28th New York State Legislature
← 27th 29th →
The Old Albany City Hall (undated)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York,United States
Term	July 1, 1804 – June 30, 1805
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov.John Broome (Dem.-Rep.)
Party control	Democratic-Republican (26-4)
Assembly
Members	100
Speaker	Alexander Sheldon (Dem.-Rep.)
Party control	Democratic-Republican
Sessions
1st November 6 – 12, 1804 2nd January 23 – April 10, 1805

The28th New York State Legislature, consisting of theNew York State Senate and theNew York State Assembly, met from November 6, 1804, to April 10, 1805, during the first year ofMorgan Lewis'sgovernorship, inAlbany.

Under the provisions of theNew York Constitution of 1777, amended by the Constitutional Convention of 1801, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in the four senatorial districts for four-year terms. They were divided into four classes, and every year eight 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.

In 1804,Seneca County was split from Cayuga County, and was apportioned one seat in the Assembly, taken from Cayuga.

U.S. SenatorJohn Armstrong resigned on June 30, 1804, after his appointment asU.S. Minister to France.

At this time the politicians were divided into two opposing political parties: theFederalists and theDemocratic-Republicans.^[1] The Democratic-Republican Party was split into two opposing factions: the "Regulars" who supportedMorgan Lewis, and the "Burrites" who supported Vice PresidentAaron Burr. Lewis, the Chief Justice of theNew York Supreme Court, had been nominated for Governor by his party, but Burr, after being dropped from the presidential ticket in favor of Gov. George Clinton, ran against Lewis. Burr also received the support of the majority of the Federalists although his enemyAlexander Hamilton, the leader of the Federalists, advocated against it and supported Lewis.

The State election was held from April 24 to 26, 1804.Morgan Lewis was electedGovernor of New York, and State SenatorJohn Broome was electedLieutenant Governor of New York.

SenatorsWilliam Denning andEbenezer Purdy (both Southern D.) were re-elected.Samuel Brewster,Stephen Hogeboom (both Middle D.) andHenry Huntington (Western D.); and AssemblymenThomas Thomas (Southern D.),Stephen Thorn (Eastern D.) andJedediah Peck (Western D.) were also elected to Senate. All eight were "regular" Democratic-Republicans.

The Legislature met at the Old City Hall inAlbany on November 6, 1804, to electpresidential electors; and adjourned on November 12.

Dem.-Rep.Alexander Sheldon was re-electedSpeaker.

On November 9, 1804, the Legislature elected 19 presidential electors, all Democratic-Republicans:William Floyd,Sylvester Dering,James Fairlie,Cornelius Bergen,John Haring,Ezra Thompson,Major John Wood,Conrad E. Elmendorf,Stephen Miller,Albert Pawling,Isaac Sargent,Thomas Brooks,Matthias B. Hildreth,Jonas Earll, Sr.,Joseph Ellicott,Henry Quackenbos,Adam Comstock,Abraham Bancker and ???.^[2] Theycast their votes forThomas Jefferson andGeorge Clinton.

On November 9, 1804,the Legislature electedSamuel L. Mitchill (Dem.-Rep.) to succeedJohn Armstrong in the U.S. Senate.

The Legislature met for the regular session on January 23, 1805; and adjourned on April 10.

During this session theMerchant's Bank of New York was chartered. The bank had been founded by Federalists in competition to theBank of the Manhattan Company which was run by Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican majority of the Assembly of 1804 had not only refused to grant a charter, but actually ordered the Merchant's Bank to shut down by May 1805. During this session, the bank bribed enough legislators to have the charter approved, although the Democratic-Republican leaders advocated strongly against it. Gov. Morgan Lewis, who had been Chief Justice and who was wealthy beyond corruptibility, spoke out in favor of granting the charter. This was resented by the party leadersDeWitt Clinton andAmbrose Spencer, and eventually led to a split of the party into "Lewisites" and "Clintonians".^[3]

• The Southern District (6 seats) consisted ofKings,New York,Queens,Richmond,Suffolk andWestchester counties.
• The Middle District (8 seats) consisted ofDutchess,Orange,Ulster,Columbia,Delaware,Rockland andGreene counties.
• The Eastern District (9 seats) consisted ofWashington,Clinton,Rensselaer,Albany,Saratoga,Essex andMontgomery counties.
• The Western District (9 seats) consisted ofHerkimer,Ontario,Otsego,Tioga,Onondaga,Schoharie,Steuben,Chenango,Oneida,Cayuga,Genesee andSeneca counties.

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Thomas Thomas, Stephen Thorn and Jedediah peck changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

• Clerk:Henry I. Bleecker

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

• Clerk:Solomon Southwick
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Benjamin Haight
• Doorkeeper: Benjamin Whipple

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108f for Senate districts; pg. 119 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 178 for assemblymen; pg. 320 and 324 for presidential election]
• The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York, from the Ratification of the Federal Constitution to 1840 byJabez D. Hammond (4th ed., Vol. 1, H. & E. Phinney,Cooperstown, 1846; pages 202-221)
• Election result Assembly, Albany Co. at project "A New Nation Votes", compiled byPhil Lampi, hosted byTufts University Digital Library
• Election result Assembly, Clinton Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Delaware Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Dutchess Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Essex Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Herkimer Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Kings Co. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives wrong result]
• Election result Assembly, Montgomery Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Onondaga Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Orange 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" [gives wrong first name "John" instead of "James" L. Hogeboom]
• Election result Assembly, Saratoga Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Election result Assembly, Ulster Co. at project "A New Nation Votes"
• Partial election result Senate, Southern D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Richmond, Kings and Suffolk counties]
• Partial election result Senate, Middle D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Delaware, Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties]
• Partial election result Senate, Eastern D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [omits votes from Washington Co.]
• Partial election result Senate, Western D. at project "A New Nation Votes" [gives only votes from Herkimer Co.]

• 1804 in New York (state)
• 1805 in New York (state)
• New York (state) legislative sessions
• 1804 U.S. legislative sessions

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