Ten U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1798 to a term in the 6th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1797. Jonathan N. Havens had died in October 1799, and John Smith was elected to fill the vacancy. Their term would end on March 3, 1801. The congressional elections were held together with the State elections in late April, about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1801, and about a year and a half before Congress actually met on December 7, 1801.
Congressional districts
On March 27, 1797, the New York State Legislature had re-apportioned the congressional districts. The districts remained the same as at the previous election in April 1798, but two new counties were created in 1799: in the 7th D., Essex Co. was split from Clinton Co.; and in the 10th D., Cayuga Co. was split from Onondaga Co.
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
6 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists were elected. The incumbents Smith, Van Cortlandt, Elmendorf and Bird were re-elected.
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.
Fed. John Bird, who had been re-elected in the 6th D. to a second term, resigned his seat on July 25, 1801, before Congress met.
Special elections to fill the vacancies were held in October 1801, and were won by Theodorus Bailey and John P. Van Ness, both Dem.-Rep. Thus New York was represented by 7 Democratic-Republicans and 3 Federalists in the House of the 7th Congress.
John P. Van Ness was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as a major in the militia of the Territory of Columbia and on January 17, 1803, his seat was declared vacant.[3]
Notes
^In the Act of March 23, 1797, the Towns of Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Hempsted and Orangetown are mentioned. These towns were split from Orange County in 1798, before the election, to form Rockland County.
^Article I, Section 6, of the United States Constitution says that "...no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." The question, if a militia appointment in the federal district is such an office, was put to the whole House and answered unanimously in the affirmative, see Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States (Vol. IV; page 290)
Sources
The New York Civil List compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 65 for district apportionment; pg. 68 for Congressmen)
