Lucas County's other governor --- of Nebraska

John H. Morehead

Lucas County has provided Iowa with two governors --- native son Nathan E. Kendall (1868-1936), born and raised southeast of Russell and governor from 1921 into 1925; and Leo Hoegh (1908-2000), a Shelby County native who was practicing law in Chariton when elected to a single term in 1955.

But John H. Morehead (1861-1942) --- born in the neighborhood east of Belinda and south of Columbia in Pleasant township --- became a governor, too. Of Nebraska.

That state's 17th governor, John was elected during the fall of 1912 and soon after taking office, The Chariton Herald-Patriot picked up and republished (on Feb. 20, 1913) a brief biography that had appeared first in the St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette. The new governor had moved from Lucas County to Falls City in extreme southeast Nebraska during 1883, so St. Joe was the biggest nearby city. Here it is:

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"the courtesy of Fred Young, the Herald-Patriot received a copy of the St. Joseph Gazette, of February 10th, containing a long article from Falls City, Neb., concerning Gov. John Morehead, of Nebraska, who was born and reared in this county. We take the following extracts from the article:

"Gov. John Henry Morehead, the new executive of Nebraska, chosen last November over ex-Gov. Aldrich, is a man who has made his way in the world unassisted. His education, limited though it is in the matter of books, is one of wide experience, gained through rough and tumble contact with the world.

"Gov. Morehead was born in Lucas County, Iowa, May 7th, 1861. His father's name was Andrew Morehead and his mother's maiden name was Frances Cooper. Both of his parents were born in the state of New York, where they were married. They removed from New York to Ohio soon after the wedding was solemnized and lived there for about a year. They then moved farther west and made their home in Lucas county, Iowa.

"The elder Morehead lived there until his death, which occurred in 1888. The widow is still living in Iowa.

"Gov. Morehead did not receive much of an education in his younger days, his father being financially unable to provide money for the schooling. However, John Henry attended district school until the desire for teaching led him to Shenandoah and Knoxville, where he worked for the money to pay his board and to buy his books while he attended the schools of those cities. By dint of hard work he was able to qualify himself for a teacher.

"When he had finished school he began to see the great things offered by the new country of Nebraska and thither he journeyed in 1883. His first job was in a saw mill during the summer, but in the fall, when the schools opened, he began to teach his first school.

"For several years the man who was destined to become governor of Nebraska taught in the schools of that state and worked at other employment during the summer months when school was not in session. While working near Hillsdale and teaching school in the same locality, he became acquainted with Miss Minnie Weisenreder, whom he married in 1885.

"Morehead's political career has been a varied one. He was the nominee of the Democratic party for senator from the First District in 1900 and was elected by a good majority. When he went to the capital to take his seat, his personality made him such a following that he was immediately chosen president pro tem of the body. When a few months later the death of the lieutenant govenror occurred, he automatically assumed that seat. His work there made him such a prominent figure in the politics of the state that his party determined to give him the nomination for governor in 1912.

"Governor Morehead is the father of two children. the eldest, Miss Dorothy, graduated in 1911 from the State University at Lincoln, and Edwin, the son, is now attending high school in Falls City."

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After leaving the governor's office in 1917, Morehead was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska in 1923 and served six consecutive terms before retiring to Falls City, where some of his descendants continue to live. He died there on May 31, 1942.

The Nebraska Moreheads continued to visit south central Iowa frequently during the governor's lifetime. His oldest brother, Charles, was a lifetime resident of the Columbia neighborhood and died there, also in 1942. His family, along with the senior Moreheads, Andrew and Frances, all are buried in the Columbia Cemetery. That's Andrew Morehead's tombstone at left.