History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Nathaniel C. Deering
NATHANIEL C. DEERING was born in Denmark, Maine, on the 2d of September, 1827. He acquired a liberal education and taught school several winters. In 1850 he went with a party of gold seekers to California, by the Panama route. He remained there for two years and acquired a small fortune with which he returned home and established a paper mill. In 1856 his establishment was destroyed by fire. In September, 1855 he was elected to the Maine Legislature, serving two terms. In September, 1857 he removed to Iowa, locating at Osage, Mitchell County, where he engaged in the lumber business. In July, 1861, while on a visit to Washington, D. C., he was appointed to a clerkship in the Senate. In the spring of 1865 he was appointed special agent of the Post-office Department for Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, serving four years. In July, 1872, he was appointed National Bank Examiner, serving nearly five years. In 1876 he was elected to Congress on the Republican ticket, from the Fourth District and was twice reëlected, serving until 1883.