The Maritime Heritage Project ~~ International Harbors Travel

This site started with my daughter's family tree homework project in 1998. The Project has taken us around the world in search of family. Our generational tree is now 5'x4' and goes back to the 1700s in Maine, and prior to that to Ireland, Wales and Germany. A family tree is a marvelous way to keep your family connected; just click on the image below to start yours.

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Your Family Name in History.
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San Francisco, 1846-1856
From Hamlet to City
Roger W. Lotchin
Back in print with a new introduction by the author, this is the classic study of America's most admired instant city, from its days as a sleepy Mexican village, through the Gold Rush and into its establishment as a major international port. Roger Lotchin examines the urbanizing influences in San Francisco and compares these to other urban centers, doing so against a diverse backdrop of vigilantes, opium dens, and other unforgettable institutions.

Annals of San Francisco.
The Annals of San Francisco by Frank Soule, John H. Gihon, James Nisbet
Originally published 1855. Many illustrations.


Port O' Gold
A History-Romance of the San Francisco Argonauts

Louis J. Stellman
After briefly trying pharmacy, then telegraphy, Stellman settled down at the turn of the century as a Los Angeles newspaperman. In 1902 he moved to San Francisco and worked as a reporter, then an editor, for the News. He later became an editorial and feature writer for the Bulletin. He wrote books and articles on the side and became a serious photographer. Port O' Gold is the story of San Francisco, a history with a fiction thread to string its episodes upon.


The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld
Herbert Asbury
Asbury's history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849..."
In 1861, following Lincoln’s first call for 75,000 Union soldiers, Edwin K. Wood enlisted as a private in Company K, 17th New York State Infantry Regiment. The regiment was involved in some of the bloodiest Civil War battles, fighting with heavy losses at the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

After being wounded, Edwin returned home and taught school for a short time before growing restless and leaving for Iowa to raise sheep. On the train west, he met a timber broker who persuaded him to explore opportunities in the timber country of Stanton, Montcalm County, Michigan, where he remained -- teaching shcool.

In the latter part of 1866 he returned home and married Marian Susan Thayer in January 1867. During his first years in Michigan, Edwin took out contracts to supply logs for a mill and to build a road north from Stanton. Later, he established a general merchandise store to supply items needed in the lumbering community.

In 1874, Marian’s brother, Clarence A. Thayer, joined Edwin which was the beginning of a partnership which would last until Edwin’s death in 1917. They purchased a mill in 1875, and became one of the largest lumber producers in Michigan.

His successful business demonstrated to Edwin that great opportunities could be found on the Pacific Coast.  He made several trips to the coast and invested heavily in fir timber in Washington.

Around 1885, Wood sent employee, Spencer E. Slade, to Washington and then on to San Francisco. Slade established S. E. Slade & Company, the first office of what was to become the E.K. Wood Lumber Company. In 1888, Clarence Thayer moved to San Francisco and opened a wholesale lumberyard at the foot of Spear Street.

In 1891, Edwin and Marian moved to Oakland. The E.K. Wood Lumber Company was incorporated in California in 1895, with Edwin serving as president until his death. The company prospered with large holdings in Washington and Oregon, docks in Oakland and San Pedro, a fleet of vessels plying its trade up and down the coast, and local yards and mills in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Rafael, San Anselmo, Fresno, San Francisco, and Bellingham, Washington.

The C.A. Thayer was built in 1895 by Danish-born Hans D. Bendixsen in his shipyard, located across the narrows of Humboldt Bay from the city of Eureka in Northern California. She was named for Clarence A. Thayer.

While the ship still exists and is a part of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, more about C.A. Thayer has not been found to date. A visit to the Maritime Museum's library in Fort Mason in San Francisco will surely turn up more on a man who has had a ship named after him.
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Page: http://www.maritimeheritage.org/vips/thayerCA
Date Entered: Between 1998 and 2008
Source: Geographicus, Newspaper Archives, Daily Alta California, Family Papers, Historical Records, Submissions from Researchers; www.SanAnselmoHistory.org

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Research and WebDesign: D. Blethen Adams Levy
Contact: D. Blethen Adams Levy
www.MaritimeHeritage.org and www.InternationalHarbors.com
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