 West Hill Cemetery Sherman, Texas
The Bonham Daily Favorite February 21, 1922 pg.21 HAYDEN W. HEAD IS DEAD AT SHERMAN Hayden W. Head died yesterday evening at 7:40 at his home north of Sherman after an illness of pneumonia covering a period of ten days. Mr. Head was a son of Judge H.O. Head of Sherman and was educated at Austin College, later studying law at the University of Texas and at Columbia University. He practiced law with his father for a number of years, but since 1920 had been engaged in the banking business and other commercial lines. He was vice-president of Merchants & Planters National Bank of Sherman and was also vice-president of the Bonham Telephone Co. He was one of the most active and most prominent citizens of Sherman and his death is a matter of deep regret. He is survived by his wife and three children. He was 40 years of age.   RODE CIRCUIT ON HORSEBACK IN "OLD DAYS" H.O. HEAD DIES TEXAS LAWYER FOR 50 YEARS Noted Corporation Attorney Passes Away at Sherman Home. (Special to The News) Sherman, Texas, April 24 - Judge Henry Oswald Head, prominent as a corporation lawyer in Sherman for more than fifty years and a former Associate Justice of the Court of Civil Appeals, died at his home at 7:50 o'clock Wednesday evening after a two weeks' illness. Funeral services will be held Friday afternoon at 3 o'clock at Central Christian Church in Sherman, with interment in Sherman mausoleum. Judge Head was head of the law firm of Head, Dillard, Maxey, Freening, McReynolds & Haig, and had practiced law in this city since 1875. He was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, March 17, 1851, the son of Dr. James Hershell Head and Barthemia Branham Head, and he came from Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Benjamin Head, was a captain in the American Revolution. His father was a brigadier surgeon in the Confederate army. A brother served as a private throughout the Civil War on the Southern side. AUSTIN COLLEGE GRADUATE Judge Head was educated in the country schools of Sumner County and by private tutors. He then entered Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, where he graduated with the A.B. degree, and he later graduated in law. After coming to Sherman, he secured his LE. D. degree at Austin College. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Society of Cumberland University. He was elected to the judgeship of the Fifteenth Judicial District of Texas and served from 1886 to 1889. He was an Associate Justice of the Court of Civil Appeals from 1892 to 1895, resigning both positions before the ends of the terms. TO TEXAS IN COVERED WAGON Judge Head came to Sherman in 1871 direct from his native State and immediately after his graduation from the law department of Cumberland University. He made the trip to Texas in a covered wagon and found here a thriving community of 1,400 people. On his arrival he associated himself with the law firm of Hare & Bledsoe, composed of the late Judge Silas Hare, who later served the old Fifth Congressional District in Congress, and was also Judge of the District Court, and the late Joseph Bledsoe, who was also Judge of the District court. This was one of the strongest law firms in the State at the time. Judge Head continued to practice his profession with one or the other of the two until 1885, when he was elected to fill an unexpired term as Judge of the Fifteenth District court. After retiring from the bench, Judge Head returned to Sherman and resumed the practice of law with a former partner, Judge Frank C. Dillard. Judge P.B. Muse of McKinney came into the firm in 1901. LAWYER ON HORSEBACK The young lawyer from Tennessee found a wide field of practice on his arrival in Texas. The late Judge Binkley was District Judge here and his district extended as far west as Henrietta and took in a large scope of country south and east. The lawyers and court officials rode on horseback from one county seat to another, carrying law books, briefs and their clothing in saddle bags. Speaking of the old-time lawyers recently, Judge Head declared that those pioneer barristers have never been excelled in legal ability. He related many interesting events of the early days. A humorous event illustrative of the customs of the times was related recently. It occurred during a court week in Gainesville. The hotel there was operated by a man named Fletcher and, as was the custom everywhere, the guests all bathes their faces in one wash pan and used the one roller towel on the side porch. On this occasion a drummer from New Orleans, who had slept a little later than the others and was the last to make his morning ablution, complained to the landlord about the towel. "You are almost the hardest man to please I ever saw," replied Fletcher. "At least twenty men have used that towel this morning and you are the only one to complain." THEME FOR ROMANCE Judge Head was married in New Orleans on March 23, 1878, to Miss Sallie C. Wilson. The incidents of their courtship and marriage would form the theme for a beautiful romance. Judge Head had a suit against the father of Miss Wilson, who resided at New Orleans, and he sent the young lady here to visit a married sister and while here she captured the lawyer who was opposing her father and forced him to withdraw from the case before she would set the wedding day. To this union six children were born, three of whom died in infancy. Hayden W. Head died in Infancy. Hayden W. Head died in 1922, being at that time a member of his father's law firm, while Henry O. Jr. and his sister, Miss Orlena, now Mrs. George Eader, reside in Tennessee. Mrs. Head died in 1918. District Court was held here twice on the square. Later court had its session upstairs in the old brick building on the northwest corner of the square. The present court house was completed in 1875 by the late capt. L.E. Ely. Wild geese and ducks were plentiful here in the early days but they were a menace to growing wheat crops. A man knowns as Butcher Williams, bought him a...cannon with which to shoot the geese. Prairie chickens were also here by the millions. There was difficulty in having plenty of the fowl for dinner in..... Judge Head was...Houston Oil Company to....suit against the Kirby Lumber Company, in the Federal Court at Houston. That suit involved about a million acres of land, much of which was covered by splendid pine forest and valued at between twenty-five and thirty million dollars. For his services in this case Judge Head was paid a cash fee of $50,000, and ever since has been retained by the Houston Oil company as its general counsel, devoting much of his time to its service. The first railroad, as Judge Head remembers,the H. & T.C. reached Sherman in March 1875, the M.K. & T. arriving at Red River in September of the same year. This is the year that Denison was laid off. At the time the surveying was done the prairie grass was eight or ten feet high where the city now is. The T. & P., whose headquarters were in Marshall, began early in 1872 to build from Sherman eastward, but...only reached Brookston when a great financial panic of that time came, and it discontinued its building for several years. A school was being conducted at the time Judge Head arrived here, shortly afterward, in a frame building on the present site of Kidd Key College, taught by a Prof. Park and Capt. Le Tellier. After changing hands a few times this school eventually became Kidd-Key. Judge Head has been listed in Who's Who in America ever since that important work has been issued, which is proof enough of itself that for many years he has been widely known and highly esteemed for his profession.  West Hill Cemetery Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |
