23rd New York State Legislature
← 22nd 24th →
The Old Albany City Hall (undated)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York,United States
Term	July 1, 1799 – June 30, 1800
Senate
Members	43
President	Lt. Gov.Stephen Van Rensselaer (Fed.)
Party control	Federalist (32-11)
Assembly
Members	108
Speaker	Dirck Ten Broeck (Fed.)
Party control	Federalist
Sessions
1st January 28, 1800 – April 8, 1800

The23rd New York State Legislature, consisting of theNew York State Senate and theNew York State Assembly, met from January 28 to April 8, 1800, during the fifth year ofJohn Jay'sgovernorship, inAlbany.

Under the provisions of theNew York Constitution of 1777, amended by the re-apportionment of March 4, 1796, Senators were elected on general tickets in the senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year about one fourth of the Senate seats came up for election. Assemblymen were elected countywide on general tickets to a one-year term, the whole assembly being renewed annually.

In 1797, Albany was declared the State capital, and all subsequent Legislatures have been meeting there ever since. In 1799, the Legislature enacted that future Legislatures meet on the last Tuesday of January of each year unless called earlier by the governor.

CongressmanJonathan N. Havens (D.-R.) died on October 25, 1799. AssemblymanJohn Smith (D.-R.) waselected in a special election in December 1799 to fill the vacancy.

In 1799, Cayuga County was split from Onondaga County, and was apportioned one seat in the Assembly, taken from Onondaga. Essex County was split from Clinton County, but remained in a double-county Assembly district.

At this time the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: theFederalists and theDemocratic-Republicans.^[1]

The State election was held from April 30 to May 2, 1799. SenatorsRichard Hatfield (Southern D.),Zina Hitchcock,Ebenezer Russell,Moses Vail (all three Eastern D.) andVincent Mathews (Western D.) were re-elected.John B. Coles (Southern D.),Isaac Bloom,John Hathorn,John Suffern (all three Middle D.) andMoss Kent (Western D.) were also elected to the Senate.

The Legislature met on January 28, 1800, at the Old City Hall in Albany; and adjourned on April 8.

FederalistDirck Ten Broeck was re-electedSpeaker without opposition.

The Legislature reduced the salary of theNew York State Comptroller from $3,000 to $2,500 whereuponSamuel Jones declined to be re-appointed. On March 12, 1800, theCouncil of Appointment chose AssemblymanJohn Vernon Henry to succeed Jones.^[2]

On March 12, 1800, a bill was proposed to divide the State into districts to electpresidential electors by popular ballot. This was rejected by the Federalist majority [vote 55 to 47], and the electors continued to be chosen by joint ballot of the State Legislature.^[3]

On March 19, 1800, U.S. SenatorJames Watson (Fed.) resigned after his appointment as Naval Officer of the Port of New York.On April 3, 1800, the Legislature electedGouverneur Morris (Fed.) to fill the vacancy.

• The Southern District (9 seats) consisted ofKings,New York,Queens,Richmond,Suffolk andWestchester counties.
• The Middle District (12 seats) consisted ofDutchess,Orange,Ulster,Columbia,Delaware andRockland counties.
• The Eastern District (11 seats) consisted ofWashington,Clinton,Rensselaer,Albany,Saratoga andEssex counties.
• The Western District (11 seats) consisted ofMontgomery,Herkimer,Ontario,Otsego,Tioga,Onondaga,Schoharie,Steuben,Chenango,Oneida andCayuga counties.

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

• Clerk:Abraham B. Bancker

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

• Clerk:James Van Ingen
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Ephraim Hunt
• Doorkeeper: Peter Hansen

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108f for Senate districts; pg. 117 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 173 for assemblymen]
• Election result Assembly, Columbia Co. at project "A New Nation Votes", compiled byPhil Lampi, hosted byTufts University Digital Library
• Election result Assembly, Dutchess Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Onondaga Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Queens Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Rensselaer Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Schoharie Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Partial election result Senate, Southern D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from New York City]
• Partial election result Senate, Middle D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Columbia and Dutchess counties]
• Partial election result Senate, Western D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Onondaga and Schoharie counties]

• 1799 in New York (state)
• 1800 in New York (state)
• New York (state) legislative sessions

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2019