John Austin MOON, Congress, TN (1855-1921)

MOON John Austin , a Representative from Tennessee; born near Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Va., April 22, 1855; moved with his parents to Bristol, Va., in 1857 and then to Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1870; attended private and public schools and King College, Bristol, Tenn.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in March 1874 and commenced practice in Chattanooga, Tenn.; city attorney of Chattanooga in 1881 and 1882; member of the State Democratic executive committee in 1888; was commissioned in May 1889 as special circuit judge, twice reappointed, and held the office until January 3, 1891; appointed regular judge for the fourth circuit and served until August 1892; elected circuit judge in 1892; reelected in 1894 for a term of eight years but resigned when elected to Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1921); chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Sixty-second through Sixty-fifth Congresses); delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1900; was renominated for Congress in 1921, but before election was taken ill and died in Chattanooga, Tenn., June 26, 1921; interment in Forest Hill Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present