Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men

by Various

Gen. Head had three sons, of whom Nathaniel, born in Bradford, Mass., March 6, 1754, was the grandfather of Gov. Natt Head. When a young man the son paid his addresses to Miss Anna Knox, daughter of Timothy Knox, of Pembroke. She was of Scotch-Irish blood, and one day, as the father and son were plowing, the former remarked, "Nathaniel, do you intend to marry that Irish girl?" The son respectfully but emphatically answered in the affirmative; whereupon the father added, "Then, understand, you can never share in my property." Young Nathaniel's answer was: "Very well; I will take care of myself." And, in accordance with his declaration, he dropped the goad-stick, and in a few hours left the paternal roof to take up a farm in the wilderness and build a home. The father made good his threat, and at his death Nathaniel received one dollar and his brothers the remainder of the property. Nathaniel located in that portion of Chester now Hooksett, and, building a log house, carried to it Anna Knox, his wife. The site of the primitive cabin was the identical spot where Gov. Head's beautiful residence now stands. As would be expected, the young man, who with no fortune but strong arms and a stout heart had the bravery and determination to establish his forest home, soon rose to position and influence. The report of the battle of Lexington made him a soldier at once, and the record shows him to have been a second lieutenant in the ninth company of volunteers from New Hampshire at Winter Hill, in the cold season of 1775-76; ensign in Capt. Sias's company, Col. Nichols's regiment, in the expedition to Rhode Island in 1778; and captain in Col. Reynold's regiment in 1781. Returning to his home, he added to the pursuit of agriculture the establishment and operation of a lumber-mill. He was early commissioned a justice of the peace, and held frequent courts, at the same time performing a large amount of probate business, including the settling of many estates, while his acknowledged sense of justice and marked integrity often caused him to be chosen arbiter in important questions of dispute in the neighborhood. With the close of the war, his martial ardor was not extinguished, and he became prominently connected with the state troops,—the old roster showing him to have been a brigade inspector, and also colonel of the Eleventh Regiment.

Col. Nathaniel Head, Jr., had nine children, the seventh, John, born May 30, 1791, being the father of the subject of this sketch. He remained at the old homestead, and after arriving at manhood was associated with his father in the work of the farm and the mill, and after his death succeeded to the estate by purchasing the interests of the other heirs. The military spirit again appears in John Head, who rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Seventeenth Regiment.

Col. Head married Miss Anna Brown, whose home was near his. Before her union with him she was a school-teacher, and a woman of great energy and executive ability. She was a member of the Pembroke Congregational church, and took a deep interest in the religious and educational affairs of her neighborhood. She was a grand-daughter of William Brown, one of the three brothers who came from Scotland and settled in the upper part of Chester, near what is now Suncook. Her father, William Brown, was a sea captain, who made numerous voyages around the world. Captain Brown's sister married Ezekiel Straw, grandfather of Gov. Ezekiel A. Straw, of Manchester, making the latter a second cousin of Gov. Head. The three Brown brothers already mentioned were men of ability, and had high family connections across the Atlantic. Their English coat of arms was the "hawk and the bird" the design showing the former diving towards, and in the act of catching, the latter. On the maternal side, Gov. Head's great-aunt, Betsey Brown, daughter of Rev. Joseph Brown, M. D., of the Church of England, married the distinguished Hon. Samuel Livermore, of Holderness, who was chief-justice of the superior court of judicature.

Mrs. John Head had four brothers, one of whom, Hon. Hiram Brown, was the first mayor of Manchester, and now resides at Falls Church, Va. By the death of Col. Head, August 7, 1835, the widow was left in the management of a large and valuable property, to which was added the care of her family. All those responsible duties she discharged with great fidelity and conscientiousness until her death, which occurred April 3, 1849. She left five children, of whom four are now living. They are Mrs. Hannah A., widow of the late Col. Josiah Stevens, Jr., of Manchester; Natt, born May 20, 1828. John A., of Boone county, Io., and William F.,—the latter the business partner of Gov. Head.

The picturesquely located home farm of three hundred acres is owned by Natt and William F. Head. It extends from the house to the Merrimack river, and follows the same for the distance of half a mile, embracing many acres of the fertile intervale lands of that stream. The farm is particularly adapted to grass, and yields about two hundred and fifty tons of hay annually. There are kept on it one hundred head of neat stock and thirty horses. In addition to the homestead, the brothers own large tracts of outlying wood and pasture lands. The lumber operations which were begun by Col. Nathaniel Head have assumed large proportions in the hands of his descendants. Under the firm name of Head & Dowst, in Manchester, the brothers do a heavy lumber and building business. On the home farm are the famous Head clay banks, where some eight million or more of brick are produced each year. The firm employs, in Hooksett, from seventy-five to one hundred men.

Gov. Head had the advantages of the common school and of the Pembroke Academy. His room-mate at the latter was Mark Bailey, now a professor at Yale College, and between whom a close friendship has since existed. Being only seven years of age when his father died, he soon learned to assist his mother in managing the work of the farm and the mill; and to such an experience, joined with her kindly influence, may be attributed the formation of those principles of character which led to the eminent success that he achieved in later years in business and in political life. After the death of his mother, he settled the estate, and with his brother William bought out the other heirs and formed a joint partnership, under the firm name of Natt & W. F. Head, that has continued to the present time,—there never having been any division of their income, or of the large amount of property that they own. On the score of integrity and promptness in meeting every business obligation, it will not be invidious to say that no firm in the state has a higher standing.

From boyhood allied to agriculture, Gov. Head's interest in it has never diminished, notwithstanding the many military and civil honors that came to him in later life. For five years he was a director, and for eleven years the president, of the New Hampshire State Agricultural Society, an officer of the Merrimack County Association, a trustee of the New England society since its organization, and an ex-trustee of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts at Hanover. For many years he has been a popular speaker at agricultural fairs and farmers' meetings. While president of the state society he inaugurated the first farmers' convention ever held in New England, and which called out many of the ablest agricultural speakers in the country.

Inheriting military taste and enthusiasm from three generations, we find him following in the footsteps of patriotic and distinguished ancestors. He was one of the active spirits in the formation, and was one of the first member, of the famous Hooksett Light Infantry, which was a crack company in the old state forces. September 1, 1847, he was commissioned drum-major of the Eleventh Regiment, third brigade, first division, of the state militia, and served four years. He was an original member of the famous Governor's Horse-Guards, and drum-major and chief bugler during the existence of the corps. He was a charter member and four years commander of the Amoskeag Veterans, of Manchester; is an honorary member of the Boston Lancers, and is a member, an ex-sergeant, of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery, of Boston. He was chief on the staff of Gov. Joseph A. Gilmore, and is an honorary member of several other military organizations. The Head Guards, of Manchester, one of the oldest companies under the present militia system, was named in his honor.

In this connection it may be stated that when the Soldiers' Asylum near Augusta, Me., was burned, Gov. Head was appointed to the charge of that institution during the illness of the deputy-governor, and subsequently rebuilt the establishment. He had previously, as a contractor, built several miles of the Concord & Portsmouth Railroad between Suncook and Candia, and also the road-bed and bridges from Suncook to Hooksett, and the branch line from Suncook to Pittsfield.

In early life he was elected to various town offices; was commissioned a deputy-sheriff, and was a representative in the legislature from Hooksett in 1861 and 1862.