Today’s blog post is the fifteenth in a series, the transcription of Nimrod Headington’s 1852 journal, Trip to California.

In his journal Nimrod Headington details his voyage from New York to San Francisco, where he would stake his claim and pan for gold. [1] [2]

Nimrod, with several others from Knox County, Ohio, set sail from New York on 16 February 1852, traveling on the clipper ship Racehound. After 5 months at sea, rounding Cape Horn during the night of 4 May, and docking at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Valparaiso, Chile, along the way, they finally reached their destination, San Francisco, on 18 July 1852.

Sketch, not the Racehound

July 18^th. This morning when we got up, we were right close to the land. Just as the sun came up, a pilot came on board to pilot us into port. We passed through the Golden Gate at 11 o’clock and dropped anchor. We had to pay one dollar to be taken on shore, as they would not allow our ship’s boats to land our passengers. One of them attempted to go but had to come back. The rules of the port had to be complied with. We landed at the Pacific Warf and took dinner at the Howard House, for which we paid fifty cents.

At 4 o’clock we went on board the river steamer Brighton for Sacramento and landed the next morning at 8 o’clock. Here we stopped at the Globe Hotel and remained there until the next day. Here we took the stage for Marysville and landed there at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and stopped at the Eagle Hotel. Our bills were 50 cents per meal and nothing for the lodging. [3]

To be continued…

I know, I know, today’s installment is very short. The next installment will resume in California, as Nimrod begins his quest for gold.

This portion of Nimrod’s journey, the sailing portion, has ended and I have some information about the ship he sailed on, the Racehound.

Just this past week I heard from a reader who found several newspaper articles that mention the clipper ship Racehound. These articles give a little history of the ship as well as some insight into the conditions on the ship, which confirm some things Nimrod wrote about.

The Racehound, as mentioned in these news articles:

The first article describes the passengers and crew on the ship, and not in a good way. This corresponds with one of Nimrod’s comments, “The steward killed a hog, which was the last hog with 4 legs we had on board.”

The Charleston Daily Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, 19 May 1852, Newspapers.com: A Rio [Brazil] letter in the Boston Journal dated April 12^th says: “The weather is very hot and dry, and the yellow fever is making fearful havoc, particularly on board the shipping. No vessel can remain in this bay while the present state of things exists, more than five days without getting the fever on board—consequently there are not, and in fact, there have not been for weeks any of our naval ships in this port. They are mostly at Montevideo. Some of the American ships have suffered most severely, and I have known of several that could not muster hands sufficient to get out of the harbor. The American ship Victor sailed for New Orleans about a fortnight since, with only two men able to do duty. Many others have been here, as it were, entirely deserted. The Swedish brig Dolphin has lost three consecutive captains within the past two months, and the berth is now vacant. I notice, in-bound, a fine ship, the “Catalpa,” 120 days from the Sandwich Islands, for New Bedford with a cargo of oil. She sails today for home. We have also in from New York, in a passage of 39 days, the ship Racehound, bound for San Francisco, with 272 of the most filthy rowdies that it ever was my fortune to behold. I hope that they will get away before they contract this fever, for it would make terrible work among them. For the past day or two, we have had very fine showers, which we hope will occur with sufficient frequency to break up this pestilence entirely.”

The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 8 Oct 1852, Newspapers.com: Additional California Items by the United States “…The report of the discovery of new and valuable gold mines on the east range of the Sierra Nevada mountains, is confirmed. The mining news is generally very encouraging. The captain of the ship Racehound, from New York, had been discharged on an indictment of carrying an excess of passengers…”

The North-Carolinian, Fayetteville, North Carolina, 23 Dec 1854, Newspapers.com: “…The pirates in the Chinese waters are increasing in numbers and daring. Thirty trading junks and boats, many with valuable cargoes, had been taken by them in August and September. The captain of an English schooner, on the 4^th of September, had been killed in the defense of his vessel. Several of his men were wounded. The British ships Rattler and Racehound had gone in pursuit of the pirates, but accomplished nothing…”

The Times, London, England, 19 Apr 1854, Newspapers.com: [John Smith faced possible scam charges. Smith represented his brother Adam Smith, of A. Smith & Co, New York, who owned seven ships and offered laborers free passage to Australia on the Waterwitch in March 1854.] “Clerkenwell, England. …We [John Smith] sent the Racehound from New York to California. The complaint paid the deposit, and then he would not go. Inspector Brennan said, he could deny the prisoner’s statement with reference to the Racehound. He begged a remand for three weeks, in order to communicate with Mr. Smith of New York, and to get up necessary evidence…”

The name of the ship was changed from Racehound to Lady Pierce some time before May 1854. This probably occurred when wealthy San Franciscan Silas E. Burrows purchased the ship and converted it into a pleasure yacht.

