Benjamin M. Hartshorne

Benjamin M. Hartshorne
Benjamin M. Hartshorne
	Daguerreotype of Hartshorne, c. 1850
Born	7 May 1826; Highlands, New Jersey, United States
Died	21 March 1902 (aged 75)
Occupation	Businessman

Benjamin Minturn Hartshorne (May 7 1826–March 21 1902) was an American businessman rose to prominence during the California Gold Rush. He was involved in Sacramento River and Colorado River steamboats as well as maritime shipping.

Early Life

Born on May 7, 1826, in Highlands, New Jersey, Benjamin was the son of Robert Hartshorne.^[1]

Business in California

Hartshorne moved to California in 1849 and became involved in the ferry business at the Yuma Crossing on the Colorado River with George Alonzo Johnson and other partners from San Francisco.

Seeing the opportunity in bringing supplies to the isolated post of Fort Yuma, Hartshorne and Johnson sold out to their other partners in the Yuma ferry and returned to San Francisco in 1852. The two men then contracted to carry supplies up the Colorado in poled barges, but this endeavor failed due to the strong current and many sandbars in the river. After a steam tug, the 20 horsepower Uncle Sam was successfully used to ascend the river in 1853, Johnson formed the George A. Johnson & Company. Hartshorne was employed as a shipping agent in San Francisco and another partner Captain Alfred H. Wilcox, who was an experienced sea captain, was taken on for his experience in the hazards of the Colorado River Delta.

The company brought the disassembled side-wheel steamboat General Jesup to the Colorado River Delta and assembled it with a more powerful 70 hp engine. There Johnson began successfully shipping cargo and carrying passengers on the Colorado River from its estuary, up to Fort Yuma. This steamboat carried 50 tons of cargo to the fort in 5 days and brought the cost to supply the fort down to $75 a ton from the $500 a ton it cost to ship cargo overland across the desert from San Diego. The route made the Company $4,000 per trip per ship in the estuary of the Colorado River.^[2]^: 5–12

As the only steamboat company on the Colorado River, Johnson and his partners became wealthy after the discovery of gold along the Colorado River in 1858. Hartshorne, who was president of the company operating the business from San Francisco, invested his new wealth in the California Steam Navigation Company, becoming its vice-president by 1863 and its president in 1865.^[2]^: 40–41 In 1869, George A. Johnson & Company was incorporated with additional partners as the Colorado Steam Navigation Company with Hartshorne as its president.^[2]^: 51 ^[3]^: 209

Later life

After both his companies were bought out by the railroads, Hartshorne returned to the family estate in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1878. Hartshorne died in 1902.

Family

Hartshorne married Julia Norton, a native of Buffalo, New York who moved to San Francisco the previous year in 1862.^[4] They had three children. In 1869, shortly after returning from family visit back to the Hartshorne estates in New Jersey, Julia Norton Hartshorne fell ill and died at the age of 30.^[5]

References

^ "Benjamin Minturn Hartshorne". monmouthhistory.emuseum.com. Monmouth County Historical Association. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978 Archived January 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Hiram C. Hodge, ARIZONA AS IT IS; OR, THE COMING COUNTRY. COMPILED FROM NOTES OF TRAVEL DURING THE YEARS 1874, 1875, AND 1876, HURD AND HOUGHTON, NEW YORK; H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY, BOSTON; The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1877". Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
^ "Julia Norton Hartshorne". monmouthhistory.emuseum.com. Monmouth County Historical Association. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^ Collection 11, Hartshorne Family, Papers, 1833-1954, Processed by Lois R. Densky, Edited by Gregory J. Plunges, Updated by Laura M. Poll (April 2011, Monmouth County Historical Association Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine from monmouthhistory.org accessed March 5, 2015

[1] "Benjamin Minturn Hartshorne". monmouthhistory.emuseum.com. Monmouth County Historical Association. Retrieved 29 July 2024.

[Lingenfelter-2] Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978 Archived January 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine

[3] "Hiram C. Hodge, ARIZONA AS IT IS; OR, THE COMING COUNTRY. COMPILED FROM NOTES OF TRAVEL DURING THE YEARS 1874, 1875, AND 1876, HURD AND HOUGHTON, NEW YORK; H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY, BOSTON; The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1877". Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2015-03-05.

[4] "Julia Norton Hartshorne". monmouthhistory.emuseum.com. Monmouth County Historical Association. Retrieved 29 July 2024.

[5] Collection 11, Hartshorne Family, Papers, 1833-1954, Processed by Lois R. Densky, Edited by Gregory J. Plunges, Updated by Laura M. Poll (April 2011, Monmouth County Historical Association Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine from monmouthhistory.org accessed March 5, 2015

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v t e Steamboats of the Colorado River
Particular vessels	Cochan Cocopah I Cocopah II Colorado I Colorado II Esmerelda Explorer General Jesup General Rosales Gila Mohave I Mohave II Nina Tilden Retta Searchlight St. Vallier San Jorge Uncle Sam
Steamboat Lines	California Development Company Colorado Steam Navigation Company George A. Johnson & Company Gulf of California Steamship Company Green, Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Company Philadelphia Silver and Copper Mining Company Stacy Brothers Union Line U.S. Reclamation Service
Water routes	Colorado River
Steamboat owners and captains	James Turnbull George Alonzo Johnson David C. Robinson Isaac Polhamus Thomas E. Trueworthy John Alexander Mellon
Builders	Austin Hills Domingo Marcucci John G. North Henry Owens Patrick Henry Tiernan
Shipyards	Port Isabel, Sonora Yuma, Arizona Territory
List of vessels	List of Steamboats on the Colorado River
Steamboats in other areas	Steamboats of California

v t e Steamboats of California
Particular vessels	Annie Abernathy Antelope Aquilo (yacht) City of Sacramento Bayocean Black Hawk Capital Captain Sutter Chrysopolis City of Seattle Delta King Delta Queen Eureka El Dorado El Primero George E. Starr General Frisbie Georgiana Goliah Hartford Governor Dana Ilwaco Issaquah Jack Hays Klamath (inland steamboat) Ocean Wave Magdalena McKim Mint Monarch New World Pioneer Rabboni Rosalie Sacramento San Rafael SS Senator Sitka Telephone Wallamet Washington Washoe Wilson G. Hunt Yosemite
Ferries of San Francisco Bay	Clinton Contra Costa Oakland Piedmont Solano Thoroughfare Transit Ukiah
Steamboat lines	Aspinwall Steam Transportation Line California Steam Navigation Company Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company George A. Johnson & Company Pacific Mail Steamship Company Simmons, Hutchinson & Company
Water routes	California Coast Colorado River San Francisco Bay Sacramento River San Joaquin River
Owners and captains	Joseph Barnard Benjamin M. Hartshorne George A. Johnson William Leidesdorff Charles Minturn James Turnbull Issac Warren
Builders	Domingo Marcucci John G. North Henry Owens Austin Hills Patrick Henry Tiernan
Shipyards	Hunters Point North's Shipyard Potrero Point Rincon Point Steamboat Point Sutter Iron Works Tichenor's Ways Union Iron Works Yerba Buena Cove
Lists of vessels	List of steamboats on the Colorado River List of steamboats and steam ferries on San Francisco Bay List of steamboats on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries
Steamboats in other areas	Columbia River Willamette River Oregon Coast Yaquina Bay and river Coquille River Cowlitz River Puget Sound Lake Washington Grays Harbor Chehalis River Hoquiam River Willapa Bay Columbia River (Wenatchee Reach) Lake Crescent Arrow Lakes Upper Fraser River Skeena River