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.
E.H. Miller, Jr., W.K. Sherwood, New York;
Mark Hopkins.