Laura Eugenia Newhall ( Terry; pen name Ada L. Halstead; 1861–1901) was an American writer.
Early life.
Laura Eugenia Terry was born in California, in 1861.
Career.
While living in Southern California, Newhall devoted herself to writing fiction. Her productions were characterized as being on the order of the works of Augusta Evans. Newhall wrote a number of novels including: "Adopted", "Hazel Verne" (which also went through a dramatization), "The Bride of Infelice" (set in Massachusetts), and "Amber", among others. "After the Night Has Passed" (set in the Yucatan), "Hazel Verne, or The Death Trust", and "The Bride of Infelice" were the best known of her works.
Personal life.
On July 31, 1884, in San Francisco, she married Joshua Otis Newhall (native of Saugus, Massachusetts), who was a merchant and hotel-keeper of Newhall, Los Angeles County, California. In 1890, Joshua Newhall turned over all his property to the Newhall Land and Farming Company, established by his uncle, Henry Newhall, in satisfaction of his debts. In the same year, Laura Newhall returned to San Francisco. In 1891, Joshua Newhall was associated with the Palace Hotel in Napa, California, and several of her poems of that time were signed from that city. In 1898, she was granted a divorce, the grounds being desertion.
Laura Eugenia Newhall died in San Francisco, March 27, 1901. She was survived by her mother, Mrs. Terry, who lived in Healdsburg, California.