Constant study and broad experience have ripened the ability of Spencer K. Warnick, who for more than a quarter of a century has successfully engaged in the practice of law in Amsterdam, his native city. He has aided in framing the laws of his state, also filling other public offices of trust and responsibility, and is now serving as postmaster of Amsterdam. He was born September 14, 1874, a son of Middleton and Marion (Kellogg) Warnick, the former a member of the Green Knitting Company and long a forceful figure in industrial circles of Amsterdam. His death occurred in 1905 but the mother passed away in 1904. The other children of their family were: Lauren K.; Katherine, the wife of Joseph L. Hall; and Elizabeth, who married N. Carleton Phillips.
Spencer K. Warnick supplemented his public school training by a course in Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1895, winning the A. B. degree. He read law in the office of Judge Nisbet of Amsterdam, and in 1897 was admitted to the bar. He has since engaged in the general practice of law in this city and his clientele is an extensive one. He is a counselor whose judgment is to be relied upon and is equally able in his presentation of a case before the courts. He is retained in a legal capacity by several large corporations and enjoys an enviable degree of professional prestige.
Mr. Warnick was first called to public office in 1900, when he was made assistant district attorney, being at that time but twenty-six years of age. He was a member of the state senate from 1904 until 1906 and left the impress of his individuality upon the laws enacted during those sessions, opposing every measure inimical to the best interests of the commonwealth. In 1916 Governor Whitman appointed Mr. Warnick director for Montgomery county of the New York state military census, and in 1917 he was commissioned major in the New York National Guard. He was assigned to duty in the department of the judge advocate general and served in that capacity until the termination of the World war. On October 1, 1922, he was appointed acting postmaster of Amsterdam and since March 1, 1923, has been postmaster, giving to the city service of a high order. He possesses rare qualities as a public official and has acquitted himself with dignity, fidelity and honor in every position he has occupied. Mr. Warnick has been elected by the board of directors of the Montgomery County Trust Company, first vice president and general manager, and will assume the duties of this position on February 1, 1925.
On June 1, 1898, Mr. Warnick was married to Miss Jane M. Greene, of Amsterdam, and they have two sons: Spencer K. Warnick, Jr., and Henry G. Warnick. The former was born May 23, 1899, and the latter on April 15, 1902. Mr. Warnick is a Mason and belongs to the chapter at Amsterdam, the commandery at Gloversville, Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and is also an Elk. He is a director of the Antlers Country Club and also a member of the Masonic Club. His name likewise appears on the directorates of the Montgomery County Trust Company and the Young Men's Christian Association and he is one of the trustees of the Amsterdam Public Library, the First Presbyterian church, and the Montgomery County Historical Society. Mr. Warnick is also one of the enterprising members of the Amsterdam Board of Trade, being in complete sympathy with the aims of this organization, as he is with everything pertaining to municipal growth and advancement, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. The breadth of his mind is indicated by the scope of his interests and an upright, honorable life of great activity and usefulness has earned for Mr. Warnick the unqualified esteem of his fellowmen.