John I. Rinaker
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John Irving Rinaker (November 1, 1830 - January 15, 1915) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Rinaker moved with his parents to Springfield, Illinois, in December 1836. He attended the Illinois College for one term and was graduated from McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, in 1851. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in Carlinville, Illinois. Raised and organized the One Hundred and Twenty-second Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1862. Commissioned colonel September 4, 1862. Commanded a brigade in the Sixteenth Corps of the Army of the Tennessee, and was brevetted brigadier general February 13, 1865. He served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1876 and 1884. He served as chairman of the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners of Illinois 1885-1889. He successfully contested as a Republican the election of Finis E. Downing to the Fifty-fourth Congress and served from June 5, 1896, to March 3, 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress. He returned to Carlinville, Illinois, and resumed the practice of law. He died in Eustis, Florida, January 15, 1915. He was interred in the City Cemetery, Carlinville, Illinois.
