The most commonly repeated description of William G. Boyle’s death centers around yet another apocryphal tale – that he was taken ill while he and a group of his associates were returning to Shakespeare from St. Louis in late March of 1880. On arrival at Shakespeare, while the remainder of the group stayed there, William alone continued on to California, dying in San Francisco on April 22, 1880.
In part, this story must have its origins in a Grant County Herald report of April 3, 1880, which stated that “Col. W. G. Boyle left St. Louis on the 28th, for Shakespeare.” The military title attached to Boyle’s name is of unknown origin; we were unable to locate any records to explain how or when he came to be known as Colonel.
Simmons comes to the conclusion that, from Shakespeare, Boyle must have traveled as far as Casa Grande, Arizona, and from there taken the SPRR to its terminus at Sacramento.³⁵ Thorough inspection of the California newspapers of the time proves this to be wrong, despite some slight confusion over dates.
On April 4, 1880, the Daily Alta California listed William G. Boyle of Shakespeare among those at Omaha, Nebraska, who had been passengers on the previous day’s train bound for San Francisco, where it was due to arrive on April 5th. On April 5th, the Daily Alta listed Boyle as having been on the Omaha-Sacramento train on April 2nd. One of these listings is obviously in error, but nonetheless W. G. Boyle must have been on the train at Omaha for his journey westward.
By April 5th he had traveled by train as far as Carlin in northeastern Nevada, and was due to arrive in Sacramento on April 6th.³⁶ The following day he is listed as being a guest at the Lick House, a prominent San Francisco hotel.³⁷
The newspaper record of his journey from Omaha to San Francisco leaves no doubt; he had not traveled on the Southern Pacific Railroad, but on the Union/Central Pacific Railroad, the eastern terminus of which was at Omaha, Nebraska, and the western terminus at Sacramento.
These same newspaper items, together with Boyle’s obituary which was published in the Daily Alta California on April 23rd, and pages from Grant County’s Record of Deeds, Book No. 6, provide us with a much more in-depth picture of William Boyle’s final journey between St. Louis and San Francisco.
Firstly, if Boyle had left St. Louis on March 28th, and was at Omaha on April 2nd or 3rd, this means that it would have been impossible for him to have traveled to Shakespeare in the interim.
Secondly, Boyle did not make the journey to California alone; he had more than one traveling companion. Each of the newspaper reports cited above also lists among the train passengers General John Boyle of St. Louis, and Judge J. B. Bonner of New Orleans. At San Francisco, while both Boyles are listed as being patrons of the Lick House, Bonner is listed as being resident at the Palace Hotel. Although we can be certain that John Boyle would have been traveling with William, how can we be certain that Bonner was too?
William’s obituary refers to his death as having been due to dropsy, which had been brought on by “exposure in the high altitudes of New Mexico and the sudden climatic changes on a journey to New Orleans”.
On March 1, 1880, The Ormus Gold and Silver Mining Company had been incorporated in New Orleans; William G. and John Boyle and John M. Bonner were three of the incorporators of that company.
The most likely scenario is that when he left St. Louis at the end of March, William Boyle’s immediate destination was New Orleans, and that there he met with Bonner, at which time The Ormus Company was formed. John Boyle had probably traveled to New Orleans with him, and the three of them – both of the Boyles and Bonner – then took up the journey to California.
Bonner’s name also appears in Grant County mining location records. In April and May of 1880, J. M. Bonner, John Boyle, Obed Foote and William Craig were recorded as co-locators of four mines in the Stonewall Mining District.³⁸
One of the first things that William Boyle did on arrival at San Francisco was to sell his interest in 43 mining properties – all in the Virginia Mining District – to John Boyle for the sum of $1. Many of those properties represented William’s one-fifth ownership of the Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company’s properties. The sale was transacted before the Commissioner for New Mexico in San Francisco on April 7, 1880.³⁹
It is unlikely that this was the reason for the journey to California; the sale could just as easily have been made at St. Louis or New Orleans. Circumstances suggest that William Boyle, knowing that he was gravely ill, arranged the sale to ensure that his interest in the Shakespeare Gold and Silver company’s properties would remain in the possession of another company insider should he die.
The probate records relating to his estate show that in October of 1880, it was ordered by Grant County Probate Judge John M. Ginn, that all of Boyle’s personal property and all of his mining stocks be sold at auction in order to meet the claims of various creditors on his estate. This brings us back to the question of whether or not he actually received the $350,000 from John Boyle, James B. Price and Frank H. Woodworth in May of 1879. His probate records make no mention of money or a bank account, only of mining stock and personal property in the form of jewelry.⁴⁰
William Boyle’s death was perhaps anticipated by those with him in California. Within two or three days of his death, John Boyle was granted letters of administration for the estate by the Grant County Probate Judge.⁴¹ Although the obituary published in California on April 23rd says that William had died the previous day, the Register of Probate Court for Grant County, which contains all of the information relating to the estate, says that he died “intestate, on or about the 21st day of April, 1880.”⁴² In either case, John Boyle must have already been on his way back to, or had arrived in, Grant County at the time of William’s death as the letters of administration are dated April 24, 1880.
The appointment of John Boyle as administrator for the estate and the records pertaining to that administration provide answers to two questions raised earlier in this work. First, the question of how it was that he came to be in possession of the Stratford Hotel at the time of its sale to Mrs. Annie Woods in July of 1880. The answer of course is that John was disposing of William’s estate. Second, it appears that the Mechanic’s Lien taken out by Peter B. Greaves against William in March of 1880 had been settled before William’s death; there is no claim by Greaves against the estate in relation to this Lien. The Probate Court Register lists the names of all those with claims against William’s estate, together with the amounts claimed. Unfortunately there is no information on why they were owed these monies, but amongst the names of creditors are David J. (Dan) Tucker ($511.33), Thomas Dunn ($620), Mrs. Cassie A. Woods ($17.50), The Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company ($329.50), and James B. Price’s National Mail and Transportation Company, which claimed $4,439.56 against Boyle’s estate.⁴³ The names of these creditors are set out in the Probate Court sitting of March 31, 1881, along with John Boyle’s request that the Court authorize him to settle “with such creditors, as are willing” by paying them with stocks in the Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company at the rate of one share for every dollar owed.
The probate records show that on March 6, 1884, John Boyle, as administrator, held the balance of remaining assets which consisted of 2,880 shares in The Indus Mining Company – a company incorporated after William’s death. These shares must have been Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company shares which had been converted, as per the Indus Company’s stated aim of consolidation. John Boyle was authorized by the Probate Court to make disbursement of these shares to William’s heirs, and on May 5, 1881, he was discharged as administrator of William’s estate.⁴⁴
©2007-2025 Jim & Erica Parson
REFERENCES FOR THIS INSTALLMENT
Note:
Documents located at the Grant County Clerk’s Office (1400 Hwy. 180 E. Silver City, NM 88061) are denoted by (GCCO).
Documents located at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87507) are denoted by (NMSRCA).
³⁵Simmons (1997). Page 47.
³⁶Sacramento Daily Union. April 6, 1880.
³⁷Daily Alta California. April 7, 1880.
³⁸Mining Locations. No 2 (undated). Pages 493-495. (GCCO)
³⁹Deeds. No. 5. (February 1880 – July 1881). Pages 179 – 181. (GCCO)
⁴⁰Register of Probate Court, Book No 3. November 1873 – July 1886. Pages 137 – 438. (GCCO)
⁴¹Ibid. Page 438.
⁴²Ibid.
⁴³Ibid. Page 147.
⁴⁴Ibid. Pages 233-238.
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