Résumé

Service, Union Army, Illinois Infantry, 66th Regiment, Company B, c. 1861-1863. Bestor entered the Union Army as a private and exited a sergeant major. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information National Park Service. U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Draftsman, Patrick Walsh, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1863-1865. Walsh operated an office at 104 Sutter Street between 1863 and 1865. (See San Francisco Directory, 1863, p. 67 and San Francisco Directory, 1865, p. 80.)

Principal, Henry T. Bestor, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1867-1883. In 1867-1868, Bestor rented office space at 51 3rd Street in San Francisco. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1867, p. 88 and San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1868, p. 608.)A year later, he had an office at 302 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. (SeeSan Francisco California City Directory, 1869, p. 676.) In 1872, his office was located at 328 Montgomery Street, (see San Francisco Directory, 1872, p. 720), at 646 Market Street in 1873 (See San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing March, 1873, p. 676) and at 652 Market Street in 1875. He continued to operate there in 1883. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1877, p. 465, and San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1883, p. 1106.)

College

An "H.T. Bestor" was listed among students in the Register of the University of California in 1870. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012, accessed 11/15/2016.)

Relocation

Born on 09/02/1837 in Suffield, CT, Henry Thomas Bestor was the eldest child of Thomas Jefferson Bestor and Eliza Goodale. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55; Author: White, Lorraine Cook, ed.; Publication Date: 1994-2002; Volume: 45, accessed 02/15/2024.) The Bestors had roots in Suffield, a town about 20 miles north of Hartford, as Henry's paternal grandparents had settled there. Suffield was a town known for growing tobacco, a crop not often associated with New England.

Henry was the eldest of two children Eliza had with Thomas by 1839, but she died very early in life on 02/22/1840. Thomas remarried a year after her death in 1841 to Abigail Porter.

In 1850, Henry resided with his father, step-mother, a sibling and four half-siblings on the family farm near Suffield. (Abigail would have seven children between 1841 and 1854.) The 1850 US Census noted that ten people lived in the Bestor household. One non-family member, Emma Bancroft (born 01/22/1837 in Hartford County, CT-d. 12/14/1904 in Los Angeles County, CA), then aged 13, lived with the Bestors, and she likely worked as a household servant.The real estate on which the farm operated in 1850 had an approximate value of $2,000, higher than some nearby holdings, but much less than a few others.

Perhaps looking to expand their farm holdings, the Bestors relocated to Walnut Grove, Knox County, IL, sometime between 1854 and 1860.

After fighting on the Union side in the Civil War, Bestor migrated to San Francisco, CA, by at least 1863, when city directories recorded that he lived in the city and worked for architect Patrick Walsh. (See San Francisco Directory, 1863, p. 67.) He made his home at 104 Sutter Street in 1866. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 43; FHL Roll Number: 977099, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Once he got to San Francisco, Bestor moved around a fair amount, and did not marry. Judging from his frequent movement, it is possible that Henry Bestor did not lead a stable personal life.

During the 1870s, he continued his pattern of frequent relocation. According to the US Census of 1870, Bestor was 32 years old and lived in the 11th Ward, and 2nd District of San Francisco County. He was unmarried but lived with a 23-year-old housekeeper, Mary Sears (born c. 1846 in CT). Bestor owned $2,000 worth of real estate and had a modest personal fortune of $300. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: San Francisco Ward 11, San Francisco, California; Roll: M593_84; Page: 600A, accessed 02/15/2024.) A year later, the San Francisco City Directory, 1871, (p. 99), recorded that the architect had an office at 302 Montgomery Street, but lived on the west side of Chattanooga Street between 22nd and 23rd Streets in what would become the Dolores Heights neighborhood. Bestor lived in a building on the northeast corner of Steiner and Pine Streets in 1872. (See San Francisco Directory, 1872, p. 99.)By 1874, he dwelled on the south side of Clay Street near Scott Street. (See San Francisco Directory, 1874, p. 101.) He transferred to living quarters at 1921 Sutter Street by 1876. (See San Francisco Directory, 1876, p. 132.)

