Jan. 23			59	59	2
44th	Jan. 10	42	42		90th	Jan. 23			60	60	2
45th	Jan. 10	42	42		91st	Jan. 24			60	60	1
46th	Jan. 10	42	42		92nd	Jan. 26			61	59

On February 3, the Legislature elected Ex-Governor Edwin D. Morgan (R) to succeed Preston King (R) as U.S. Senator from New York for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1863.

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.

Party affiliations follow the vote for U.S. Senator.

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Monroe Henderson*		due to ill health, did not take his seat at this session
2nd	Jesse C. Smith*	Republican
3rd	Henry C. Murphy*	Democrat
4th	Christian B. Woodruff*	Democrat
5th	Charles G. Cornell*	Democrat	also New York City Street Commissioner
6th	John J. Bradley*	Democrat
7th	Richard B. Connolly*	Democrat
8th	Hezekiah D. Robertson*	Republican
9th	Henry R. Low*	Republican
10th	Jacob S. Freer*	Democrat
11th	William H. Tobey*	Republican
12th	Ralph Richards*	Republican
13th	John V. L. Pruyn*	Democrat
14th	Joseph H. Ramsey*	Republican
15th	William Clark	Republican	elected to fill vacancy, in place of John Willard
16th	Russell M. Little*	Republican
17th	Charles C. Montgomery*	Republican
18th	James A. Bell*	Republican
19th	Alexander H. Bailey*	Republican
20th	George A. Hardin*	Republican
21st	Richard K. Sanford*	Republican
22nd	Allen Munroe*	Republican
23rd	Henry A. Clark*	Republican
24th	Lyman Truman*	Republican
25th	Chauncey M. Abbott*	Republican	died on November 11, 1863
26th	Charles J. Folger*	Republican
27th	Charles Cook*	Republican
28th	Lysander Farrar*	Republican
29th	Almanzor Hutchinson*	Republican
30th	Wilkes Angel*	Republican
31st	John Ganson*	Democrat	on November 4, 1862, elected to the 38th U.S. Congress
32nd	Horace C. Young*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: James Terwilliger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard U. Owens
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Caleb S. Babcock
• Doorkeeper: Orville Griffin
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles Johnson
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Sanders Wilson
• Third Assistant Doorkeeper: Giles H. Holden

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Party affiliations follow the original vote for Speaker.

