September 28 Friday – The Alonzo Child arrived in New Orleans
September 29 Saturday – The Alonzo Child left for St. Louis. Before leaving, Sam wrote a short note from New Orleans to his brother Orion.
October 6 Saturday – The Alonzo Child arrived in St. Louis.
October 9 Tuesday – The Alonzo Child left for New Orleans.
October 20 Saturday – The Alonzo Child arrived in New Orleans
October 21 Sunday – The Alonzo Child left for St. Louis
October 28 Sunday – The Alonzo Child arrived in St. Louis.
October 31 Wednesday – The Alonzo Child left for New Orleans.
November 5 Monday – Samuel Erasmus Moffett was born to Pamela and William Moffett. Sam was an uncle for the third time [MTL 1: 383].
November 9 Friday – The Alonzo Child arrived in New Orleans
November 10 Saturday – The Alonzo Child left for St. Louis.
November 11 Sunday – Sam ran the Alonzo Child aground, about seventy-three miles above New Orleans at the Houmas Plantation. It remained stuck for 28 hours [MTL 1: 105 n2].
November 12 Monday – A rising tide freed the Alonzo Child [MTL 1: 105n2].
November 18 Sunday – The Alonzo Child arrived in St. Louis.
November 21 Wednesday – Sam wrote from St. Louis to his brother Orion and family about running the Alonzo Child aground, about prices of poultry, eggs, and apples in New Orleans. Sam, ever the speculator, wrote:
My Dear Brother:
November 23 Friday – The Alonzo Child left for New Orlean
November 30 Friday – Sam’s 25 th birthday.
December 1 Saturday – The Alonzo Child arrived in New Orleans.
December 4 Tuesday – The Alonzo Child left for St. Louis.
December 11 Tuesday – The Alonzo Child arrived in Cairo, Illinois, where it laid up until Jan. 8 1861 due to ice in the river.
December 26 Wednesday – Sam petitioned to join the Polar Star Masonic Lodge Number Seventy-nine of St. Louis, the largest in the state. In so doing, he promised “to conform to all the ancient established usages and customs of the fraternity” [MTL 1: 106-7; Strong, 88]. Sam would rise to the level of Master Mason by July 10, 1861 [Jones 364].
Trouble Brewed – Fortune Teller – Orion Commissioned Secretary of Nevada Terr.
River Traffic Closed – Marion Ranger Fun – St. Jo Westward; Roughing It to Carson Mine Feet
Speculation – Aurora – Conflagration on Lake Tahoe
Humboldt and Mining Fever – “a small rude cabin” at Unionville
January 7 Monday – Brother Orion wrote Sam from Memphis. His letter of introduction to Samuel Taylor Glover (1813-1884) was intended to obtain a letter of introduction to Edward Bates (1793-1869), Lincoln’s attorney general. Orion hoped to get a government position to provide his family with a stable income and to pay debts We had a had a hearty laugh, as well as some of our acquaintances of the feminine gender (in my absence) heads of families, over your last letter. … I am greatly obliged to you for the Tri-weekly Republican till 1 st next April.
January 8 Tuesday – The Alonzo Child left Cairo for St. Louis.
January 11 Friday – The Alonzo Child arrived in St. Louis.