John Calhoun Cook was a 19th-century
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, lawyer and judge from
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. He was twice elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from
Iowa's 6th congressional districtIowa's 6th congressional district is a former congressional district in Iowa. It existed from 1862 to 1992, when it was lost due to Iowa's declining population....
, each time under unusual circumstances.
Born in
Seneca, OhioSeneca Township is one of the fifteen townships of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,585 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
, Cook attended common schools as a child, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867, commencing practice in
Newton, IowaNewton is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,254. It is the home of Maytag Dairy Farms and was formerly home to the Maytag Corporation's corporate headquarters until the Whirlpool Corporation acquired it in 2006...
. He was judge of the sixth judicial district of Iowa in 1878.
In 1880 Cook won the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Greenback Party nominations for the U.S. House seat in Iowa's 6th congressional district. After a very close general election race against Republican
Marsena E. CuttsMarsena Edgar Cutts was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and teacher from Iowa.Born in Orwell, Vermont, Cutts attended common schools in his native village and later attended St. Lawrence Academy in Potsdam, New York. He moved to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin in 1853 where he taught school for...
, Iowa's State Board of Canvassers concluded that Cutts had won 106 more votes. This enabled Cutts to be sworn in in 1881 and to initially serve as a congressman, as Cook pursued a contest of the election with the Republican-controlled U.S. House in the
47th United States CongressThe Forty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881 to March 4, 1883, during the administration...
. A commissioner took evidence regarding the contest in
Oskaloosa, IowaOskaloosa is the county seat of Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. The population was 11,463 in the 2010 census, an increase from 10,938 in the 2000 census. -History:...
in the Spring of 1882, but the House Committee on Elections had not announced a decision by the date that the seat was again up for election in November 1882 (when Cutts undisputedly won a plurality of votes). It was not until February 1883, in the waning days of Cutts' first term, that the Committee issued its recommendation - a 8-2 vote that Cook, not Cutts, won the 1880 election. The House accepted this recommendation in time for Cutts to serve only a single day of the term, on March 3, 1883, and to collect his salary.
In the 1882 election, Cook did not win the nomination of either the Democratic Party or the Greenback Party, which nominated separate candidates against Cutts. Because Cutts undisputedly won the election, his term in the
48th United States CongressThe Forty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...
began the day after Cook's single day in the previous Congress. However, Cutts died of tuberculosis on September 1, 1883. By a 234-vote margin, Cook won the special election to fill the vacancy left by Cutts' death, and served in Congress again until the term ended in March 1885. He did not run for re-election.
After returning to Iowa, he resumed practicing law in
Newton, IowaNewton is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,254. It is the home of Maytag Dairy Farms and was formerly home to the Maytag Corporation's corporate headquarters until the Whirlpool Corporation acquired it in 2006...
and later moved to
Webster City, IowaWebster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country' with the Boone River meandering along the east side of the city from north to south...
where he became attorney for a railroad company. He died in
Algona, IowaAlgona is a city in and the county seat of Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,741 at the 2000 census. Ambrose A. Call State Park is located two miles southwest of the city.-History:...
on June 7, 1920 and was interned in Riverview Cemetery in Algona.
External links
- John C. Cook at Find A Grave
Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...