Compiled by Russell Bastedo
State Curator
1998

Natt Head (1879-1881). Born Hooksett; Hooksett businessman. In state politics from 1861.

Natt Head's (1828-1883) father was a farmer, sawmill operator and officer in the state militia. The son, one of five children, attended Pembroke Academy and then took over management of the family farm and lumber business. At nineteen (1847) Natt Head was drum major in the 11th regiment of state militia; later he was a member of the Amoskeag Veterans (Manchester), and an honorary member of Boston's Lancers, and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.

In 1852 Natt Head was joined by his brother William in the family lumber business, and brickmaking was added. The Head & Dorst Constructing and Building Company, in Manchester, constructed railways and public buildings. Head became a director of the Suncook Valley Railroad, The First National Bank (Manchester) and the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company. He was made president of the China Savings Bank (Suncook, NH) and the New Hampshire State Agricultural Society. He was also a vice president of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

Head entered state politics as representative from Hooksett (1861/2), then served as state Adjutant General (1864/70). In this position he published annually (1865/70) a Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New Hampshire. The annual publications contained the military record of every New Hampshire man in the military service, together with brief histories of the state regiments. A military history of the state, 1623-1861 [by Chandler E. Potter] was also serialized (and later published separately).

As a result of his work as Adjutant General, Head was one of the best known figures in New Hampshire. He ran for the State Senate in 1874 and won-but was disqualified because the ballot read Natt and not Nathaniel. The Republicans were so angry about the Democrats' ploy that they tried to form an opposition cabinet, and when the Democrats lost the next election the Republicans acted with speed to get back their traditional patronage and perquisites. Head won election to the State Senate in 1876 and 1877, serving as President of the Senate in 1877. In 1878 he was the Republican candidate for governor, and he won a three-way race (against the Democrat and Greenback/Labor Reform candidates).

Head was the first governor to serve a two-year term. During his administration a law was passed against the hiring of children ten years of age and under to work in factories and mills. Telegraph companies were required to have offices in every railroad station-a way to ensure that every town had rail service. Head also refused to commute a death sentence in the famous Buzzell murder case; and the state prison was completed while he was governor.

Location: State House, Second Floor
Portrait by U.D. Tenney, 1880; Presented by Governor Head