100th New York State Legislature


The 100th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to May 24, 1877, during the first year of Lucius Robinson's governorship, 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 and Kings County. 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 Prohibition Party and the Greenback Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1876 was held on November 7. The Democratic incumbent State Comptroller Lucius Robinson was elected Governor, and his running mate William Dorsheimer was re-elected Lieutenant Governor. The other three statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Democrats. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democratic 520,000; Republican 489,000; Prohibition 3,400; and Greenback 1,400.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1877; and adjourned on May 24.
George B. Sloan was elected Speaker with 69 votes against 57 for Luke F. Cozans.
On April 3, the Legislature re-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Neil Gilmour to a term of three years.
The Senate met for a special session at Saratoga; and adjourned on August 18.
On August 17, Superintendent of the New York State Banking Department DeWitt C. Ellis was removed from office.

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.
DistrictSenatorPartyNotes
1stL. Bradford Prince*Republican
2ndJohn R. Kennaday*Democrat
3rdJohn C. Jacobs*Democrat
4thJohn Morrissey*Anti-Tam. Dem.
5thAlfred Wagstaff Jr.Democratelected to fill vacancy, in place of James W. Booth
6thCaspar A. Baaden*Republican
7thJames W. Gerard*Democrat
8thFrancis M. Bixby*Anti-Tam. Dem.
9thWilliam H. Robertson*RepublicanPresident pro tempore
10thDaniel B. St. John*Democrat
11thB. Platt Carpenter*Republican
12thThomas Coleman*Republican
13thHamilton Harris*Republican
14thAugustus Schoonmaker, Jr.*Democraton November 6, 1877, elected New York Attorney General
15thWebster Wagner*Republican
16thFranklin W. Tobey*Republican
17thDarius A. Moore*Republican
18thJames F. Starbuck*Democrat
19thTheodore S. Sayre*Republican
20thDavid P. Loomis*Democrat
21stBenjamin Doolittle*Republican
22ndDennis McCarthy*Republican
23rdWilliam C. Lamont*Democrat
24thJohn H. Selkreg*Republican
25thWilliam B. Woodin*Republican
26thStephen H. Hammond*Democrat
27thGeorge B. Bradley*Democrat
28thWilliam N. Emerson*Republican
29thDan H. Cole*Republican
30thAbijah J. Wellman*Republican
31stE. Carleton SpragueRepublicanelected to fill vacancy, in place of Sherman S. Rogers
32ndCommodore P. Vedder*Republican

Employees

Assemblymen

The asterisk denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Party affiliations follow the vote for Speaker.

Employees