The Guardian, London, England, 24 June 1854, Newspapers.com: “United States (From a Correspondent)…The news from California is to the 16^th of May. The mines were yielding abundantly. All the markets were quiet, but prices were well sustained…Silas E. Burrows, a wealthy citizen of San Francisco, and formerly a wealthy merchant of New York, sailed on the 11^th May, in the Clipper Lady Pierce, for Japan, on a peaceable and private mission to the emperor. The Lady Pierce, formerly the Race Hound, is a fine clipper of 500 tons. Mr. Burrows took with him a number of fine goods for presents, and declared his intention to present his vessel to the emperor, if he was well received and permitted to remain. The vessel took no goods except stores and presents, and no passengers except Mr. Burrows and his son…”

The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 25 Aug 1854, Newspapers.com: “Sandwich Islands…The clippership Lady Pierce (formerly the Racehound), Captain Burr, arrived at Honolulu on Sunday, in 16 days from San Francisco. This ship is owned by Silas E. Burrows, as is a sort of pleasure yacht, in which the owner is going down to have a look at Japan. She touched in unexpectedly, to have the barnacles scraped off her bottom, having discovered after leaving San Francisco that her sailing was impeded by them…”

Thanks to Frederick Scott, MSgt, USAF (Ret.) for his research, finding and sending these interesting articles about the Racehound.

The ship, renamed Lady Pierce, did sail to Japan in 1854. This, from one of several articles about the trip to Japan. Perrysburg Journal, Perrysburg, Ohio, 11 Nov 1854, p.3, Newspapers.com: “The American, Peace Expedition to Japan—We stated a few months ago that Mr. Silas E. Burrows had fitted out the ship Lady Pierce at San Francisco, at his own expense, and sailed for Japan, with a number of beautiful presents for the Emperor…The Lady Pierce arrived in Jeddo Bay 15 days after Commodore Perry had left, as a token of amity and peace, and without any preparations for war and the high Japanese officers said the visit was much more pleasing to them than that of commodore Perry, who had with him too many big guns and fighting men…The Japanese, it is said, were surprised on visiting the Lady Pierce, to find her so elegantly furnished. Her dimensions were taken by artists, who said the Emperor intended to build two vessels on the same model. With a party of officials from Uraga, the Lady P. made a trip to within ten miles of Jeddo, but the said officials objected to her going any nearer, saying that Commodore Perry did not go any closer…”  

And, from Japan and the Japanese, Richard Hildreth (Dayton: Bradley, 1860), p.535; Google Books.com: “You have, Mr. Burrows, come here, relying on our friendship and hospitality…It has given the Emperor and all the Japanese great pleasure that you have returned to Japan our countryman, Dee-yee-no-skee, who was shipwrecked, and who has been residing for some time in your country, where he states he has been treated with the greatest kindness, and particularly so on board your ship, the Lady Pierce. That you should have made a voyage to Japan to restore him to his friends and home, without any other inducement, as you say, except to see Japan…We understand what ships of war are; also what whaling ships and merchant ships are; but we never before heard, till you came here, of such a ship as yours,–a private gentleman’s pleasure ship…”

It would be interesting to see a sketch of the ship, if there is one.

I will post Nimrod’s journal in increments, but not necessarily every week.

