Wilber Halstead Dies While Out Fishing

Laid Down in Boat While Others Fished

Son of George “Doc” Halstead

Was at Tyson Lake—Never Wakes From Supposed Sleep—Was Thought in Perfect Health

Wilber Halstead son of George “Doc” Halstead, Dave Harding and Ed Lake were up on Tyson’s lake fishing yesterday forenoon. Young Halstead laid down in the bottom of the boat and the other boys thought he was asleep, but when they undertook to wake him they found he was dead. No cause can be assigned for his sudden death as he had been in usual health and was not indisposed in the morning when leaving his home.

A physician was summoned and pronounced it a case of heart failure.

It seems the young man had been up all night the night before and laid down in the boat to take a nap, his companions going on with their fishing. He had been working with his father, who is foreman of one of Beaty’s bridge gangs, up in the Dakota county and finished up the work there last week returning home. His father was working on a bridge down at the Ware place and was immediately sent for and the body taken to the Pierce undertaking rooms. The young man was eighteen years old in July last. The funeral will be held at three o’clock Saturday afternoon.

#2 Printed in the Oct. 1, 1913 Tribune, Blair, Nebraska

Wilbur Halstead

Thursday afternoon while out on a fishing trip with Dave Hardin and Ed Lake up on the Missouri river, Wilber Halstead died suddenly of heart failure. The boys had started up the river the night before on a fishing trip and had fished all night and after breakfast the next morning Mr. Halstead complained of being tired and not feeling very well and he and Lake laid down on a bunk in the back end of the boat and when Lake awoke he thought Wilbur was still sleeping, but on trying to arouse him it was found that he was dead. A physician was summoned and pronounced it a case of heart failure. He had been working with his father, who is foreman of one of the Beaty bridge gangs up in Dakota county, and had but returned a few days before and was taking a short vacation before he started in here. He was 18 years of age last July and besides a father and a mother leaves a brother and sister to mourn his demise. The funeral was held Sunday and the body interred in the Blair cemetery.

#3 Printed in the Oct. 2, 1913 Blair Democrat, Blair, Nebraska

The funeral of Wilber Halstead, son of Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Halstead who died Sunday [sic] while out fishing last Thursday, was held Sunday afternoon. Rev. Lang preached the service and interment took place in the Blair cemetery. The boy was only eighteen years of age.

#4 Printed in the Wednesday, October 2, 1913 The Pilot Tribune, Blair, Nebraska

Wilbur Halstead, the 18 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Halstead, was found dead on a gasoline launch belonging to Mr. Lake at noon last Thursday. They were going up the river to fish and Dave Harding was running the engine while Ed Lake and Wilbur were asleep, having been up most of the previous night. They were up near Tyson Lake when Dave tried to waken Wilbur and found him dead. They came right back down the river and telephoned for Coroner Pierce and Doctor Murdock, but it was a case for the coroner not the doctor for his heart evidently had stopped beating as he slept.

He had always had a weak heart and, up to the time he was ten years of age, had to be wheeled about in a chair. He grew better as he grew older and never seemed stronger than he was this summer. He had been working with his father in the Beaty gang-up in Dakota County and had been home only about two weeks. Doctor Noble had told them the boy would never live to be nineteen years of age so they were not unprepared for such an end as this, yet it came as a great shock all the same.

The funeral was held at the house in north Blair at three o'clock Sunday afternoon, Rev. C. E. Lang officiating.

He was born in this city August 7, 1895, the second son in the family. Mr. Halstead's sister, Mrs. Charles McManigal came from Glenwood, Iowa, to attend the funeral, also Mrs. Halstead brother, Ed Lewis of Hampshire, Illinois.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska