Born in Grafton County, New Hampshire, on July 25, 1831. He had good educational advantages for his day and at the age of 20 was a teacher in Groton Academy, Vermont. In 1855, he was married to Mary Ellen Carson of Bath, New Hampshire, and on the next day the newly wedded young people started to the then distant west to make their home. After three months in Milwaukee they moved to Peoria, Illinois where he taught school for three years. On account of failing health he was compelled to give up in door work and they moved to Iowa County where they settled on a farm. In 1872, his county elected him to the State legislature, and in 1874 he was reelected. He was known in those days as "Honest John" a title which he always deserved to wear. Before he finally left the farm he spent a brief period in business in Sigourney. In 1875, he moved to Keota. He was a member of the Adelphi Lodge No. 353 A.F. & A.M. In politics he was a republican.
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