William Wallace Barbour Sheldon

Wallace began his career with the Central Pacific Railroad and was present at the laying of the Golden Spike at Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869.

His father was a basic farmer of Quaker ancestry and his mother a housewife and descendant Thomas Stafford, an early settler of Warwick, Rhode Island and the first man to build a grist mill in the new world.

The death of his father is unknown, but by the 1850 Census he is living as a student with his maternal aunts step-son, Henry Cole, in Westport.

The article in the Tribune is as follows: Wallace retired in 1909 and celebrated a number of marriages, anniversaries and births of his large family who stayed close to him.

The Oakland Tribune published a short article and photograph announcing his death on the front page of the business section, entitled "Pioneer Passes, Was Engineer".