Los Angeles County
Biographies
WILLARD
GEORGE HALSTEAD
Courageous, industrious and capable, Willard George Halstead was a fine type of the California pioneer and well deserved the distinctive title of self-made man, for all that he possessed was gained through his own exertions. Born in Vienna, Oneida county, New York, July 6, 1841, he was a son of Nathaniel and Julia Emmeline (Graves) Halstead, who were also natives of the Empire state. His public school education was supplemented by attendance at Central Seminary of New York, and when a young man of twenty his patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment for service in defense of the Union. Joining Company C, Twenty-sixth Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry, May 3, 1861, he was made a corporal, September 4, 1861, and promoted to sergeant, November 7 of that year. Commissioned a first lieutenant March 11, 1863, he was attached to the command of General McDowell and participated in many important engagements. He was at Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Groveton, the second battle of Bull Run, and also took part in the campaigns at Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
At the close of the conflict Mr. Halstead was mustered out of the service and returned home with a creditable military record. In 1867 he journeyed westward to San Francisco California, and shortly afterward came to Los Angeles in search of health. His strength was restored by the change of climate and he sought and obtained work in a large lumberyard owned by General Phineas Banning, with whom he remained until 1871, when the business was sold to W. H. Perry. In 1873 he engaged in the transportation business in Los Angeles with the Cerro Gordo Freighting Company, hauling supplies to the mines in Inyo County and transporting bullion on the return trip, a hazardous undertaking those early days. Mr. Halstead went to San Fernando, when the railroad was built to that point, which then became headquarters for the company. Still later, when the road was completed through from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the headquarters were moved to Mojave. In 1881 the business was moved to Tombstone, Arizona, and the next year it was sold and Mr. Halstead returned to Los Angeles. That same year he was made general superintendent of the Wilmington Transportation Company that had formerly conducted a stage business between Wilmington and Los Angeles. In 1891 he resigned that position to become president of the Excelsior Water and Mining Company at Smartsville, Yuba county, and until his death on August 17, 1910, remained at the head of that corporation, which grew and prospered under his able direction and capacity for successful management. In Los Angeles on November 6, 1877, Mr. Halstead was married to Miss Florence Pauline Bent, a daughter of Henry Kirke White and Jennie (Crawford) Bent, who were natives of Massachusetts. Mr. Bent was a civil engineer and came to California in 1858 to work for the mines. In 1859 he was joined by his family, and they settled in Los Angeles in 1868. Pauline, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Halstead, died at the age of five years. Mr. Halstead was a charter member of Occidental Lodge, No. 179, I.O.O.F., of San Francisco and also belonged to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, an organization composed of officers of the Union Army. He donated liberally toward charitable, educational and civic enterprises. In his life he exemplified all that is most admirable in conduct and character and although many years have elapsed since his death, his memory remains fresh in the hearts of those who knew him. His widow still lives in Los Angeles and is noted for her generosity and public spirit, carrying out her husband’s wishes in many avenues.
Transcribed
2-11-12 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
99-101, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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