Home < 1907 Bios

Greene County IAGenWeb

1907 Past and Present Biographies

Mahlon M. Head

The consensus of public opinion places Mahlon M. Head in the foremost rank among the residents and business men of Greene county. He figures prominently in financial circles, being the president of the Greene County Savings Bank at Jefferson, cashier of the First National Bank at Jefferson, president of the bank at Cooper and president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank at Churdan. He has thus handled extensive moneyed interests and in every connection has proved himself worthy of the great trust reposed in him. He has made a close study of the banking business, with the result that he is thoroughly conversant with it in principle and detail and his opinions are largely regarded as authority on questions of finance in this part of the state.

Mr. Head is one of Jefferson’s native sons, having been born in 1871. His father, Albert Head, was well known in this section of the state, and, in fact, the family is a prominent one here. While spending his boyhood days under the parental roof Mahlon M. Head acquired his preliminary education as a student in the public schools, and in 1889 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, in which he further acquired the knowledge that has fitted him for life’s practical and responsible duties. Returning to Jefferson he entered the Greene County State Bank, later succeeded by the First National Bank, as cashier in 1892, and has remained in that position to the present time, but this does not limit his connection with banking interests, for he has made investment in other institutions for the care of the funds of Greene county’s residents, and in July, 1906, was chosen president of the Greene County Savings Bank, also a strong moneyed concern. He is furthermore president of the bank at Cooper and president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank at Churdan. He is likewise treasurer of the New State Telephone Company, of Sioux City, Iowa, and he stands for all that is progressive and commendable in business affairs.

Mr. Head was married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1901, to Miss Edna Bonham, a daughter of I. C. and Georgia (Earl) Bonham. Her father was manager for Stewart Brothers, of Council Bluffs, for a number of years and is now with the Tacoma Grain Company at Tacoma, Washington. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Head has been born one child, Georgia, now five years of age.

Mr. Head is a stalwart republican, with firm faith in the principles of the party, and that he is recognized as one of its prominent representatives is indicated by his service as a member of the county central committee. He has also acted as chairman of the committee to state conventions, and for one term has been mayor of Jefferson. While the incumbent in that office his administration was characterized by a progressiveness that gave no doubt as to his patriotism and his loyalty to the public good. He brought to bear in the discharge of his duties the same spirit of advancement and the same qualities of prompt execution and keen discernment which characterizes him in his business life and have made him a prominent and well known banker of the 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