Nathaniel Cobb Deering

Who was Nathaniel Cobb Deering?

Nathaniel Cobb Deering was a three-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district, then in northeastern Iowa.

Born in Denmark, Maine to James and Elizabeth Prentiss Deering, Nathanial Deering attended the common schools and was graduated from North Bridgeton Academy. After teaching school and working as a store clerk, he left to participate in the California Gold Rush in 1850, returning after two years with a "considerable fortune." He used his newfound wealth to enter the paper manufacturing business but that business was destroyed by fire in 1856. Meanwhile, he served as member of the Maine House of Representatives from Penobscot County in 1855 and 1856. He moved to Iowa, and settled in Osage, in Mitchell County, in 1857. He engaged in the lumber business and built and operated a sawmill.

For several years he served as a clerk in the United States Senate as a result of his connection to then-Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, but resigned in 1865. He served as special agent of the Post Office Department for the districts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska from 1865 to 1869, when he resigned. From 1872 to 1877, he served as a national-bank examiner for the State of Iowa.