Son of John George Hillegass and Rebecca Margaretha (Gift) Hillegass; brother of Maria Levena Hillegass, Josiah Hillegass, Caroline Hillegass, and Matilda Hillegass
An early resident of Oakland, California, he partnered with fellow farmer F. K. Shattuck in a livery business (Shattuck & Hillegass Livery) which was centered in what is now Jack London Square. Farming and transportation were very successful, and they eventually invested in coal. The "Central Coal Mining Company" incorporated on January 22, 1863 with Hillegas as the secretary and Shattuck as the president.
Hilllegass married twice: first to Eugenie De Saint and then to Maria Boullet, who was French. William Hillegass died in 1876, and his former partners and family fought over his estate for ten years. When the litigation ended in 1886, the family sold off its holdings and left Berkeley forever.
"... William Hillegas was a Dutchman from Pennsylvania. He came to California in the fifties. He was poor in health and pocket and his cousins made up a purse of a few hundred dollars to help him to California, where he was to try his luck in the gold digging and live out of doors in sunshine. Hillegas went to what is now Oakland, squatted on land, and became a small merchant among the settlers in Oakland. He grew to be a rich landowner and died wealthy at about 1884. The Pennsylvania cousins came on to California, and, under the grubstake law, claimed from the Hillegas widow and children a share of the estate. They alleged that they in reality grubstaked William Hillegas when a young man, and that while he did not actually go into the mines on the capital they had provided him, they were entitled to grubstakers' shares in all that he made with their money as a start. They won that case ..." [The Sun (New York, NY), Sunday, April 25, 1897]
An early resident of Oakland, California, he partnered with fellow farmer F. K. Shattuck in a livery business (Shattuck & Hillegass Livery) which was centered in what is now Jack London Square. Farming and transportation were very successful, and they eventually invested in coal. The "Central Coal Mining Company" incorporated on January 22, 1863 with Hillegas as the secretary and Shattuck as the president.
Hilllegass married twice: first to Eugenie De Saint and then to Maria Boullet, who was French. William Hillegass died in 1876, and his former partners and family fought over his estate for ten years. When the litigation ended in 1886, the family sold off its holdings and left Berkeley forever.
"... William Hillegas was a Dutchman from Pennsylvania. He came to California in the fifties. He was poor in health and pocket and his cousins made up a purse of a few hundred dollars to help him to California, where he was to try his luck in the gold digging and live out of doors in sunshine. Hillegas went to what is now Oakland, squatted on land, and became a small merchant among the settlers in Oakland. He grew to be a rich landowner and died wealthy at about 1884. The Pennsylvania cousins came on to California, and, under the grubstake law, claimed from the Hillegas widow and children a share of the estate. They alleged that they in reality grubstaked William Hillegas when a young man, and that while he did not actually go into the mines on the capital they had provided him, they were entitled to grubstakers' shares in all that he made with their money as a start. They won that case ..." [The Sun (New York, NY), Sunday, April 25, 1897]
Son of John George Hillegass and Rebecca Margaretha (Gift) Hillegass; brother of Maria Levena Hillegass, Josiah Hillegass, Caroline Hillegass, and Matilda Hillegass
An early resident of Oakland, California, he partnered with fellow farmer F. K. Shattuck in a livery business (Shattuck & Hillegass Livery) which was centered in what is now Jack London Square. Farming and transportation were very successful, and they eventually invested in coal. The "Central Coal Mining Company" incorporated on January 22, 1863 with Hillegas as the secretary and Shattuck as the president.
Hilllegass married twice: first to Eugenie De Saint and then to Maria Boullet, who was French. William Hillegass died in 1876, and his former partners and family fought over his estate for ten years. When the litigation ended in 1886, the family sold off its holdings and left Berkeley forever.
"... William Hillegas was a Dutchman from Pennsylvania. He came to California in the fifties. He was poor in health and pocket and his cousins made up a purse of a few hundred dollars to help him to California, where he was to try his luck in the gold digging and live out of doors in sunshine. Hillegas went to what is now Oakland, squatted on land, and became a small merchant among the settlers in Oakland. He grew to be a rich landowner and died wealthy at about 1884. The Pennsylvania cousins came on to California, and, under the grubstake law, claimed from the Hillegas widow and children a share of the estate. They alleged that they in reality grubstaked William Hillegas when a young man, and that while he did not actually go into the mines on the capital they had provided him, they were entitled to grubstakers' shares in all that he made with their money as a start. They won that case ..." [The Sun (New York, NY), Sunday, April 25, 1897]
An early resident of Oakland, California, he partnered with fellow farmer F. K. Shattuck in a livery business (Shattuck & Hillegass Livery) which was centered in what is now Jack London Square. Farming and transportation were very successful, and they eventually invested in coal. The "Central Coal Mining Company" incorporated on January 22, 1863 with Hillegas as the secretary and Shattuck as the president.
Hilllegass married twice: first to Eugenie De Saint and then to Maria Boullet, who was French. William Hillegass died in 1876, and his former partners and family fought over his estate for ten years. When the litigation ended in 1886, the family sold off its holdings and left Berkeley forever.
"... William Hillegas was a Dutchman from Pennsylvania. He came to California in the fifties. He was poor in health and pocket and his cousins made up a purse of a few hundred dollars to help him to California, where he was to try his luck in the gold digging and live out of doors in sunshine. Hillegas went to what is now Oakland, squatted on land, and became a small merchant among the settlers in Oakland. He grew to be a rich landowner and died wealthy at about 1884. The Pennsylvania cousins came on to California, and, under the grubstake law, claimed from the Hillegas widow and children a share of the estate. They alleged that they in reality grubstaked William Hillegas when a young man, and that while he did not actually go into the mines on the capital they had provided him, they were entitled to grubstakers' shares in all that he made with their money as a start. They won that case ..." [The Sun (New York, NY), Sunday, April 25, 1897]
Gravesite Details
There are no individual grave markers in the Hillegass plot, Plot 8, Lots 73-74, other than Marie Hillegass (1842-1904)
Family Members
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