Background
Bankhead was born on September 13, 1842, at Moscow, Marion County, Alabama (near present day Sulligent, Alabama). His great-grandfather, James Bankhead (1738–1799) was born in Ulster and settled in South Carolina.
politician representative senator
Bankhead was born on September 13, 1842, at Moscow, Marion County, Alabama (near present day Sulligent, Alabama). His great-grandfather, James Bankhead (1738–1799) was born in Ulster and settled in South Carolina.
At age 65, John H. Bankhead was appointed, then elected, to serve out the remainder of the United States. Senate term left by the death of John Tyler Morgan and later re-elected twice. He served from June 18, 1907, until his death on March 1, 1920. B. B. Comer, former governor of Alabama, was appointed to serve the rest of his term, until November 2, 1920, when J. Thomas Heflin was elected to serve out the term.
The cross-country Bankhead Highway was named after him, as is Bankhead Lake on the Black Warrior River near Birmingham.
Bankhead was a member of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907, and was instrumental in enacting the Federal Aid Road Acting of 1916, which became the first federal highway funding legislation.
