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��GEN. NATT. HEAD.
��formed in an admirable manner, and the method by which the records of our sol- diers were persistently hunted up and placed on file, and the order and system exhibited in carrying on and preserving the extensive and valuable correspond- ence of the department were worthy of the highest praise." The reports of the department during Gen. Head's adminis- tration of the office are voluminous and complete, embracing the record of every officer and soldier who entered the ser- vice of the State during the war, with a sketch of the history and operations of each of the several regiments, and also embodying a complete military history of New Hampshire from the first settle- ment of the province to the outbreak of the Rebellion. The preservation and ar- rangement of the battle-flags of the New Hampshire regiments, in the rotunda of the State House, is one of the numerous evidences of Gen. Head's thoughtful care in the administration of this office.
Aside from his experience in the Adju- tant General's office, Gen. Head has been considerably engaged in public affairs. He has served his town most efficiently in various official capacities, and was a representative therefrom in the Legisla- ture for the years 1801 and 1862. He was a candidate for the State Senate in old District No. Two, in 1875, when the fa- mous controversy over the spelling of his name upon the ballots occurred, and was eleeted to the Senate from that Dis- trict the following year, and re-elected in 1877, when he was chosen President of the Senate, and discharged the duties of the office acceptably and efficiently.
For several years past the friends of Gen. Head in the Republican party have advocated his nomination as a candidate for Governor, and at the Convention in January, 1877, when Gov. Prescott was nominated, he received a very flattering vote, leading all candidates except Pres- cott. This fact, along with his universal popularity, gave his name such prestige before the Convention in September last, that, although the friends of Hon. Cnarles H. Bell made a vigorous effort, aided by a large proportion of the party press throughout the State, to secure the
��nomination of that gentleman, Gen. Head was nominated by a decided ma- jority upon the first ballot, and, although on account of the third party, or so- called Greenback movement, it was scarcely expected by his most sanguine friends that he would be chosen by the popular vote, he received a majority of four hundred and eighty-eight votes over all, and will succeed Gov. Prescott in the gubernatorial chair, if he lives until June next. It is safe to remark in this con- nection that no man, not even excepting Gov. Prescott himself, has ever entered upon the duties of the executive office in New Hampshire with a more extensive acquaintance with the people, or a more intimate knowledge of their practical wants and requirements than Gen. Head enjoys.
He is one of the Directors of the Sun- cook Valley Railroad, in which enter- prise he was one of the active movers. He is also a Director of the New Hamp- shire Fire Insurance Company, and Pres- ident of the China Savings Bank at Sun- cook. He has been a member of the N. H. Historical Society for ten or twelve years past, and has taken a strong inter- est in its work and progress. He is also an active member of the Manchester Art Association. In Free Masonry he is both active and prominent, being a member of Washington Lodge, Mt. Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, Adoniram Council and Trinity Commandery of Manchester. He is also a member of the Supreme Coun- cil, having received all the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and all in the Rite of Memphis to the 94th. He was recently made an "hono- rary member of the "Mass Consistory S.\ P.-. R.\ S.-. 32° Boston." He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Friendship Lodge of Hooksett and Hildreth En- campment of Suncook. Aside from these connections, he is a member of Oriental Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Alpha Lodge, Knights of Honor, of Manches- ter, and Excelsior Temple, of Concord ; is a member of Pinnacle Lodge of Good Templars at Hooksett, and Master of Hooksett Grange of the the Patrons of
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