The 77th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 17, 1854, during the second year of Horatio Seymour's governorship, in Albany.
Background Under the provisions of the New York Constitution 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 were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.
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 left the party, and ran as the Free Soil Party, with presidential candidate Martin Van Buren. 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 Barnburners were against the permission of slavery in new Territories or States, but were now the minority in the party. The small faction of the Free Soil Party which advocated abolition of slavery, ran their own State ticket as the "Free Democratic Party".
About this time the Temperance movement began to enter politics to advocate legal and/or political measures to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, and endorsed candidates of the major parties who favored prohibition.
Elections The 1853 New York state election was held on November 8. Due to the Democratic split, of the ten statewide elective offices up for election, eight were carried by the Whigs, and two by the Democrats. The approximate statewide party strength, as shown by the vote for Secretary of State, was: Whig 160,000; Hard 99,000; Soft 96,000; and Free Democrats 14,000.
Sessions The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1854; and adjourned on April 17.
Robert H. Pruyn (W) was elected Speaker with 74 votes against 24 for George De Witt Clinton (Hard) and 17 for Jonathan C. Collins (Soft).
On January 20, the Legislature passed "An Act to perfect an amendment of the Constitution, providing means for the completion of the canals of this State".
On January 30, Andrew B. Dickinson (W) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.
On February 15, a special election was held at which the Canal Amendment was ratified by the voters with 185,771 votes For; and 60,526 votes Against the proposed amendment.see Documents of the Senate (77th Session) (1854; No. 65, pg. 41ff)
On April 4, the Legislature elected Victor M. Rice (W) as the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
State Senate Districts
1st District: Queens, Richmond 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 counties 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties 11th District: Albany and Schenectady counties 12th District: Rensselaer County 13th District: Saratoga and Washington counties 14th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties 15th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties 16th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties 17th District: Delaware and Schoharie counties 18th District: Chenango and Otsego counties 19th District: Oneida County 20th District: Madison and Oswego counties 21st District: Jefferson and Lewis counties 22nd District: Onondaga County 23rd District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties 24th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties 25th District: Seneca, Tompkins and Yates counties 26th District: Chemung and Steuben counties 27th District: Monroe County 28th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties 29th District: Livingston and Ontario counties 30th District: Allegany 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. James H. Hutchins changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
District Senator Party Notes1stHugh Halsey Dem.-Hard/Temp.2ndJames H. Hutchins* Dem.-Hard3rdThomas J. Barr Dem.-Hard4thThomas R. Whitney Whigon November 7, 1854, elected to the 34th U.S. Congress5thMark Spencer Dem.-Soft6thErastus Brooks Whig7thWilliam H. Robertson Whig8thRobert A. Barnard Whig9thJohn D. Watkins Dem10thEliakim Sherrill Whig11thClarkson F. Crosby Whig12thElisha N. Pratt Whig13thJames C. Hopkins Whigalso Postmaster of Granville14thGeorge Richards Whig15thZenas Clark Dem.-Soft16thGeorge Yost Whig17thPeter S. Danforth Dem.-Hard 18thEbenezer Blakely Whigcontested; vacated on March 14Adam Storing Democratseated on March 1419thDaniel G. Dorrance Whig20thSimon C. Hitchcock Democrat21stRobert Lansing Democrat22ndJames Munroe* Whig23rdGeorge W. Bradford Whig24thWilliam Clark Whig25thJosiah B. Williams* Whig26thAndrew B. Dickinson Whigon January 30, elected president pro tempore27thWilliam S. Bishop Whig28thBen Field Whig 29thMyron H. Clark* Whigon November 7, 1854, elected Governor of New York30thMartin Butts Whig31stJames O. Putnam Whig32ndAlvah H. Walker Whig
Employees Clerk: Hugh J. Hastings Sergeant-at-Arms: Joseph Garlinghouse Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Hiram M. Eaton Doorkeeper: Samuel R. Tuell Assistant Doorkeeper: Almond Becker
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.
