A native of New York city, born in September, 1829. He removed to Chicago, Ill., at the age of twenty, where he engaged in the livery business until 1855, when he came to what was then a little hamlet in Woodbury county, Iowa, but which is now Sioux City, and there engaged in the livery business, also buying and selling stock. He also did butchering business and furnished meat for the steamboats. He farmed and raised live-stock, and owned 360 acres of land. Politically he was a democrat, and took an active part in politics, serving one term in the legislature, 1884. In 1867 Mr. Haviland was united in marriage with Mary C. Beers, of Monona County, Iowa. Mr. Haviland was identified with the history of the county from its infancy, was a public-spirited man, and did much toward the upbuilding of the county in which he lived. He was a member of the Masonic order.