Bestor's relentless moving subsided some in the 1880s. In 1882, he continued to reside at 1921 Sutter Street in what later became the Japantown neighborhood. Another architect,Albert Austin Bennett (1825-1890), lived nearby at 2323 California Street. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1882; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 58; FHL Roll Number: 977208, accessed 02/15/2024.) By 1886, at least, the architect lived at 207 O'Farrell Street, this time close to the architect Absalom Barnett (1853-1918), who lived at 6 Eddy Street. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1886; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 60; FHL Roll Number: 977210, accessed 02/15/2024.) He would remain at 207 O'Farrell for a number of years.

He lived on the first floor of the building at 207 O'Farrell Street according to California voter registration records of 1890.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1890; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 72; FHL Roll Number: 977635, accessed 11/15/2016.) Bestor switched to lodgings at 408 California Street in 1892, according to voter records of that year. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 91; FHL Roll Number: 977610, accessed 02/15/2024.)

The architect died at San Francisco's City Receiving Hospital on 01/03/1896. According to a city death register, he died of cirrhosis of the liver and was buried in the San Francisco Masonic Cemetery. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 02/15/2024.) When the Masonic Cemetery was developed, his remains were exhumed and reburied at the Woodlawn Cemeteryin Colma, CA.

Parents

Henry Bestor's father, Thomas Jefferson Bestor(born 1802 in Hartford County, CT-d. 11/26/1879 in Henry County, IL) wed Henry's mother Eliza Goodale of East Hartford, CT, (born c. 1808-d. 02/22/1840 in Suffield, CT) on 09/04/1836 in Suffield.

Thomas then married Henry's step-mother Abigail Porter (born 05/20/1810 in MA-d. 02/18/1881 in Ringgold County, IA), on 12/07/1841 in West Springfield, MA. (See Ancestry, Source Citation Family History Library; Salt Lake City, UT; Film # 0496944 item 4-5, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Henry's only full sibling was David Hibbard Bestor(born 09/29/1839 in Suffield, CT-d. 12/31/1862 in CT). His half-siblings were: Ellen Lucy Bestor Brooks(born 02/03/1843 in Suffield, CT-d. 08/16/1906 in New Windsor, IL), Orson Porter Nestor (born 03/16/1844 in Suffield, CT-d. 12/12/1922 in Kalamazoo, MI), Minerva “Minnie” Bestor(born 09/19/1845 in Suffield, CT-d. 04/16/1918 in New Windsor, IL),Harvey Bestor (born 09/14/1847 in Suffield, CT-died 02/25/1851 in Suffield, CT), John Gilbert Bestor (born 03/02/1852 in Suffield, CT-d. 12/13/1925 in IA) and Juliet Bestor Coleman(born 04/25/1854 in Suffield, CT-d. 1912 in New Windsor, IL).

A Union Army private, David H. Bestor died on the first day of the Civil WarBattle of Stones River late in 1862.

Orson Nestor became a pastor. His son Arthur Bestor (born 05/19/1879) held the position of President of the Chatauqua Institution between 1915 and 1944.

John Bestor became a public school teacher in Jefferson, IA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Jefferson, Ringgold, Iowa; Roll: T624_417; Page: 8b; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm: 1374430, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Henry was to receive $25 dollars according to the terms of Thomas's will of 07/04/1872. This modest amount may have been because Henry moved away and/or was not close to his father. Thomas left most of his modest estate, which consisted primarily of land, to his wife Abigail, and children Orson, Dryden, John, Minerva and Juliett. Ellen Bestor Brooks received the lots on which she already lived. Minerva and Juliett also received $100. Dryden and John were appointed to serve as the will's co-executors.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Will Records and Index, 1852-1924; Author: Illinois. County Court (Henry County); Probate Place: Henry, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Biographical Notes

At age 55, San Francisco voter records described Bestor as Caucasian, witha light complexion, green eyes and light hair. He stood 5-feet, 2-and-3/4-inches tall.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1892; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 91; FHL Roll Number: 977610, accessed 02/15/2024.)

Member, Masons, San Francisco Chapter.