68th New York State Legislature
← 67th 69th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York,United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1845
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov.Addison Gardiner (D)
Party control	Democratic (27-4-1)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Horatio Seymour (D)
Party control	Democratic (67-45-16)
Sessions
1st January 7 – May 14, 1845

The68th New York State Legislature, consisting of theNew York State Senate and theNew York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 14, 1845, during the first year ofSilas Wright's governorship, inAlbany.

Under the provisions of theNew York Constitution of 1821, 32 Senators were elected on general tickets in eight 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.

On May 6, 1844, the Legislature enacted to reduce the number ofcanal commissioners from 6 to 4, and that the canal commissioners be elected statewide by popular ballot.

U.S. SenatorNathaniel P. Tallmadge (W) resigned his seat on June 17, 1844, to take office as Governor of the Wisconsin Territory. U.S. SenatorSilas Wright (D) was elected Governor of New York, and resigned his seat on November 26, 1844. On November 30, Gov.William C. Bouck appointed Lt. Gov.Daniel S. Dickinson (D) and State SenatorHenry A. Foster (D) to fill the two vacancies temporarily.

At this time there were two major political parties: theDemocratic Party and theWhig Party. The Democratic Party was split into two factions:the "Barnburners" and the "Hunkers." The radical abolitionists appeared as theLiberty Party. In the First District, theAmerican Republican Party nominated tickets for the Senate and Assembly. About this time theAnti-Rent War began, and the Anti-Renters cross-endorsed Whigs or Democrats, according to their opinion on the rent issue.

The Democratic state convention met on September 4 atSyracuse, and nominated U.S. SenatorSilas Wright for governor,Addison Gardiner for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged toJames K. Polk.

The Whig state convention met on September 11 at Syracuse, and nominatedMillard Fillmore for governor,Samuel J. Wilkin for lieutenant governor, and an electoral ticket pledged toHenry Clay.

The1844 New York state election was held on November 5. Silas Wright and Addison Gardiner were elected governor and lieutenant governor, and four Democrats were elected canal commissioners. Also the Democratic electoral ticket won, and New York's 36 votes were cast forJames K. Polk andGeorge M. Dallas.

State SenatorRobert Denniston (2nd D.) was re-elected.George Folsom (1st D.),John P. Beekman (3rd D.),Augustus C. Hand (4th D.),Enoch B. Talcott (5th D.),George D. Beers (6th D.),Henry J. Sedgwick (7th D.) andCarlos Emmons (8th D.) were also elected to the Senate. Folsom was an American Republican, Emmons was a Whig, the other six were Democrats.

On January 6, the Democratic assemblymen met in caucus and nominated Horatio Seymour (Hunker) for Speaker with 35 votes against 30 for William C. Crain (Barnburner).

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol inAlbany on January 7, 1845; and adjourned on May 14.

Horatio Seymour (D) was electedSpeaker.

On January 18,the Legislature electedJohn A. Dix (Barnb.) to succeedHenry A. Foster (Hunk.) as U.S. Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Silas Wright; andDaniel S. Dickinson (Hunker) to succeed himself, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. SenatorNathaniel P. Tallmadge.

On February 3, the Legislature re-elected State ComptrollerAzariah C. Flagg (D); and electedNathaniel S. Benton (Hunker) to succeedSamuel Young (Barnb.) as Secretary of State;Benjamin Enos (Hunker) to succeedThomas Farrington (Barnb.) as State Treasurer;John Van Buren (Barnb.) to succeedGeorge P. Barker (D) as Attorney General; andHugh Halsey (Barnb.) to succeedNathaniel Jones (D) as Surveyor General.

On February 4, the Legislature re-elected U.S. SenatorDaniel S. Dickinson (Hunker) to a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1845.

On May 13, an "Act recommending a Convention of the people of this State" was passed, calling for a convention to amend theState Constitution. This bill had been debated throughout the whole session, and was finally approved by the votes of the Barnburners, Whigs and American Republicans, against fierce opposition of the Hunkers.

• The First District (4 seats) consisted ofKings,New York andRichmond counties.
• The Second District (4 seats) consisted ofDutchess,Orange,Putnam,Queens,Rockland,Suffolk,Sullivan,Ulster andWestchester counties.
• The Third District (4 seats) consisted ofAlbany,Columbia,Delaware,Greene,Rensselaer,Schenectady andSchoharie counties.
• The Fourth District (4 seats) consisted ofClinton,Essex,Franklin,Fulton,Hamilton,Herkimer,Montgomery,St. Lawrence,Saratoga,Warren andWashington counties.
• The Fifth District (4 seats) consisted ofJefferson,Lewis,Madison,Oneida,Oswego andOtsego counties.
• The Sixth District (4 seats) consisted ofAllegany,Broome,Cattaraugus,Chemung,Chenango,Livingston,Steuben,Tioga andTompkins counties.
• The Seventh District (4 seats) consisted ofCayuga,Cortland,Onondaga,Ontario,Seneca,Wayne andYates counties.
• The Eighth District (4 seats) consisted ofChautauqua,Erie,Genesee,Monroe,Niagara,Orleans andWyoming counties.

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

• Clerk:Isaac R. Elwood
• Deputy Clerk: Hiram Leonard
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles Niven, until February 1
  • Charles Bryan, from February 1
• Doorkeeper: Jared S. Halsey
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Martin Miller
• Janitor: Burgess Wands
• Messengers: John H. Finigan, Joseph Courtney Jr.

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

Party affiliations follow thestatement given by theSchenectady Cabinet.

• Clerk:James R. Rose
• Sergeant-at-Arms: David B. Grout
• Doorkeeper: Elbridge B. Fenn
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Israel B. Neahr
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Isaac C. Sheldon

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 and 441 for Senate districts; pg. 134f for senators; pg. 148f for Assembly districts; pg. 230f for assemblymen; pg. 322 and 330 for presidential election]
• Political History of the State of New York from January 1, 1841, to January 1, 1847, Vol III, including the Life of Silas Wright (Hall & Dickson, Syracuse NY, 1848; pg. 503 to 570)
• Journal of the Senate (68th Session) (1845)
• The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics 1839 to 1865 by Charles W. McCurdy (The University of South Carolina Press, 2001; pg. 162 and 362)

• New York (state) legislative sessions
• 1845 in New York (state)
• 1845 U.S. legislative sessions

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