Halstead, Christopher N.

Born: 1796-XX-XX New York

Flourished: Carlyle, Illinois

Halstead was a prominent county official and physician in Clinton County, Illinois. He was among the early settlers to the county, arriving in the early 1830s. During the Black Hawk War, he was a private in Captain Andrew Bankson's company of the Third Regiment of the Third Brigade of Mounted Volunteers. He later became quartermaster of the Third Regiment. From 1832 to 1835, he served as a commissioner on the board of county commissioners for Clinton County. In 1840, he became one of the proprietors of the village of Walnut Hill and helped lay out the village. In June 1847, he received appointment as clerk pro tempore of the board of county commissioners, holding that position until September 1847. After the Mexican War, Halstead was on the committee appointed to write resolutions to commemorate the Clinton County soldiers who had died during the conflict. In 1850, he was living with his wife Elizabeth and their five children and working as a physician. He owned $1,000 worth of real estate.

History of Marion and Clinton Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brinks, McDonough, 1881), 82, 84, 92, 114, 120, 122, 220, 236; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Clinton County, IL, 379; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:355, 357 n3, 389, 390, 395.