[1] Nimrod Headington at the age of 24, set sail from New York in February 1852, bound for San Francisco, California, to join the gold rush and to hopefully make his fortune. The Panama Canal had not been built at that time and he sailed around the tip of South America to reach the California coast.     Nimrod Headington kept a diary of his 1852 journey and in 1905 he made a hand-written copy for his daughter Thetis O. Tate. This hand-written copy was eventually passed down to Nimrod’s great-great-granddaughter, Karen (Liffring) Hill (1955-2010). Karen was a book editor and during the last two years of her life she transcribed Nimrod’s journal. Nimrod’s journal, Trip to California, documents his travels between February of 1852 and spring of 1853.

[2] Nimrod Headington (1827-1913) was the son of Nicholas (1790-1856) and Ruth (Phillips) (1794-1865) Headington. He was born in Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on 5 August 1827 and married Mary Ann McDonald (1829-1855) in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1849. Nimrod moved to Portland, Jay County, Indiana, by 1860 and during the Civil War served in the 34^th Indiana Infantry as a Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, and Major. Nimrod died 7 January 1913 and is buried in Green Park Cemetery, Portland. Nimrod Headington is my fourth great-granduncle, the brother of my fourth great-grandfather, William Headington (1815-1879).

[3] Nimrod Headington’s journal, transcription, and photos courtesy of Ross Hill, 2019, used with permission.

Today’s blog post is the fourteenth in a series, the transcription of Nimrod Headington’s 1852 journal, Trip to California.

In his journal Nimrod Headington details his voyage from New York to San Francisco, where he would stake his claim and pan for gold. [1] [2]

Their ship, the Race Hound, set sail from New York on 16 February 1852 and rounded Cape Horn during the night of 4 May. Today’s installment begins on 1 July 1852, as their ship sails toward San Francisco.

From Sea to Land

July 1^st. This morning after a refreshing sleep on deck, we found our ship sailing very fast, and the sailors said we had been running at that rate all night. About 8 o’clock it commenced to rain and rained for 3 hours very hard. Then it cleared up and the sun came out, so the captain got to take the sun’s altitude. And we found we had been making very fast time for 3 days—the fastest we had ever made. We had run 924 miles in 3 days and nights. We are now in latitude 18° 47’.

July 2^nd. I slept on deck again, and it was uncomfortable cool. We passed a ship at 1 o’clock this morning and at daylight were almost out of sight of her. She was going the same way we were. They day was cloudy and very cool. This is very strange in this latitude, as we were almost directly under the sun. On account of clouds, we did not get the sun’s altitude that day. We saw a large shark pass under the bow of our ship that day and went right off from us. It had been a long time since we had seen one. We were then in the northeast Trade Winds, and a shark is very seldom seen here. We were glad to part with him. The Trade Winds are very strong and steady, and we are sailing very rapidly.

July 3^rd. The weather continues very cool, and the wind strong and fair. We wet on deck at 4 o’clock to arrange for the celebration of the 4^th of July. We appointed a committee of three to select a speaker from among our passengers and to make such other arrangements as was thought proper for the occasion, and the committee after due deliberation decided that as the 4^th came on Sunday, we should celebrate on Monday, the 5^th.

July 4^th. Strong headwinds and very cold for this latitude. It was so cool that we had to go below to sleep. This was very discouraging to us. We had only about 15 degrees to run on a straight line and could make that in 4 days if the wind was from the right direction. We wanted to run north but had to run west, which was carrying us farther off every hour. The steward killed a hog, which was the last hog with 4 legs we had on board. We had duff for dinner today. Duff is a boiled pudding and is served once a week onboard of the ship. Today we are in latitude 24°18’ north.

July 5^th. We are heading northwest by west with strong wind and cool weather. At 11 o’clock we assembled on quarterdeck where the chairman, Mr. Shulery called the meeting to order and introduced Mr. Puleifer as the orator of the day. He immediately came forward and commenced his address. He spoke for about an hour. His speech was well prepared. The sailors hoisted a flag on the forward deck with a large dog on it, with these words written on it: Splice the Main Brace. The captain, seeing it, ordered the mate to go and take it down. He obeyed the command, and soon their flag lay upon the deck. After the speaker was through, Mr. Bliss, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Warner, Mr. Eliott, and Mr. Topliff all offered appropriate toasts, and volunteer responses were made. The “Star Spangled Banner” was sung and the crowd dispersed. The stevedores all got drunk and some of the sailors. The officers of the ship kept sober, or we might have had a serious time. This was the coldest 4^th or 5^th of July I had ever seen, and we were only 2 degrees from under the sun. We are in latitude 26°21’.

