Martin Finch (June 21, 1811 – December 21, 1890) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
Finch was born on June 21, 1811, in
Jay, New York
Jay is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John Jay, governor of New York when the town was formed.
The town is on the northern border of Essex County and is sout ...
, the son of William Finch and Rachel Smith.
Finch worked on a farm until he was almost 21, when he moved to
Bennington, Vermont to study. In 1833, he began attending
Williams College in
Williamstown, Massachusetts. After his first term of sophomore year, he spent a few months teaching in Westfield Academy. Shortly after returning to school, he got
typhus fever
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
and lived in his father's home in
Peru, New York until the spring of 1834, when he returned to college. While in Williams, he was a member of the
Kappa Alpha Society. He graduated from Williams in 1837, after which he worked as an assistant teacher in the
Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
Academy and in
Victory until 1840. While teaching, he began studying law in the office of D. Robinson in
Port Byron. After finishing teaching, he moved to
Keeseville
Keeseville is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Clinton and Essex counties, New York, United States. The population was 1,815 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was named after the Keese family, early settlers from Vermont. It developed along ...
and began studying law under
T. A. Tomlinson. After Tomlinson was elected to Congress, Finch managed the office during most of Tomlinson's term. He was admitted to the bar in 1842, after which he formed a partnership with Tomlinson until the latter's retirement four years later. He then continued to practice law in Keeseville.
He later practiced law with Ira S. Smith, followed by F. A. Rowe. He retired from active practice in around 1889, when his health began to decline.
By 1885, he was the senior lawyer in Essex County.
Finch was originally a
Whig, but he left that party in 1854 and joined the
American Party.
In 1859, he was elected to the
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
as a
Republican, representing
Essex County. He served in the Assembly in
1860
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
* January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...
and
1861
Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry.
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City.
** The first steam-p ...
.
He served as
town supervisor
The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...
of
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
from 1847 to 1852 and from 1856 to 1859. He was
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
of Essex County from 1864 to 1867. In 1885, he was the town's excise commissioner.
In 1872, he was appointed Register in Bankruptcy for his Congressional district, and he held this office until at least 1880.
Finch was a member of the
Congregational Church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
. In 1843, he married Caroline Jackson.
They had eight children, only two of whom were still alive in 1880. One son, Rev. Henry O. of
Guilford, Connecticut, died from heart disease in a nearby beach while on a morning walk.
By the time Finch died, his surviving children were Abbie and Carrie.
Finch died at home following a serious hip fracture from slipping down on December 21, 1890.
References
External links
*
The Political Graveyard'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Martin
1811 births
1890 deaths
People from Jay, New York
People from Keeseville, New York
Williams College alumni
19th-century American lawyers
County district attorneys in New York (state)
New York (state) Whigs
New York (state) Know Nothings
New York (state) Republicans
Members of the New York State Assembly
Town supervisors in New York (state)
American Congregationalists