66th New York State Legislature


The 66th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 18, 1843, during the first year of William C. Bouck'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 April 5, 1842, the Legislature enacted that future state elections be held on a single day, fixing the date on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.
State Senator John W. Taylor resigned on August 19, 1842, leaving a vacancy in the Fourth District.
At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party. The radical abolitionists appeared as the Liberty Party.
On September 7, 1842, the Democratic state convention met at Syracuse, and nominated again William C. Bouck for governor, and Daniel S. Dickinson for lieutenant governor.
On the same day, the Whig state convention nominated Lt. Gov. Luther Bradish for governor, and State Senator Gabriel Furman for lieutenant governor.
The Liberty Party nominated Alvan Stewart for governor, and Charles O. Shepard for lieutenant governor.

Elections

The state election was held on November 8, 1842. William C. Bouck and Daniel S. Dickinson were elected governor and lieutenant governor.
Abraham A. Deyo, John C. Wright, Sidney Lawrence, Thomas B. Mitchell, Calvin T. Chamberlain, John Porter, Harvey Putnam, and assemblymen John A. Lott and Carlos P. Scovil were elected to the Senate. Putnam was a Whig, the other eight were Democrats.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1843; and adjourned on April 18.
George R. Davis was elected Speaker with 89 votes against 32 for Willis Hall. Henry N. Wales was elected Clerk of the Assembly with 91 votes against 35 for Philander B. Prindle.
On January 21, the Legislature elected Edwin Croswell to succeed Thurlow Weed as State Printer.
On February 6, the Legislature re-elected State Treasurer Thomas Farrington.
On February 7, the Legislature re-elected U.S. Senator Silas Wright, Jr. to a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1843.

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. John A. Lott and Carlos P. Scovil changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
DistrictSenatorsTerm leftPartyNotes
FirstMorris Franklin*1 yearWhig
FirstJohn B. Scott*2 yearsDemocrat
FirstIsaac L. Varian*3 yearsDemocrat
FirstJohn A. Lott*4 yearsDemocrat
SecondJohn Hunter*1 yearDemocrat
SecondRobert Denniston*2 yearsDemocrat
SecondAbraham Bockee*3 yearsDemocrat
SecondAbraham A. Deyo4 yearsDemocrat
ThirdErastus Root*1 yearWhig
ThirdHenry W. Strong*2 yearsDemocratalso Recorder of Troy
ThirdErastus Corning*3 yearsDemocrat
ThirdJohn C. Wright4 yearsDemocratuntil February 9, 1843, also First Judge of the Schoharie County Court
FourthJames G. Hopkins*1 yearWhig
FourthSidney Lawrence2 yearsDemocratelected to fill vacancy, in place of John W. Taylor;
until March 31, 1843, also Surrogate of Franklin Co.
FourthEdmund Varney*3 yearsDemocrat
FourthThomas B. Mitchell4 yearsDemocrat
FifthSumner Ely*1 yearDemocrat
FifthHenry A. Foster*2 yearsDemocrat
FifthWilliam Ruger*3 yearsDemocratdied on May 21, 1843
FifthCarlos P. Scovil*4 yearsDemocrat
SixthAndrew B. Dickinson*1 yearWhig
SixthNehemiah Platt*2 yearsWhig
SixthJames Faulkner*3 yearsDemocrat
SixthCalvin T. Chamberlain4 yearsDemocrat
SeventhLyman Sherwood*1 yearDemocrat
SeventhElijah Rhoades*2 yearsWhig
SeventhWilliam Bartlit*3 yearsDemocrat
SeventhJohn Porter4 yearsDemocrat
EighthAbram Dixon*1 yearWhig
EighthSamuel Works*2 yearsWhig
EighthGideon Hard*3 yearsWhig
EighthHarvey Putnam4 yearsWhiguntil January 14, 1843, also Surrogate of Wyoming Co.

