09/21/2024
𝗪𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐅. 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡
By the late 1840s William Keeler was out of sorts. His dry goods business in Bridgeport, Connecticut had burned down for a second time and business prospects looked grim. Dissatisfied with his lack of success, and with a young family to feed, the discovery of gold in California in 1848 provided him with a chance to reverse his fortunes. Later that year he and a group of sixty men from Connecticut formed the New Haven and California Joint Stock Company and in March 1849 set sail from New Haven on the bark 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴.
Joining William were his younger brothers, 25-yr old James Plant and 17-yr old Edward. Neither brother returned: Edward died at their camp along the Sacramento River, James at sea on his way home. In January 1851 William returned to Bridgeport and to his wife Anna and 3-year old son Henry after an absence of nearly two years. Although he returned richer than when he set out, the fortune he had sought eluded him. Six years later his second son was born. William named him James Edward after his two brothers.
Although none of William’s letters from the Gold Rush have survived, the journals of two fellow Forty-Niners give us a glimpse of what he experienced. The first is his brother’s journal, which covers their voyage to San Francisco and is filled with beautiful pencil sketches and watercolors of ships, places and people he encountered. The second is the 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘈 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝟷𝟾𝟺𝟿, which covers both the voyage and their time in California, and contains descriptions of life on board the 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 and in California, as well as several references to the Keelers. While Kingsley’s journal is available online, James’s is not. The 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘗. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝟷𝟾𝟺𝟿-𝟻𝟶 resides at the California Historical Society in San Francisco, which I visited in 2013.
During their long and tedious voyage to California the men entertained themselves by holding debates, attending prayer meetings and even studying mathematics. Their questions for debate, which are relevant even today, included (1) “Will the discovery of gold in California be beneficial to the United States?” (decided in the affirmative), (2) “Was the manner in which our forefathers treated the aborigines justifiable?” (decided in the negative) and (3) “Does the abolishment of capital punishment tend to abate crime?” (decided in the negative). A fourth question, which Kingsley provides no answer to, was “which exercises a greater influence on the mind of mankind wealth or women?”
Their route took them as far east as Cape Verde off the west coast of North Africa and from there south westward to the Falkland Islands where they encountered the huge storms of Southern winter. James Keeler’s journal describes those dreadful conditions, which would have made life on board the 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 miserable and terrifying. On June 26, 1849, he reported that a heavy sea “𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵 & 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘴.” Another terse entry two weeks later speaks of “𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳 & 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, & 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 & 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 & 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘬𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘬.” Describing their passage around Cape Horn on August 20, James wrote: “𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.” The remainder of the trip was smoother sailing, although it took them another three months before they reached San Francisco in November 1849.
Having decided to go into the timber business before heading to the gold fields in the spring, they set up camp along the Sacramento River about forty miles downstream of Sacramento City. The winter of 1849-50, however, proved to be one of the wettest on record. The river rose above its bank, flooding the camp. Many of the men fell sick with dysentery, five of them died, including William’s youngest brother whose death in late January 1850 Kingsley recorded as follows: “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝟾 𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘔𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝟷𝟶 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 & 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.”
By the time spring arrived, the company had been dissolved and the men had gone their separate ways. Kingsley briefly mentioned working with William on the Yuba River in early June 1850 but gave no particulars.
By mid-June 1850 William and James had had enough and sailed for home on the 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭, a clipper ship used in the China trade. Tragedy befell William once more when his brother died on their way to Honolulu. William’s voyage home took him by way of Canton, China where he stopped for a month on business and finally to New York City where he arrived in January 1851.
Among the attached images are two pages from James Keeler’s journal, one of his watercolors (possibly of San Francisco Bay), and three pencil sketches: the 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 in a gale, camp along the Sacramento River where Edward Keeler lived prior to his fatal illness, and a view of San Francisco. Placed loose in the journal are photos of James and Edward Keeler taken in Brooklyn in 1849 before they sailed for California, as well as a newspaper clipping of a poem about James’s death. The poem, whose writer is identified only as “E” (a sweetheart back home perhaps?), appeared in the 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥 in 1851.
To read more about William F. Keeler go to
https://www.sealriverpublishing.com/
