- James M. Cook
James Merrill Cook (
November 19 ,1807 Ballston,Saratoga County, New York -April 12 ,1868 Saratoga, New York ) was an American businessman, banker and politician.Life
From 1838 to 1856, he was the first President of the Ballston Spa Bank. Besides, he owned
cotton mill s at Ballston Spa.In 1842, 1843 and 1845, he was President of the Village of Ballston Spa. He was adelegate to the
New York State Constitutional Convention of 1846.He was a member of the
New York State Senate from 1848 to 1851, and from 1864 to 1865.At the state election in November 1851, he was elected
New York State Treasurer on the Whig ticket by a margin of only 228 votes (200,693 for Cook; 200,465 for Welch), and took office on January 1, 1852. His Democratic opponentBenjamin Welch, Jr. contested the election successfully, and on November 20, 1852, Welch succeeded to the office for the remainder of the term.He was
New York State Comptroller from 1854 to 1855, defeated for re-election in 1855 by the American Party candidateLorenzo Burrows .From 1856 to 1861, he was Superintendent of the Banking Department.
ources
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E04E1DC1331E234BC4953DFB7668389649FDE] Official state canvass, in NYT on January 1, 1852
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/cook5.html] Political Graveyard
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nysarato/Sylvester/chap30.html] "History of Saratoga County, New York" by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester (1878)
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=E3sFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA34 Google Book] "The New York Civil List" compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 34, 36, 39 and 139; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E06EED61F30E633A2575AC2A96F9C946492D7CF] The Whig ticket in 1855, in NYT on September 29, 1855
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9406EEDD1E31EE34BC4B52DFB7668382649FDE] Re-appointed Bank Superintendent, in NYT on January 13, 1859
*famousamericans.net/jamesmerrillcook/
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.