District Assemblymen Party Notes Albany1stStephen M. Hollenbeck Dem.-Hard2ndIsrahiah W. Chesebro Whig3rdRobert H. Pruyn Whigelected Speaker4thArchibald A. Dunlop Whig Allegany1stGideon H. Jenkins Whig2ndLucius S. May Whig BroomeRobert Harpur Whig Cattaraugus1stWilliam H. Wood Whigtook his seat on January 92ndJames Kirkland Whig Cayuga1stJustus Townsend Whig2ndMosely Hutchinson Whig3rdMathias Hutchinson* Whig Chautauqua1stWalter L. Sessions* Whig2ndFrancis W. Palmer Whig ChemungJohn M. Randall Dem.-Soft Chenango1stLevi Harris Whig2ndRufus J. Baldwin Whig ClintonGeorge V. Hoyle* Whig Columbia1stMilton Martin Whig2ndHarvey W. Gott Whig CortlandPerrin H. McGraw Whig Delaware1stSamuel F. Miller Dem.-Soft2ndDaniel Rowland Dem.-Soft Dutchess1stPeter P. Monfort Whigdied on February 26, 18542ndGeorge W. Sterling Free Dem./Temp.3rdWilliam H. Bostwick Dem.-Hard Erie1stWilliam W. Weed Whig2ndRollin Germain Whig3rdCharles A. Sill Whig4thEdward N. Hatch Whig EssexJonathan Burnet* Whig FranklinAndrew W. Ferguson Dem.-Soft Fulton and HamiltonWesley Gleason Whig Genesee1stTheodore C. Peters* Whig2ndJoseph Cook* Whig Greene1stJoshua Fiero Jr. Whig2ndGeorge Robertson Whig Herkimer1stGardner Hinkley Dem.-Soft2ndDean Burgess Dem.-Soft Jefferson1stCalvin Littlefield Whig 2ndAlden Adams Whigcontested; vacated on February 3Jesse E. Willisseated on February 33rdWilliam Dewey Whig Kings1stJohn G. Bergen Whig2ndSamuel D. Backus Whig3rdSamuel D. Morris Dem.-Hard LewisJonathan C. Collins Dem.-Soft Livingston1stLeman Gibbs Dem.-Hard2ndAbram Lozier* Whig Madison1stSamuel White 2nd Dem.-Hard2ndFranklin M. Whitman Dem.-Hard Monroe1stLyman Payne* Whig2ndJames L. Angel Whig3rdPliny B. Holdridge Whig Montgomery1stAaron W. Hull Whig2ndHezekiah Baker Whig New York1stPeter H. Graham Whig2ndGeorge De Witt Clinton Dem.-Hard 3rdDaniel W. Clarke Dem.-Softcontested; vacated on February 18Patrick H. Maguire Dem.-Hardseated on February 184thTheodore A. Ward Whig5thEdmund P. Barrow Whig6thWilliam B. Aitken Dem.-Hard7thCharles C. Leigh Dem.-Soft8thGeorge H. Richards Dem.-Soft9thDaniel Willis Whig10thJoseph W. Savage Whig11thJames M. Boyd Whig12thPeter Dawson Dem.-Soft13thFrederick A. Conkling Whig14thJohn P. Cumming Whig15thEdward A. Ware Whig16thAlexander P. Sharp Whig"Independent Whig", but voted for Pruyn Niagara1stRobert Dunlap Dem.-Hard2ndReuben F. Wilson* Dem.-Hard Oneida1stJoseph Benedict Whig2ndA. Pierson Case Whig3rdDerick L. Boardman Whig4thJames Mitchell Whig Onondaga1stJames M. Munro Free Dem.2ndMilton A. Kinney Whig3rdDaniel P. Wood* Whig4thWilliam Richardson Whig Ontario1stJesse Cost Whig2ndStephen V. R. Mallory Whigtook his seat on January 16 Orange1stCharles W. Cushman Dem.-Hard2ndCharles M. Thompson Dem.-Hard3rdAndrew J. Mills Dem.-Hard OrleansJeremiah Freeman Whig Oswego1stDeWitt C. Littlejohn* Whig2ndAzariah Wart Dem.-Soft Otsego1stLewis Whipple Whig2ndAndrew A. Mather Free Dem.3rdSt. Paul Seeley Dem.-Soft PutnamJames J. Smalley Dem.-Hard QueensJohn A. Searing Dem.-Hard Rensselaer1stJonathan Edwards Whig2ndLyman Wilder Dem.-Soft3rdGeorge Brust Dem.-Hard RichmondNicholas Crocheron Whig RocklandJohn I. Suffern Dem.-Hard/Temp St. Lawrence1stBarnabas Hall* Dem.-Soft2ndSilas Baldwin Whig3rdLevi Miller Dem.-Soft Saratoga1stGeorge W. Neilson Whig2ndJoseph Baucus Dem.-Hard SchenectadyMatthew Winne Jr. Whig Schoharie1stJacob J. Barton Dem.-Hard2ndJames S. Wood Dem.-Hard SenecaDavid D. Scott Whig Steuben1stJohn F. Williams Dem.-Soft2ndBenajah P. Bailey Whig3rdObadiah Stephens Whig Suffolk1stGeorge Miller Whig/Temp.2ndWilliam S. Preston Dem.-Hard SullivanAmos Y. Sheeley Dem.-Hard TiogaLewis P. Legg Dem.-Soft Tompkins1stBenjamin Joy Temperance2ndEli Beers Whig Ulster1stMeeker Gorham Whig2ndJohn B. Howell Free Dem. WarrenDavid Noble 2nd Dem.-Hard Washington1stEbenezer McMurray Whig2ndGeorge W. Thorn Whig Wayne1stWillis G. Wade Whig2ndJohn P. Bennett Whig Westchester1stElijah Lee Dem.-Hard2ndJacob Odell* Dem.-Hard WyomingAlonzo B. Rose* Whig YatesDavid G. Underwood Whig
Employees Clerk: Richard U. Sherman Deputy Clerk: Loren B. Sessions Sergeant-at-Arms: Silas D. Nicholas Doorkeeper: John Davis First Assistant Doorkeeper: Byron Ellsworth Second Assistant Doorkeeper: John Lewis
Notes
Sources The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 137 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 246ff for assemblymen] STATE ELECTION; LATEST RETURNS in NYT on November 12, 1853 Journal of the Senate (77th Session) (1854) Journal of the Assembly (77th Session) (1854)