In politics Mr. John is a stanch prohibitionist, having done all in his power to promote the strength of that party and kill the liquor traffic, which he believes is the worst evil with which our country has to contend. There were but four or five prohibitionists in Maxwell when he came here and now there are twenty-eight. He and his wife are of the Evangelical faith but as there is no congregation of that denomination here, they worship in the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. John was class leader for twenty-five years. He enjoys a wide acquaintance in the county where he has so long resided and, as all who know him entertain for him high regard, his friends are legion. His thoughts are not retrospective but are concerned with the affairs of the day, and to him are applicable the words of Victor Hugo that while "the frost of winter is on his head, the flowers of spring are in his heart."
GEORGE HARDENBROOK.
George Hardenbrook, who was appointed postmaster of Maxwell in May, 1897, and has served continuously since, was born in Wawaka, Noble county, Indiana, on the 2d of August, 1843, his parents being Freeman and Sarah (Gibson) Hardenbrook, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Virginia. They were married in Noble county, Indiana, where they had gone as children with their respective parents, both the Hardenbrook and Gibson families being among the early pioneer settlers of that county. Freeman Hardenbrook followed farming in Noble county, where the demise of his wife occurred. In 1869 he came to Iowa, purchasing and locating on a small farm in Jasper county, where he made his home until called to his final rest in March, 1882, when sixty-three years of age.
George Hardenbrook was reared at home, acquiring his education in one of the primitive log schoolhouses characteristic of those early times. On the 12th of October, 1863, he became a member of Company B, Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, serving with that command until the cessation of hostilities between the north and the south. He did detail duty as dispatch bearer during almost the entire period and was mustered out on the 19th of June, 1865. After returning from the war he worked on the home farm in Noble county for two years and then came to Iowa, arriving in this state on the 5th of May, 1867. For a year or more he was employed in a store at Peoria, Polk county, and at the end of that time went to Iowa Center. There he remained for twenty-three years in the service of the firm of Baldwin & Maxwell, one of the largest mercantile concerns in that section of the state. In 1891 he came to Maxwell, Story county, and was here employed in the mercantile establishment of C. H. Dickey for a number of years. In May, 1897, he was appointed postmaster of Maxwell, in which capacity he has served continuously since, discharging the duties