| Notes |
As a young man of 20, set out from his home on Prince Edwards Island, accompanied with a company of men on the Brig Fanny (which they had purchased), to come to California for the Gold Rush. Departed. 11/12/1849, leaving Charlottetown, P.E.I. with Capt. A. Campbell Irving and Stephen MacCallum listed in the ships company as shipwright. [See Scrapbook, "Passenger List of Brig Fanny"]. It was a small schooner on which they set sail, but stanchly built. It took 7 1/2 months before they rounded Cape Horn [See Scapbook:"Brig Fanny trip map" for map of trip] and many times they despaired of ever reaching land. One day, during the voyage, Stephen shot an albatross, which fell on the deck, not knowing that it was regarded by the sailors as a good omen bird. However, the bird was cooked and enjoyed because the food in those days consisted mostly of salt fish and meat. A storm came up soon after the bird was devoured. The sailors cursing and making threats against Stephen for shooting the albatross.
They arrived in San Francisco June 1850 after a seven month journey. Stephen wisely gave up prospecting for business and agriculture. His prosperous woodyard was destroyed by the first great S.F. fire of 1851. Undaunted he purchased a ranch which now surround the Mission San Jose. This land later became part of the vast Stanford Vineyard which is still producing vintage wines and Champagnes. From here he shipped vegetables by barge to S. F. only to have them arrive in the midst of a cholera epidemic. The authorities dumped them in the bay. He contracted smallpox and was deserted by his frightened partner who looked thru the cabin window opening and took off. Without care and water Stephen dragged himself to the spring and managed to recover. This rancho would have made him really wealthy but he decided to return to his P.E.I. sweetheart. On the way to the settlement he saw a card ahead on the path. He agreed that if the card was anything except the ace of spades he would sell out and leave. However, when the card actually was the spade ace he dismissed this as superstition and went anyhow. [I've always wondered about this story since Miriam was born in 1835, 36 or 39, making her only 10 to 14 years old when Stephen sailed for California. Maybe she wasn't the sweetheart he returned to. He married Miriam L. McCallum, no blood relationship as her branch were Highlanders and his Lowlanders. His heart was always in San Francisco and most of his children came to California. However, she was a stubborn Scot (Is there any other kind?) and only came to California about ten years after his death.
Contrary to the sketchy account of the voyage of the "Fanny" in Keilly's "History of the Montgomery Settler " McCallum came home by ship to Panama, by canoe across the Isthmus where he lost a bag of gold and then home by ship.
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1825 - 1892 (66 years)
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