Henry Dreeson was a Grantville resident and politician. He was the town's mayor at the time of the Ring of Fire. Three days after the event, he and the town council realized they were not well equipped to handle the situation, and so proposed the creation of an emergency committee. Although he would continue on as mayor in the meantime, he suggested that the chairman for the committee be elected immediately. He also took himself out of the running right away, contending that at age sixty-six, he was much too old for the responsibility. After short debate, both John Chandler Simpson and Michael Stearns threw their hats into the ring (the latter unintentionally so). Stearns won overwhelmingly, and appointed Dreeson to his cabinet, despite Dreeson's misgivings.