| 38 | Community History, Zearing, Iowa | 38 |
We are not certain if the post office remained in the same location when Charles A. Huling was the postmaster. It could have been moved to another farm. We have no evidence that it was. Lena Richardson Warner said that when she was a little girl she received the mail for the Richardson family from Joseph M. Bunker. She would walk to the Sunset post office on Fridays and Joseph would give her the family mail.
Lena's statement puzzled us for a long time. However, we know now that Joseph M. Bunker was the stepfather of Charles A. Huling.
The Sunset post office was closed on January 19, 1881. It was the first post office in Lincoln township.
| Postmaster | Date of Appointment |
| Charles H. Williams | March 20, 1878 |
| Charles A. Huling | April 12, 1880 |
The Zearing post office was established on December 20, 1881. Albert W. Squires, the last postmaster at Illinois Grove, became the first postmaster of Zearing.
| Postmaster | Date of Appointment |
| Albert W. Squires | December 20, 1881 |
| John C. Burkhart | May 8, 1882 |
| Albert D. Hix | October 28, 1885 |
| William H. Shafer | May 13, 1889 |
| Albert D. Hix | June 29, 1893 |
| Nathaniel R. Clift. (Not Commissioned) | July 31, 1897 |
| William H. Shafer | August 5, 1897 |
| Hubert E. Burkhart | September 30, 1901 |
| Cyrus P. Bean | July 13, 1905 |
| Albert D. Hix | June 26, 1913 |
| Merle H. Laycock | August 9, 1921 |
| George W. Phillips (Acting) | December 6, 1922 |
| Joseph C. Allen | March 1, 1923 |
| Donald H. Grimm | April 15, 1935 |
| Leon Deal (Acting–Grimm on Military Leave) | February 28, 1943 |
| Donald H. Grimm (Serving in 1956) | February 28, 1946 |
Ellenor Bull Flower gave a good description of the mail service in rural areas before the establishment of rural routes. She said that her brother, Layfette Bull, walked the five miles to Illinois Grove every Saturday to get the mail. The family mail usually consisted of one newspaper. If it was dark so that Layfette could not see the trail, he would take off his boots and walk barefooted. A barefooted person could find where the trail was located in the dark.