Born in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, on October 24, 1840, and is a son of David and Jeannette (McGee) Heron, natives of Scotland. John was reared to the age of sixteen years in his native state, to whose public schools he is indebted for the greater part of his education, having attended school but one term after coming to Iowa. Being a son of pioneer settlers upon him early devolved the hardships and privations incident to life in any new country. He remained at home with his parents until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted and went to the front as a member of Company E, Second Iowa Infantry. He remained in the service for three years, receiving a wound at Atlanta that incapacitated him for a time. Upon receiving his discharge he returned to his father's farm and again resumed the duties of civil life. The property came into his possession upon the death of his father, and there he resided with his two unmarried sisters, engaging in general farming and stock-raising. He has intelligently and diligently applied himself to both branches of the business and as a result has met with a gratifying degree of success. In addition to his extensive realty holdings, Mr. Heron is president of the Lockridge Savings Bank, of which institution he was one of the organizers. He has long been considered not only an able agriculturist and stock-raiser but a capable business man. Mr. Heron never married and with his two sisters made his home upon his father's old farm. They affiliate with the Baptist church, and politically he is a republican, and has always taken an active part in local governmental matters. He is held in high esteem by his party and represented his district in the Seventeenth general state assembly. Many changes have taken place in Lockridge township during the half century and more he has been a resident here, following the advent of a newer and more progressive period of development in which he has been one of the factors.