John R. Tyson

Who was John R. Tyson?

John Russell Tyson was a U.S. Representative from Alabama.

Born in Lowndes County, Alabama, Tyson attended the public schools. He was graduated from Howard College, Marion, Alabama, in 1877 and from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, in 1879. He studied law. He was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1879 and commenced the practice of law in Hayneville, Alabama. He served as member of the Alabama State house of representatives in 1880. He moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1884 and resumed the practice of law.

Tyson was elected a member of the city council in May 1889 and its president in May 1891, resigning in October 1892, having been appointed to the circuit court. He served as judge of the circuit court 1892-1898. He served as associate justice of the supreme court of Alabama 1898-1906, and served as chief justice from November 1906 to February 28, 1909, when he resigned. He resumed the practice of law in Montgomery, Alabama.

Tyson was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth Congresses, and served from March 4, 1921, until his death in Rochester, Minnesota, on March 27, 1923. He was interred in Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama.