John Parsons Cook
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John Parsons Cook (August 31, 1817 – April 17, 1872) was an American lawyer and politician affiliated with the Whig Party who represented Iowa's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855. Born in Whitestown, New York, in 1836 Cook moved with his father to what is now
Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...
, which at the time was in
Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit w ...
and then in Wisconsin Territory. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Tipton, then in Iowa Territory. He served as member of the Iowa Territorial Council from 1842 to 1845. After Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846, he served in the Iowa Senate from 1848 to 1851. He relocated to Davenport in 1851 and continued the practice of law. In 1850, he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to represent the Second District in the Thirty-second Congress, losing to Democrat
Lincoln Clark Lincoln Clark (August 9, 1800 – September 16, 1886) was a lawyer and one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district. His life began and ended in the same small town in western Massachusetts, but included service ...
. Two years later, he ran again and won, serving in the Thirty-third Congress from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1855. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1854, when
James Thorington James Thorington (May 7, 1816 – June 13, 1887) was a frontiersman, lawyer, judge, and one-term United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district. Biography Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, T ...
was the Whig nominee and the winner in the general election over the Democratic candidate, ex-Governor
Stephen Hempstead Stephen P. Hempstead (October 1, 1812February 16, 1883) was the second Governor of Iowa. A Democrat, he served from 1850 to 1854. Biography Hempstead moved to the Iowa territory, and was active in politics in the years leading up to Iowa's ga ...
. According to one account, "the Iowa Whigs shelved Mr. Cook because of his pro-slavery record."Olynthus B. Clark,
The Politics of Iowa During the Civil War and Reconstruction
" p. 4 (Iowa City: Clio Press 1911). When the Whig party disappeared Cook became a Democrat.Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (John P. Cook), pp. 59 (1902). He continued the practice of law and also engaged in banking in Davenport until his death there on April 17, 1872. He was interred in Oakdale Cemetery.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, John Parsons 1817 births 1872 deaths Iowa state senators Members of the Iowa Territorial Legislature Members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Iowa Whigs People from Whitestown, New York Politicians from Davenport, Iowa Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives People from Tipton, Iowa 19th-century American politicians Iowa Democrats Iowa lawyers 19th-century American lawyers