Passengers at the Port San Francisco: 1800s
Charles M. Perkins
Charles M. Perkins, of Hampton, New Hampshire left for the California gold fields in 1849 and again in 1857. Destination: A river town along the San Joaquin River in Stockton, California.
A reader provided entries from his journal, below, which are invaluable for those seeking an overview of such passages. Several ships are named. The original journal resides in the archives of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, New Hampshire.
Passage
1849-1850 | |||
| Nov 10 1849, Saturday | Started for Newburyport in route to California | ||
| Nov 11, 1849 Sunday |
Sabbath: Spent the day in Newburyport | ||
| Nov 12, 1849 Monday |
Sailed in the Barque Domingo for California | ||
| [Nov 17: Domingo sailed from New York on this day] | |||
| Dec 4 Tuesday | Made the Cape Deverd Islands [Cape Verde] | ||
| Dec 8 | Struck the South East Tradewinds | ||
| Dec 13 | Crossed the Equator at 5 P.M. | ||
| Dec 16 | Sabbath Heat 1.10 [110 degrees?] | ||
| Dec 27 | Dropped Anchor at St. Catherines, Brazil at 6 oclock P.M. | ||
| Jan 4, 1850 Friday |
Sailed from St. Catherines 7 A. M. Sudden gales with all sail set | ||
| Jan 12 | Gales | ||
| Jan 16 | Spoke the Whale Ship Susan of Newbedford | ||
| Jan 17 | Past Cape of Statin Land [entered in wrong place? See entry, Jan 23] | ||
| Jan 22 | Spoke the Ship Senator, Boston | ||
| Jan 23 | Past Cape of Statin Land | ||
| Jan 24 | Made Terra Del Fuego off Statin Land | ||
| Jan 25, 1850 Friday |
Made Cape Horn. Hail storm. | ||
| Jan 26 | Gales | ||
| Jan 28 | Gales and Squalls | ||
| Jan 29 | Gales | ||
| Jan 30 | Gales | ||
| Jan 31 | Hail Storm and Cold | ||
| Feb 15 | Made Juan Fernandes | ||
| Feb 16 | Came to Anchor at Juan | ||
| Feb 20 | Sailed from Juan | ||
| Mar 13 | Crossed Equator at 4 P.M. | ||
| Mar 15 | Struck the Northeast trade winds | ||
| Mar 16 | Made the North Star | ||
| Apr 1, 1850 Monday |
Thick weather and could get no reckoning | ||
| Apr 6 | Entered San Francisco outer Bay | ||
| Apr 7 | Arrived at San Francisco (From Daily Alta California, April 8, 1850: Arrived April 7 Port of San Francisco, Am bk Domingo, Captain Bray, 145 days from Newburyport, 89 passengers. The Domingo, Captain Bray cleared San Francisco on May 16, 1850 for Manila) | ||
| Apr 10 | Left San Francisco for Stockton and the mines in company with Charles T. Lamprey, Nat. Johnson and H. S. Lamprey | ||
1851 Entries | |||
| May 5, 1851 Monday | Left for San Francisco | ||
| May 6 | Arrived in Stockton | ||
| May 7 | Arrived in San Francisco | ||
| May 15 | Left for New York on the Northerner (Editor's Note: Pacific Mail Steamship Northerner, Captain Randall, 125 passengers, $600,000) | ||
| June 20 | Reached Home | ||
1857 Entries | |||
| Aug 4, 1857 Tuesday |
Left Hampton, New Hampshire for New York. Paid From Hampton to New York $9.10 | ||
| Aug 5 | Left New York on Steamer Illinois for Aspinwall
Paid from New York to San Francisco: $200.00 | ||
| Aug 11 | Arrived at Havana at 12 N & Sailed at 5 P.M. | ||
| Aug 15 | Arrived at Aspinwall at 11 P.M. Paid at Aspinwall: $5.00 | ||
| Aug 16 | Crossed to Panama (via rail. Panama rail began service in 1855) and sailed for San Francisco at 9 p.m. | ||
| Aug 23, 1857 Sunday | Arrived at Acapulco | ||
| Aug 24, 1857 Monday |
Arrived at Manseniler. Paid at Acapulco and Manseniler: $4.50 (Editor's Note: Manseniler is probably Manzanillo, a port in the Mexican state of Colima on the Pacific Ocean and it is a distance of 419 miles/674 km between the two cities.) | ||
| Aug 30, 1857 Sunday |
Arrived at San Francisco at 8 A.M.
Paid in San Francisco: $8.00 (Editor's Note: The steamer J. L. Stephens, Captain Pearson, arrived 13 days from Panama. Passenger list not located, but this is a possibility as no other steamers are noted from Panama during that week.) | ||
| Aug 31, 1857 Monday | Left for Stockton at 5 P.M. | ||
|
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