3rd New York State Legislature

The 3rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from August 18, 1779, to July 2, 1780, during the third year of George Clinton's governorship, first at Kingston, then at Albany, and finally at Kingston again.

3rd New York State Legislature
← 2nd 4th →
Senate House, Kingston (2007)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	July 1, 1779 – July 2, 1780
Senate
Members	24
President	Lieutenant Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt
Assembly
Members	70 (de facto 68)
Speaker	Evert Bancker
Sessions
1st August 18 – October 25, 1779 2nd January 27 – March 17, 1780 3rd April 22 – July 2, 1780

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 27 to 29, 1779. Under the determination by the Constitutional Convention, the senators Jonathan Lawrence, Lewis Morris and Richard Morris, whose seats were up for election, continued in office, as well as the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties. Zephaniah Platt (Middle D.) was re-elected. Ephraim Paine (Middle D.) and Abraham Ten Broeck (Western D.) were also elected to the Senate. In the Eastern District, a special election was held to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of John Williams, and Assemblyman Elishama Tozer was elected to a one-year term.

Sessions

The Old Albany City Hall

The State Legislature met first in Kingston, the seat of Ulster County. The Assembly met on August 18, the Senate on August 24, 1779; and both adjourned on October 25. The Legislature reconvened at the Old City Hall in Albany, the seat of Albany County, on January 27, 1780; and the Senate adjourned on March 14, the Assembly on March 17. The Legislature reconvened again in Kingston on April 22, and adjourned finally on July 2. Senator Richard Morris (Southern D.) was appointed Chief Judge of the New York Supreme Court, and thus vacated his seat to which Ex-Assemblyman Stephen Ward was appointed.

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.^[1]
• 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. Elishama Tozer changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

District	Senators	Term left	Notes
Southern	William Floyd*	1 year	appointed by Constitutional Convention
	William Smith*	1 year	appointed by Constitutional Convention
	Isaac Stoutenburgh*	1 year	appointed by State Assembly
	Sir James Jay*	2 years	appointed by State Assembly
	Isaac Roosevelt*	3 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; elected to the Council of Appointment
	John Morin Scott*	3 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention; also Secretary of State of New York
	Jonathan Lawrence*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Lewis Morris*	4 years	holding over on appointment by Constitutional Convention
	Richard Morris*	4 years	holding over on appointment by State Assembly; appointed Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court on October 23, 1779
	Stephen Ward		appointed by the State Assembly on February 15, 1780, in place of Richard Morris
Middle	Arthur Parks*	1 year
	Levi Pawling*	2 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Jesse Woodhull*	2 years
	Henry Wisner*	3 years
	Ephraim Paine	4 years
	Zephaniah Platt*	4 years
Eastern	Elishama Tozer*	1 year	elected to fill vacancy, in place of John Williams; attended only the 3rd session
	Alexander Webster*	2 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	(Ebenezer Russell)*	3 years	did not attend
Western	Anthony Van Schaick*	1 year
	Jellis Fonda*	2 years
	Rinier Mynderse*	2 years	elected to the Council of Appointment
	Jacob G. Klock*	3 years
	Abraham Yates Jr.*	3 years
	Abraham Ten Broeck	4 years	also Mayor of Albany

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	Flores Bancker
	John Bay
	James Gordon*
	Cornelius Humfrey
	Hugh Mitchell
	Henry Oothoudt
	Henry Quackenbos
	Isaac Vrooman
	William B. Whiting*
	Phinehas Whiteside
Charlotte	Albert Baker*
	John Grover
	David Hopkins*
	Noah Payn
Cumberland[2]	Elkanah Day	attended "only a few days at the beginning of the session"[3]
	John Sessions
	Micah Townsend	did not attend the 3rd session
Dutchess	Egbert Benson*	also New York State Attorney General
	Dirck Brinckerhoff*
	Ananias Cooper[4]
	Samuel Dodge*
	Henry Ludington
	Brinton Paine
	Nathaniel Sacket
Gloucester	none	No election returns from this county[5]
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; elected Speaker
	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	John Coe
	John Hathorn
	Thomas Moffat
	Bezaleel Seely Jr.
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	Abraham Copeman
	Peter S. Deygart
	Frederick Fox
	Jacob Gardenier
	Melkert Van Deuzen
	Peter Waggoner Jr.
Ulster	Robert Boyd Jr.
	John Cantine
	Johannes G. Hardenbergh
	Thomas Palmer
	Cornelius C. Schoonmaker*
	Nathan Smith*
Westchester	Samuel Drake
	Abijah Gilbert
	Zebediah Mills*
	William Paulding
	Philip Pell Jr.
	Ebenezer Purdy

Employees

• Clerk: John McKesson
• Sergeant-at-Arms: John Tillman Jr.
• Doorkeeper: Richard Ten Eyck