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	William J. Snyder	Democrat
	2nd	John Cutler	Democrat
	3rd	Henry L. Wait	Democrat
	4th	William L. Oswald	Democrat
Allegany	1st	Alvah E. Cruttenden*	Republican
	2nd	Edward D. Loveridge*	Republican
Broome		Francis B. Smith	Republican
Cattaraugus	1st	Andrew L. Allen*	Republican
	2nd	Albert G. Dow	Republican
Cayuga	1st	George I. Post	Republican
	2nd	William P. Robinson	Republican
Chautauqua	1st	John Steward	Republican
	2nd	Henry C. Lake*	Republican
Chemung		Charles Hulett	Democrat
Chenango	1st	Elizur H. Prindle	Republican
	2nd	Francis B. Fisher*	Republican
Clinton		George Adgate	Democrat
Columbia	1st	Peter G. Kisselbrack	Democrat
	2nd	Elias W. Bostwick	Republican
Cortland		Henry B. Van Hoesen	Republican
Delaware	1st	Robert W. Courtney	Republican
	2nd	Francis R. Gilbert	Democrat
Dutchess	1st	Luther S. Dutcher	Democrat
	2nd	Joseph C. Doughty	Democrat
Erie	1st	John W. Murphy*	Democrat
	2nd	Horatio Seymour*	Democrat
	3rd	Timothy A. Hopkins	Democrat
	4th	Anson G. Conger	Republican
Essex		Palmer E. Havens*	Republican
Franklin		Albert Andrus*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Willard J. Heacock	Republican
Genesee		Loren Green	Republican
Greene		Luke Roe	Democrat
Herkimer	1st	Griffin Sweet	Republican
	2nd	Archibald C. McGowan	Republican
Jefferson	1st	Charles A. Benjamin	Republican
	2nd	Levi Miller	Republican
	3rd	William Dewey*	Republican
Kings	1st	John Paulding	Democrat
	2nd	Bernard Hughes	Democrat
	3rd	Samuel E. Johnson	Democrat
	4th	James Darcy*	Democrat	died on September 1, 1863
	5th	Theophilus C. Callicot	Democrat	elected Speaker
	6th	Henry C. Boswell	Democrat
	7th	Charles P. Leslie	Democrat
Lewis		John Chickering	Republican
Livingston	1st	Hamilton E. Smith	Republican
	2nd	Samuel Skinner*	Republican
Madison	1st	William H. Brand*	Republican
	2nd	George L. Rouse	Republican
Monroe	1st	George E. McGonegal*	Republican
	2nd	Eliphaz Trimmer*	Democrat
	3rd	William Brown	Republican
Montgomery		Freeman P. Moulton	Democrat
New York	1st	Cornelius Flynn	Democrat
	2nd	Daniel Leamy*	Democrat
	3rd	George L. Loutrel*	Democrat
	4th	William C. Gover	Democrat
	5th	Henry Rogers	Democrat
	6th	Julius Korn	Democrat
	7th	Vincent C. King	Democrat
	8th	Thomas H. Hill	Democrat
	9th	David V. Freeman	Democrat
	10th	Daniel M. O'Brien*	Democrat
	11th	Thomas A. Ledwith	Democrat
	12th	Andrew Smith*	Democrat
	13th	Alexander Ward*	Democrat
	14th	Robert C. Hutchings	Democrat
	15th	Gilbert Dean	Democrat
	16th	Michael McCann	Democrat
	17th	Thomas C. Fields	Democrat	also a Central Park Commissioner
Niagara	1st	Benjamin H. Fletcher*	Democrat
	2nd	William Morgan	Republican
Oneida	1st	Abram B. Weaver	Democrat
	2nd	Daniel M. Prescott	Republican
	3rd	Asa S. Sherman	Democrat
	4th	Isaac McDougall	Republican
Onondaga	1st	James M. Munro	Republican
	2nd	Elizur Clark	Democrat
	3rd	Joseph Breed	Republican
Ontario	1st	Perez H. Field	Republican
	2nd	Lanson Dewey	Republican
Orange	1st	John D. Van Buren	Democrat
	2nd	Charles S. Woodward	Democrat
Orleans		John Parks	Republican
Oswego	1st	Abner C. Mattoon	Republican
	2nd	Hiram W. Loomis	Republican
	3rd	Harvey Palmer	Republican
Otsego	1st	William Brooks	Democrat
	2nd	Cornelius A. Church*	Republican
Putnam		Saxton Smith	Democrat	also Supervisor of Putnam Valley
Queens	1st	Charles T. Duryea	Democrat
	2nd	Henry S. Lott	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	James McKeon	Democrat
	2nd	John A. Quackenbush	Republican
	3rd	Ebenezer S. Strait	Democrat
Richmond		Theodore Frean	Democrat
Rockland		James S. Haring*	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	Elias P. Townsley*	Republican
	2nd	James Redington*	Republican
	3rd	Abraham X. Parker	Republican
Saratoga	1st	Ira Brockett	Democrat
	2nd	Nathaniel M. Houghton*	Republican
Schenectady		John McShea Jr.	Democrat
Schoharie		Stephen L. Mayham	Democrat
Schuyler		Samuel Lawrence	Republican
Seneca		James McLean	Democrat
Steuben	1st	John W. Taggart	Republican
	2nd	Henry Sherwood*	Republican
	3rd	Horace Bemis	Republican
Suffolk	1st	Benjamin F. Wiggins	Republican
	2nd	John S. Havens*	Democrat
Sullivan		William Gillespie	Democrat
Tioga		Nathaniel W. Davis	Republican
Tompkins		Ezra Cornell*	Republican
Ulster	1st	Jesse F. Bookstaver*	Democrat
	2nd	Jacob LeFever	Republican
	3rd	Ebenezer Westbrook*	Democrat
Warren		Newton Aldrich	Republican
Washington	1st	Asa C. Tefft	Republican
	2nd	Ervin Hopkins Jr.	Republican
Wayne	1st	Thaddeus W. Collins	Republican
	2nd	Lemuel Durfee	Republican
Westchester	1st	Pierre C. Talman*	Democrat
	2nd	John E. Marshall	Democrat
	3rd	Chauncey M. Depew*	Republican	on November 3, 1863, elected Secretary of State of New York
Wyoming		Byron Healy	Republican
Yates		Guy Shaw	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Joseph B. Cushman
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Levi M. Gano
• Doorkeeper: Charles E. Young
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Alexander Frier
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Willard L. Cook

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. 497ff for assemblymen)
• Journal of the Senate (86th Session) (1863)
• Journal of the Assembly (86th Session) (1863)
• Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and the Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1862 and '63 by William D. Murphy (1863)