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1907 Past and Present Biographies
Captain Albert HeadCaptain Head was born in Highland county, Ohio, on the 25th of November, 1838. His father was a farmer by occupation and he was reared amid rural surroundings, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In 1855 with his parents he made the overland trip from Ohio to Poweshiek county, Iowa, where his father again located on a farm. During the winter of 1857-8 he taught a district school, at the close of which he took up the study of law at Montezuma, Iowa, reading under the direction of the Hon. M. E. Cutts, a well known able practitioner. After he had completed a thorough course of study he was admitted in 1859 and located for practice in Montezuma, Iowa. He soon secured a good clientage and for several years remained an active and able member of the bar. At the same time he co-operated with Colonel F. S. Cooper in the newspaper business, publishing the Montezuma Republican but the outbreak of the Civil war caused a cessation of his labors in the newspaper field as well as in the practice of his profession. Offering his services to the government in the opening year of hostilities, Mr. Head assisted in organizing Company F of the Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was elected its captain, serving with that command until promoted to assistant adjutant general in 1863, under G. B. Raun. The history of his regiment gives the story of his experience, which was that of a soldier and oflicer ever loyal to duty. He inspired his men with much of the valor and bravery that actuated him in his military experience and although he never needlessly sacrificed them he did not fear to lead them into the thickest of the fight when the interests of the country demanded. During the service he was wounded several times, once at Corinth, Mississippi, again at Champion Hill and later at Vicksburg. There he sustained a severe injury in the head, causing his detention in the hospital from May 22d until September, 1863. After regaining his health he assumed command as assistant adjutant general, serving on the staff of Generals Mathias, McPherson and Raun, and was also with Sherman on the famous march to the sea. Immediately after the close of the war Captain Head came to Greene county, locating at Jefferson, where he took up the practice of his profession and also in co-operation with Mahlon Head he established the banking firm of Head Brothers. His business interests aside from his profession have been extensive and of an important character. He has been connected with various banks in this part of the state and has made for himself a prominent name in financial circles. Under the style of Head Brothers the original bank was continued until 1893, when it was merged into the Greene County State Bank, with Hon. Albert Head as president and principal stockholder. He has also been connected with various other financial and real-estate interests, having been a large investor in property. He has been president of the Jefferson Land & Loan Company, was formerly president of the Bank of Paton, also of the Citizens Bank of Grand Junction and vice president of the Bank of Pilot Mound. He still owns the Iowa House, which he recently rented for ten years, for ten thousand dollars per annum net, and the Home Hotel in Des Moines, and he has various real-estate holdings in Jefferson. His farm property comprises six thousand acres of rich and productive land, all clear of encumbrance, which he has improved until it is now in excellent condition, being divided into several farms, some of which are among the best to be found in the state. Whatever Captain Head has undertaken he has carried forward to successful completion. He is a man of keen discernment, readily recognizing and utilizing opportunities and as the years have gone by he has made such judicious investments and so carefully controlled his interests that he is today one of the most prosperous men of this part of the state. Moreover, he is honored by reason of the straightforward methods that he has ever followed in the acquirement of wealth. He has never been known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in a business transaction and, unlike many who are now prosperous, his path has never been strewn with the wrecks of the fortunes of others. Well fitted by nature for leadership, Captain Head has exerted a strongly felt influence on the political life of the state. In the ’60s he served as United States revenue collector for the eleventh congressional district and by his fellow townsmen was called to represent his district in the state legislature, serving as a member during the twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third general assemblies. He was four times nominated by acclamation by the party. He was speaker of the house during the session of the twenty-first assembly and his comprehensive knowledge of parliamentary law, combined with a mind naturally logical and inductive in its reasoning, made him one of the best presiding oflicers the house has ever known. During other sessions he took an active part in constructive legislation in the committee rooms, giving careful and earnest consideration to the various questions which came up for settlement. In community affairs, too, he has been deeply and helpfully interested and has served several times as mayor of the town, giving an excellent administration, characterized by progress and improvement in various lines. He served for one year as president and treasurer of the Iowa State Agricultural Society, as president of the Greene County Agricultural Society and president of Drake University, at Des Moines. Captain Head takes a deep interest in various civic societies and has held important offices in prominent lodges of the state. He has been treasurer of Des Moines consistory, No. 3, S. P. R. S. He belongs to Capital lodge, No. 110, A. F. & A. M., at Des Moines, also the Royal Arch chapter, and is a Knight Templar of Jefferson. He is likewise identified with Za-Ga-Zig temple of the Mystic Shrine and, moreover, has attained the unusual distinction of being a thirty-third degree Mason. He has been treasurer of the M. O. O. L. of the United States and noble grand of Greene lodge, No. 315, I. O. O. F., and also a member of Jefferson encampment. He has been a member of George H. Thomas post, G. A. R., ever since it was organized and in its work he has been deeply interested. Captain Head was married in Jefferson, in 1866, to Miss Minerva Jenkins, a native of Bellefontaine, Ohio, with whom he became acquainted while she was visiting in Greene county. They now have three sons: Mahlon M., who is engaged in the banking business in Jefferson; Albert A., also of this city; and Roscoe C. A review of his life is but necessary to prove his worth in the community. His business affairs have been capably conducted, bringing that individual success which also contributes to the general prosperity. Honored and respected in every class of society, he has for some time been a leader in thought and action in the public life of the state and his name is inscribed high on the roll of fame, his honorable and brilliant career adding luster to the history of Greene county. |
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |