Mason Cook Darling (May 18, 1801March 12, 1866) was an American medical doctor, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was one of the earliest American settlers at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and was elected as a member of Wisconsin's first delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives after achieving statehood (1848–1849). After Congress, he served as the 1st and 4th mayor of Fond du Lac.
Before Wisconsin's statehood, Darling also served in the territorial legislature through nearly the entire Wisconsin Territory era, and before emigrating to the Wisconsin Territory, he served one year in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the town of Greenwich, Massachusetts.
Background Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Darling attended the public schools. He taught school in the state of New York. He then studied medicine, graduating from the Berkshire Medical College in 1824. After this he practiced medicine for thirteen years. He moved to Wisconsin Territory in 1837 and was one of the original settlers at Fond du Lac in 1838.
Public office Mason served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the town of Greenwich in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, in 1834 prior to moving to Wisconsin Territory.'Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,' Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1834, pg. 557 He served as member of the Territorial legislative assembly 1840–1846, and as member of the Territorial Council in 1847 and 1848. Upon the admission of Wisconsin as a State into the Union, Darling was elected as a Democrat to the Thirtieth Congress. He represented Wisconsin's newly created 2nd congressional district and served from June 9, 1848, to March 3, 1849. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1848 to the Thirty-first Congress, and was succeeded by Orasmus Cole, a Whig. He was elected the first mayor of Fond du Lac in 1852.
While active in politics, Darling also founded Lodge 26 Freemasons in 1849, and served as its first master.Masonic Lodge 26-Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Later years He resumed the practice of medicine and was a dealer in real estate at Fond du Lac until 1864, when he moved to Chicago, moving with his daughter and her husband.
He died in Chicago on March 12, 1866, and was interred at Rienzi Cemetery in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
He is the namesake of the street "Darling Place" in .
Personal life and family Mason Cook Darling was one of five known children of Benjamin Darling and his second wife, Selina ( Cook). The Darling family were descendants of the English colonist George Darling, who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s. On his mother's side, his family were descendants of Walter Cooke, who also emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s.
On July 15, 1823, Mason Darling married Naomi Ingram at Shutesbury, Massachusetts; they had three known children. Their only known daughter, Helen, married John A. Eastman, another prominent Wisconsin pioneer.
Electoral history U.S. House of Representatives (1848)
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #eaecf0;"| Special Election, May 8, 1848
See also List of mayors of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
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