James Robinson McCormick

James Robinson McCormick (August 1, 1824 – May 19, 1897) was a United States Representative from Missouri and a physician who combined a long medical career with service in state and national office during and after the Civil War. He was born near Irondale, in Washington County, Missouri, where he attended the local public schools. In addition to his common-school education, he received private instruction that prepared him for advanced study in medicine.

McCormick entered Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, as a medical student, pursuing professional training at one of the leading medical institutions in the region. He later transferred to the Memphis Medical College in Memphis, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1849. Following his graduation, he commenced the practice of medicine in Wayne County, Missouri. In 1850 he moved to Perry County, Missouri, where he continued to practice medicine, establishing himself as a physician in the growing communities of southeastern Missouri.

As the sectional crisis deepened, McCormick became involved in public affairs. In 1861 he served as a delegate to the Missouri state constitutional convention, which met to consider the state’s position in the secession crisis and the broader issues raised by the impending Civil War. During the Civil War he entered the Union Army and served as a surgeon in the Sixth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, providing medical care to soldiers in the field. While still engaged in military service, he was elected to the Missouri State Senate in 1862, but he resigned that seat on account of his duties in the Army.

In 1863 McCormick was commissioned a brigadier general of militia, reflecting his increasing responsibility in Missouri’s wartime military structure. After the close of the Civil War, he settled in Arcadia, Missouri, where he resumed the practice of medicine. He returned to state politics and again served in the Missouri State Senate beginning in 1866, but he resigned the following year, as his political career shifted to the national level.

McCormick was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth Congress from Missouri’s 3rd congressional district to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Thomas E. Noell. He took his seat on December 17, 1867, and was subsequently reelected to the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses. He served continuously in the U.S. House of Representatives from December 17, 1867, to March 3, 1873, participating in the legislative debates of the Reconstruction era. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1872 and returned to private life at the expiration of his term.

In 1874 McCormick moved to Farmington, in St. Francois County, Missouri, where he resumed his medical practice and also engaged in the pharmaceutical business, combining his professional training with commercial activity in the growing town. He remained in Farmington for the rest of his life. McCormick died there on May 19, 1897, and was interred in the Masonic Cemetery in Farmington, Missouri.