Mason Cook Darling

Mason Cook Darling (May 18, 1801 – March 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. 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.

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,