{{Short description|American politician (1861–1904)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = David Grant Colson | honorific_suffix = | image = David-G.-Colson.jpg | alt = A man with black hair wearing a black jacket and vest, patterned bowtie and white shirt and pocket square | state1 = Kentucky | district1 = 11th | term_start1 = March 4, 1895 | term_end1 = March 3, 1899 | predecessor1 = Silas Adams | successor1 = Vincent Boreing | office2 = Member of the<br />Kentucky House of Representatives | constituency2 = Bell, Harlan, Leslie and Perry Counties | term_start2 = August 1, 1887 | term_end2 = August 5, 1889 | predecessor2 = Wright Kelly | successor2 = W. P. Bentley | birth_date = {{birth date|1861|04|01}} | birth_place = Middlesboro, Kentucky | death_date = {{death date and age|1904|09|27|1861|04|01}} | death_place = Middlesboro, Kentucky | resting_place = Colson Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | party = Republican | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of Kentucky | profession = Lawyer | signature = | signature_alt = | footnotes = | nickname = | allegiance = United States of America | branch = Kentucky volunteers | service_years = | rank = Colonel | unit = | commands = | battles = Spanish–American War | awards = }} {{commons category|David Colson}} '''David Grant Colson''' (April 1, 1861 – September 27, 1904) was an American politician from the State of Kentucky who served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 11th congressional district.<ref name="Kentucky">{{cite news|title=Congressman David Grant Colson and the Tragedy of the Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry|url=https://kynghistory.ky.gov/Our-History/History-of-the-Guard/Documents/Col_Colson_4th_KY_s.pdf|last=Stephens|first=Thomas E.|date=2000}}</ref> He previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and as the mayor of Middlesboro.<ref name="bioguide">{{cite web|title=COLSON, David Grant, (1861-1904)|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c000649}}</ref>
==Biography== Colson was born in Yellow Creek (now Middlesboro, Kentucky), Knox (now Bell) County, Kentucky.<ref name="bioguide" /> He was the seventh of eleven children.<ref name="Kentucky" /> Colson attended the common schools and the academies at Tazewell and Mossy Creek, Tennessee.
He studied law at the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1879 and 1880. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Pineville.<ref name="bioguide" />
==Political career== Colson, a Republican, served as a state representative in 1887 and 1888, representing Bell, Harlan, Perry, and Leslie Counties, and again in 1902. He was the Republican nominee for State Treasurer in 1889.<ref name="Kentucky" /> He served as mayor of Middlesboro in 1893–1895.<ref name="bioguide" />
Colson was elected a US Representative in 1894 and re-elected in 1896, serving in the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in the Fifty-fifth Congress.<ref name="bioguide" /> During his second term in Congress, Colson was known as a supporter of President McKinley's administration, but often voted with Democrats on regional issues.<ref name="Kentucky" />
While a Representative, Colson was a member of the "Free Cuba" group. In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Colson left his position in Congress to become colonel of the Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. After his military service, he did not run for re-election.<ref name="Kentucky" />
In 1899, Colson was shot in the arm by a fellow officer, Lieutenant Ethelbert Dudley Scott. Colson had previously brought court-martial charges against Scott.<ref name="Kentucky" /> On January 16, 1900, Colson got in a pistol fight with Scott in a hotel lobby in Frankfort, Kentucky. Three men were killed: Scott and two bystanders, Charles Julian and Luther Demaree. Colson was acquitted of the charges that April.<ref name="Kentucky" />
Colson died at his farm outside of Middlesboro, Kentucky on September 27, 1904.<ref name="Kentucky" /> He was interred in Colson Cemetery.{{Portal|United States}}
==References== {{reflist}} {{CongBio|C000649}}
{{Bioguide}}
{{S-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Kentucky| district = 11| before= Silas Adams| after = Vincent Boreing | years= 1895{{spaced ndash}}1899 (obsolete district) }} {{s-end}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 54th–55th United States Congresses |state=Kentucky}} {{USCongRep/KY/54}} {{USCongRep/KY/55}} {{USCongRep-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colson, David Grant}} Category:1861 births Category:1904 deaths Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Category:Kentucky lawyers Category:Mayors of places in Kentucky Category:Republican Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Category:People from Bell County, Kentucky Category:United States Department of the Interior officials Category:University of Kentucky alumni Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Kentucky Category:19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly Category:19th-century United States representatives