The Maritime Heritage Project ~~ International Harbors Travel

The Maritime Heritage Project and International Harbors Travel.

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The Maritime Heritage Project

The Maritime Heritage Project is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax exempt charitable corporation established in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. by D. Blethen Adams Levy in 1998 to preserve 1800s shipping history and world migration.

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"Master Under God"
Captains exercised absolute authority at sea and so were dubbed "Master Under God"
by early insurance writs, agreements with ship owners and passengers and the Board of Trade.

In 1849, Captain Estabrooks took over command of the SS Pacific from Captain Hall J. Tibbetts, who had been receiving complaints from passengers. Captain Tibbetts sailed the ship from New York to Rio where Captain Estabrooks took charge and brought her from that port in to San Francisco on August 5, 1849.

Among the passengers on that ship leaving New York on January 22, 1849 was Mark Hopkins. One account relates that this Mark Hopkins formed the New England Mining Company, comprised of 26 men, each of whom invested $500 in the venture. With a capital of $13,000, they bought a large supply of mining equipment, which they intended to sell in California.
arriving in San Francisco on August 5, 1849.

A card from this group was printed in the San Francisco's Alta California newspaper on August 23, 1849:
San Francisco, August 10, 1849
To Captain George T. Estabrooks:
Dear Sir--The undersigned passengers recently arrived on board the ship Pacific from New York, beg leave to use this method of expressing to you some small degree of the gratitude we owe you for the kindness shown us, on all occasions, during your command of that ship from Rio Janeiro to this port. We assure you we shall ever carry with us a pleasing recollection of a voyage that, though often attended by trials and dangers, has been a source of so much pleasure to us through your humanity and unsurpassed seamanship.
Ezra A. Hopkins, Michigan;
E.H. Miller, Jr., W.K. Sherwood, New York;
Mark Hopkins.

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Page: http://www.maritimeheritage.org/georgeestabrooks
Date Entered: Between 1998 and 2008
Source: Geographicus, Newspaper Archives, Daily Alta California, Family Papers, Historical Records, Submissions from Researchers



Research and WebDesign: D. Blethen Adams Levy
Contact: D. Blethen Adams Levy
www.MaritimeHeritage.org and www.InternationalHarbors.com
1001 Bridgeway, Suite 410
Sausalito, California 94965 U.S.A.