7th New York State Legislature
# 7th New York State Legislature

The 7th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 21 to May 12, 1784, during the seventh year of George Clinton's governorship, at New York City.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New 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 the American Revolutionary War. The war ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783. The British forces left New York City on November 25, 1783, and subsequently a special election was held to fill the seats which had been occupied by appointment.

## Elections

The State election was held from April 29 to May 1, 1783. Gov. George Clinton and Lt. Gov. Pierre Van Cortlandt were re-elected again. Joseph Gasherie, Jacobus Swartwout (both Middle D.) and Assemblyman Andrew Finck (Western D.) were elected to the Senate.

## Sessions

The State Legislature met in New York City from January 21 to May 12, 1784. On January 27, the newly elected State senators from the Southern District drew lots to define their term lengths. On April 2, the Legislature changed the name of Charlotte County to Washington County, and Tryon County to Montgomery County.

## State Senate

### Districts

* The Southern District (9 seats) consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
* The Middle District (6 seats) consisted of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties.
* The Eastern District (3 seats) consisted of Charlotte (renamed Washington), Cumberland and Gloucester counties.
* The Western District (6 seats) consisted of Albany and Tryon (renamed Montgomery counties.

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

### Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Ezra L'Hommedieu, Jacobus Swartwout and Andrew Finck changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

| District | Senators | Term left | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Southern | William Floyd* | 1 year | |
| Southern | Ezra L'Hommedieu* | 1 year | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Southern | Alexander McDougall | 1 year | |
| Southern | James Duane* | 2 years | from February 1784 also Mayor of New York City |
| Southern | Lewis Morris* | 3 years | |
| Southern | Isaac Roosevelt* | 3 years | |
| Southern | Isaac Stoutenburgh* | 4 years | |
| Southern | Samuel Townsend | 4 years | |
| Southern | Stephen Ward* | 4 years | |
| Middle | Arthur Parks* | 1 year | |
| Middle | John Haring* | 2 years | |
| Middle | Ephraim Paine* | 2 years | |
| Middle | William Allison* | 3 years | |
| Middle | Joseph Gasherie | 4 years | |
| Middle | Jacobus Swartwout* | 4 years | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Eastern | (Elkanah Day)* | 1 year | did not attend |
| Eastern | Alexander Webster* | 2 years | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Eastern | John Williams* | 3 years | |
| Western | Philip Schuyler* | 1 year | also New York State Surveyor General |
| Western | Henry Oothoudt* | 2 years | |
| Western | William B. Whiting* | 2 years | |
| Western | Jacob G. Klock* | 3 years | |
| Western | Abraham Yates Jr.* | 3 years | elected to the Council of Appointment |
| Western | Andrew Finck* | 4 years | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Robert Benson until February 18, 1784
   * Abraham B. Bancker

## State Assembly

### Districts

* The City and County of Albany (10 seats)
* Charlotte County (renamed Washington County (4 seats)
* Cumberland County (3 seats)
* Dutchess County (7 seats)
* Gloucester County (2 seats)
* Kings County (2 seats)
* The City and County of New York (9 seats)
* Orange County (4 seats)
* Queens County (4 seats)
* Richmond County (2 seats)
* Suffolk County (5 seats)
* Tryon County (renamed Montgomery County) (6 seats)
* Ulster County (6 seats)
* Westchester County (6 seats)

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

### Assemblymen

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

| County | Assemblymen | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| Albany | Matthew Adgate* | |
| Albany | Abraham Becker | |
| Albany | Abraham Cuyler | |
| Albany | Jacob Ford* | |
| Albany | James Gordon | |
| Albany | John Lansing Jr.* | |
| Albany | Peter Schuyler | |
| Albany | Dirck Swart* | |
| Albany | Peter Van Ness* | |
| Albany | Christopher Yates* | |
| Charlotte (renamed Washington) | David Hopkins* | |
| Charlotte (renamed Washington) | Hamilton McCollister* | |
| Charlotte (renamed Washington) | Ebenezer Russell | |
| Charlotte (renamed Washington) | Edward Savage | |
| Cumberland | Joel Bigelow | |
| Cumberland | Elijah Prouty | |
| Cumberland | William Shattuck | |
| Dutchess | Dirck Brinckerhoff | |
| Dutchess | Thomas Dennis | |
| Dutchess | Anthony Hoffman | |
| Dutchess | Cornelius Humfrey* | |
| Dutchess | Ebenezer Husted* | |
| Dutchess | Matthew Patterson* | |
| Dutchess | Thomas Storm* | |
| Gloucester | none | No election returns from this county |
| Kings | Johannes E. Lott | |
| Kings | Rutger Van Brunt | |
| New York | Robert Harpur* | |
| New York | Henry Hughes | |
| New York | John Lamb | vacated his seat on March 22, 1784, upon appointment as Collector of the Port of New York |
| New York | William Malcom* | previously member from Ulster County |
| New York | Henry Rutgers | |
| New York | Isaac Sears | |
| New York | John Stagg* | previously member from Orange Co. |
| New York | Peter P. Van Zandt* | |
| New York | Marinus Willett | seat declared vacant on February 10, 1784, upon appointment as Sheriff of New York County |
| Orange | Jeremiah Clark* | |
| Orange | Gilbert Cooper* | |
| Orange | John Hathorn* | elected Speaker |
| Orange | William Sickles | |
| Queens | Benjamin Coe* | |
| Queens | Hendrick Onderdonck | |
| Queens | Samuel Riker | |
| Queens | James Townsend | |
| Richmond | Adrian Bancker | |
| Richmond | Johannes Van Wagenen | |
| Suffolk | John Brush | |
| Suffolk | David Gelston* | |
| Suffolk | Ebenezer Platt | |
| Suffolk | Jeffrey Smith | |
| Suffolk | Thomas Youngs | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | Abraham Copeman | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | William Harper | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | James Livingston | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | Isaac Paris | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | Volkert Veeder | |
| Tryon (renamed Montgomery) | Christopher P. Yates | |
| Ulster | John Cantine | |
| Ulster | Charles DeWitt* | |
| Ulster | James Hunter* | |
| Ulster | John Nicholson* | |
| Ulster | Cornelius C. Schoonmaker* | |
| Ulster | Nathan Smith | |
| Westchester | Abijah Gilbert* | |
| Westchester | Samuel Haight* | |
| Westchester | Zebediah Mills* | |
| Westchester | Philip Pell | |
| Westchester | Ebenezer Purdy* | |
| Westchester | Thomas Thomas* | |

### Employees

* Clerk: John McKesson
