Samuel Brannan

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Samuel Brannan

Samuel Brannan (born March 2, 1819 in Saco, Maine , † May 14, 1889 in Escondido , California ) was an American settler , Mormon pioneer , (fraudulent) businessman , journalist and first millionaire in the California gold rush . Brannan was an important figure in 19th century California and San Francisco history .

“He probably did more for [San Francisco] and for other places than was effected by the combined efforts of scores of better men; and indeed, in many respects he was not a bad man, being as a rule straightforward as well as shrewd in his dealings, as famous for his acts of charity and open-handed liberality as for in enterprise, giving also frequent proofs of personal bravery . ”

“He's probably done more for San Francisco and other places than many better men could achieve together; and he was actually not a bad man, basically straightforward, agile in his business, known for his acts of charity and his generosity and business acumen, often also showing his courage. "

- HH Bancroft in a collection of biographies on California pioneers

Life

Trip west

Brannan was born in Saco, Maine . At the age of 14, he and his family moved to Ohio , where Brannan learned the art of printing. He joined the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) early on. He moved to New York in 1844 and began publishing the religious newspaper The Prophet (later The New York Messenger ) on behalf of the Church .

After the murder of Joseph Smith in June 1844, the fledgling Church, led by Brigham Young , decided to relocate its headquarters west from Nauvoo , Illinois . Brannan then led 238 Latter-day Saints aboard the Brooklyn via Cape Horn to Alta California (that was the fastest route west at the time, despite the duration of just over half a year). He reached Yerba Buena, today's San Francisco , on July 31, 1846 . Brannan had an antiquated printing press and flour mill on board .

First career steps in California

Samuel Brannan began printing the California Star , San Francisco's first newspaper. The first California newspaper had just appeared in Monterey shortly before . The two printing houses merged in 1848 and the joint plant was henceforth called The Daily Alta California . He also opened a trading shop near Fort .

In June 1847 Brannan traveled to the Green River to meet Brigham Young to convince him to move to fertile California instead of settling the Latter-day Saints on the Great Salt Lake, which the latter refused. The group led by Brannan to California partly stayed there, partly followed the call of Brigham Young and moved to what would later become Utah .

California gold rush

Samuel Brannan's store at Sutter's Fort

In the spring of 1848, John Sutter's employees were paying for goods in Brannan's store with gold they'd found at Sutter's Mill .

Brannan opened other stores to sell goods to the gold diggers. In contrast to the search for gold itself, which was rarely crowned with success, this was a very safe business, because trade goods were rare in San Francisco and correspondingly expensive. Brannan had bought up every available shovel, pick, and pan and was now selling them at several times their price.

Brannan was elected to San Francisco's first councilor. He helped organize the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance after a series of spectacular crimes in the area (including murder that was also covered by law enforcement officials) . This unceremoniously hung up a malefactor, which temporarily ensured calm, but brought Brannan into disrepute with his church, so that it excluded him for vigilantism .

The Cliff House around 1900

In 1851 Brannan visited Hawaii where he acquired large estates. In 1853 he was elected to the California Senate, an office he never held. He dealt with trade relations with China and Mexico, railroad construction, banking and telecommunications in California. He built the first Cliff House , a famous restaurant, in San Francisco.

After Brannan visited the hot springs in the upper Napa Valley in 1859 , he wanted to open a tourist center there. He bought the land with the springs and founded Calistoga there . He even built a railway line there. However, this had to be foreclosed in 1869 because the whole story was not profitable at all.

Late years

In 1872 his wife, Anna Eliza Corwin, divorced him because he had started various extramarital relationships and she simply did not feel comfortable in Sacramento. After the divorce, he was no longer lucky, among other things he had to pay her half of his fortune in cash. Since Brannan had invested most of his fortune in real estate, he had to sell it to pay off the debt. He then tried his hand at brewing, but had problems with the alcohol. He then retired to San Diego , remarried and tried again with land speculation, this time in Sonora , Mexico . In 1888, at the age of sixty-nine, the Mexican government paid him forty-nine thousand dollars in interest. With this money he was able to pay off all his debts. He now got rid of alcohol too. When he died, however, he didn't even have enough money to pay for his own funeral. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego.

aftermath

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bancroft, HH California pioneer register and index, 1542-1848 (Baltimore: Regional Pub. Co., 1964), 68.
  2. ↑ Gary S. Breschini: The First Newspaper in California . Monterey County Historical Society. 2000. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
  3. ^ William Edwin Berrett, His Church Restored , p. 237 (Verlag Kirche Jesu Christi der Latter-day Saints, Frankfurt am Main 1972)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brannan, Samuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American settler, businessman, journalist and first millionaire in the California gold rush
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Saco (Maine)
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1889
Place of death Escondido , California