William Pinkney Toler

Who was William Pinkney Toler?

William Pinkney Toler was born in Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 23, 1826, the son of an American diplomat. Toler was educated in Washington, D.C. and joined the United States Navy at age 14. As a midshipman on the United States under the command of Commodore Thomas Gatsby Jones, he hoisted the first American flag up the flagpole of the Custom House at Monterey in 1842. Toler arrived in Hawaii on the United States in 1843. He made the arduous two- or three-day round trip on horseback to sketch Kilauea.

Toler resigned from the Navy in 1848 and accepted a position as assistant to the alcalde in San Francisco. In 1853, he married Maria Peralta, whose family owned the large land grant that is now the city of Oakland, California. He eventually settled in San Leandro, California, where he spent his remaining years. Toler died there on Jan. 24, 1899.