45 Facts About Samuel Brannan

Samuel S Brannan was an American settler, businessman, journalist, and prominent Mormon who founded the California Star, the first newspaper in San Francisco, California.

Samuel Brannan is considered the first to publicize the California Gold Rush and was California's first millionaire.

Samuel Brannan used the profits from his stores to buy large tracts of real estate.

Samuel Brannan helped form the first vigilance committee in San Francisco and was disfellowshiped from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of his actions within the vigilance committee.

Samuel Brannan was born in Saco, Massachusetts, to Thomas and Sara Emery Samuel Brannan.

Samuel Brannan's brother-in-law bought a copy of the Book of Mormon from these street corner missionaries.

Samuel Brannan made a quick visit to Maine in order to see his ailing mother and then made his way to New Orleans where his brother Thomas was living.

The Samuel Brannan brothers bought a press and type with what little money they had, but Thomas was taken by yellow fever shortly thereafter.

Once Samuel Brannan had returned to his sister's home, he renewed his religious convictions in the church and was called by the apostle Wilford Woodruff to serve a local mission in Ohio.

Samuel Brannan's mission ended early when he caught malaria and had to return home for his health.

Samuel Brannan planned to marry her and separate from his first wife.

Samuel Brannan worked closely with Smith's blood brother William and advocated for William to take his "rightful place" as prophet.

Samuel Brannan chartered the ship Brooklyn and persuaded the Mormons of New York to join the expedition to California.

Samuel Brannan was in charge of the expedition and the highest presiding religious leader on the ship.

Samuel Brannan brought along an antiquated printing press and a complete flour mill to make colonization easier.

Samuel Brannan expected the inspection to go badly but instead Commodore Stockton spoke to Samuel Brannan about the United States' planned assault of the Mexicans at Monterey.

Samuel Brannan is often credited to have been the first to perform certain actions in the region: a non-Catholic wedding ceremony, the first to preach in English, and the first to set up a California public school and a flour mill.

Samuel Brannan used his press to establish the California Star as the first newspaper in San Francisco, which released its first formal issue on January 9,1847.

In June 1847, Samuel Brannan traveled overland to Green River, Wyoming, to meet with Brigham Young, the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was leading the first contingent of Mormon pioneers across the plains to the Great Basin region.

Samuel Brannan urged Young to bring the Mormon pioneers to California as was previously planned, but Young rejected the proposal in favor of settling in what is present-day Utah.

Samuel Brannan returned to northern California frustrated with how the meeting had gone.

In 1847, Samuel Brannan opened a store at Sutter's Fort, in present-day Sacramento, California.

In 1848, Samuel Brannan decided that he was going to use all of his resources in order to help build up California and its connection with the east.

Samuel Brannan planned on building that connection through the California Star Express, which would deliver mail from San Francisco to Independence, Missouri, and had its first route on April 1,1848.

Samuel Brannan had opened more stores to sell goods to the miners, and began buying land in San Francisco.

Samuel Brannan acquired all of the remaining assets of the failed "New Hope" project and like many other Mormons at this time, found his focus had turned from LDS Church affairs to monetary gains.

Around this same time Samuel Brannan established ship trade with China, Hawaii, and the east coast.

When Lyman arrived, Samuel Brannan was unable to account for the tithes that Brigham Young and other Mormons claimed were given to him or that he owed from his own personal income.

Samuel Brannan reportedly told them, "You go back and tell Brigham Young that I'll give up the Lord's money when he sends me a receipt signed by the Lord", although historians, such as Will Bagley, have found that this is likely just legend.

Samuel Brannan was elected to the first town council of San Francisco in the new US territory.

Samuel Brannan teamed up with other local capitalists to construct the first wharf in San Francisco.

Around this same time, Samuel Brannan made known his feelings about slavery and spoke out against it.

The action Samuel Brannan took as a leader of the Vigilantes in 1851 was heavily frowned upon by the Mormons.

Anecdotes claim that in 1858, Samuel Brannan paid $1,500 for lumber salvaged from a ship that foundered in waters near San Francisco, and on the basalt the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula overlooking the mouth of the Golden Gate.

Samuel Brannan bought land containing the springs in the northern portion of the Rancho Carne Humana in 1861 and founded the town of Calistoga, said to be a combination of the words "California" and then-fashionable Saratoga Springs in New York.

Samuel Brannan founded the Napa Valley Railroad in 1864 in order to provide tourists with an easier way to reach Calistoga from the San Francisco Bay ferry boats that docked in the lower Napa Valley at Vallejo.

At one point the opposition was so intense that Samuel Brannan was shot eight times.

Samuel Brannan survived, but used a cane for the rest of his life.

The majority of Samuel Brannan's holdings were in real estate and he had to liquidate the properties to pay the full divorce settlement.

Samuel Brannan set up a small ranch near the Mexican border in the state of Sonora.

Samuel Brannan quit drinking and settled all his debts, but he died without sufficient funds to pay for his own funeral.

Samuel Brannan died at age 70 in Escondido, California, Sunday, May 5,1889, from inflammation of the bowels.

Samuel Brannan's body lay unclaimed in the San Diego County receiving vault for over a year until it was recognized by chance.

Samuel Brannan was given a Christian burial and for many years, only a stake marked his grave.

Samuel Brannan probably did more for San Francisco and for other places than was effected by the combined efforts of scores of better men; and indeed, in many respects he was not a "bad man", being as a rule straightforward as well as shrewd in his dealings, as famous for his acts of charity and open-handed liberality as for in enterprise, giving frequent proofs of personal bravery.