Diary of Nelson Kingsley, a California argonaut of 1849

the long version

Nelson Kingsley, a member of the California & New Haven Joint Stock Company, began his journal on February 8, 1849. On February 17, he sailed from New Haven on the barque Anna Reynolds. The ship sailed around Cape Horn to the Bay of Talcahuano, Chile. On November 22, Kingsley arrived in San Francisco. He entered into the shipping business on the Sacramento River between San Francisco and Sacramento. In March 1850, he turned to prospecting near Mormon Island and later worked a "Quicksilver Machine" in the Yuba-Marysville area. Throughout, Kingsley recorded the mining activities of his New Haven Company and events in Sacramento, Marysville, and San Francisco. On March 4, 1851, Kingsley left California for home and terminated his journal of 207 days. He died one year later in 1852.