April 23-25, 1816 1818 → 22 5 | 21 6 1 1 | |
The 1816 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held from April 23 to 25, 1816, to elect 27 U.S. Representatives to represent the State of New York in the United States House of Representatives of the 15th United States Congress. At the same time, a vacancy was filled in the 14th United States Congress.
Contents
Background
27 U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1814 to a term in the 14th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1815. Representative-elect Benjamin Pond died on October 6, 1814, and Asa Adgate was elected in April 1815 to fill the vacancy. Jonathan Fisk resigned his seat in March 1815, and James W. Wilkin was elected in April 1815 to fill the vacancy. John Adams and William S. Smith had been declared elected, and credentials issued by the Secretary of State of New York, but did not take or claim their seats. In December 1815, Erastus Root and Westel Willoughby, Jr. contested the former's elections, and were seated. Peter B. Porter resigned his seat on January 23, 1816, leaving a vacancy in the 21st District. The other 26 representatives' term would end on March 3, 1817. The congressional elections were held together with the State elections in late April 1816, about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1817, and about a year and a half before Congress actually met on December 1, 1817.
Congressional districts
The districts remained the same as at the previous elections in 1814.
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.
Result
22 Democratic-Republicans and 5 Federalists were elected to the 15th Congress; and one Democratic-Republican to fill the vacancy in the 14th Congress. The incumbents Townsend, Irving, Wendover, Wilkin, Taylor, Savage and Comstock were re-elected; the incumbents Lovett, Throop and Brooks were defeated.
Note: The Anti-Federalists called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.
Aftermath and special elections
After being defeated for re-election, Enos T. Throop resigned his seat on June 4, 1816. A special election to fill the vacancy was held in September 1816, and was won by Daniel Avery, of the same party. Avery took his seat in the 14th United States Congress on December 3, 1816.
Archibald S. Clarke took his seat in the 14th Congress on December 2, 1816.
Henry B. Lee, elected in the 4th District, died on February 18, 1817, before his congressional term began. A special election to fill the vacancy was held at the time of the annual State election in April 1817, and was won by James Tallmadge, Jr., of the same party.
The House of Representatives of the 15th United States Congress met for the first time at the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1817, and 26 representatives took their seats. Only David A. Ogden arrived later, and took his seat on January 8, 1818.