John Henry Gray "Henry" Hood was born in Nahant, Massachusetts, March 26, 1838 to Nancy (Tarbox) and Elbridge Gerry Hood, Sr. Henry's father died at age 27, and Henry and his brother, Elbridge, Jr., were then raised by their paternal grandparents. The Hood family was among 17th century Quaker colonists in Lynn, MA who then acquired land in Nahant in the 18th century.
Around 1861 Henry moved west, enlisted in the Union Army while residing in Illinois, and was assigned to the Kansas 7th Cavalry (also known as Jennison's Jayhawkers"), Co B. Buffalo Bill Cody was in Co. H of this regiment, which saw action in several battles and excursions in Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kansas. Henry attained the rank of first sergeant, although he adopted the nickname "Captain" in later years. After the Civil War ended, he returned to the Midwest, and married Harriet A.M. Lewis in Fremont County, Iowa, in 1869. During the next several years they lived in Storm Lake, Carroll and Neola. Henry was an artist who probably supported the family as a sign painter. One of his paintings is the subject of a book, "The Painting on the Window Blind", and is valued because it depicts a Union spy in a Confederate uniform.
Harriet died giving birth to their eleventh child Feb. 3, 1891, and by about 1893 Henry and his seven youngest children moved to Panora, Iowa. His obituary states that he joined the Presbyterian church in 1898 and was an active member until his death. Henry died of apparent heart failure at his residence in Panora on April 7, 1908. He was survived by eight children: Edgar, in Nebraska: Levi in Perry, Iowa; Miss Grace , Mrs. E. R.(Jessie) Montgomery, Mrs. B.K. (Abby Mae) Jarnagin, Dick and Earl of Panora and Mrs. Roy (Oleander) Luse, Montana.