July 6^th. Our course is northwest, and we are running 10 knots an hour. Nothing special happened during the day. Now in latitude 28°11’.

July 7^th. Wind and weather the same. Running 20 knots an hour in latitude 30°14’.

July 8^th. We began to get very much discouraged, as the wind was still at our head. The way we are running, it would take us [missing words] to run up to San Francisco, when if we could have fair winds, we could run in 3 days. As is, we are running farther off every minute and no hope of a change that we could see. The weather still very cool in latitude 32°9’.

July 12^th. This morning it rained a light shower and then cleared off and was calm all day. This was the first day the sun had shown all day since we crossed the equator, and it was warm enough to be comfortable. We were now in latitude 38°40’, exactly opposite San Francisco but about 800 miles off and in a dead calm, which is not very encouraging.

July 13^th. We came out this morning after a refreshing sleep and found we were still in a calm. The sea looked very beautiful; not a ripple could be seen in any direction. Two seabirds were the only objects in sight. At about two o’clock in the afternoon a light breeze set in from the northwest, which was a favorable wind of us, as we wanted to run east immediately. The yardarms were squared, and the [studding sails] were set, and we began to more again toward the promised land.

July 14^th.  We had a splendid wind all day that carried us at about 10 knots per hour right on our course, which was east by north. You may guess how good we felt when we got out of a calm. All were in fine glee, thinking we should get to set foot on terra firma once more. The land of promise, which we had for so long a time had been so anxious to see.

July 15^th. Wind still continues fair for us, and we are making good headway. The passengers are beginning to gather up their belongings and making preparation for landing. All are engaged in washing and drying their clothing and blankets, so as to have all clean to go on shore. When the captain took the sun’s altitude, he said we were just 11 degrees from San Francisco.

July 16^th. Our breeze was light but right to the purpose. At 10 o’clock today we are 27 miles from the city. The baker and the cabin boy had a fight.

July 17^th. This morning we have a splendid breeze from the southwest. While at breakfast this morning, someone cried, “Whale!” We went on deck and saw a large tree with limbs and roots all floating on the water. It was supposed to have come down the Sacramento River. All cried, “Land!” on our weather bow, but it proved to be a cloud. And the day passed without seeing land. Very cloudy and cool. [3]

To be continued…

I had to chuckle when I read Nimrod’s comment, “The steward killed a hog, which was the last hog with 4 legs we had on board.” They had been at sea for five months, on what was probably not a large ship. There were undoubtedly some personality conflicts. I love this comment!

The 17^th would be their last full day at sea. They will dock in San Francisco the next day.

I will post Nimrod’s journal in increments, but not necessarily every week.

[1] Nimrod Headington at the age of 24, set sail from New York in February 1852, bound for San Francisco, California, to join the gold rush and to hopefully make his fortune. The Panama Canal had not been built at that time and he sailed around the tip of South America to reach the California coast.     Nimrod Headington kept a diary of his 1852 journey and in 1905 he made a hand-written copy for his daughter Thetis O. Tate. This hand-written copy was eventually passed down to Nimrod’s great-great-granddaughter, Karen (Liffring) Hill (1955-2010). Karen was a book editor and during the last two years of her life she transcribed Nimrod’s journal. Nimrod’s journal, Trip to California, documents his travels between February of 1852 and spring of 1853.

[2] Nimrod Headington (1827-1913) was the son of Nicholas (1790-1856) and Ruth (Phillips) (1794-1865) Headington. He was born in Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on 5 August 1827 and married Mary Ann McDonald (1829-1855) in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1849. Nimrod moved to Portland, Jay County, Indiana, by 1860 and during the Civil War served in the 34^th Indiana Infantry as a Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, and Major. Nimrod died 7 January 1913 and is buried in Green Park Cemetery, Portland. Nimrod Headington is my fourth great-granduncle, the brother of my fourth great-grandfather, William Headington (1815-1879).

[3] Nimrod Headington’s journal, transcription and photos courtesy of Ross Hill, 2019, used with permission.