68th New York State Legislature


The 68th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 14, 1845, during the first year of Silas Wright's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1821, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in eight senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year eight Senate seats came up for election. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually.
On May 6, 1844, the Legislature enacted to reduce the number of canal commissioners from 6 to 4, and that the canal commissioners be elected statewide by popular ballot.
U.S. Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge resigned his seat on June 17, 1844, to take office as Governor of the Wisconsin Territory. U.S. Senator Silas Wright was elected Governor of New York, and resigned his seat on November 26, 1844. On November 30, Gov. William C. Bouck appointed Lt. Gov. Daniel S. Dickinson and State Senator Henry A. Foster to fill the two vacancies temporarily.
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 "Barnburners" and the "Hunkers." The radical abolitionists appeared as the Liberty Party. In the First District, the American Republican Party nominated tickets for the Senate and Assembly. About this time the Anti-Rent War began, and the Anti-Renters cross-endorsed Whigs or Democrats, according to their opinion on the rent issue.
The Democratic state convention met on September 4 at Syracuse, and nominated U.S. Senator Silas Wright for governor, Addison Gardiner for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged to James K. Polk.
The Whig state convention met on September 11 at Syracuse, and nominated Millard Fillmore for governor, Samuel J. Wilkin for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged to Henry Clay.

Elections

The New York state election, 1844 was held on November 5. Silas Wright and Addison Gardiner were elected governor and lieutenant governor, and four Democrats were elected canal commissioners. Also the Democratic electoral ticket won, and New York's 36 votes were cast for James K. Polk and George M. Dallas.
State Senator Robert Denniston was re-elected. George Folsom, John P. Beekman, Augustus C. Hand, Enoch B. Talcott, George D. Beers, Henry J. Sedgwick and Carlos Emmons were also elected to the Senate. Folsom was an American Republican, Emmons was a Whig, the other six were Democrats.

Sessions

On January 6, the Democratic assemblymen met in caucus and nominated Horatio Seymour for Speaker with 35 votes against 30 for William C. Crain.
The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1845; and adjourned on May 14.
Horatio Seymour was elected Speaker.
On January 18, the Legislature elected John A. Dix to succeed Henry A. Foster as U.S. Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Silas Wright; and Daniel S. Dickinson to succeed himself, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge.
On February 3, the Legislature re-elected State Comptroller Azariah C. Flagg ; and elected Nathaniel S. Benton to succeed Samuel Young as Secretary of State; Benjamin Enos to succeed Thomas Farrington as State Treasurer; John Van Buren to succeed George P. Barker as Attorney General; and Hugh Halsey to succeed Nathaniel Jones as Surveyor General.
On February 4, the Legislature re-elected U.S. Senator Daniel S. Dickinson to a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1845.
On May 13, an "Act recommending a Convention of the people of this State" was passed, calling for a convention to amend the State Constitution. This bill had been debated throughout the whole session, and was finally approved by the votes of the Barnburners, Whigs and American Republicans, against fierce opposition of the Hunkers.

State Senate

Districts

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.
DistrictSenatorsTerm leftPartyNotes
FirstIsaac L. Varian*1 yearDemocrat
FirstJohn A. Lott*2 yearsDemocrat/Hunker
FirstDavid R. Floyd-Jones*3 yearsDemocrat/Hunker
FirstGeorge Folsom4 yearsAmerican Republican
SecondAbraham Bockee*1 yearDemocrat
SecondAbraham A. Deyo*2 yearsDemocrat/Barnburner
SecondJoshua B. Smith*3 yearsDemocrat
SecondRobert Denniston*4 yearsDemocrat
ThirdErastus Corning*1 yearDemocrat/Hunker
ThirdJohn C. Wright*2 yearsDemocrat
ThirdStephen C. Johnson*3 yearsDemocrat/Barnburner
ThirdJohn P. Beekman4 yearsDemocrat
FourthEdmund Varney*1 yearDemocrat/Barnburner
FourthThomas B. Mitchell*2 yearsDemocrat/Hunker
FourthOrville Clark*3 yearsDemocrat/Hunker
FourthAugustus C. Hand4 yearsDemocrat
FifthGeorge C. Sherman*1 yearDemocrat/Barnburner
FifthCarlos P. Scovil*2 yearsDemocrat
FifthThomas Barlow*3 yearsDemocrat/Barnburneralso First Judge of the Madison County Court
FifthEnoch B. Talcott4 yearsDemocrat/Barnburner
SixthJames Faulkner*1 yearDemocrat
SixthCalvin T. Chamberlain*2 yearsDemocrat
SixthClark Burnham*3 yearsDemocrat
SixthGeorge D. Beers4 yearsDemocrat
SeventhWilliam Bartlit*1 yearDemocrat/Hunker
SeventhJohn Porter*2 yearsDemocrat
SeventhAlbert Lester*3 yearsDemocrat
SeventhHenry J. Sedgwick4 yearsDemocrat/Barnburner
EighthGideon Hard*1 yearWhig
EighthHarvey Putnam*2 yearsWhig
EighthFrederick F. Backus*3 yearsWhig
EighthCarlos Emmons4 yearsWhig

Employees

Districts

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.

