| Who established the first steam laundry in
California? Who ran the first regular steam ferry
between San Francisco and Oakland, CA? The
answer to both questions is Hon. Henry Augustus
Stearns, but it almost would have had to have
been someone else.
In his early twenties, Henry Augustus Stearns
was engaged in the manufacture of cotton-wadding
in New England. But in 1850 he sailed for
California via the Isthmus of Panama with
machinery for a steam laundry.
Shortly after leaving Panama, Henry's story
could have easily ended. He could have been just
another young man who embarked on an adventure,
perished at sea, and never had a chance to make
his mark on history.
The ship was not seaworthy. It floated about
on the Pacific Ocean for four months. All on
board were allowed only four ounces of bread and
a pint of water each, per day.
But he survived to reach California and make
his mark on history in the San Francisco Bay
area. Later he returned to New England and became
the first Superintendent of the Union Wadding
Company in Pawtucket, RI, father of eight
children, Lieutenant Governor of RI, the largest
stockholder in the Kilby Manufacturing Company in
Cleveland, OH, the owner of a cattle ranch in NM,
and a member of the Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution. He also obtained a number of
patents on cotton-gins, and patented the railway
safety-gate.
How might one additional week adrift at sea
have affected the subsequent chain of events?
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