2nd New York State Legislature

2nd New York State Legislature
← 1st 3rd →
Clinton House, one of the buildings used by the State government during sessions at Poughkeepsie (2007)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	July 1, 1778 – June 30, 1779
Senate
Members	24
President	Lt. Gov. Pierre Van Cortlandt
Assembly
Members	70 (de facto 65)
Speaker	Walter Livingston
Sessions
1st October 13 – November 6, 1778 2nd January 27 – March 17, 1779

The 2nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from October 13, 1778, to March 17, 1779, during the second year of George Clinton's governorship, at Poughkeepsie.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1777, the State Senators were elected on general tickets in the senatorial districts, and were then divided into four classes. Six senators each drew lots for a term of 1, 2, 3 or 4 years and, beginning at the election in April 1778, every year six Senate seats came up for election to a four-year term. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole assembly being renewed annually.

On May 8, 1777, the Constitutional Convention had appointed the senators from the Southern District, and the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties—the area which was under British control—and determined that these appointees serve in the Legislature until elections could be held in those areas, presumably after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Vacancies among the appointed members in the Senate should be filled by the Assembly, and vacancies in the Assembly by the Senate.

Elections

The State elections were held from April 28 to 30, 1778. Under the determination by the Constitutional Convention, the senators Isaac Roosevelt and John Morin Scott, whose seats were up for election, continued in office, as well as the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties. Two vacancies in the Senate—caused by the death of Philip Livingston and the election of Pierre Van Cortlandt as Lieutenant Governor—were filled by the State Assembly. Henry Wisner (Middle D.) and Abraham Yates Jr. (Western D.) were re-elected. Assemblymen Ebenezer Russell (Eastern D.) and Jacob G. Klock (Western D.) were elected to the Senate.

The State Legislature met in Poughkeepsie, the seat of Dutchess County, on October 13, 1778, and adjourned on November 6. The Senate reconvened from January 27 to March 17, the Assembly from January 28 to March 16, 1779. Due to the difficult situation during the American Revolutionary War, four senators and several assemblymen could not attend the meeting.

State Senate

Districts

• The Southern District (9 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
• The Middle District (6 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties.
• The Eastern District (3 seats) consisted of Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.
• The Western District (6 seats) consisted of Albany and Tryon 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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Ebenezer Russell and Jacob G. Klock changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Notes
Southern	Jonathan Lawrence*	1 year	appointed by Constitutional Convention; elected to the Council of Appointment
	Lewis Morris*	1 year	appointed by Constitutional Convention
	Richard Morris*	1 year	appointed by State Assembly
	William Floyd*	2 years	appointed by Constitutional Convention
	William Smith*	2 years	appointed by Constitutional Convention
	Isaac Stoutenburgh	2 years	appointed by State Assembly on October 18, 1778, to fill vacancy, in place of Pierre Van Cortlandt
	Sir James Jay	3 years	appointed by State Assembly on October 7, 1778, to fill vacancy, in place of Philip Livingston
	Isaac Roosevelt*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	John Morin Scott*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; also Secretary of State of New York
Middle	Jonathan Landon*	1 year
	Zephaniah Platt*	1 year	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Arthur Parks*	2 years
	Levi Pawling*	3 years
	Jesse Woodhull*	3 years
	Henry Wisner*	4 years
Eastern	John Williams*	2 years	expelled on February 8, 1779
	Alexander Webster*	3 years
	Ebenezer Russell*	4 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
Western	Dirck W. Ten Broeck*	1 year	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Anthony Van Schaick*	2 years
	Jellis Fonda*	3 years
	Rinier Mynderse*	3 years
	Jacob G. Klock*	4 years
	Abraham Yates Jr.*	4 years

Employees

• Clerk: Robert Benson

State Assembly

Districts

• The City and County of Albany (10 seats)
• Charlotte County (4 seats)
• Cumberland County (3 seats)
• Dutchess County (7 seats)
• Gloucester County (2 seats)
• Kings County (2 seats)
• The City and County of New York (9 seats)
• Orange County (4 seats)
• Queens County (4 seats)
• Richmond County (2 seats)
• Suffolk County (5 seats)
• Tryon County (6 seats)
• Ulster County (6 seats)
• Westchester County (6 seats)

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. In 1784, Charlotte Co. was renamed Washington Co., and Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co.

Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.

County	Assemblymen	Notes
Albany	Leonard Gansevoort
	James Gordon*
	Walter Livingston*	re-elected Speaker
	Stephen J. Schuyler*
	John Tayler*
	Jacobus Teller
	Killian Van Rensselaer*
	Robert Van Rensselaer*
	Peter Vrooman*
	William B. Whiting*
Charlotte	Albert Baker
	Ebenezer Clarke*
	David Hopkins
	Elishama Tozer	unsuccessfully contested by John Rowan
Cumberland	none	No election returns from these counties
Gloucester
Dutchess	Egbert Benson*	also New York State Attorney General
	Dirck Brinckerhoff*
	Joseph Crane Jr.
	Samuel Dodge
	Anthony Hoffman*
	Andrew Moorhouse*
	Jacobus Swartwout*
Kings	William Boerum*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Henry Williams*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
New York	Evert Bancker*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	John Berrien*	holding over on appointment by the State Senate
	Abraham Brasher*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Daniel Dunscomb*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Robert Harpur*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Frederick Jay*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Abraham P. Lott*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Jacobus Van Zandt*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Peter P. Van Zandt*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Orange	Jeremiah Clark*
	Benjamin Coe
	Peter Ogilvie
	Roeluf Van Houten*
Queens	Benjamin Birdsall*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Benjamin Coe*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Philip Edsall*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Daniel Lawrence*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Richmond	Joshua Mersereau*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	vacant
Suffolk	David Gelston*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Ezra L'Hommedieu*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Burnet Miller*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Thomas Tredwell*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Thomas Wickes*	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
Tryon	George Henry Bell
	John Newkirk
	Abraham Van Horne*
	Peter Waggoner
	Moses Younglove
	vacant
Ulster	Andries Bevier	unsuccessfully contested by Thomas Palmer
	Matthew Rea*
	Cornelius C. Schoonmaker*
	Nathan Smith
	Johannis Snyder*
	vacant
Westchester	Joseph Benedict
	Thaddeus Crane*
	Israel Honeywell Jr.*
	Ebenezer Lockwood
	Zebediah Mills*
	Stephen Ward

Employees

• Clerk: John McKesson
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Stephen Hendrickson
• Doorkeeper: Richard Ten Eyck

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 110 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 157f for assemblymen]