Sam Brannan
Samuel
Brannan was born in Maine in 1819. At fourteen he moved to Ohio and became an
apprentice printer. He converted to Mormonism in 1842 and married Harriet Hatch.
They had a daughter. In 1843 he married Ann Eliza Corwin and they would have three
children. In late 1845, as the leader of 239 Mormons, he left New York on the
ship Brooklyn and sailed for Oregon. Arriving in San Francisco (Yerba Buena) in
1846 he decided that the group should stay. Having brought a printing press with
him, he started California's first English newspaper, opened a general store at
Fort Sutter and Old Sacramento, started the resort at Calistoga, acquired large
amounts of land and with other business interests became California's first millionaire.
He died in San Diego County in 1869.