115th New York State Legislature


The 115th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 26, 1892, during the first year of Roswell P. Flower'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 Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In New York City, the Democrats were split into three factions: Tammany Hall, the "County Democracy" and the "New York Democracy". The Prohibition Party and the Socialist Labor Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1891 was held on November 3. Roswell P. Flower was elected Governor; and Speaker William F. Sheehan was elected Lieutenant Governor, both Democrats. The other five 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 585,000; Republican 535,000; Prohibition 30,000; and Socialist Labor 15,000.
This was the first time that seats in the Legislature were contested in the courts. Previously, since Independence in 1777, seats could be contested only in the Legislature, after the beginning of the session, and it took usually a long time to come to a conclusion. Most contestants whose claims were found to be correct, were seated only a few days before the end of the session. Now it became possible to take the contest to the courts, swiftly being decided by New York Court of Appeals, before the session began. At this time, the Court of Appeals was composed of five Democrats and two Republicans, and ruled in favor of Democrats Edward B. Osborne, John A. Nichols and Charles E. Walker who were referred to in the press as "usurpers", holding their seats by fraud. Seven more seats were then contested in the Legislature.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1892; and adjourned on April 25.
Robert P. Bush was elected Speaker with 65 votes against 55 for James W. Husted.
Jacob A. Cantor was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate with 15 votes against 14 for George Z. Erwin.
On January 13, the Democratic senators met in caucus to discuss the scheme of unseating Republicans John H. Derby and Harvey J. Donaldson. Senator William L. Brown refused to go along with the scheme.
On January 14, Senators George Z. Erwin, Edmund O'Connor and Charles T. Saxton refused to vote on a substitute Enumeration Bill, and were declared in contempt by the Democratic majority.
On January 20, the Enumeration Bill was finally passed. It had been due in 1885, but Republicans and Democrats could not agree on the terms. The Census Bill passed by Republican majorities in the Legislature of 1885 was vetoed by Gov. David B. Hill. In 1892, for the first time since 1885 the majorities in both Houses of the Legislature and the Governor were of the same party, and the enumeration bill was rushed through. The enumeration was needed as a basis for the re-apportionment of the Senate and Assembly districts.
On February 10, the Legislature elected James F. Crooker as Superintendent of Public Instruction, with 81 votes against 71 for Andrew S. Draper, to succeed Draper on April 7 for a term of three years.
The Legislature met for a special session on April 25, at 8.30 p.m., to consider the re-apportionment of the Senate districts and the number of assemblymen per county.
On April 26, the Re-Apportionment Bill was passed by a vote of 17 to 1 in the Senate; and by a vote of 67 to 58 in the Assembly. Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Jefferson, Niagara, Oneida, Oswego, Otsego, Saratoga, Ulster, Washington and Wayne counties lost one seat each; St. Lawrence County lost two seats; Erie and Queens counties gained one seat each; and Kings and New York counties gained six seats each.
On August 5, Monroe County Judge Rumsey declared the Re-Apportionment Bill as unconstitutional and void.
On September 23, Supreme Court Justice Stephen L. Mayham declared the Re-Apportionment Bill as constitutional.
On October 13, the Court of Appeals upheld the Re-Apportionment Bill by a party vote of 5 to 2.

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. Joseph Aspinall, Martin T. McMahon, Charles P. McClelland, Edward B. Osborne, Cornelius R. Parsons and Matthias Endres changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on..."
DistrictSenatorPartyNotes
1stEdward Floyd-JonesDemocratChairman of Game Laws
2ndJohn McCartyDemocratChairman of State Prisons; and of Public Buildings
3rdJoseph Aspinall*Republican
4thPatrick H. McCarren*DemocratChairman of Commerce and Navigation; and of Public Expenditures
5thWilliam L. Brown*Tammany Dem.Chairman of Affairs of Cities; and of Grievances
6thJohn F. Ahearn*DemocratChairman of Banks; and of Public Printing
7thGeorge F. Roesch*Tammany Dem.Chairman of Judiciary
8thMartin T. McMahon*Tammany Dem.Chairman of General Laws; and of Militia
9thEdward P. HaganTammany Dem.Chairman of Claims
10thJacob A. Cantor*Tammany Dem.elected President pro tempore; Chairman of Finance; and of Rules
11thGeorge W. PlunkittTammany Dem.Chairman of Miscellaneous Corporations; and of Engrossed Bills
12thCharles P. McClelland*DemocratChairman of Insurance; and of Joint Library
13thWilliam P. Richardson*Republicancontested by C. Frederick Lamont
14thClarence E. BloodgoodDemocratChairman of Roads and Bridges; and of Poor Laws
15thEdward B. Osborne*Democratcontested in the courts by Gilbert A. Deane ; Chairman of
Affairs of Villages; and of Erection and Division of Towns and Counties
16thJohn H. DerbyRepublicancontested by Michael F. Collins
17thAmasa J. Parker, Jr.DemocratChairman of Taxation and Retrenchment; and of Public Health
18thHarvey J. Donaldson*Republicancontested by Edward H. Hoyt
19thLouis W. Emerson*Republican
20thGeorge Z. Erwin*RepublicanMinority Leader
21stJoseph MullinRepublican
22ndHenry J. Coggeshall*Republican
23rdJohn E. SmithRepublican
24thEdmund O'Connor*Republican
25thJohn A. NicholsDemocratcontested in the courts by Rufus T. Peck ;
Chairman of Salt; and of Agriculture
26thThomas Hunter*Republican
27thCharles E. WalkerDemocratseated in place of Franklin D. Sherwood ;
Chairman of Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties; and of Manufactures
28thCharles T. Saxton*Republican
29thCornelius R. Parsons*Republican
30thGreenleaf S. Van Gorder*Republicancontested by Harvey Arnold
31stMatthias Endres*DemocratChairman of Canals; and of Indian Affairs
32ndJames T. EdwardsInd. Rep./Dem.Chairman of Railroads; and of Public Education

Employees

Assemblymen

The asterisk denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on..."

Employees