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 result given in Niles' Register.
DistrictAssemblymenPartyNotes
AlbanyWillis HallWhig
AlbanyAaron Van SchaackWhig
AlbanyJohn I. SlingerlandWhig
AlleganyRobert FlintWhig
AlleganySamuel RussellWhig
BroomeGilbert DickinsonDemocrat
CattaraugusAlonzo HawleyWhig
CattaraugusElijah A. RiceWhig
CayugaVincent KenyonDemocrat
CayugaAlfred LyonDemocrat
CayugaDarius MonroeDemocrat
ChautauquaOdin BenedictWhig
ChautauquaAdolphus S. MorrisonWhig
ChautauquaEmory F. Warren*Whig
ChemungSamuel G. Hathaway Jr.*Democrat
ChenangoEdward CornellDemocrat
ChenangoSamuel MedburyDemocrat
ChenangoDanforth WalesDemocrat
ClintonJulius C. HubbellDemocrat
ColumbiaAnson BrownDemocrat
ColumbiaLucas HoesDemocrat
ColumbiaPeter PoucherDemocrat
CortlandHarry McGrawWhig
CortlandGeorge N. NilesDemocrat
DelawareMilton BostwickDemocrat
DelawareNelson K. WheelerDemocrat
DutchessGilbert BentleyDemocrat
DutchessJohn ElsefferDemocrat
DutchessJohn M. Ketcham*Democrat
ErieGeorge R. BabcockWhig
ErieWells BrooksWhig
ErieMilton McNealWhig
EssexSamuel ShumwayWhig
FranklinJoseph H. JacksonWhig
Fulton and HamiltonJohn L. HutchinsonDemocrat
GeneseeRobinson Smiley*Whig
GeneseeIra WaitWhig
GreeneAaron BushnellDemocrat
GreenePhilip TeatsDemocrat
HerkimerWalter BoothDemocrat
HerkimerJohn T. HallDemocrat
JeffersonElihu C. Church*Democrat
JeffersonJoseph GravesDemocrat
JeffersonJob LamsonDemocrat
KingsWilliam Conselyea Jr.Democrat
KingsWilliam M. Udall*Democrat
LewisAmos BuckDemocrat
LivingstonDaniel H. FitzhughWhig
LivingstonDaniel D. SpencerWhig
MadisonVenoni W. MasonDemocrat
MadisonHenry PalmerDemocrat
MadisonLorenzo SherwoodDemocrat
MonroeJerome FullerWhig
MonroeRobert HaightWhig
MonroeEnoch StrongWhig
MontgomeryJohn BowdishDemocrat
MontgomeryJohn I. ZollerDemocrat
New YorkElbridge G. Baldwin*Whig
New YorkCharles P. DalyDemocrat
New YorkGeorge G. GlasierDemocrat
New YorkTimothy R. HibbardDemocrat
New YorkDavid R. Floyd-Jones*Democrat
New YorkWilliam McMurray*Democrat
New YorkAbsalom E. MillerDemocrat
New YorkGeorge PauldingDemocrat
New YorkDaniel C. Pentz*Democrat
New YorkEdward SanfordDemocrat
New YorkRobert SmithWhig
New YorkJames T. ThomsonDemocrat
New YorkEdward H. WhiteDemocrat
NiagaraThomas T. Flagler*Whig
NiagaraJohn SweeneyWhig
OneidaDan P. CadwellDemocrat
OneidaAmos S. FassettDemocrat
OneidaDavid MurrayDemocrat
OneidaJohn H. TowerDemocrat
OnondagaBenjamin FrenchDemocrat
OnondagaThomas McCarthyDemocrat
OnondagaThomas SherwoodDemocrat
OnondagaCharles R. VaryDemocrat
OntarioSylvester AustinWhig
OntarioJames C. BrownWhig
OntarioJedediah Dewey Jr.Whig
OrangeLeonard LeeDemocrat
OrangeJohn W. MartinDemocrat
OrangeJohn Van DuzerDemocrat
OrleansElisha WrightWhig
OswegoWilliam F. AllenDemocrat
OswegoAlban StrongDemocrat
OtsegoSilas BurlesonDemocrat
OtsegoJohn R. GriggsDemocrat
OtsegoHarvey HuntDemocrat
PutnamSylvenus WarrenDemocrat
QueensSamuel YoungsDemocrat
RensselaerGeorge R. Davis*Democratelected Speaker;
also First Judge of the Rensselaer County Court
RensselaerSamuel DouglassDemocrat
RensselaerHenry VandenberghDemocrat
RichmondHenry Cole*Democrat
RocklandCornelius M. DemarestDemocrat
St. LawrenceCalvin T. Hulburd*Democrat
St. LawrenceGeorge Redington*Democrat
SaratogaLyndes EmersonDemocrat
SaratogaAzariah E. StimsonDemocrat
SchenectadyEdward H. WaltonDemocrat
SchoharieJohn OsterhoutDemocrat
SchoharieAbraham RichtmeyerDemocrat
SenecaMatthew WestDemocrat
SteubenMorris BrownDemocrat
SteubenFrancis E. Erwin*Democrat
SteubenZiba A. Leland*Democrat
SuffolkSamuel B. NicollDemocrat
SuffolkJoshua B. SmithDemocrat
SullivanJonathan StrattonDemocrat
TiogaSimeon R. GriffinDemocrat
TompkinsSylvanus LarnedDemocrat
TompkinsGeorge T. SpinkDemocrat
UlsterWilliam SoperDemocrat
UlsterEdmund SuydamDemocrat
WarrenPelatiah RichardsWhig
WashingtonAnson BigelowWhig
WashingtonJames W. PorterWhig
WayneFrederick U. SheffieldDemocrat
WaynePhilip SoursDemocrat
WestchesterAndrew FindlayDemocrat
WestchesterSamuel L. HolmesDemocrat
WyomingEleazer Baldwin*Whig
WyomingTruman BenedictWhig
YatesRichard H. WilliamsDemocrat

Employees