86th New York State Legislature
← 85th 87th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York,United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1863
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov.David R. Floyd-Jones (D)
Temporary President	James A. Bell (R), from January 21
Party control	Republican (23-8)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	Theophilus C. Callicot (D)
Party control	split (64-64)
Sessions
1st January 6 – April 25, 1863

The86th New York State Legislature, consisting of theNew York State Senate and theNew York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 25, 1863, during the first year ofHoratio Seymour's second tenure as Governor of New York, inAlbany.

Under the provisions of theNew York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators and 128 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts were made up of entire counties, except New York County (four districts) and Kings County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: theRepublican Party and theDemocratic Party. The Democrats split over the civil war issue. The "War Democrats" and the Republicans formed a coalition known as the "Republican Union," and supportedPresidentAbraham Lincoln and the Union Army's war effort; the rump Democratic Party opposed the war, favoring a compromise with the South, and became known as "Peace Democrats" or "Copperheads." TheConstitutional Union (consisting of former "Silver Gray"Whigs andKnow Nothings) held a state convention and joined the Peace Democrats.

The1862 New York state election was held on November 4. With a large contingent of soldiers at the Civil War front, who did not vote at the state election, surprisingly all five statewide elective offices up for election were carried by the Democrats, including Gov.Horatio Seymour and Lt. Gov.David R. Floyd-Jones. The approximate party strength at this election, expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats/Constitutional Union 307,000; Republican Union 296,000.

64 Union Republicans and 64 Democrats were elected to the Assembly, resulting in a split.

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol inAlbany on January 6, 1863; and adjourned on April 25.

On January 21,James A. Bell (R) was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate.

On January 26, after three weeks of deadlock, DemocratTheophilus C. Callicot (D) was electedSpeaker on the 92nd ballot, receiving the votes of the Republicans. Callicot had talked to the Republican leaderChauncey M. Depew, and offered a deal: the Republicans should elect him Speaker, and he would help them to elect a U.S. Senator.

On February 3,the Legislature elected Ex-GovernorEdwin D. Morgan (R) to succeedPreston King (R) asU.S. Senator from New York for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1863.

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

Party affiliations follow the vote for U.S. Senator.

• Clerk:James Terwilliger
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard U. Owens
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Caleb S. Babcock
• Doorkeeper: Orville Griffin
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles Johnson
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Sanders Wilson
• Third Assistant Doorkeeper: Giles H. Holden

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

Party affiliations follow the original vote for Speaker.

• Clerk:Joseph B. Cushman
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Levi M. Gano
• Doorkeeper: Charles E. Young
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Alexander Frier
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Willard L. Cook

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; see pg. 439 for Senate districts; pg. 443 for senators; pg. 450–463 for Assembly districts; and pg. 497ff for assemblymen)
• Journal of the Senate (86th Session) (1863)
• Journal of the Assembly (86th Session) (1863)
• Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and the Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1862 and '63 by William D. Murphy (1863)

• New York (state) legislative sessions
• 1863 in New York (state)
• 1863 U.S. legislative sessions

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• Use American English from February 2025
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• Use mdy dates from October 2019