The Maritime Heritage Project.
Ships in San Francisco during the 1800s.


Dedicated to preserving San Francisco's Shipping History in the 1800s
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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.

Recommended Reading.
Books are available at Amazon.com . . . just click on a cover.

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship.
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

Shipbuilders, Sea Captains and Fishermen.
Shipbuilders, Sea Captains, and Fishermen

Get Your Captains License by Charlie Wing.
Get Your Captain's License
Charlie Wing

Travel with InternationalHarbors.com
Travel with InternationalHarbors.com

Banner - Ancestry.com through Ancestry.com
Thomas Huntington began life as a clerk in a dry goods store in New York.

He first went to sea in a voyage from New York to Rio in 1843 as a sailor in Howell & Aspinwall's line. In 1844, he shipped from New York on a four years' cruise to China, Peru, Mexico and the Sandwich Islands. On his return, he went to Antwerp as mate on an American Ship.

In 1848, he shipped as third officer on the steamship Oregon, which sailed from New York on December 13, 1848 under the command of Captain Pearson, and arrived in San Francisco Bay in April 1, 1849. Huntington went to the mines, where he worked for three months, then returned to San Francisco to begin running supplies on the Sacramento River. In 1850, he made a few trips to Panama on the old steamship Isthmus, but left her to go as mate on the river steamer Jenny Lind with his cousin, Captain Peter LaFevre.

In 1853, he was mate on the Pacific with Captain Blethen, and in 1854, Captain Huntington joined the Sierra Nevada. After a trip to the East Coast in 1855, he returned in 1856 to sail on the Brother Jonathan and then took command of the Sierra Nevada. He left her to take command of the Surprise, which he ran on the Fraser River.

Captain Huntington then took command of another fine steamer the Sea Bird and was sent to Puget Sound on a reconnoitering voyage, returning to San Francisco in the fall, first calling at Portland on the down passage.
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Page: http://www.maritimeheritage.org/
Date Entered: Between 1998 and 2008
Source: Daily Alta California, Family Papers, Historical Records, Submissions from Researchers


Research and WebDesign: D.A. Levy
Contact: D.A. Levy
www.MaritimeHeritage.org
Post Office Box 2878
Sausalito, California 94966
U.S.A.