John Calhoun Cook (December 26, 1846 – June 7, 1920) was a 19th-century

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

politician, lawyer and judge from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. He was twice elected to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Iowa's 6th congressional district Iowa's 6th congressional district is a former List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in the Iowa, State of Iowa. It existed in elections from 1862 to 1992, when it was lost due to Iowa's population growth rate ...

, each time under unusual circumstances. Born in Seneca, Ohio, just two days before Iowa was admitted as a state, Cook attended common schools as a child, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867, commencing practice in

Newton, Iowa Newton is the county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, Iowa, United States. Located east of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Newton is in Central Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city population was 15,760 ...

. He was judge of the sixth judicial district of Iowa in 1878. In 1880 Cook won the Democratic Party and

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...

nominations for the U.S. House seat in Iowa's 6th congressional district. After a very close general election race against Republican

Marsena E. Cutts Marsena Edgar Cutts (May 22, 1833 – September 1, 1883) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Iowa. A Republican, he was most notable for his service as Attorney General of Iowa from 1872 to 1877 and in the United States House ...

, Iowa's State Board of Canvassers concluded that Cutts had won 106 more votes. This enabled Cutts to be sworn 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 Congress The 47th 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, ...

. A commissioner took evidence regarding the contest in

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a List of cities in Iowa, city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U ...

, 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 - an 8-2 vote that Cook, not Cutts, won the 1880 election. The House accepted this recommendation in time for Cook 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 Congress The 48th 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, ...

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,Waterloo Courier, 1883-10-24 at p. 1. 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

, and later moved to

Webster City, Iowa Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,717 at th2023 census It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country', as the Boone River meanders ...

, where he became attorney for a railroad company. He died in

Algona, Iowa Algona is the county seat of Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,487 at the 2020 census. Ambrose A. Call State Park is located two miles southwest of the city. History Algona was founded in 1854 and was named after the ...

, on June 7, 1920, and was interred in Riverview Cemetery in Algona.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, John C. 1846 births 1920 deaths Iowa lawyers People from Seneca County, Ohio People from Newton, Iowa Iowa Greenbacks Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Webster City, Iowa 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives