member of this family, and after residing in the East until 1834, he pushed westward as far as Ohio, and later to Brookville; Ind., where he made his home for some time, and served in the capacity of sheriff of Franklin County for four years and' three months. He came to Story County, Iowa, in 1855, and for some two or three years worked at the carpenter's trade in the town of Nevada. In 1858 he embarked in the mercantile business here, and this calling successfully followed until the month of March, 1876, when he disposed of his stock of goods, and has since been retired from the active duties of life. His dealings in every transaction have been above reproach, and have been executed with conscientious honesty and fairness, and his labors were not without substantial reward. He has always kept thoroughly apace with the times, consequently has been progressive in his views, and a great benefit to the community in which he has spent the most useful portion of his life. He has always been a stanch Democrat, and was elected by his many friends of that party, in 1867, to represent Story County in the Twelfth General Assembly of Iowa, and discharged the duties incumbent upon that office in a very satisfactory manner. Besides this he has filled the position of mayor of Nevada, and made one of the most capable officers the town ever had. In 1859 he was elected one of the directors of the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad Company, a position he held until the road was built through to Council Bluffs. He is the oldest Mason and Odd Fellow in Story County, having joined those orders in Brookville, Ind., in 1840, becoming a member of Harmony Lodge No. 13, of the former organization. He was married at Oxford, Ohio, on the 12th of October, 1835, to Miss Rachel Hoover, who died at Brookville, Ind., July 4, 1849. His second union took place on the 16th of October, 1849, to Miss Mary Jones, but he was called upon to mourn her death also on the 15th of December, 1856. He married his last and present wife, formerly Elizabeth Davis, on the 26th of April, 1857. She was born in the State of New York, and is now over seventy-two years of age. Mr. Hawthorn has four children: Esther, Daniel, Isaac J. and James M.
George W. Hemstock. Among the influential and representative citizens of Grant Township, Mr. Hemstock stands pre-eminent, and a short sketch of his life will no doubt prove interesting. He first opened his eyes to the light of this world in Winnebago County, Ill., and was the eldest child in a family of ten children, whose names are George W., James L., John D., Hortense, Mary J., Annette, Lotta, Martha, Henry and Oscar; James L. wedded a Miss Matthews, and they now make their home in Seattle, Wash., where he is successfully occupied as a land speculator; John D. was a soldier in the late war, and died from the effects of a wound received at Red River; Hortense is the wife of P. K. Hill, and has a family of four children (they reside in Bagley, Iowa) ; Mary J. married Harry Giles, a blacksmith by occupation, and they make their home in California; Annette was the wife of E. O. Stillman, and departed this life in her thirty-sixth year ; Lotta is now Mrs. S. D. Tooker, and resides at Saint Peter, Minn., her husband being among the successful business men of that city; Martha is unmarried and makes her home in California, and Henry and Oscar are both dead, the latter dying at the age of eight years. The father of these children was a native of the Isle of Man, and the mother of Lorain County, Ohio. They are both deceased and lie at rest in the cemetery at Nevada, Iowa. As a boy Mr. Hemstock received instructions in the old log cabin school-house, but later attended the common