Assemblymen

The asterisk denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the .
DistrictAssemblymenPartyNotes
AlbanyClarkson F. CrosbyWhig
AlbanyIra HarrisWhig/Anti-Rent
AlbanyLeonard LitchfieldWhig
AlleganyNathaniel Coe*Whig
AlleganyJohn G. CollinsWhig
BroomeCyrus JohnsonWhig
CattaraugusSeth FieldWhig
CattaraugusRoderick WhiteWhig
CayugaDavid GouldDemocrat
CayugaLeonard SearingDemocrat
CayugaWilliam TitusDemocrat
ChautauquaSamuel A. BrownWhig
ChautauquaHenry C. FrisbeeWhig
ChautauquaJeremiah MannWhig
ChemungPatrick McKeyDemocrat
ChenangoJoel BurdickDemocrat
ChenangoSolomon S. HallDemocrat
ChenangoCharles B. MillerDemocrat
ClintonNoyes P. GregoryDemocrat
ColumbiaPeter I. BachmanDemocrat
ColumbiaElijah BaggDemocrat
ColumbiaWilliam M. BunkerDemocrat
CortlandGeorge J. J. BarberWhigunsuccessfully contested by Abraham Acker
CortlandJohn Pierce 2dDemocrat
DelawareJohn McDonaldDemocrat
DelawareLinus PorterDemocrat
DutchessEpenetus CrosbyWhig
DutchessFreeborn GarretsonWhig
DutchessWalter ShermanWhig
ErieJohn T. BushWhig
ErieTruman DeweyWhig
ErieDaniel Lee*Whig
EssexJohn T. HammondWhig
FranklinHiram HortonWhig
Fulton and HamiltonGarret A. NewkirkDemocrat
GeneseeChester Hannum*Whig
GeneseeAaron LongWhig
GreeneDeliverance B. HerveyDemocrat
GreeneGerret W. SagerDemocrat
HerkimerAlexander H. BuellDemocrat
HerkimerWilliam C. CrainDemocrat/Barnburner
JeffersonLysander H. BrownDemocrat
JeffersonAzel W. DanforthDemocrat
JeffersonEdward S. SalisburyDemocrat
KingsRichard L. WyckoffAmerican Republican
KingsDaniel D. WynantAmerican Republican
LewisDean S. HowardDemocrat
LivingstonHarlow W. WellsWhig
LivingstonJohn YoungWhig
MadisonStephen G. SearsDemocrat
MadisonWilliam SmithDemocrat
MadisonJohn I. WalrathDemocrat
MonroeWilliam C. BlossWhig
MonroeJohn McVeanWhig
MonroeIsaac T. RaymondWhig
MontgomeryJohn L. BevensDemocrat
MontgomeryPeter H. FondaDemocrat
New YorkEli C. BlakeAmerican Republican
New YorkJohn CulverAmerican Republican
New YorkJohn J. R. De PuyAmerican Republican
New YorkJacob L. FennAmerican Republican
New YorkHarvey HuntAmerican Republican
New YorkJames JarvisAmerican Republican
New YorkFrederick E. MatherAmerican Republican
New YorkRoderick N. MorrisonAmerican Republican
New YorkSevern D. MoultonAmerican Republican
New YorkThomas H. OakleyAmerican Republican
New YorkWilliam S. RossAmerican Republican
New YorkAbraham G. Thompson Jr.American Republican
New YorkDavid E. WheelerAmerican Republican
NiagaraLevi F. BowneWhig
NiagaraJohn Sweeney*Whig
OneidaAndrew BillingsDemocrat
OneidaMerit BrooksDemocrat
OneidaCalvert ComstockDemocrat
OneidaHoratio Seymour*Democrat/Hunkerelected Speaker
OnondagaJulius C. KinneDemocrat
OnondagaDennis McCarthyDemocrat
OnondagaDavid PrestonDemocrat
OnondagaLake I. TefftDemocrat
OntarioTimothy Buel Jr.Whig
OntarioIsrael Huntington*Whig
OntarioAlvah WordenWhig
OrangeJohn BrooksDemocrat
OrangeThornton M. NivenDemocrat
OrangeRichard M. Tuthill Jr.Democrat
OrleansGardner GooldWhig
OswegoThomas SkeltonDemocrat
OswegoLuny ThayerDemocrat
OtsegoFranklin B. CarpenterDemocrat/Barnburner
OtsegoChristopher D. FellowsDemocrat
OtsegoHarry G. HardenDemocrat/Barnburner
PutnamBenjamin BaileyDemocrat
QueensElbert Floyd-JonesDemocrat
RensselaerHarry BettsWhig/Anti-Rent
RensselaerRyer HeermanceWhig/Anti-Rent
RensselaerWilliam H. Van SchoonhovenWhig/Anti-Rent
RichmondPeter MersereauAmerican Republican
RocklandJoseph P. BrowerDemocrat
St. LawrenceAsa L. HazeltonDemocrat
St. LawrenceJohn L. RussellDemocrat
SaratogaEdward EdwardsWhig
SaratogaWilliam WilcoxWhig
SchenectadyWilliam GiffordWhig
SchoharieSeymour BoughtonDemocrat/Anti-Rent
SchoharieHenry TibbetsWhig/Anti-Rent
SenecaRobert L. StevensonDemocrat
SteubenWilliam C. RogersDemocrat
SteubenAnsel C. SmithDemocrat
SteubenJacob Van ValkenburghDemocrat
SuffolkJohn H. DaytonDemocratalso Collector of Customs at Sag Harbor
SuffolkDarling B. WhitneyDemocrat
SullivanHarvey R. MorrisDemocrat
TiogaGideon O. ChaseDemocrat
TompkinsSherman MillerDemocrat
TompkinsLyman StrobridgeDemocrat
UlsterReuben H. HineDemocrat
UlsterIrwin PardeeDemocrat
WarrenJames CameronDemocrat
WashingtonJames RiceWhig
WashingtonJohn StevensonWhig
WayneJohn J. DicksonDemocrat
WayneAlanson M. KnappDemocrat
WestchesterJ. Anthony ConstantDemocrat
WestchesterThomas R. LeeDemocrat
WyomingLeverett SpringWhig
WyomingAndrew W. YoungWhig
YatesEzekiel CasnerWhig

Employees