Related Research Articles
James McCune Smith was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist and author. He was the first African American to earn a medical degree. His M.D. was awarded by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. After his return to the United States, he also became the first African American to run a pharmacy in the nation.
William Still was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and was responsible for aiding and assisting at least 649 slaves to freedom towards North. Still was also a businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist. Before the American Civil War, Still was chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, named the Vigilant Association of Philadelphia. He directly aided fugitive slaves and also kept records of the people served in order to help families reunite.
A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they considered the governmental structures or actions inadequate. Some vigilance committees engaged in forms of vigilantism such as aiding fugitive slaves in violation of the laws on the books at the time. Beginning in the 1830s committees of abolitionists worked to free enslaved people and transport them to freedom.
Timothy Guy Phelps was an American politician, businessman, and government official. He was the first president of the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1865 until 1868 and saw the railroad build its first tracks south of San Francisco, California.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland.
Mary Ellen Pleasant was a 19th-century entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate and abolitionist. She was arguably the first self-made millionaire of African-American heritage, preceding Madam C. J. Walker by decades.
Selim E. Woodworth was a commander in the United States Navy, prominent San Francisco businessman, and member of the Woodworth political family.
Henry Frederick Teschemacher served as the 9th mayor of San Francisco from October 3, 1859, to June 30, 1863.
Selim Franklin, Esquire (1814–1885) was an American pioneer, auctioneer, real estate agent, chess master, and Canadian legislator. Selim is listed in the Pioneer Club of San Francisco and The Society of California Pioneers. Franklin Street in San Francisco is most likely named for him.
The Boston Vigilance Committee (1841–1861) was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts, to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. The Committee aided hundreds of escapees, most of whom arrived as stowaways on coastal trading vessels and stayed a short time before moving on to Canada or England. Notably, members of the Committee provided legal and other aid to George Latimer, Ellen and William Craft, Shadrach Minkins, Thomas Sims, and Anthony Burns.
Don Juan Temple was a Californian ranchero and merchant. Born in Massachusetts, he emigrated to Alta California in 1827, becoming a Mexican citizen, adopting the Spanish language and a Spanish name, and eventually marrying into a prominent Californio family. After acquiring Rancho Los Cerritos in 1843, he became one of the largest landowners in Los Angeles County.
The Woodworth political family is a collection of American and Canadian politicians who descend directly from colonial settler Walter Woodworth. They rose to prominence in the 19th century, serving in several states, in the United States House of Representatives, the House of Commons of Canada, and included America's first Surgeon General. In the modern era, two United States Presidents claim lineage to Walter.
Cremorne was a clipper ship of Sutton and Co.'s Dispatch Line and Coleman's California Line. She sailed between New York and San Francisco. Her services were advertised in sailing cards.
Stephen William Shaw was a California '49er and portrait painter who helped discover and name Humboldt Bay and introduced viticulture to Sonoma County by 1864.
John Ross Browne, often called J. Ross Browne, date of birth sometimes given as 1817, was an Irish-born American traveler, artist, writer and government agent. In the late 1970s, Ralston Purina opened a chain of seafood restaurants named after Browne, called J Ross Browne's Whaling Station.
Simon Fraser Blunt was a member of the Wilkes Expedition, Cartographer of San Francisco Bay and was Captain of the SS Winfield Scott when it shipwrecked off Anacapa Island in 1853. Two geographic features, Blunt Cove and Point Blunt are named for him.
James Madison Bell was an African-American poet, orator, and political activist who was involved in the abolitionist movement against slavery. He was the first native African-American poet in Ohio and was called the "Bard of the Maumee," of Maumee River. According to Joan R. Sherman: "As poet and public speaker, Bell was one of the nineteenth century's most dedicated propagandists for African-American freedom and civil rights."
Charlotte L. Brown (1839–?) was an American educator and civil rights activist who was one of the first to legally challenge racial segregation in the United States when she filed a successful lawsuit against a streetcar company in San Francisco in the 1860s after she was forcibly removed from a segregated streetcar. Brown's legal action and the precedent it created led to additional challenges to segregation in San Francisco and within 30 years, California enacted legislation to make such segregation on streetcars illegal statewide.
Simon Koshland (1825–1896) was a Kingdom of Bavaria-born American businessman, and wool merchant. He is the patriarch of the Koshland and Haas family of San Francisco.
The Chatham Vigilance Committee was formulated before the American Civil War by black abolitionists in the Chatham, Ontario area to save people from being sold into slavery. Some of the members of the group were graduates of Oberlin College in Ohio. It is most well known for its rescue of Sylvanus Demarest, but the Committee rescued other people.
References
- 1 2 3 "History of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851", p. 193, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- 1 2 "Descendants of Walter Woodworth", p. 12, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "The Annals of San Francisco", p.287, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "Hunt's Merchant Magazine and Commercial Review", p.317, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "President's Report", San Francisco municipal reports, p. 257, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "San Francisco Genealogical Society" Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "Journal of the Senate", p. 411, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "A Colored Mosaic", California State Library Foundation, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "Retrospection, Political and Personal", p.347, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.
- ↑ "Minor Knickerbockers", p. 54, Retrieved 7 oct 2009.