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John F. Harrington, M.D.

Conspicuous among the many successful men in the medical profession in Fayette county stands the subject of this sketch, and his position as one of the leaders of the community is not only deserved by reason of his ability and success as a physician, but also because of the connection which his family has had with the growth and development of the county, his father having been actively connected with business interests in the county for many years.

J. F. Harrington was born in Jackson county, Iowa, on July 6, 1871, being the only son of Ira L. and Jennie (Stahl) Harrington, his paternal parent having removed to Jackson county from Cayuga Falls, Ohio, and his mother being a native of Clayton county, Iowa. Although he had been reared on a farm, at the age of twenty-two years the business instinct asserted itself in Ira L. Harrington, and he took up well-drilling in Jackson county, where he was an early settler, helping to operate the first well-drilling outfit ever seen there. In 1878 he removed to Elgin, Fayette county, and in this county he drilled many wells and also took up extensively the business of handling pumps and wind mills, in which he was likewise successful. After continuing for some years in these different lines of business, he took up bridge work and insurance, and in the latter he is still engaged. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is well and favorably known throughout the county.

J. F. Harrington, after attending the schools at Elgin, Iowa, entered the State University in 1891, leaving that institution in 1894, when he entered the Keokuk Medical College, for his training for professional life. After graduation from the medical college, he began his practice at Westgate, Iowa, where he remained one year, removing at the end of that time to Ossian, Iowa, where he practiced for one and one-half years, from this latter place removing to Eldorado, Iowa, where he resided, practicing, for three and a half years, whence he removed to New Albin, where he lived until 1904. In that year he located at Wadena, Iowa, where he has since resided and where he is enjoying a large and lucrative practice. In addition to his extensive private practice, Doctor Harrington is medical examiner for the Royal Neighbors, Brotherhood of American Yeoman, Northwest Life Insurance Company and the Equitable Life Assurance Company.

In 1899 Doctor Harrington married Elizabeth S. Thompson, of Eldorado, Iowa, and a son, Hawley R., was born to them on October 6, 1900, this son now attending the Independent Order of Odd Fellows School at Mason City, Iowa, On March 15, 1902, Doctor Harrington suffered a great misfortune in the death of his wife.

The Doctor is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of Wadena, Iowa, of the Royal Neighbors and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Arlington, Iowa. To his professional ability and capacity is added an attractive personality and those characteristics which attract and make friends, for Doctor Harrington has a host of friends, not only in Wadena, but throughout the entire county. Politically he is a Democrat.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Ann Borden