James H. Blethen, Sr. and his sons, James H. Blethen and Eugene O. Blethen, were connected with the shipping of California from the days of '49. James Sr. and Jr. were Master Mariners who captained steamers during California's Gold Rush days and into the turn of the Century.
James H. Blethen, Jr., was born in New York in 1844. Apparently
his parents were divorced and his father, James H. Blethen, Sr., married
Henrietta Emelia Osborne in March of 1850, then sailed to San Francisco
in 1851 as captain of a Vanderbilt ship.
The younger Blethen is on the
passenger list of the SS Daniel Webster, which left New York
in the fall of 1855. He crossed the Isthmus to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua,
where he joined his father, Captain of the SS Sierra Nevada for
the trip to San Francisco. He was about 11 years old at the time.
Captain Blethen, Jr., is next mentioned in Langley’s San
Francisco Directory of 1864, wherein it is noted that he sailed as second
officer on the Opposition steamer Moses Taylor, with his father,
James H. Blethen, as captain. The mentions of the younger Blethen generally
did not include "Junior," and, thus, some confusion surrounds
listings of the Blethens in the 1860s and 1870s. However, it seems apparent
that the Senior Blethen was the more prominent sea captain and sailed
deepwater steamers in international waters, whereas his son was lesser
known and plied California’s coastal waters as noted in listings below
from the Daily Alta California.
Captain Blethen, Jr., had been Captain of the tug S. L. Mastick to San Diego, but left that tug in charge of Captain Thomas, and remained there to take command of the steamer Alexander. No sailing notice appears in either late December, 1869, or in January or February, 1870.
Alta California, February 22, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
ARRIVED, Feb. 21---Steamer Alexander, Blethen, 78 hours from Santa Cruz
Island; 700 sheep to J. Baca & Co. This voyage may have been with the
North Pacific Transportation Company which was the only shipping line
advertising steamships to Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Simeon and San Luis
Obispo in the 1970 Daily Alta California listings. MEMORANDA, Per Alexander---20th
inst, off Point Sur, Steamer Kolorama, bound south.
Alta California, February 23, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
SAILED, Feb. 22---Steamer Alexander, Blethen, Midway Island.
Alta California, March 1, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
ARRIVED, Feb. 28th---Steamer Alexander, Blethen, 2 days fm Santa
Cruz Island; 1025 sheep, to N. Baca & Co. MEMORANDA, Per Alexander
---Feb. 27th, at 11:30 a.m. passed Steamer Vaquero 25 miles N of Point
Arquela for San Diego.
Alta California, March 3, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
SAILED, March 2---Steamer Alexander, Blethen, Santa Cruz Island.
Alta California, March 8, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
ARRIVED, March 7---Steamer Alexander, Blethen, 2 days from Santa
Cruz Island; 1,100 sheep, to P. Bacca.
Alta California, March 10, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
SAILED, March 9--Steamer Alexander, Blethen, Santa Cruz Island.
Alta California, March 18, 1870, Shipping Intelligence,
ARRIVED, March 17--Steamer Alexander, Blethen, 2 days fm Santa
Cruz Island; sheep, to P. Bacca & Co. IMPORTATIONS, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND--Per
Alexander--830 sheep, 70 bales wool.
In April of 1871, while the younger Blethen continued on the Pacific Coastal routes, his father sailed from Mission Street Wharf in command of the Steamship Nevada, the pioneer of Webb’s Australian Line, under the control of the Colonial Governments of Australia and New Zealand for transportation of the mails.
San Francisco Bulletin, August 2, 1889
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
The ship Kennebec arrived in port on Wednesday with a cargo of coal from Departure Bay. Yesterday the Customs Inspectors boarded her. While attending to his duties, one of them, James H. Blethen, Jr., fell down the chain-locker and received a number of bruises and concusions. He was brought ashore and removed to his home in a carriage.
By 1890, James H. Blethen, Jr., was listed as a Custom House Inspector in Langley’s Directory. One or both of the Blethens were Chief Wharfingers on San Francisco’s docks in the latter part of the 19th Century. He was also at one time "captain of the watch" at Meiggs Wharf, and was noted as holding "various positions of trust along the front."
He died in San Francisco on March 19, 1906.
