John R. Dinsmore

Dinsmore was elected to be Mayor of Macon in 1880^[2] and then served for six years in a row.^[1] On November 3, 1891, Dinsmore was elected to represent Noxubee County as a Democrat^[3] in the Mississippi House of Representatives for the 1892-1896 term.^[4] Dinsmore served in both sessions of the term, held in 1892 and 1894.^[5][3] In the 1894 session, Dinsmore served in the House's Appropriations and Manufacturers committees.^[3] In 1895, Dinsmore ran for re-election, and mentioned his support of free silver in his bid for re-election.^[6] On November 7, 1895, Dinsmore was elected to another four-year term (the 1896–1900 term) in the House.^[7] He served in all three of that term's sessions, held in 1896, 1897, and 1898.^[8]

In 1899, Dinsmore was elected to represent the 16th District in the Mississippi State Senate for the 1900–1904 term.^[9] He was unanimously elected to be the senate's president pro tempore for the four years of that term.^[1][10]

While still in office, Dinsmore died of apoplexy at his home in Macon, Mississippi, on April 27, 1900.^[1][11] He was considered a leading figure in the Mississippi bar at the time of his death.^[6] In the 1902 session, he was succeeded in the 16th District by A. T. Dent, and as president pro tempore by William Gwin Kiger.^[12]

Dinsmore was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church.^[1] Dinsmore married Quintilla Dent on December 15, 1884.^[1] They had two daughters, Mary W., who married Franklin Price Ivy; and Alma Earle, who married William Henry Rose on November 1, 1916.^[11][13] They also had a son, John Robert Jr. (born July 4, 1892), who married Mary Chastellette Avery on September 22, 1917, and served as a Captain in the U.S. Infantry during World War I and was elected to the Mississippi House himself in 1919 for the 1920–1924 term.^[1]