John Calvin Mason

Who was John Calvin Mason?

John Calvin Mason was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Born near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Mason attended country and city schools in Montgomery County and Mount Sterling Law School in Lexington, Kentucky. He was graduated from Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, in 1823. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Mount Sterling. He engaged extensively in the manufacture of iron. He served as member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1839, 1844, and 1848. He served in the war with Mexico in 1846 and 1847 in Ben McCollough's company of Texas Rangers, Worth's division, under General Taylor. He moved to Owingsville, Kentucky, in 1847.

Mason was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1852.

Mason was elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress. He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1858. He served as delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina. He served as presidential elector on the Democratic ticket of Douglas and Johnson in 1860. During the Civil War served with Texas State troops from Brenham, Texas in 1863. He died in August 1865 near New Orleans, Louisiana on board a steamer on the Mississippi River. He was interred in the State Cemetery, Frankfort, Kentucky.