John W. Deering (1833-1904) was born in Saco, Maine, and died in Portland, Maine. He married Mary A. Small in Portland in 1864. He was a captain and master mariner. Deering served as the mayor of Portland (1883; 1885) and later as the collector of customs for the port there under President Grover Cleveland. He was also a senior member of the lumber firm of Deering-Winslow. Deering went to Phineas Parkhurst Quimby for healing in 1862, which he reported as successful. This healing was the inspiration for a sonnet on Quimby written by Mary Baker Eddy that she sent to the Portland Courier.

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