Born on this date in 1815, Clark Betton Cochrane was a native New Englander, who moved to Montgomery County as a young man and studied law at Union College. He graduated from that Schenectady school in 1841 and was admitted to the Bar that same year. For the next 10 years he maintained his law practice in Amsterdam, NY. In 1844, he won election to the New York State Assembly as a Democrat, representing Montgomery County…

You can read the rest of my story about this former Amsterdam lawyer and politician in my new book “A Year’s Worth of Amsterdam Birthdays.” To order your copy, click here.