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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Please support The Maritime Heritage Project.

The Maritime Heritage Project is committed to providing free information to absolutely everyone everywhere; the focus is world shipping during the 1800s, with a concentration on San Francisco Bay during the Gold Rush years.

The information on the site is an accumulation of 11-years of research on ships, captains, passengers, ports and goods moving around the world during one of the largest international migrations in history.

Our lists of passengers arriving in San Francisco seem to be more comprehensive than those of many paid-for services. Thousands of individuals from around the world have found links to family in these pages. Educators and historians frequently comment on the value of the information.

To date, with the exception of a few wonderful donors of funds and information, we have covered all expenses.

Now we are formally asking for your donations in helping to cover our modest budget and to expand the site with additional information about migratory paths.

Reading through these pages brings to life that America was created by everyone and belongs to everyone; early settlers came over land bridges in the Bering Straits from Russia and Japan, up and down coastlines, across the Continent on foot and with horses, by early sailors from France, England, Russia, Spain, and, perhaps, by Polynesian people. Kent Madin of Boojum Institute kayaked solo from San Diego to Hawaii in the 1980s, so it is completely feasible.

Please help support our work.

Thank you.

D.A. Blethen Levy

P.S. Any assistance with fundraising would be greatly appreciated. This is a labor of love; asking for donations is uncomfortable but we do know how valuable the site is based on letters and eMail.

 

"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

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
Captain Ralston died in San Francisco August 27, 1875.

William Chapman Ralston was a Scots-Irishman born at Wellsville, Ohio on January 12, 1826.  He captained Gold Rush steamers ferrying gold-seekers up the Coast from Panama.

Settling in San Francisco in 1854, he opened the Bank of California, which offered tempting low-interest loans to Nevada's newly formed mining companies. As owners defaulted, he kept the mines and became a Bonanza King.

He also became a transportation giant, establishing dominion over Pacific shipping lanes and inland waterways.

In the 1860s, Captain Ralston tied in with Asbury Harpending. They were arrested on March 15, 1863, as they prepared for their first voyage.  "Scattered among the boxes and barrels" on board their ship, the Daily Alta California reported, "were large quantities of pieces of paper, torn to bits and chewed up, evidently with the design of destroying all written evidence." SFPD captain John Lees carefully collected the spitballs and reassembled them for use in court.

Convicted of treason, Harpending and his companions received $10,000 fines and ten-year prison sentences. They were out on the streets again in months, perhaps because the courts found it difficult to take these youthful schemers seriously, perhaps because the wannabe privateers had powerful friends.

By the summer of 1875 Captain Ralston, who had an early career as a cabinet maker, was a hero in the eyes of the ordinary people. He was a bank president, backer of great and small business enterprises, builder of a vast, unfinished hotel, confidante of little men to whom he loaned money on character alone.  
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Page: http://www.maritimeheritage.org/ralston
Date Entered: October 2001
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.
The Maritime Heritage Project is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity established in 1998.