Brother Jonathan (steamship) cargo manifest , 1860 March 21

The S.S. Brother Jonathan was a fixture of the shippings lanes along the Pacific Coast in the mid-nineteenth century. Commissioned by Edward Mills, and built in 1851, the Brother Jonathan measured 220 feet long and 36 ft wide. The ship was eventually sold to Captain John Wright, renamed the Commodore, and used on West Coast routes, primarily from her home port of San Francisco to Vancouver, British Columbia.

On March 15, 1859, it was the Commodore that delivered to Portland the official notification of Oregon's statehood, signed by President James Buchanan on February 14 of that year. By 1861, however, the Commodore had fallen into disrepair and was sold to the California Steam Navigation Company, who retrofitted her and renamed her Brother Jonathan. At the time of the manifest that comprises this collection, the Brother Jonathan was helmed by Commander George W. Staples. She was well known as one of the fastest passenger and cargo ships on the West Coast, running from San Francisco to Portland in just sixty-nine hours, the best time on record in 1862.

On July 30, 1865, after briefly achoring in Crescent City harbor to try to avoid rough seas and a strong storm, the Brother Jonathan again set sail for Portland. Weather conditions had not improved, and the Captain soon decided to reverse course and head back to the harbor at Crescent City. Close to port the ship struck a rock and the captain was forced to begin abandoning ship. Only a single surfboat, holding eleven crew members, five women, and three children managed to escape the wreck and make it safely to Crescent City.