Ben Helphinstine was a brother of Rebecca McIntosh. He and his wife Emily were living in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana at the time that many of his relatives traveled by wagon train to California in 1852. Emily Helphenstine was 5 months pregnant with their first child, Florence, when his relatives began the perilous journey. It would have been unwise to attempt the three and a half month trip in her condition. So Florence was born in Indiana, as was their son William in 1858. I don't know the details of when, why or how but Ben's family did travel to California but they were there by 1870.

When their daughter Florence was 22 she married John Jackson Waste on Nov. 29, 1874 in Chico, Butte County, Calif. Her husband had been married twice before to both Margaret Helphinstine and Mary Catherine McIntosh, cousins of Florence. Both Margaret and Mary had died.

According to the Butte County Great Register, in 1878 Benjamin was a farmer at Nelson, near Chico in Butte County.

William Veale Helphinstine, born April 4, 1858, Washington, Daviess Co., Indiana. He married Virginia Truxell on Oct. 1, 1879, in Clear Creek, Butte Co., Calif. They had three sons: Otis Mason Helphenstine, Charles William Helphinstine and Benjamin N. Helphinstine.

William died on Feb. 18, 1940 in Chico at the age of 81. He was buried in the Chico Cemetery.