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John Isaac Guion | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Guion,c. 1851 | |
| 17th Governor of Mississippi | |
| In office February 3, 1851 – November 4, 1851 | |
| Preceded by | John A. Quitman |
| Succeeded by | James Whitfield |
| Member of theMississippi State Senate | |
| In office 1842–1851 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1802-11-18)November 18, 1802 |
| Died | June 6, 1855(1855-06-06) (aged 52) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
John Isaac Guion (November 18, 1802 – June 6, 1855) was an American politician fromMississippi who served asGovernor in 1851.
Guion was born inAdams County in theMississippi Territory to Sarah Lewis and U.S. Army officer and planterIsaac Guion. He studied law inLebanon, Tennessee along withWilliam L. Sharkey, was admitted to the bar, and established a successful practice inVicksburg, Mississippi.[1] He practiced in partnership with Sharkey and later withSeargent Smith Prentiss. John Isaac Guion was elected mayor of Natchez, Mississippi for the 1825–26 term.[2]
ADemocrat in politics, Guion was first elected to theMississippi State Senate in 1842. He later moved toJackson, and continued to serve in the State Senate.
Guion supported slavery and states' rights. As a result, he played a prominent role in the Jackson convention of 1849, which was called to discuss how the Southern states should respond to the possibility ofCalifornia being admitted to the union as a free state.
In 1850 Guion was chosen to serve as the Senate'sPresident pro tempore. In February 1851, GovernorJohn A. Quitman resigned to defend himself against charges of aiding in filibustering expeditions against Spanish rule in Cuba. Guion became acting governor and served until November when his Senate term expired. He had not run for reelection, and the Speaker of the Mississippi House had also not. Since no one in the line of succession could assume the governorship, the legislature subsequently choseJames Whitfield as an interim replacement, and he served until the term of the new governor started in 1852.
Guion had not run for reelection to the State Senate because he had run for the Mississippi District Circuit Court judge in Jackson. He began his term as scheduled and served until his death. He died on June 6, 1855, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. He was remembered as handsome, courteous, "an effective jury lawyer, a social favorite...and a true gentleman of much ability."[1]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor ofMississippi 1851 | Succeeded by |
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