Martin Finch

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, 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 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 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 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.

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 as a Republican, representing Essex County. He served in the Assembly in 1860 and 1861. He served as town supervisor of Chesterfield from 1847 to 1852 and from 1856 to 1859. He was district attorney of Essex County from 1864 to 1867. In 1885, he was the town's excise commissioner.