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Born in Pensacola, Florida, Horace Antonio Higley was the eldest son of Horace Loomis Higley and Eualine Collins.

Higley came west during the 1849 California Gold Rush, planning to mine for gold and earn a living as a surveyor.

In California, Higley's reputation as a surveyor burgeoned, culminating in his appointment as the surveyor of Alameda County in the 1854 and later Surveyor-General of the State of California in 1859.  

However, the outbreak of the Civil War saw a dramatic pivot in Higley's life. Alongside his three brothers, he aligned with the Confederacy, leaving California in late 1861 for Mobile, Alabama. There, he joined the 40th Alabama Infantry as an ordnance sergeant in August 1862. His military career quickly escalated; by February 1863, he was promoted to major and integrated into the commissary under General William Mackall, eventually serving on General Braxton Bragg's staff as chief of commissary.

In July 1863, during General John Hunt Morgan's infamous raid, Higley was captured after delivering orders from Mackall. He was held as war prisoner in Columbus, Ohio and, after a series of transfers, Higley was finally exchanged in Charleston, South Carolina, in August 1864. Opting not to return to service, he was paroled in Gainesville, Alabama, in May 1865, marking the end of his military engagement.

After the war, Higley returned to California and married Sallie Phole.  Heavy drinking resulted in ill health and his death in 1873.