# James M. Cook
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{{short description|American politician}}
{{Other people|James Cook}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = James Merrill Cook MET ap31.29.1.jpg
| office1 = [New York State Treasurer](/source/New_York_State_Treasurer)
| term1 = 1852
| governor1 = [Washington Hunt](/source/Washington_Hunt)
| predecessor1 = [Alvah Hunt](/source/Alvah_Hunt)
| successor1 = [Benjamin Welch](/source/Benjamin_Welch)
| office2 = [New York State Comptroller](/source/New_York_State_Comptroller)
| term2 = 1854–1855
| governor2 = [Horatio Seymour](/source/Horatio_Seymour)
[Myron H. Clark](/source/Myron_H._Clark)
| predecessor2 = [John C. Wright](/source/John_C._Wright_(New_York_politician))
| successor2 = [Lorenzo Burrows](/source/Lorenzo_Burrows)
| state_senate3 = New York State
| district3 = [15th](/source/New_York's_15th_State_Senate_district)
| term3 = 1864–1865
| predecessor3 = [William Clark](/source/William_Clark_(politician%2C_born_1811))
| successor3 = [Adam W. Kline](/source/Adam_W._Kline)
| state_senate4 = New York State
| district4 = [13th](/source/New_York's_13th_State_Senate_district)
| term4 = 1848–1851
| predecessor4 = ''New district''
| successor4 = [Dan S. Wright](/source/Dan_S._Wright)
| office5 = President of the Village of [Ballston Spa, New York](/source/Ballston_Spa%2C_New_York)
| term5 = 1842–1843, 1845
| birth_name = James Merrill Cook
| birth_date = November 19, 1807
| birth_place = [Ballston](/source/Ballston%2C_New_York), [Saratoga County, New York](/source/Saratoga_County%2C_New_York)
| death_date = {{death date and age|1868|4|12|1807|11|19}}
| death_place = [Saratoga, New York](/source/Saratoga%2C_New_York)
| spouse = Anna Cady
| children =
| caption = portrait by [Nelson Cook](/source/Nelson_Cook)
}}
'''James Merrill Cook''' (November 19, 1807 – April 12, 1868) was an American businessman, banker and politician.
==Career==
From 1838 to 1856, he was the first President of the Ballston Spa Bank (later [Ballston Spa National Bank](/source/Ballston_Spa_National_Bank)) and also was the owner of [cotton mill](/source/cotton_mill)s at Ballston Spa.
In 1842, 1843 and 1845, he was President of the Village of [Ballston Spa](/source/Ballston_Spa%2C_New_York). He was a delegate to the [New York State Constitutional Convention](/source/New_York_State_Constitutional_Convention) of 1846.
He was a member of the [New York State Senate](/source/New_York_State_Senate) (13th district) from 1848 to 1851, sitting in the [71st](/source/71st_New_York_State_Legislature), [72nd](/source/72nd_New_York_State_Legislature), [73rd](/source/73rd_New_York_State_Legislature), [74th New York State Legislature](/source/74th_New_York_State_Legislature)s.
At the state election in November 1851, he was elected [New York State Treasurer](/source/New_York_State_Treasurer) on the [Whig](/source/United_States_Whig_Party) 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](/source/United_States_Democratic_Party) opponent [Benjamin Welch](/source/Benjamin_Welch) 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](/source/New_York_State_Comptroller) from 1854 to 1855, defeated for re-election in 1855 by the [American Party](/source/Know_Nothing) candidate [Lorenzo Burrows](/source/Lorenzo_Burrows).
From 1856 to 1861, he was Superintendent of the [New York State Banking Department](/source/New_York_State_Banking_Department). He was again a member of the State Senate (15th district) in [1864](/source/87th_New_York_State_Legislature) and [1865](/source/88th_New_York_State_Legislature).
==Personal life==
[[File:Mrs. James Merrill Cook.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of his wife, Anna Cady by Nelson Cook, 1840, at [The Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art)]]
Cook was married to Anna Cady. Their daughter, Catherine Phillips Cook, married [George Sherman Batcheller](/source/George_Sherman_Batcheller).
Cook is buried in the Ballston Spa Village Cemetery.
==Sources==
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1852/01/01/74853612.pdf] 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)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=E3sFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA34 Google Books] ''The New York Civil List'' compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 34, 36, 39 and 139; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1855/09/29/100999932.pdf] The Whig ticket in 1855, in NYT on September 29, 1855
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1859/01/13/78882938.pdf] Re-appointed Bank Superintendent, in NYT on January 13, 1859
==External links==
*{{Find a Grave|16163089}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ny-sen}}
{{s-new|district}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [New York State Senate](/source/New_York_State_Senate)
from the [13th district](/source/New_York's_13th_State_Senate_district)|years=1848–1851}}
{{s-aft|after=[Dan S. Wright](/source/Dan_S._Wright)}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[Alvah Hunt](/source/Alvah_Hunt)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[New York State Treasurer](/source/New_York_State_Treasurer)|years=1852}}
{{s-aft|after=[Benjamin Welch](/source/Benjamin_Welch)}}
{{s-bef|before=[John C. Wright](/source/John_C._Wright_(New_York_politician))}}
{{s-ttl|title=[New York State Comptroller](/source/New_York_State_Comptroller)|years=1854–1855}}
{{s-aft|after=[Lorenzo Burrows](/source/Lorenzo_Burrows)}}
{{s-par|us-ny-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[William Clark](/source/William_Clark_(politician%2C_born_1811))}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [New York State Senate](/source/New_York_State_Senate)
from the [15th district](/source/New_York's_15th_State_Senate_district)|years=1864–1865}}
{{s-aft|after=[Adam W. Kline](/source/Adam_W._Kline)}}
{{s-end}}
{{NYS treasurers}}
{{New York state comptrollers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, James M}}
Category:1807 births
Category:1868 deaths
Category:New York (state) Whigs
Category:New York (state) state senators
Category:New York state comptrollers
Category:Bankers from New York (state)
Category:New York state treasurers
Category:Burials in Saratoga County, New York
Category:19th-century American businesspeople
Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James M. Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Cook) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Cook?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.