8th New York State Legislature

8th New York State Legislature
8th New York State Legislature
	The Old New York City Hall, where the Legislature met in 1784. From January 1785 on, the Congress of the Confederation met here, and later it was the venue of the first two sessions of the 1st United States Congress. The building was then renamed Federal Hall and demolished in 1812. (1798)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	July 1, 1784 – June 30, 1785
Senate
Members	24
President	Lt. Gov. Pierre Van Cortlandt
Assembly
Members	70 (de facto 65)
Speaker	David Gelston
Sessions
1st
1st	October 12, 1784 – November 29, 1784
2nd	January 24, 1785 – April 27, 1785

The 8th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from October 12, 1784, to April 27, 1785, during the eighth year of George Clinton's governorship, at New York City.

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.

Elections

The State election was held from April 27 to 29, 1784. Senators William Floyd, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Alexander McDougall (all Southern D.), and Arthur Parks (Middle D.) were re-elected; and Assemblyman Peter Van Ness (Western D.) was elected to the Senate.

Sessions

The Old Royal Exchange, in New York City, where the Legislature met in 1785.

The State Legislature first met at the Old City Hall in New York City, the Assembly on October 12, the Senate on October 18, 1784; and both Houses adjourned on November 29. In January 1785, the Congress of the Confederation met at the Old City Hall, New York City thus becoming the federal capital of the United States. When the Legislature met again, it moved to the Exchange^[1] on the corner of Broad and Water streets in New York City; the Senate met on January 24, the Assembly on January 27, 1785; and both Houses adjourned on April 27.

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 Washington, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.
The Western District (6 seats) consisted of Albany and Montgomery 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.

Senators

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

District	Senators	Term left	Notes
Southern	James Duane*	1 year	also Mayor of New York City
	Lewis Morris*	2 years
	Isaac Roosevelt*	2 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Isaac Stoutenburgh*	3 years
	Samuel Townsend*	3 years
	Stephen Ward*	3 years
	William Floyd*	4 years
	Ezra L'Hommedieu*	4 years
	Alexander McDougall*	4 years
Middle	John Haring*	1 year
	Ephraim Paine*	1 year
	William Allison*	2 years
	Joseph Gasherie*	3 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Jacobus Swartwout*	3 years
	Arthur Parks*	4 years
Eastern	Alexander Webster*	1 year
	John Williams*	2 years
	Ebenezer Russell*	4 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
Western	Henry Oothoudt*	1 year
	William B. Whiting*	1 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Jacob G. Klock*	2 years
	Abraham Yates Jr.*	2 years
	Andrew Finck*	3 years
	Peter Van Ness*	4 years

Employees

Clerk: Abraham B. Bancker

State Assembly

Districts

The City and County of Albany (10 seats)
Cumberland County (3 seats)
Dutchess County (7 seats)
Gloucester County (2 seats)
Kings County (2 seats)
Montgomery County) (6 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)
Ulster County (6 seats)
Washington County (4 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.

Assemblymen

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

County	Assemblymen	Notes
Albany	Matthew Adgate*
	Abraham Becker*
	Jacob Ford*
	Walter Livingston
	Dirck Swart*
	Israel Thompson
	Matthew Visscher
	Christopher Yates*
	Peter W. Yates
	John Younglove
Cumberland	none	No election returns from these counties^[2]
Gloucester	none	No election returns from these counties^[2]
Dutchess	Abraham Brinckerhoff
	Dirck Brinckerhoff*
	Ebenezer Cary
	Cornelius Humfrey*
	Brinton Paine
	Matthew Patterson*
	James Tallmadge
Kings	Charles Doughty
Kings	John Vanderbilt
Montgomery	Frederick C. Fox
	William Harper*
	James Livingston*
	Isaac Paris*
	Volkert Veeder*
	Christopher P. Yates*
New York	Aaron Burr
	William Denning
	Daniel Dunscomb
	William Goforth
	John Laurance	previously a member from Westchester Co.
	Peter Van Brugh Livingston
	Thomas Randall
	Henry Remsen
	Comfort Sands
Orange	Jeremiah Clark*
	Gilbert Cooper*
	John Hathorn*
	William Sickles*
Queens	Joseph Lawrence
	John Sands
	Abraham Skinner
	James Townsend*
Richmond	Cornelius Corsen
Richmond	Joshua Mersereau
Suffolk	David Gelston*	elected Speaker^[3]
	Ebenezer Platt*
	Jeffrey Smith*
	John Smith
	Thomas Youngs*
Ulster	John Cantine*
	Charles DeWitt*
	Johannes G. Hardenbergh
	John Nicholson*
	Cornelius C. Schoonmaker*
	Nathan Smith*
Washington	Albert Baker
	David Hopkins*
	Edward Savage*
	Abiel Sherwood
Westchester	Ebenezer S. Burling
	Abijah Gilbert*
	Ebenezer Lockwood
	Philip Pell Jr.*
	Ebenezer Purdy*
	Thomas Thomas*

Employees

Clerk: John McKesson

Notes

^ Annual Report of the Regents (USNY, 1870; page 712)
^ Cumberland and Gloucester counties seceded from the Province of New York in January 1777, and became part of the Vermont Republic, while the Constitutional Convention was still debating the new Constitution. The New York Constitution was approved in April 1777, not recognizing the secession. Neither county did file any election returns with the Secretary of State of New York in 1784.
^ The Civil List of 1858 lists erroneously John Hathorn as Speaker for this Assembly, this was corrected in all subsequent editions of the Civil List, see The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; page 135)

Some confusion still exists as to Speaker; New York Packet of 10/25/1784 printed a letter to Clinton from the Assembly in response to his address, and Hathorn is shown as the author and title is Speaker.

Sources

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 112f for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 162 for assemblymen]

[1] Annual Report of the Regents (USNY, 1870; page 712)

[2] Cumberland and Gloucester counties seceded from the Province of New York in January 1777, and became part of the Vermont Republic, while the Constitutional Convention was still debating the new Constitution. The New York Constitution was approved in April 1777, not recognizing the secession. Neither county did file any election returns with the Secretary of State of New York in 1784.

[3] The Civil List of 1858 lists erroneously John Hathorn as Speaker for this Assembly, this was corrected in all subsequent editions of the Civil List, see The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; page 135)

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