Sea Captains: San Francisco 1800s


William Moore

March 30, 1822 to March 19, 1909

William Moore was born in Hanover, Germany. By age seven, he was sailing schooners on the North Sea.

He arrived in San Francisco in 1851, too late to benefit from the California Gold Rush so he left San Francisco on the brig Tepicsailing north to follow gold.

He returned to San Francisco briefly, left for South America, and returned again in 1856 when he bought land on Goat Island (originally Sea Bird Island, then Wood Island, and now referred to Yerba Buena Island), which is located halfway between San Francisco and Oakland.

According to the January 21, 1856 Daily Alta California, the island was owned by Polock, Morrison & Franklin.

From time to time, dead bodies were found: On March 14, 1857, "The dead body of a man, name unknown, was picked up yesterday morning on the west-side of Goat Island and brought to the Coroner's office. The man was apparently about 35 years of age, with sandy whiskers, and dressed in the garb of a sailor or longshoreman, having on an oil-skin coat buttoned to the chin, and a pair of coarse black pants stuffed in the tops of a pair of heavy boots. An inquest will be held upon the body this morning.

There William Moore raised goats until 1858 when he again followed gold, this time to British Columbia where he made his home.

By 1886, both logging and the goats had cleared Goat Island.

Spurred on by a campaign led by poet Joaquin Miller, California celebrated its first Arbor Day on November 27, 1886, by replanting Goat Island. Daily Alta California, September 9, 1886: "Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the Government tug will leave Washington Street Wharf to take General Howard, Joaquin Miller and others to Goat Island to perfect plans for the planting of trees. (The trees there today are the result of this effort.)

October 16, 1876, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

GOAT ISLAND AND ROYALTY

Three Emperors Abiding There -- Real Estate Owners of San Francisco

. . . This young, growing, bustling city of San Francisco, not yet out of her teens, has her "Curiosities of Land Titles." Those beings who are suffering under ennui for want of a pastime, and are desirous to satisfy a taste for the curious, should enter our Record Office for the City and County of San Francisco on the southeast corner of Washington and Kearny streets, and there examine some of the recorded papers; they will afford considerably excitement from the pen and ink jottings in which the great human family is represented in this cosmopolitan city, and here the linguist can pore over and read recorded deeds in the Chinese, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, French, etc., besides the universal English language. While making a search, our informant, in this matter, accidentally came upon a recorded document in volume 6, page 235, Lis Pendens, in which no less than three Emperors are named as having an interest in real estate in San Francisco County.

San Francisco Bay. 1899.

Topographic Map. San Francisco Bay. 1899.

This lien is a notification to all the world that the Yerba Buena (Goat) Island and the Oakland Railway Company have commenced a suit at law in the Fifteenth District Court in the City and County of San Francisco, on an application to condemn the interest of Emperor Napoleon III, Emperor Norton, and Emperor Maximilian I, now deceased, to certain portions of the said Island, as a terminus of a railway to the city of San Francisco. Our informant was equally astonished on further examining the said Lis Pendens, to discover that he and his two brothers, now residing in Vancouver Island, were also impleaded in the said suit. Who could not afford to be robbed of real estate which he never pretended to own, in company with such illustrious defendants.


The Sea Chart

The Illustrated History of Nautical Maps and Navigational ChartsThe Sea Chart.The Sea Chart.
John Blake
The sea chart was one of the key tools by which ships of trade, transport and conquest navigated their course across the oceans. John Blake looks at the history and development of the chart and the related nautical map, in both scientific and aesthetic terms, as a means of safe and accurate seaborne navigation. This handsome work contains 150 color illustrations including the earliest charts of the Mediterranean made by thirteenth-century Italian merchant adventurers, as well as eighteenth-century charts that became strategic naval and commercial requirements and led to Cook's voyages in the Pacific, the search for the Northwest Passage, and races to the Arctic and Antarctic.


The Authority to Sail.The Authority to Sail: The History of U.S. Maritime Licenses and Seamen's PapersThe Authority to Sail.
Robert Stanley Bates, George Marsh (Editor), John F. Whiteley (Forward) (Batek Marine Publishing, 2011; Nominated in 2012 for a Pulitzer Prize)
This book depicts important aspects of our maritime history as a result of original research done by the author, Commodore Bates, the holder of an unlimited master's license who has enjoyed a distinguished fifty-year career in both the Coast Guard and the American Merchant Marine.

The U.S. Coast Guard issues all Captain Licenses for U.S. Ports.
Note: Other countries have different regulations, i.e. the RYA (Royal Yachting Association), conducts certification for Britain and Ireland. As of 2011, they did not recognize the USCG certification; certification through their courses was required.

Master Unlimited is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of a vessel any gross tons. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws. All persons on board, including officers and crew, other shipboard staff members, passengers, guests and pilots, are under the captain's authority and are his or her ultimate responsibility. The STCW defines the Master as Person having command of the ship.

The Sea Chart
The Illustrated History of Nautical Maps and Navigational ChartsThe Sea Chart.
The Sea Chart.The Sea Chart.
John Blake
The sea chart was one of the key tools by which ships of trade, transport and conquest navigated their course across the oceans. Herein is a history and development of the chart and the related nautical map, in both scientific and aesthetic terms, as a means of safe and accurate seaborne navigation. 150 color illustrations including the earliest charts of the Mediterranean made by 13th-century Italian merchant adventurers, as well as 18th-century charts that became strategic naval and commercial requirements and led to Cook's voyages in the Pacific, the search for the Northwest Passage, and races to the Arctic and Antarctic.

Get Your Captain's License. Fifth Edition Get Your Captain's License. Fifth Edition. Charlie  Wing.
Charlie Wing
Considered the quickest, easiest, and least expensive way to prepare for the U.S. Coast Guard captain's ratings exams required for anyone who takes paying passengers on a boat, and useful for serious boaters who want to save money on insurance. 350 pages of seamanship and navigation tutorials. More than 1,500 questions and answers from the Coast Guard exams. Includes an interactive CD-ROM with all 14,000 questions and answers in the USCG database, so you can take an unlimited number of practice exams

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Sources: As noted on entries and through research centers including National Archives, San Bruno, California; CDNC: California Digital Newspaper Collection; San Francisco Main Library History Collection; and Maritime Museums and Collections in Australia, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, etc.

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