4th New York State Legislature
← 3rd 5th →
Clinton House, Poughkeepsie (2007)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York,United States
Term	July 2, 1780 – July 1, 1781
Senate
Members	24
President	{{{vp}}}
Assembly
Members	70 (de facto 65)
Speaker	Evert Bancker
Sessions
1st September 7 – October 10, 1780 2nd January 17 – March 31, 1781 3rd June 15 – July 1, 1781

The4th New York State Legislature, consisting of theNew York State Senate and theNew York State Assembly, met from September 7, 1780, to July 1, 1781, during the fourth year ofGeorge Clinton'sgovernorship, first atPoughkeepsie, then atAlbany, and finally at Poughkeepsie again.

Under the provisions of theNew 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 theAmerican Revolutionary War. Vacancies among the appointed members in the Senate should be filled by the Assembly, and vacancies in the Assembly by the Senate.

The State elections were held from April 25 to 27, 1780. Gov.George Clinton and Lt. Gov.Pierre Van Cortlandt were re-elected. Under the determination by the Constitutional Convention, the senatorsWilliam Floyd,William Smith andIsaac Stoutenburgh, whose seats were up for election, continued in office, as well as the assemblymen from Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties.Arthur Parks (Middle D.) was re-elected.Philip Schuyler was elected in the Western District. AssemblymanElkanah Day, from Cumberland County, which had seceded from New York to become a part of theVermont Republic, was elected in the Eastern District.^[1]

The State Legislature met first in Poughkeepsie, the seat of Dutchess County, on September 7, 1780, and adjourned on October 10. The Legislature reconvened at the Old City Hall in Albany, the seat of Albany County, on January 17, 1781, and adjourned on March 31. The Legislature reconvened again in Poughkeepsie, the Senate on June 15, the Assembly on June 18, and adjourned finally on July 1.

• The Southern District (9 seats) consisted ofKings,New York,Queens,Richmond,Suffolk andWestchester counties.
• The Middle District (6 seats) consisted ofDutchess,Orange andUlster counties.
• The Eastern District (3 seats) consisted ofCharlotte,Cumberland andGloucester counties.
• The Western District (6 seats) consisted ofAlbany andTryon counties.

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Elkanah Day changed from the Assembly to the Senate, but never took his seat.

• Clerk:Robert Benson

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

• Clerk:John McKesson

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [see pg. 108 for Senate districts; pg. 111 for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 159f for assemblymen]

• 1780 in New York (state)
• 1781 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