239 Pioneers sailed for 6 months from New York City bound for San Francisco

IN  EARLY  1846, the westward mass migration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began. Their goal was to gather as friends and family, worship in peace and covenant with God in holy temples.

Hearkening President Brigham Young’s counsel, on February 4, Ship Brooklyn pioneers embarked from Old Slip Pier, New York City. Two-hundred-thirty-nine pioneers traveled for six months aboard Ship Brooklyn. Four births and fourteen deaths occurred before the end of their voyage.

Upon arriving to the newly claimed U.S. territory of Yerba Buena on July 31, the pioneers developed the small hamlet into a bustling San Francisco. Believing the church would establish in the bay area, they prepared for the thousands of pioneers crossing the plains to arrive soon. 

They established the first newspaper  — The  California Star —  in San Francisco and New Hope farmland in the Central Valley. Joining efforts with the community, they built the first schoolhouse and orphanage. Some served on the city and school councils. 

Others used horses, carts and boats to generate commerce. Carpenters, mill workers, farmers, blacksmiths, educators, musicians, tailors, seamstresses, masons, boarding house owners, midwives, a doctor, and shoemaker, all shared their skills. As the Mormon Battalion veterans arrived in town, the pioneers offered them room and board, clothing, jobs, and most importantly, friendship.

When they received word that the saints were settling in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, many of the Brooklyn pioneers and veterans made preparations to join them.

They valued their faith more than riches. Leaving all behind, including the newly discovered gold in the foothills, over 140 pioneers traversed the Sierra. At the risk of great peril of ambush, the gold they took with them was minted and donated to support the church.

Ascending the Melissa Coray Peak at 9,763 feet and down Devil’s Ladder — an 800-foot descent, and crossing the desert, they made their way to their new home. Some families went south and established San Bernardino before traveling to the Salt Lake Valley in 1857.

Many who stayed in the bay area followed President Young’s counsel and created a way station of respite for converts from the islands and beyond seeking to join the saints.

The pioneers were builders of the community and the gospel. Their distant memory lingers in the names of streets, waterways, and communities across the state. But the lasting legacy is found in the twelve temples that now stand and those that are in the process of construction across California. Sacrificing their lives to do the Lord’s work, Ship Brooklyn pioneers are a shining example of courage to gather home.