The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-07-05

Bolts, after firing the shot, came directly
down stairs, and walked leisurely along
South to Herman, down Herman to
Thomas, up Thomas to Railroad avenue,
crossing which he again entered South
street. and proceeded on toward south
Broad. Officer Thomas Callen ran after
him, the crowd following, and overlook
him short distance from the avenue. He
surrendered himself without resistance.
doing this morningf" He replied, ~
"Who have you shotp" he was ask
ed. "Pet Halstead,' he answered,
and added, "Pet wanted to have
her: oil to himself; he wouldn't d.
vide, SO fixed him I have got satisfac-
ton, and I don't care If swing for it I
suppose / shall be locked up over tho
Fourth. but I'll have a better Fourth than
he WILL" Bolts wanted to treat the crowd
in honor Of his performance. The officer
then told Bolts it was bad affair, and that
ne must come with him to the station
house. He said it was bad to get into q
scrapc on account of -(using IN oppro-
brious epithct.) The policeman then asked
him il he had the pistol with him. and he
said no. He then took him up Broad street
to tho station-house, where sIx.barrclled
revolver was found upon him, with one Of
the barrels empty.
In the afternoon Coroner Chase held an
inquest, with the following gentlemen rs a
| jury: Jno. Dunham, JAS. Nj. Clark, Richard
J.. Heddenburg, Jno. Edwards, VIM. Wildss,
Henry G.. DiSbrow, Jotham S. Campbell,
Samuel Collins, George Matthews. They
viewed the body ut the house lying just rs
1t fell upon tho floor. Tho wounds were
found to,have been evidently made by the
same bullet. On the table were the reln-
nants Of the splendid supper of the night
before. Major George B. Halstead, n bro
tbcr of the murdered man. was in the house
| when the jury came. The jury having re-
turned to the office Of the coroner, Mrs.
Wilson appeared before them. She was
we'll dressed in drab dress trimmed with
black lace, and wore red shawl. She is .
prepnssesSing little woman, IL little past tho
prime of her beauty.
After the evidence of Patrick DCgan, q
police officer, which was unimportant, Mrs.
Wilson was called upon for her testimony
In the case. She gave an account of the
shooting, as 1t has been narrated, and said
in addition: 81 live ut No. 05 South street;
l have lived there since the 1st of May I;
occupy the back room and hall bedroom
of the third floor. One other family
and keeps saloon on the first floor; I
don't remember his name live alone !;
I know Oliver s. Halstead, Jr.; have known
him three and half years; he was at
my house yesterday; be came there about
noon; ! came home just rs he came :;
1 was present at difficulty which occurred
between him and another man this morn
ing about O'Clock; tho name of the
other man was Geo. Bolts; there was no
clothing put on or taken off Mr.. Halstead
after he was shot, the young ladies who
lived down stairs came up after he was
dead; he only lived q few minutes after he
was shot; l am thirty-seven years Of age
do not live with my husband, whose namo
is Michael Wilson, mason, doing business
in this city; have not lived with him for
siXyears; heard one loud report do Tot
remember of hearing more than one shot !;
Bolts did not leave bis pistol in the room
Mr.. HalStead did not have any pistol in his
hand, or anything else; Halstead had hold
Bolts about six years Bolts had wanted to
marry me; | refused to marry him; ; Bolts
is in the charcoal business, and lives ut the
Eighth Ward Hotel; he has been married,
but divorced from his wife; he has six
children, two Of whom arc out West, and
the rest in the country; Halstead did not
say anything after he fell, only groaned.
Lieut.. Kirwan, of the police, testified to
facts in regard to the revolver, and Miss
Spies made her statement concerning the
entrance of Bolts in the morning, just be-
fore the murder.
The jury last evening returned the fol-
lowing verdict
"We find that George Bolts, Of the CITY
Of Newark, on the I'd day of July, 1871, in
said city Of Newark, in the county of Es-
sex. did fcloniously kill and murder Oliver
:. Halstead, Jr., by shooting him in the left
breast with a pistol loaded with gunpow-
der and leaden bullet"
General HalStead was fifty-two years of
age, having been born in 1919. His father,
Hon. O.rS. Hal>tead, was Chancellor of the
State of New Jersey between 1880 and 1910,
and the family has been respected one for
many generations. The young HalStead,
while pursuing his studies at Princeton
College, began to give evidence of first
class abilities, and after his graduation, in
1888, he commenced the study OF the law
in his fathers office, pursuing, ut the same
time, political schemes. Admitted to the
bar in 1912, he soon gained good practice
in Newark, but he left it in 1S49 TO 60 to
California, under the influence OF the gold
fever epidemic which then ragged among
the young men. He remained there only
two years, returning in 1852, in time to en-
gage in the presidential campaign OF that
year. He afterward figured in State politics
until the accession Of MIR. Lincoln to the
Presidency in 1861, when he went to WASH
lngton. There he remained during the
war, and from that time to the present has
been known from one end Of the country
to the other as lobbyist and wire-puller.
With Mr.. Lincoln he was on very friendly
terms, and was at all times well received in
his family circle. Since the war he has
figured principally as the.friend Of Senator
Sprague, who travelled under his manage
ment, and whose speeches were OF Hal
stead's composition. His career has, from
first to last, been full of eccentricitieS, and
has been distinguished by many strange and
rapid transformations. While he has never
acted with any party since the disruption Of
the old Wing party in 1S54-and has never
been an ottice-seeker-he has done some
good service in exposing corruption and
tmbecility.
His letters attacking Mcclellan and prais-
ing Kearny, during the war; his cOnnec-
ton with the Sprague-Abbott imbroglio ut
Washington, In 1860, tended to give him
notorcty, as did the Halstead Battery"
q submarine explosive engine, calculated
for use in naval battles, which was invent
cd by him, and widely talked of. TO build
it he obtained assistance from many Of the
leading men in the country, but, like many
of his schemes, 1t was never successful.
Four years ago he had suit with DIR.
Tyng's son for it's possession, in which he
was successful, and in which his notoriety
was increased.
He leaves a wife and six children, among
whom are two sons Of twenty-five and
twenty years of age. Mrs. Halstead, whom
he married in 1910, is daughter OF the late
Stephen Meeker, one of the wealthiest and
most respected citizens OF Newark, who
died In 1868. She possesses In her own
right considerable property, and the
family of the deceased are, therefore, in
..ao1 nj Tho fr,or,I foI,os